I do know what you’re pondering: “Isn’t Fender a guitar firm?” It positive is, and has been one of the iconic names in guitars and amplifiers since 1946. So what’s the firm doing making headphones and audio system? Properly, it isn’t, precisely. Like Zound Industries used to do with Marshall (earlier than shopping for the amp enterprise), one other firm is licensing the Fender title for its client audio merchandise. Fender Audio, the model that’s on the headphones I’m reviewing, is owned by the Fender Company, however Riffsound oversees the design and manufacturing of transportable audio gear.
The primary merchandise from Fender Audio are the Combine headphones and the Elie speaker (in two sizes). The corporate revealed these in January earlier than correctly displaying them off at CES. I’ll get to these audio system in just a few weeks, however the Combine headphones are first up on the evaluation docket.
With the Combine, Fender Audio seeks to supply a set of premium over-ear, noise-canceling headphones at a cheaper price than the likes of Sony, Bose and Sennheiser. There’s additionally marathon battery life, a number of good design touches, a lossless Bluetooth transmitter and swappable elements that mix for a novel components to tackle these large names. I’m truthfully impressed that Fender Audio might cram all of that in a extra inexpensive bundle, however the remaining verdict on the Combine isn’t so simple.
Fender Audio/Engadget
Fender Audio’s first set of headphones makes a powerful preliminary impression, however a deft hand with tuning and a few added utility would’ve made them even higher.
Execs
- Sensible design touches
- Prepared for lossless streaming
Cons
- Bass-heavy inventory tuning
- Lacks trendy options like put on detection and head gestures
What’s good concerning the Fender Combine headphones?
Fender Audio made quite a few good design selections on the Combine headphones, and so they resulted in my favourite issues about utilizing them. To start out, you may swap out the ear pads, ear cups and headband as you see match. The ear cups connect to the scarf by way of USB-C ports, so that they’re simple to snap on and off. Clearly, this lets you change the look of the Combine over time, inside the bounds of Fender’s out there colours.
Beneath the ear pads, Fender put a storage slot for the lossless dongle on the left facet and offers you entry to the detachable battery on the best. I’m thrilled that I can get pleasure from increased high quality Bluetooth connectivity with out having to recollect to carry alongside such a small accent. Plus, it’s good to know that customers will be capable of set up a contemporary battery, supplied the corporate sells these sooner or later.
I additionally get pleasure from how Fender Audio designed the onboard controls. First, they’re bodily buttons, that are all the time my choice over touch- or gesture-based choices. Second, the principle one is a five-way joystick, so that they’re quite simple. Press it to play/pause, press and maintain for pairing mode or press longer to energy on or off. In case you push the joystick up or down, you may regulate the quantity, whereas transferring it left and proper skips the monitor ahead or backward. You too can push down twice to allow Auracast pairing proper on the headphones. A second button, which is simply the common type, is used to cycle by noise canceling modes: ANC, transparency and each off.
The lossless Bluetooth dongle contained in the left ear cup (Billy Steele for Engadget)
Sonically, the Combine headphones are on the peak of their powers in lossless mode, which is enabled by the Bluetooth dongle hidden contained in the ear cup. Bass tuning that’s in any other case overpowering normally is restrained, and you’ll decide up finer particulars within the extra balanced combine. When listening to Watchhouse’s Rituals, I received the sense that I used to be surrounded by the band, with strings, drums and vocals enveloping my ears with sound — reasonably than it merely being projected from the left and proper channels. There’s extra nuance with the lossless mode, and it stored calling me again to the Combine headphones on the instances after I’d in all probability go for the conveniences of earbuds or a speaker.
ANC efficiency is respectable, though it’s not on the extent of Bose. It’s adequate to dam out mild-to-moderate distractions, but it surely struggles with louder human voices and sudden jolts of noise. It is going to actually do the job within the workplace or espresso store, however you could discover some sounds invade your ears throughout a commute. For calls, transparency mode supplies pure sound and it picks up sufficient of my voice that I by no means felt the necessity to shout. Name high quality, although, is a special matter (extra on that in a bit).
One other large perk of the Combine is its lengthy battery life. Fender Audio says you’ll rise up to 52 hours with ANC on or a whopping 100 hours with it off. The corporate is forthcoming with the truth that the latter quantity is achieved at 50 p.c quantity, which will probably be too low for many “common” use. Nonetheless, with noise canceling enabled and the quantity round 70 p.c, I had 52 p.c battery left after almost 30 hours of use. I spent most of that point with both ANC or transparency mode on.
What’s not so good concerning the Fender Combine?
The five-way joystick and ANC button on the Fender Combine (Billy Steele for Engadget)
Out of the field, Fender Combine’s tuning is simply too bass heavy. I notice lots of people desire a thundering low-end tone out of their headphones, however I discovered it to be too overpowering right here. The inventory sound profile is my largest challenge with this mannequin, though it’s considerably alleviated through the use of the lossless Bluetooth dongle. In that mode, the bass is barely subdued, but it surely’s nonetheless fairly distinguished at instances when it shouldn’t be.
On that Watchhouse album, the kick drum begins to drive the sound, reasonably than the guitars, mandolin and different devices. Once I take heed to the identical songs on different headphones, I’ve seen a greater mix of drums and strings. With extra intense genres, just like the hardcore riffs and breakdowns of Incendiary’s Product of New York, the booming bass isn’t as a lot of a difficulty. The distorted guitars nonetheless reduce by, and there’s loads of texture of their tone. And when every tune hits its climax, the cranked up lows provide additional oomph. It really works for steel, but it surely isn’t all the time good for bluegrass, jazz and synth-laiden digital tunes the place the additional bass can muddy the combo.
The Fender Combine additionally lacks lots of the good options which are current in premium headphones right this moment, which might be how the corporate is ready to promote them for $299. Issues like automated EQ tweaks and adaptive ANC are lacking, as is automated pausing whenever you converse or issues like head gestures. These headphones don’t have put on detection both, so that they don’t pause the audio whenever you take them off. There’s additionally no app out there to dial within the EQ or regulate different settings (it’s coming quickly).
These headphones solely have two microphones for calls, and you’ll inform nearly immediately that these are inadequate. Regardless of claims of “crystal clear calls,” your voice will simply sound okay to the individual on the opposite finish. Actually, I’d’ve sounded higher simply utilizing my iPhone with no headphones. The Combine works to get your voice throughout, however don’t dream of dialing right into a podcast recording with them. What’s extra, the Combine isn’t good at blocking background noise, so that you’ll want to make use of them in a quiet location to have an opportunity at sounding first rate. Which, once more, is about the most effective these headphones can muster.
Whereas the modular design permits for an honest diploma of customization, the additional elements you’ll want aren’t on sale but. What’s extra, solely two colours — white, which is basically extra of a lightweight grey, and black — are at the moment out there. So, for now, one of many perks of the Combine stays untapped.
Wrap-up
The Fender Combine headphones (Billy Steele for Engadget)
There’s so much to love concerning the Fender Combine, from the intelligent design decisions to the crisp, detailed sound. The shortage of finesse with the bass tuning and the omission of superior options, notably the absence of an app for settings modifications, retains these headphones firmly planted within the midrange class.
Clearly that’s not what the corporate is aiming for with instruments just like the lossless Bluetooth dongle, however that’s the place it lands for me on the finish of the day. So, at $299, the Combine is a tricky name when a $250 price ticket would make these a neater promote. Certain, there’s sufficient right here to make these a succesful day by day audio accent, however not the whole lot I’d have to name them a should purchase.
