Samson Technologies isn't known for its high-end gear. What it releases isn't bad, to be sure, but those with unlimited funds might generally steer clear of the company's products in favor of tried and true brands like Shure or Korg. What Samson does offer are products that work well at a great price.
Despite this, the company has decided that its budget headphones aren't enough, and has announced a new line of headphones called the Z Series, which is the company's flagship line of headphones and has models ranging from the $69.99 Z25 to the $199.99 Z55. I was able to take a look at the high-end model, the Z55, which is aimed at delivering "all elements of the mix with exceptional detail and clarity."
Comfort And Design
Being the company's new flagship series, it makes sense that the new headphones would have a sleek new design. They certainly look a lot better than any other headphones from Samson that are currently available, offering an almost all-black look with chrome highlights. The plastic seems to be of high-quality, and looks great.
Of course, looks aren't really that important if the headphones don't feel great. I have to admit, when I first put the headphones on I didn't think I would be able to wear them for long before they got uncomfortable, but after a few hours of wearing I wasn't having any issues. This is perhaps owed to the real lambskin earpads that, according to the company, help with the "marathon mixing" sessions.
I was also pleasantly surprised with the extra stuff in the box. While most headphones, even professional ones, ship with one or maybe two audio cables, these headphones shipped with three. The first is a standard coiled cable, the second a straight cable, and the last one a straight cable with a microphone and button so that you can take a phone call through your mixing rig during the, you know, marathon mixing sessions.
Sound
Let's talk about the phrase "reference headphones" for a moment. It really doesn't mean anything. Any professional mixing engineer will tell you never to mix a song on headphones, and these headphones are no exception to that rule. Mixing engineers will, however, use different listening situations (such as a car, headphones, etc.) to reference their mix, but often this will include listening to low-quality equipment as much as high-quality equipment, considering the majority of consumers listen through their iPhone earbuds.
Having said that, there's no reason that these headphones can't be used in a studio situation, but again not as a main method of listening during a mixing situation.
The Samson Z55's are very clear, and while the bass is there, it's almost as if the company steered as clear away from muddiness as possible at the sacrifice of bass response. The midrange and high-end frequencies sound pretty good, but as is the case in plenty of other 40-mm headphones, the bass is lacking. Because of this, if you do intend on taking these headphones into the studio, don't listen for bass, as you'll end up pumping the bass way too loud for other sound systems.
This is characterized by the tech specs of the headphones, with Samson claiming that they have a frequency response between 10 Hz and 25 kHz. Now, technically the range of human hearing is between 20 Hz and 20 kHz, but when bass goes lower it can certainly be felt. The bass on my Shure headphones, which go down to 5Hz, is much more felt than the bass on these headphones.
As mentioned, however, once we get out of bass and low-mid territory, the headphones certainly hold their own. The sound is crisp and clear, if not a little too skewed in high-end frequencies.
In short: Muddy is not a word you would use to describe these headphones—crisp is. Warm is also not a word you would use, but clear might be.
Conclusions
The new Samson Z55 headphones are not bad headphones, but they're not totally accurate when it comes to frequency response. While you might not choose these for listening to bass response, or even bass-heavy music, for that matter, they are well-suited to other situations, like listening to other music and to listen for high-end clarity in a mix.
They don't offer the synthetic listening experience that Beats headphones do, but that's not necessarily a bad thing for many people. If you're looking for a new pair of cans for your daily listening, and you rarely or never listen to very bass-heavy music, these might be the headphones for you.
