Beyerdynamic DX 160 IE Review

Beyerdynamic has always been at the forefront of the audio industry. So it came to no surprise when the DX series was released and was well received, as it gave the same quality that we now expect from all of beyedynamic's products, at least to the consumers. So this month, we are looking at the beyerdynamic DX 160 iE and see if the new earphones lives up to our expectations.

The DX 160 iE's design is simple, yet eye-catching in its own way. The first thing that caught our eye was that the cable attached to the DX 160 iE was a low-profile cable, which is not uncommon in high-end earphones. Virtually tangle-free, the cable themselves are designed to be unobstrusive. However, we did find the cable to be slightly on the short side. The main cable is only 0.3m long, which is good for when you have your music player in your breast pocket. Unfortunately, if your music source is anywhere longer than an arm's length, you'll have to use the bundled extension cable.

The DX 160 iE delivers great music quality no matter how you wear

The second thing we noticed is that the driver housing is made from metal. Normally, manufacturers produce the driver housings out of durable plastic, but beyerdynamic decided to go with full metal housings for better sound. The DX 160 iE is also designed to cancel out noise, so that the user can experience great quality music, and we must say that beyerdynamic has done a great job with the noise isolation, regardless of the choice of eartips.

The DX 160 iE also comes with seven pairs of silicone eartips and one pair of Comply foam eartips. There are three different types of silicone eartips that come in various sizes. These eartips include one pair of double flanged eartips, and one pair of triple flanged eartips. Other accessories include the aforementioned detachable cable, an adapter plug for sharing music, a cable clip, and a hard carry case.

The DX 160 iE comes with a hard carry case, a detachable extension cable, an adapter plug for sharing music, a cable clip, seven pairs of silicone eartips of various sizes, and the Comply foam eartips

Despite all of that, the most important thing is the music quality. We tested the DX 160 iE with our playlist, which contains artists such as ATB, Bon Jovi and Nightwish. The DX 160 iE, like many beyerdynamic's products, gave very clear sound quality and excellent music. The overall balance between low, mid and high is good, though we did notice that the vocals tend to be muddled slightly when more instruments came into the picture.

This is great when you're listening to songs such as “Amaranth” by Nightwish and songs with heavy acoustic instruments, such as John Mayer's “Why Georgia”. The DX 160 iE does a great job at bringing these instruments to the forefront, as we could hear even the slightest of chimes.

The beyerdynamic DX 160 iE is a great pair of high-end portable earphones

Overall, the beyerdynamic DX 160 iE is a great buy if you’re looking for a pair of high-end portable earphones that is more than capable of producing great quality music. That being said, these headphones cost a small premium, so they will most likely only be appreciated by audiophiles. If you're a casual music lover, however, you may want to opt for the more affordable XP series.