ANTEC AMP dBS earphones
RRP: $24.99 | Website: www.antecmobileproducts.com
A
NTEC is better known to us
for their PSUs and cases. Like
most vendors in that industry,
the time has come for diversification
in their product portfolio. Naturally
one would think the most obvious
choice for ANTEC would be gaming
peripherals, but as you may already
know, ANTEC has gone a different
direction. Fortunately, ANTEC is
more than aware of the massive
saturation there is in the peripheral
market. It may indeed be true that
the margins with such peripherals
are better than they are in their
traditional business but that
doesn’t mean much if you can’t sell
anything.
So, in an attempt to distinguish
themselves from the multitudes
of gaming peripheral companies,
ANTEC has stayed away from all
gaming items instead choosing
to introduce their A.M.P (Antec
Multimedia Products) label and
range. As with the dBS ear phon es
I spent some time with, A.M.P is
primarily concerned with audio
products, at least for now they are.
The dBS earphones are one of the
first products introduced to market
and for a $25 these earphones aren’t
bad at all. They are not going to
transform your listening experience
but then again they never claimed
to be revolutionary and for $25 you
shouldn’t expect such. The set is
better than what APPLE packages
with their products and in fact the
dBS earphones are likely better
than all the earphones included with
high end smartphones.
Even then, the dBS earphones
are a little better than the price
may suggest. Not only do they
have a nice warm tone, the bass
reproduction is notable, without
being overpowering. You can easily
listen to this set for hours on end,
and not suffer any strain even with
excitable source material. My
initial listening experience with
an iPod didn’t disappoint me, but I
wasn’t moved in any way. However
when I plugged the set into a
portable CD player (yes these still
do exist), the listening experience
was much better. For $25 you’d be
hard pressed to complain as they
delivered better audio than some
other earphones I had which cost
twice as much.
I can’t be sure if A.M.P will prove
to be a worthy and premium brand,
but with the dBS they are off to a
fairly competent start. You’ll not
find ear phones that look as good
or sound much better for this price.
Even if you’re not a fan, should you
be presented with an opportunity to
listen to this set, don’t be put off by
the pricing. They may be in the value
segment but that doesn’t mean the
listening experience is cheapened in
anyway.
I’m pretty impressed by the dBS
and while I still believe one should
invest in a proper set of earphones.
For those on a budget, give the dBS
some serious consideration, you’re
unlikely to be disappointed.
[ The OverClocker ]
The Score
8.5/10
Issue 22 | 2012 The OverClocker 45