AKG N400NC TWS

I have been recording and listening to music for a long time, just about over 40 years that I can remember. I was introduced to music from before I could walk. I took up an instrument in Intermediate school (Middle School) and continued into high school, however, it seems playing music wasn't what I was meant to do, it was more with recording. So in the last 2 years of high school, I took up sound engineering and recording concerts for the high school band.

From there, I got into being a disc jockey to eventually back into recording. 

Just a little disclaimer, everyone has a different perception to sound. What I may find as great, another may not, what I may hear, someone else could miss and vice versa. So what I would recommend is to listen to it yourself and judge if you like it or not (same goes with food, except the listening part, food you eat...)

So here is the headset, the AKG N400NC TWS

I've been a long time fan of the AKG headsets. I was introduced to AKG from when I first volunteered at a summer fun program and the Leader I was paired with, was also a musician. Turns out, his father was part of a famous group and an Uncle had played in the same band.

Skipping ahead, after graduating high school, I got a job working at a local radio station. Remembering the sound that the AKG headset I was introduced to, I ending up purchasing a pair of AKG K240 Studio, these were reference headsets.

Reference headsets basically doesn't alter the sound, so your bass, mid and highs are all at the same level, which for sound engineers allow them to adjust the sounds to bring out the maximum quality and the ideal feeling for everyone.

The K240 Studio is what I used as a control to measure the sound of the different headsets, for the  Audio, I used a Sony Walkman MP3 player (yes, Sony Walkman do still exists)

The Sony, NW-A100 Series. Sound file formats that this supports are MP3, AAC, FLAC and DSD. 

AAC and FLAC provide the highest quality and cleanest sounds in a digital format.

There are other models available that either have less internal memory or higher end models that start from about $1,000. The higher end models cater to the absolute audiophiles that are extremely particular of their sound. If I were able to, I would like to hear for myself and see if I can hear the difference from my middle ground player to the higher end player.

One of the added feature of this particular model, is that there is a Cassette display when the music is playing, kind of to give it a nostalgia look and nod to the early days of the walkman.

So, first up, was the K240 as a control. I used a FLAC file from the Hires download site:

Mozart: Violin concerto in D major - Allegro

Marianne Thorsen / Trondheim Solistene

With the K240, The sound was warm, crisp and precise. From the solo violin to the strings and brass. I could hear the french horns, the oboe, the flutes occasionally peaking out from the group. It was almost like I was in a private performance in some grand orchestra hall.

Next, with the same piece of music, I connected the AKG N20 Ear bud, also reference headsets. These 

make it easier to commute and listen to music or as of recently, started listening to pod casts and eventually, audio books.

However, the sound didn't seem as warm and full as the K240's, but still had that crisp and precise sounds from the Violin and strings.

Taking into consideration, these are ear buds with a foam ear piece. I suppose it is to be expected with the smaller sound conductors in each ear piece.

Again, using the same musical piece, I then connected the N400NC TWS. Not sure why, but it seemed the sound was a little bit fuller than the N20. One other item, there is a EQ specifically for these ear buds. Unlike some other EQ software, this is very flexible when sculpting the way you want your sound.

Although you can see the points, the whole line is flexible, but a bit difficult to fine tune with my large fingers, so with what I could adjust, it was pretty close to how I wanted my music to sound like.

This EQ is specifically for the N400 and does a pretty good job of sounding almost as good as the K240's and make it sound definitely better than the N20's which I keep as a backup in the event I forget to charge my N400's and speaking of charge, I've been running it for about 4 days now without noticing any decrease in power charging in the holding case.

The N400 does allow for talking, however, I already have ear buds for my phone and just want to use it for listening to music. One feature I really like about it is the Ambient Aware, a feature that allows for sound from the surrounding area to be heard while listening to music. This makes for a great safety feature when walking about the city, and if you want to drown out the sounds, the Active Noise Cancelling does an excellent job, so if you are riding on the bus and that guy next to you insists on talking on the phone, or that other guy that tends to talk to a non-existent person, you don't have to listen to their conversation.

The headset is IPX7, so if you want to use them while working out, you don't have to worry about damaging it with perspiration. Depending on the ear plug and wingfins you use, it make it secure so you don't have to worry about it falling out or losing it. 

One of the biggest feature I am a really big fan of, is the charging port, it uses a USB-C connector, thus decreasing the number of different cables I need to carry if I should need to charge it. 

For the wireless connection, it is Bluetooth Version 5, which uses less energy and doesn't cause the host device to drain faster. It also allows you to connect an additional bluetooth headset so that you can share the music or both watch a video at the same time, together. With Bluetooth V5, it allows for faster connections and much better quality audio.

Another feature of the N400, since AKG is part of the Samsung family, there is more integration with the Samsung family of mobile devices. You can use Bixby, which is Samsung's version of the Google Assistant. It will still work with Google Assistant if you do not have a Samsung Device.

Additional features which I haven't taken advantage of, is the touch and swipe controls on the N400.

Since my intended use is for listening to music and such, I don't need them, I have headsets just for my mobile phone, which, by the way, is a Pixel 6 with the Pixel Bud-A. To be fair, I also have a iPhone 13 with the Airpod Pro, but just want to keep my music listening separate from my phone so that if I need to and don't have to worry about running out of power if I need to make a phone call.

I do have to add, that I did also compare them to my previous favorite headsets, the JVC Truly Wireless (Marshmallow). The first JVC headset I had were the Marshmallows, a really inexpensive, but really

good sounding headset. For the price of under 10 dollars, it had some really good bass and decent highs. These were about $50 and prior to getting the N400, were considered to be really good wireless headsets.

All in all and so far, the AKG N400's are the best and my absolute favorite headsets. For my commute and occasional at home use, these will be my every day drivers. Right now, the AKG N400's are on sale for just under $50, a little over a $100 off from the regular price, so if you want some really great headsets, give them a try and order them before the price goes back up. You can order them direct from this link - AKG N400 NC TWS

つづく ( To be continued... )