TDK ST800 Review

Posted on August 26th, 2011. Written by Ade Magnaye.

All I see of TDK are DVD-Rs and blank cassette tapes. But guess what—they also have a great line of high fidelity headphones that may not be perfect but produce enough quality sound and build to justify the ₱6,500 price tag.

First thing I noticed about the TDK ST800 is the build. This isn’t just another set of generic rebranded headphones from China, and I actually find the industrial design beautiful. Parts of the ST800s are made of leather, and for me that alone makes it worth the price. The fabric-shielded wires and the rotary volume dial on the right cup are other nice touches. Another interesting thing I noticed about the ST800 is the in-line equalizer which I will talk more about later.

Design

Put the headphones on, and you’d notice that they fit almost perfectly. Unlike the Koss PortaPros and V-JAYS though, the ST800s won’t make you forget you’re wearing them. It’s heavy, bulky and since it utilizes a closed-ear design, your ears will warm up after a while. I learned the hard way, as I listened to three albums straight with it on. The rest of the day I suffered the worst headache ever, because the ST800 kept the heat packed in.

Controls

I was excited to play with the in-line equalizer, because how often do you see headphones having one of those? I popped in the included AAA batteries, turned the equalizer on, and was surprised how much of a volume boost it gave. It didn’t just act as an equalizer, it was a nifty amplifier as well, which meant I didn’t have to carry my FiiO E5 around.

The built-in equalizer-amp combo is smaller than an iPod shuffle, so I was surprised at the tweaking options included. Sure, it may not be the most in-depth bass/treble control (only five steps for each), but it was a deeper EQ control than I ever expected. I even found my sweet spot quickly (+2 bass and +3 treble).

The volume control knob is one thing I absolutely loved. Instead of taking my iPod touch out of its pocket to adjust the volume, I just reach for the right side of my head and turn the volume knob embedded into the right earpiece. It’s a wonder nobody else thought of this before.

Sound Quality

Where the TDK ST800 falls slightly short of expectations, however, is in sound quality. Soundstage is wide, obviously, since it’s a Hi-Fi headphone, but it takes a while to get used to the sound signature. At first it feels like you’re listening through a cloth, because the sound feels slightly muffled, especially when I listen to newer recordings. Yes, I use lossless sources. You get used to it though, and the slight muffled sound becomes invisible after a while. Throw in a less complex recording, however, like a Beatles album or a low-fi indie album, it excels.

Eventually I found myself turning off the equalizer because it tends to distort the bass. Since the ST800 uses 50mm drivers, you’d hear details you won’t hear before. It just happened to me now, by the way – I heard some ambient noises in Bon Iver’s Perth that are seriously absent on lesser earphones. The ST800 can get extremely loud, so be careful when listening with it – even though it has noise isolation, you may not notice how loud you can get until it gets pointed out to you.

So, is the TDK ST800 worth it? On looks alone, yes. Sound quality’s a bit of a mixed bag, but it’s not something you can’t get over – a little bit of EQ mixing, and you’ll be able to find your sweet spot.