After being provided with a pair of the Chopper2 headphones by Aerial7, a robot does what he can to test them, put them through the ringer, and see if they emerge proper. These guys certainly put down some beats, but are they the pair for you?  Read on

I’m a headphone junkie . . .  I’ve gone through countless pairs since the time I was in 6th grade when our school started to allow us to bring CD players to class.  It wasn’t long before I was begging my mom for those “DJ style” headphones and got an entry level pair of Sony headphones.  Since then I’ve been through them all; Phillips, Bose, Apple iBuds, Sennheiser, Skullcandy and recently I picked up a pair of Beats by Dre.  I use headphones all day, every day.  At home I have a pair on almost every minute I’m there.  So of course when I’m sitting down with a new pair I have a set test I use to see how much I like the sound and feel.

The Looks

I must admit, I was a little taken aback as the particular pair that I got looks like something out of the 90′s rave scene; the box says “retro”, so I was more skeptical than usual when actually listening to them.  Looks will inevitably influence my opinion of anything . . . I’m just a visually influenced robotic machine.  I looked through their catalog when I got home and found that actually their other colorways are very pleasing.  If you love lime green and silver, then get the Hype colorway (the one that I have on now), otherwise they have some fantastic and tasteful styles.  The Chopper does look like something out of a Vietnam war movie, and for that I applaud Aerial7.  I love the old school and to see something that’s molded after it warms my 80′s-born processor.  I must admit, the rich kid-wannabe in me yearns for a pair of those Royale Bourbon, as pretty much nothing  on the market  is more plush than the russian call girl that Bond seduces to get closer to that diabolical Specter agent.

The Sound

This is what really matters right? Right.  So what do I do to determine how much I enjoy the sound quality?  I have a playlist set in my iTunes called BananaManchester (inside joke) that I throw on whenever I’m putting a new set to the test.  This is a gauntlet of songs with hard-to-hear basslines, subtle vocals, interesting instruments and subdued sounds . . . it also features a significant amount of Rap/Hip Hop because I do enjoy a well-produced bass sound in my ‘phones and usually those are the best songs to hear it in.  A few of the songs featured in this playlist:

“The Way You Move” – Ouktast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
The bass in this song hits 3 separate notes and usually a pair of headphones that’s subpar will muddle the last hit.  Aerial7 passed this test, all 3 of the notes were clear and distinct.

“Hobo Blues“ - G Love & Special Sauce – Thicker Than Water Soundtrack
Occasionally  I’m in the mood for some blues, and the only kind of blues to listen to is the kind where the harmonica is sweltering and a proper steel guitar is being picked.  This is a song that impressed me with Aerial7, as most headphones don’t even register the vinyl like popping that happens on this track.  Well done.  Steel guitar sounds fantastic and the harmonica might as well be right there next to you.

“Pachuca Sunrise” – Minus the Bear – Acoustics
Everything about this track is complex.  The bassline is very subdued, the drumming is quick and full of top-hat, and the guitar is acoustic.  You can hear every slide along the neck, every tap of that top-hat and the vocals come through pleasantly.

Those are just a few of the tracks that stand out to me.  A few others of note that I used to thoroughly put the Choppers to the test:

• “Heart Attack Feeling“ – Socalled – Ghettoblaster
• “Auditorium” – Mos Def – The Ecstatic
• “Fuel Injected (Remix) Ft. Saukrates” – Swollen Members – Monsters in the Closet
• “The Great Golden Baby” – Circa Survive – Juturna
• Brimful of Asha (Cornershop FBS Remix) – Fatboy Slim – The Greatest Hits Why Try Harder
• Cish Cash – Basement Jaxx & Siouxie Sioux – Kish Kash
• The Lengths – Black Keys – Rubber Factory
• What’s My Age Again (live) – Blink 182 – The Mark Tom and Travis Show(live)
• Evening/Morning – Bombay Bicycle Club – I Had the Blues but I Shook them Loose
• The Funeral - Band of Horses – Everything All the Time

The Feel

Are they comfy?  Could I fall asleep in them?  What about extended periods of headphone listening?  The Chopper delivers. One of the few headphones that fit completely over the ear, they manage to be comfortable in a way that not even my Beats can match. With absolutely zero pressure on any part of the actual ear, I wore them for 6 hours last night while playing games and listening to music with no need to adjust or to take a break.  Wonderful design, and the higher end models look to be just as comfortable.  The problem with this?  The noise reduction (note: they are not noise canceling, which requires a separate power source to create frequencies) on them is minimal, which is disappointing and one of the few points that I will call Aerial7 out on.  Every headphone these days is built with a good amount of noise reduction, it’s just a standard feature on high quality ‘phones.  Nevertheless, would I go out and buy a pair of their headphones today?  Absolutely. At a fantastic price point, and producing wonderful sound quality, there is just nothing to really complain about with these.

While you're here, check out:

1. [Album Review] Circa Survive – “Blue Sky Noise”
2. Album Review: Two Door Cinema drops their first full-length album, Tourist History
3. [Band to Watch] Yet another tasty little gem from the U.K.: The Joy Formidable
4. Album Review: Portugal. The Man push their creative thresholds on American Ghetto
5. The ol’ musical attic.