Puresound Technologies ClarityOne review

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Verdict:

Loud, clear and precise, these earphones live up to many of their maker's claims, but they're just a little uncomfortable

Review Date: 24 Jan 2012

Price when reviewed: £114

Supplier: http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk

Reviewed By: Kat Orphanides

Our Rating 4 stars out of 5

Puresound’s ClarityOne earphones use a unique audio circuit designed to eliminate the distortion caused by the way in which the magnetic coils move in most audio drivers. The earphones also have the lowest impedance of any we’ve reviewed, at just eight ohms. This does a lot to explain the massive volume they’re capable of kicking out – we had to turn the volume right down both on our sound card and audio player to spare our ears.

We reviewed a version with a built-in microphone for mobile phone use and a four-pole jack plug, but they’ll soon be available in a mic-free version, too. As advertised, the earphones sounded incredibly clear, from the slap of drum skins and strike of cymbals to the rich reproduction of vocals and detailed guitar harmonies.

Their sound compared well to even our most expensive reference earphones, although we generally prefer a slightly warmer and more spacious sound than the ClarityOne earphones provide. The high volume and precision of the earphones could also make the high notes of some tracks sound brighter and more brittle than we’re accustomed to. However, these are largely issues of personal taste: PureSound has created a brilliant-sounding set of earphones that will appeal to anyone who likes plenty of volume, and who wants detailed treble without sacrificing bass intensity.

We’re less enamoured by the earphones’ design, though. The slim, bullet-shaped metal casings felt loose in our ears when used with the supplied silicone dome style ear tips. Switching to a compatible set of Comply T-400 foam tips made for a slightly more comfortable fit, but the earphones still felt a little back-heavy and their cables couldn’t be comfortably looped around our ears.

If you’re after a brilliantly clean sound and prefer to wear your earphones hanging in front of your lobes, ClarityOnes are a great buy and compare well to similarly priced earphones from the likes of Shure and Etymotic.

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