monoblocks's Full Review: Bang & Olufsen Form 2 Consumer Headphones
As we're tumbling down the abyss of the latest economic down cycle--apparently with no end in sight--it's become frightfully hard to get very excited about running down to the gadget store to splurge on the latest or coolest electronics. Even for me--easily a poster child candidate for the gadget geek of all of mankind--whipping out the plastic has become more about what the purchase is really worth than about the once free-wheeling, glutinous discretionary spending of the boom years, my ridiculous entourage of portable media devices notwithstanding. The creep of the current global economic malaise has become more and more about getting great value for the money spent, whether it's in regards as to what's for dinner tonight or with what one chooses to wear on top of their heads in conjunction with their favorite MP3 player.
This is the stark retail environment that the Bang & Olufsen Form 2 headphones now exist in. As a consumer product that just breaks into triple digits in terms of price, the Form 2 has to compete against some fairly stiff competition that is comparatively positioned, if not altogether far cheaper. That word ‘value’ does indeed come into play, whereby all purchases must be measured against affordable alternatives. And unfortunately for the Bang & Olufsen Form 2, at least with this consumer it's a battle that leaves its stunning looks badly scarred and sorely outclassed.
The Content
The Form 2's highly original design has now been around for a couple of decades; it's a classic over-the-head banded, supra-aural headphone configuration though the styling is markedly more modern and aesthetically cutting-edge than most competing headset designs on the market today...in any price class. It’s quintessential Bang & Olufsen, and for me personally the Form 2 is extremely pleasing to the eye; its lines are minimalist clean and efficiently spare with little fussiness, pretension or ambiguity to its form. The headband is strikingly simple: a thin cross-sectioned and unadorned band of matte black plastic roughly an inch wide. The fitment adjusting sliders on either end of the band are broad, flat strips of brushed aluminum with thin grooved V-cuts laid out perpendicular to their operational movement--this 'watchband' effect the only concession towards any sort of ornamentation.
The earpiece housings--covered in relatively taunt black foam--themselves are rectangular in form, fully in keeping with the hard 90 degree edges of the headband. Each driver assembly is on a rotating side-to-side pivot to allow the user to at least attempt to get maximum comfort when wearing the headset. The cord is standard fare for a miniplug-equipped device; nothing added on to distract from the overall minimalist flavor. The Form 2's design is truly a gem in the modernist aesthetic; there's nothing even remotely resembling fluff or baroque ostentation (aka "bling") with these cans. For the modern architect in me (which is what I am by profession, by the way), the Form 2’s look is indeed massively appealing.
From a technical standpoint, the Form 2 is considered to be a semi-open design. To the end user it means that the Form 2 leaks less sound to the outside world than a true open air headset would, but it also means that there will be some characteristic changes to the sound quality, in part as a result of an increased potential for distortion resonance caused by the more closed earcup housing. And it also means that there's increased infiltration of outside sounds intruding on the listening experience. Impedance rating for the Form 2 is quoted as a portable device-friendly 30 ohm, and the frequency range is generically listed by B&O as 40-20,000 Hz. Weight is listed at featherweight 2.4 oz. and the provided miniplug cable measures out at an equally portable-friendly 47 inches, significantly less than the 9.4 feet the manufacturer quotes in their PDF datasheet as what's supposed to be supplied with the unit. It would seem that somewhere along the way, B&O has intentionally shortened the cable for the (audio) realities of today's world of iPods.
Bang & Olufsen’s packaging for The Form 2 is as simple as it is efficient. The retail box is cardboard, and there is little in the way of frills or waste. The headset itself comes in a polystyrene foam bag of questionable protective usefulness--the one clear hiccup to this presentation’s ‘green’ factor. Each earpiece assembly is also wrapped in a clear plastic bag, as is the cabling lead. Accessories are equally sparse; the Form 2 comes with a perfunctory 1/4” headphone adapter for use with standard jacks normally found in home stereo equipment. There is no storage case or carrying bag.
Actual Performance
Since I had intended all along on using the Form 2 with my digital portable players, all of the songs I used in testing were CD rips, either to AAC or VBR MP3 format files using various iterations of iTunes or Nero 7 for the ripping process. Bitrates for the files ran from 128k to 320k. My Sony NWZ-A829 served as the test’s source playback device. None of the testing was done with a headphone amp.
Unfortunately for the Form 2, its appealing styling is where my loving admiration abruptly ends. As excellent as these cans appeal to my visual sensibilities, their sound was a harsh and disappointing cold splash of auditory reality. Where the REAL meat is supposed to be is in their acoustic performance, and I can say with deathly certainty that no one around here was expecting extra fluffy, lean and light with their prime (sonic) cut, which sadly is the problem I have with the Form 2. There’s simply too little juicy meat to this headphone’s modernistic bones. I really so wanted for these headphones to sound as good as they look, but alas, that wasn't the case.
With no burn-in time, the Form 2 out of the box was squarely--no pun intended with regards to the aesthetics, by the way--tuned for treble performance, which it generally does with little fuss. However the human ear does indeed hear frequencies that extend lower down the range, and this is where the Form 2's sonic skill set truly falls apart. From the lower midrange region on down the Form 2's drivers seem to strain in reproducing any reasonable resemblance of sonic accuracy or even any sort of musical vitality--accurate or not. There's barely a modicum of acoustic presence of this area of the spectrum, giving precious little depth and extension to the music coming into my ears. As I listened to my usual auditioning music, I found that there's a painful dearth of the sort of fullness and texture I normally expect to hear with any of my benchmark headsets. What high hopes I might have had stemming from the various consumer reviews I previously had read on the Form 2 were brutally dashed from the very start of testing.
While I will admit that the sound I’ve experienced on the Form 2 is still reasonably far from anything that I would consider plain awful, as well it was nowhere close to what I would expect from an over-the-head headset costing a complete C-note. The overall sound was surprisingly banal and compressed, not a sound that I would've expected coming from even a semi-open design headset such as the Form 2. Details were generally muffled and sonic definition overtly blunted; the finest nuances were virtually impossible to discern with this headset. Given the perspective, the Form 2 is much more like a closed headphone design than an open air one. Unfortunately as a result, from the very outset I could plainly hear that the Form 2 would not be up to the challenge of comparing favorably to the usual suspects that make up my benchmark cans. To its credit however, the semi-open design does help to keep audio leakage from the unit relatively well in check, so for some this can be a definite benefit as long as they can live with the notable demerits to sound quality.
In the case of the Form 2, I chose to use the do-all Sennheiser PX-100 as the benchmark standard, mostly because the Form 2's own form factor somewhat resembles the bulk and physical scale of the PX-100, even if the Form 2 is a bit more visually substantial, is not a true open air design and doesn't have the capability to fold down into a neatly collapsed unit. My decision to use the PX-100 for comparison had as much to do with the aformentioned criteria of price and value I waxed about at the beginning of this review as it did with form, function and sonic performance. However, when the Form 2 was originally introduced in the 1980s, it was supposed to be a superior aftermarket headset alternative for the then booming cassette tape Walkman market, much like the lightweight Sennheiser PX-100 currently does today for the headband segment and MP3 players. So despite the intervening years, the comparison is reasonably justified, at least in my mind. The actual PX-100 set I used for comparison was a lightly used spare pair that easily had less than 10 hours of use on them, so like the Form 2 they too were not burned in at the time of testing.
The Senns customarily sell for 1/2 the price of the Form 2 at local brick & mortar outlets, and can be as much as 2/3 less online. Bang & Olufsen controls the margins (and thus the price) of the Form 2 pretty tightly; other than used units on the secondary market, I've yet to find any source that discounts the headset from its current $100 retail price point. From a price standpoint, value for the money was already going to be stacked up against the Form 2. But as my subjective sound testing bore, it was going to get a lot worse for the Bang & Olufsen headset.
The first piece of music I typically use for equipment auditioning these days is actually an older recording from the mid 1970s. Conductor Johannes Somary's performance of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos with The English Chamber Orchestra is something of a benchmark performance itself, the now out-of-print 2004 translation to hybrid SACD is a sonic masterpiece (I was surprised to see that used copies of the 2-disc CD set now go for $150 and up). If there is one album that would qualify, my original vinyl copy is probably THE one piece of music that I'd elect to take to the grave with me (with the hybrid SACD set following close behind).
I like to use the first movement of Concerto No. 5 to test speakers and headphones with; it’s a reasonably complex piece of music that puts to the test the full frequency range, and abounds with details and nuance that the critical listener will intently strain to listen for in judging the reproduction skills of any gear. The PX-100--even without proper burn-in--sounds full and alive, with ample depth and presence to its sound even if it's a bit on the cold side due to the lack of burn-in time. Details are easy to pick out and sound quite pleasing if not totally natural. On the other hand, the Form 2 without burn-in was significantly dulled and murky with the same music, not to the extent that it was absolutely muddy but that it wasn't nearly so defined and meaty like the sound was with the PX-100. Nuances were definitely hard to pick up using the Form 2, and it was difficult to get over the feeling that the B&O set were simply less of a musical performer.
Switching genres, Real McCoy's 'Another Night' (1994 German import CD single) was next up for comparison testing. With the benchmark cans the music was just as full as it was with the earlier Bach piece, well as far as electronic dance music can be. The PX-100 isn't known for reproducing deep bass, but compared to the Form 2 it was almost as if they had subwoofers to the Form 2's meek virtual midrange drivers. There was little bass presence to the Form 2 sound, and the imaging and soundstage suffered accordingly. With the Senns, the sound seems to envelope me, whereas with the Form 2 it came out stiff as a board, with none of the depth that the PX-100 had in spades.
Moving away from electronica, the Form 2 didn't fare much better with rock music, either. The Cult's 'Fire Woman' ('Sonic Garden' from 1989), Sister Hazel's 'Happy' (1997's '...Somewhere More Familiar') and Soundgarden's 'Fresh Tendrils' (from 1994's 'Superunknown') were just three of the tracks I sampled with the Form 2, and with each the Form 2 came up seriously lacking against the Sennheiser benchmark. The Form 2’s sound was bland and dull song after song, much like a closed design headphone set would expect to be. It’s hard to detect any openness at all to the Form 2’s sonic performance.
Jazz and Easy Listening was equally unkind to the Form 2. The Ray Brown Trio's rendition of 'Fly Me To The Moon' (1996's 'Some Of My Best Friends Are...The Saxophone Players') was as smooth and velvety as it could be with the PX-100; again, the Form 2 was a tepid second in comparison. John Coltrane and Miles Davis also bore the same results. And whether it’s Tony Bennett, Renee Olstead or Frank Sinatra, the Form 2 simply could not match the verve and depth of the PX-100 standard bearer. If anything, my Form 2 tests only went to solidify my feelings on just how superb the Sennheiser PX-100 design really is, even if I still think they aesthetically look a bit silly. But for 1/3 the price of the Form 2, how can such sonic nirvana ever be overlooked?
Perhaps with extended use the Form 2's sound with loosen up, though from my experience burn-in typically mellows, relaxes and warms the character of the sound from a headset or set of speakers more than anything else. However, that sort of coldness or hard edge isn't the Form 2's problem, because it's the lack of any sort of even presence along the entire frequency range that's the Form 2's Achilles heel. One can't smooth out the rough patches if they're not there to smooth out to begin with. In the end the Form 2 is sorely challenged in its ability to impress me with its performance capabilities. Given that aspect alone, the question of any tangible value to the Form 2 has been sadly answered: there is no performance value for this reviewer.
From a usability standpoint the Form 2 also sadly slips up. The short cord as supplied doesn't lend the unit for use with typical home audio gear. And based on what I found out (more to follow immediately below), the apparently fragile nature of the Form 2 doesn't lend itself to out-of-house, real-world use. For me, the fit and comfort of the Form 2 is middling at best; they don't hurt but they never really feel all that comfortable. If I thought my PX-100s were irritating (you'll have to read my review of the Senns for all those dirty details), the Form 2 does its best to easily top that.
One important aspect of the Form 2 that bears mentioning is one I haven't been and won’t be able to test. In my preliminary research of the unit, it's been reported that the Form 2 suffers from serious durability issues, specifically with regards to the screw-down plastic sections that holds the earpieces to the headband. Owners have reported that this plastic section tends to crack over time, to the point that the earpiece will separate from the rest of the unit. B&O has a decent warranty for the Form 2, but having to send in the broken set for replacement every six to nine months (depending on level of use) doesn't sound like something I'd want to do on a regular basis, never mind the requisite downtime when the headphones are gone. And to then to be out of luck when the warranty period does finally expire? A definitive ‘sorry but no cigar’ is in order.
The Bottom Line
As much as I like the aesthetics of the Form 2, I can't see myself keeping these because the sound is simply too lacking for the price point that Bang & Olufsen wants for their baby. Twenty-some odd years is a long time for an electronic device design to stick around, and it seems to me that at least the sonic engineering of the Form 2 could stand a serious update, presuming that it hasn't gone through one already. Simply slicing down the length of the cable isn't enough, nor is its ability to muffle and isolate some of noises filtering in from the outside world. A bitterly heartfelt ‘thanks but no thanks’ is the call here. The Form 2--in spite its stylistic ‘wow’ factor--is a sonic has-been, and that’s were the value really is (or isn’t, in this case). It’s back to the Apple Store for a refund.
2 stars, and only because the styling is still so great after all these years. Not recommended, unless you just can’t resist sexy industrial design.
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