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The Noontec Zoro HD On-Ear Headphones are comfortable which is a little surprising as they do claim to be Fashion Hi-Fi Headphones.
When you compare these with similar On-Ear headphones the Noontec Zoro HD come out on top as the ear cups are soft and breathable. Even when using the headphones for a long three hour session my ears didn't warm-up significantly. The cups do put a bit of pressure on the ears, although this is common place with all On-Ear headphones.
To test the sound quality of the Zoro HD, we plugged them into a Creative Z sound card. We then put the Zoro HD through its paces in a variety of scenarios, including but not limited to; watching a blu-ray movie, playing PC games (Anno 2070, Formula 1 2011), listening to music from iTunes, and making a video call or two with Skype.
While gaming we were pleasantly surprised with the audio reproduction as the sound characteristics were always very clear and crisp. On a more negative note, the bass response could be exposed as rather thin … noticeable when playing some action games.
We listened to the whole of Mahler’s 9th Symphony, a glorious orchestration taking full advantage of the extra strength woodwind section comprising piccolo, 4 x flutes, 4 x oboes, Eb Clarinet, 3 x Bb/A Clarinets, bass clarinet and 4 x bassoons.
Overall, we found the sound staging to be impressive, but again we felt there was a slight lack of weight to the lower frequencies, although it was always focused and tight. One commendable trait of the design is that background static was always minimal, even at the highest volume levels.
Skype phone calls exhibited the same clear, focused sound quality and voice reproduction was excellent. As a further test we recorded a few voice clips and played them back through our Microlab FC360 Speakers. While the voice was crisp and clear, there was a small amount of background noise audible, more than with the beam-forming microphone that ships with the Creative Z Sound Card.
We feel the Zoro HD microphone may actually be mounted a little bit too far down the cable and as such picks up a little bit of extra noise. Of course, you might not be able to make use of this microphone with all devices but most modern phones and sound cards can. Personally, I'm not sure if I'd ever use these headphones out of preference to make a call on my phone but if you happen to be listening to music and a call comes in these headphones would be a good convenient compromise.
Overall the Noontec Zoro HD performed well in all our tests, they are high-quality balanced headphones ideal for various uses, but primarily for enjoying well recorded music. While I am not the biggest fan of On-Ear headphones, these are easily the most comfortable I have used.
The price of the Zoro HD is also very competitive at around £64 from cclonline.com.
Pros
- Good overall sound quality.
- Very stylish and well-built.
- Light headphones, good for everyday use.
- Comfortable with breathable ear-pads.
- In-line microphone useful.
- Comes with storage pouch.
Cons
- Bass frequencies can appear a little weak.
- No volume control.
- On-Ear headphones crush ears slightly.
- Microphone could be better positioned.
Kitguru says: A decent pair of headphones with the added bonus of a microphone make them a perfect companion for audiophiles.
