I don’t usually write reivews, but this is a product I was especially surprised by, so here goes… hope people out there may find it useful.

I work as a freelance graphic designer and love music, Im very fortunate that I can have headphones on virtually all the working day, consuming as much music as possible! When I worked from home I used my favourite headphones, the Philips Fidelio X2HR…. they cost £250 new, alas now I work in a shared office space the open-backed X2’s are no good, everyone can hear what I’m playing and I hear all offices noises. This is why I started shopping around for a closed-back pair for the office and keep my X2’s for home use.

There’s not as many closed-backs as you may imagine, I looked at Yamaha, AKG, Austrian Audio, Audio-Technica, all the usual suspects at around the £100-120 price point. I’d heard of Majority, a friend of mine has the K2 soundbar that costs just £95, and I was genuinly amazed how good it sounded for that price. Then I noticed the Studio 1 headphones and they ticked all the boxes for me… what actually put me off was the price… at just £50 (£45 if you purchase directly from Majority as they give you 10% off for first-time purchases) I thought ‘how good can they really be at that price?’. I decided that even if I wasn’t impressed, £45 is no great loss and they will not sound bad anyway.

The good news is I’m genuinely amazed how they sound for the money, I use a FiiO K3 headphone amp/DAC (see pics) and stream lossless and hi-res music from my Plex server via Plexamp for Windows and they really are fantastic… great big wide soundstage (not closed ‘in-your-head’ like some cheaper closed-back phones), bass is full and very deep, a little bit of an 80-100hz mid-bass thump that needs taming down with a bit of EQ, but the most noticable bonus at this price is the excellent clarity and separation, and a lovely light treble, hi-hats and cymbals sound airy and vocals are crystal clear. For the money, the sound of these is an absolute steal.

The coiled cable stretches to 3M long but thankfully lightweight but sadly not replaceable, but if you look after your gear this won’t be an issue (they come with a carry bag). My pair sit on a headphone stand so won’t be travelling anywhere further than my desk.

The only negatives I can really think of are the clamping force, they give a very light pressure, a little more pressure would make them feel a little more secure but it does mean they are very comfortable (I have quite a big head!) for long sessions, I listen for at least 4 hours a day. Ears don’t get warm, the cushions are nice and soft. How the cushions will last remains to be seen, I’ll update my review should anything go awry. The adjustable headband is very loose on the left-hand side of my pair, it slips from its position too easily, but this I suppose is a drawback of the cheaper build quality at this price, thankfully the majority (no pun intended) of the costs must have gone into the drivers, which is the important bit.

All in all, if you need a great sounding pair of inexpensive headphones I heartily recommend these. I bought these with my own money, not a paid-for review like many out there. Do yourself a favour though, and but an inexpensive headphone amp-dac to drive them, you can drive them fine from your PC but my FiiO makes them come alive. With the money you save buying the Majority’s over the aforementioned competition you can grab a FiiO for about £50 and you’ll be smiling!

I’m listening to Mick Karn’s ‘Bestial Cluster’ right now, and Steve Jansen’s percussion is sparkling and clear, and Karn’s rubbery basslines and rumbling away with great texture and definition…. I’m still genuinly amazed. Don’t be put off by the ‘low’ cost, buy with confidence!