The other day, Arctic Cooling decided to send us a professional DJ headphones to review. Now I know Arctic Coolimg have been expanding their product range, but this was a complete surprise.
The Arctic Sound P281 professional headphones are designed for DJs (deejays), and users who want hi-fidelity and superior sound. It’s powered by a pair of highly sensitive 50mm drivers, which gives the P281 headphones a pretty powerful output, making it suitable for use in a club/disco environament. It features a 90-degree swivel mechanism on both earcups, which is perfect for DJs and allows flexibility for audio/track monitoring. For comfort, the earcups is made from a combination of leather lining and soft cushions, which provides a secure fit and comfort. Finally, the silver-grey metallic color of the P281, gives it a professional look, although I probably would have preferred a trendy white.
The highly sensitive 50mm driver units, produces a maximum power output of around 50mW, with a good frequency response of 20-22,000 Hz. It should give you good sound quality that’s crisp and clear with good bass. To make the P281 look and feel like a proper headphones for professional DJs, Arctic cooling have included a coiled cable. This coilded cable measures approximately 2.5m and ends with a gold-plated 3.5mm jack, there’s an additional 6.3mm adapter, which is also gold-plated. All of these great features gives the P281 maximum flexibility for DJ use.
Arctic Cooling are already pretty well known for their CPU coolers, but now it seems that they’re expanding their product range to include headsets, mice, keyboards and other accessories. For those who are not familiar with Arctic Cooling or their products, here’s a quick blurb taken from their website …
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“ARCTIC COOLING is a privately owned company founded in 2001 with headquarters in Switzerland, offices in Hong Kong and the USA and production facilities in Asia. The ARCTIC COOLING team consists of international highly educated people with business, technical and communicational skills. The attitude to work is based on Swiss principles of innovative spirit and high standards of workmanship for which it is recognized internationally. This striving for excellence is integrated in all processes as a matter of course. ARCTIC COOLING´s core competencies are multifarious including systematic noise reduction,copper and aluminum heatsink development, customization of thermal solutions, as well as designing quiet fans. More recently quiet and cool PC Cases and Power Supplies have been developed.” |
So how do we test the Arctic Sound P281 professional DJ headphones? … Well firstly, let me tell you something a secret … I am not a DJ! So, to test the Arctic Sound P281, we gave it to a close friend of ours who is actuallly a paid professional DJ. Based in the UK, DJ Saul has been DJ-ing for many years, both for his local radio station during the daytime, and for his local hotspot and nightclub in the night (weekends). So when we ask him to give it a try … he was more than happy to help. With a true professional DJ at our disposal, I think it’s safe to say we can give the P281 more than a fair test. We asked DJ Saul to use the P281 continuously for a whole week, and then to give his verdict on the headphones … from a DJ’s point of view.
Let’s take a closer look at the features and specifications of Arctic Sound P281 professional DJ headphones …
Features and Specifications
Taken from Arctic Cooling’s website …
Overview
The ARCTIC SOUND P281 is a circumaural DJ headphone incorporating high-end materials and advanced engineering to satisfy DJ’s needs.
The 90-degree swivel mechanism on both earcups creates high flexibility for single-sided monitoring. The silver-grey metallic finishing gives the ARCTIC SOUND P281 a professional look. Moreover, the folding design makes the ARCTIC SOUND P281 easy to store on the go. The coiled cable gives maximum flexibility when using it in a disco setting.
The ARCTIC SOUND P281 has an adjustable and padded headband to provide excellent listening comfort. Leather lining and soft cushions on the earcups provide secure fit and allow the headset to rest on the ears comfortably.
The superior output power and highly sensitive 50mm drivers make the ARCTIC SOUND P281 suitable to use in disco surrounding. For connections to all kinds of devices, the headset features a 3.5mm gold-plated jack and is equipped with a 6.3mm adapter.
Specifications
| Dimensions (Packaging) | 221 L x 102 W x 223 H mm |
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| Frequency Response (Hz-kHz) | 20-22 |
| Sensitivity (dB/mW) | 109 |
| Impedance (ohm) | 32 |
| Driver Unit (Ømm) | 50 |
| Output Power (mW) | 50 |
| Plug | Gold-plated 3.5 / 6.3mm adapter |
| Cable (m) | 2.5 |
| Limited Warranty | 2 years |
| itemnumber | ORACO-ER023-GBA01 |
| UPC | 0872767003521 |
| Weight | 0.57 kg |
For more information please visit Arctic Cooling’s website …
A Closer Look
The Arctic Sound P281 is a no-frills headphones. No volume control, no bass boost or any other EQ features. It’s a headphone designed for DJs … and yes, it’s a headphone so that means no microphone (only headsets come with microphones). I thought I’d let you know … just in case.
Verdict and Conclusion
So, what DJ Saul say about these headphones? Well, he was pretty pleased with the sound quality from the 50mm audio drivers, however … he did say that the bass was a little over-powering. The highs and mid-ranges are crisp and clear, with very little distortion at high volumes … which is good. He also liked the 90-degree swivel mechanism, which he said helped him monitor audio tracks much easier. The coiled cable and the gold-plated 3.5mm jack, along with the 6.3mm adaptor are things, which he expects to be included. As for comfort, he was pretty happy with the earcups, but not overly excited. He said that after wearing the P281 for several hours, during his radio shows and club sessions … there was some mild discomfort, but nothing major.
When I asked if the Arctic Sound P281 could qualify as a professional headphone for DJ use … he kindly smiled and declined to comment. He did say that a decent pair of professional DJ headphones can cost in excess of USD $80 and more. If you check out brands like Sennheiser, Shure, Denon, Stanton, Technics … then you’ll know what he means.
Apart from using the headphones for professional DJ use …you can, of course use the P281 as a standard headphones for listening to your favorite audo tracks … whether they’re MP3s or vinyl (does anyone know what vinyl records are these days :P). I tested it on my iPhone for listening to all my MP3 tracks, and I have to say … it wasn’t bad at all. But the thing is, you don’t get any volume controls, track selection or microphone. Remember, the P281 is just a headphone and not a headset.
There is one thing I would like to point out … the Arctic Sound P281 is shockingly affordable, costing only USD $26.00 (GBP 18.00). So at this price, you can’t really complain. It does a great job of producing good quality, hi-fidelity sound, with crisp highs and deep bass. It may not be the choice of the professional DJ … but for beginners and novice DJs, it should be more than enough.
Final words. All-in-all, I think the Arctic Sound P281 is a fairly decent headphone for general use. It’s extremely affordable and produces good sound quality for listening to MP3s, watching movies, and it should be more than enough for any home AV systems. For DJ use however, it’s probably more suited for the beginner and novice, rather than for professional DJs.
SCORE
6.5/10
