Date: February 27th, 2008
Article by: Jackie Mueller (Hardware Reviewer)
Edited by: Nathan Glentworth (Owner / Head Editor)
Product was submitted by: Zalman USA
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PRODUCT PICTORIAL AND WALKTHROUGH
The head piece has a foam pad on each side for comfort. A hinge in the middle collapses the unit so it can be folded and made more compact and easier to transport.
The ear cups fold up inside via a hinge located at the end of the head band. The overall size of the unit decreases quite a bit when it's all folded up like this, making it very convenient to toss into a bag and go.
Coming out of the bottom of each ear cup is a cord. The split is just about right, not too far up but not too far down either. At just under 5ft it is not very long, however these headphones are meant to be used with portable music devices and too much cord would simply be in the way.
PRODUCT INSTALLATION AND TESTING
Comfort
While most headphones are comfortable when worn for short lengths of time, the real test for comfort is extended periods of use. After wearing these for three hours listening to my iPod and watching a few TV episodes on my PC, I felt no soreness in my ears whatsoever. I wear earrings and headphones often push against them causing pain after a while, although that issue wasn't so evident with the ZM-DS4F. I think the comfort is due largely in part to the lightweight construction as well as the flexible ear cups.
One thing I did notice is that since the ear cups are not vented, wearing these headphones for a long time can cause sweat around the ears.
Sound Quality
I listened to many different types of music and all of it was clear and pretty well balanced. I was curious how the bass response would be with a 40mm woofer inside, and it wasn't bad but didn't blow me away either. I honestly was expecting a bit more in the bass department. Everything else sounded great, however.
Even though these headphones aren't meant for gaming I decided to try them out with a round of Half-Life 2 anyway. The end result is they sounded good but not great. Again, the weakness here was the bass. On the upside they were quite comfortable to wear for long periods of time as I mentioned before.
Durability
It's important for a product to be durable if it's going to be traveled with frequently. Since these headphones are designed to be used with portable music players, chances are they are going to be subjected to more wear and tear than a set that never leaves the house. Zalman did well in this department as the construction on the ZM-DS4F is quite sturdy. It's not indestructible, but I think it would have no problems surviving normal use and being tossed in a bag here and there.
