Technoblabber

Started in 1997 by two dudes in Encinitas, California, Nixon is an accessories maker that focuses on  youth culture, specifically in the snow, skate, and surf industries. It is for these reasons, that Nixon exploded onto the watch and softgoods scene. And today I’ll be reviewing a pair of headphones that were recently released.

Nixon headphones come in 3 different varieties.  There are the Wire, the Nomadic, and the top-of-the-line Master Blaster. We here at Technoblabber.com, recently received a pair of the Nomadics for review, and were surprised to find out that the pair we received came with an iPhone mic and iPod controls. Hot damn son!

Pros

So to start the review off, I’m going to explain some of the great things Nixon has done with these Nomadics. First off, they are extremely stylish.  Just like everything Nixon does these headphones are head turners.  This is because the headphones have a very industrial feel and finish to them, that makes them look rugged and durable. We had  heard rumors that these headphones were actually delayed due to design complications, which doesn’t really surprise us because every last detail on these things was thought out. They feature an extremely accessible volume control on the side, actually the entire metal disc on the outside of the right earpad is the volume knob and rotates appropriately. As well, the iPod/iPhone controls work flawlessly. Just plug ‘em in and you’ve got instant control of your tunes. The in-line microphone doubles as a tactile button, so one click starts/stops the music, two clicks advances the track, and three clicks goes back to the previous track.  As well, when ever you get a phone call, just click the button to answer the call, the built in mic works great and sounds great too (almost better than the included iPhone earbuds). To end a call, simply click the button again, and your music resumes playing. Nicely done Nixon.

Cons

Now that’s not to say the headphones don’t have their problems.  While testing I had issues with comfort level.  I thought the memory padding on the ears was a bit stiff and after an hour or so of listening I needed to take them off.  Now this usually happens with over the ear headphones, but still, the padding is a little stiff. As well, our volume knob felt a little loose.  We’re not sure if this is with all models, but it would have been nicer if Nixon had stiffened this up a bit. And finally, we also thought that the overall size of the headphones was a little large.  These guys have an extremely large profile, and dont fit snug against your head. This is purely an aesthetics-based problem, and some people wont mind it, its really up to you to decide.

Now onto sound quality, this part can really make or break a pair of headphones, and luckily for Nixon, the Nomadics just pass in my opinion.  Upon first listen, they sounded almost dull, and didn’t have any punch.  After checking my EQ settings in iTunes, and fiddling around a bit, I managed to create an EQ that made the music I was listening to sound much better.  Same story on the iPhone, you’ll probably want to play with your EQ settings to really get the most out of them.  This is a little disappointing, because my $30 pair of Skullcandy iCon/Recruits sound almost better, almost, but they also look like airplane headphones, so there is a bit of a trade off.

Conclusion

So to wrap up the review the headphones look awesome, they really do. Almost good enough to just put on display somewhere, seriously, like a piece of fine industrial design. The iPhone/iPod controls work flawlessly, I had a great experience with my iPhone and wish all headphones worked like that. But on the downside they were a bit uncomfortable, and the sound quality wasn’t as high as I expected. Overall though, I’d give these headphones a 3.5/5 stars.

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