Pro Tone m250

Good Gear Guide

Not a company usually known for its audio prowess, Razer has released a pair of over-the-ear headphones for digital music players. The Pro Tone m250 headphones, while offering decent sound, suffer from noticeable brightness and an uncomfortable design that can become painful during long listening sessions.

Pros

  • Distinct separation between musical instruments

Cons

  • Bass lacks detail, high frequencies sound tinny, the overall sound is too bright, they're uncomfortable to wear

Bottom Line

The poor audio quality of these headphones, combined with the uncomfortable design, doesn't make them desirable. There are better portable headphones on the market.

Would you buy this?

  • Price

    $ 39.99 (AUD)

As a company that typically specialises in gaming peripherals, we weren't expecting huge things from Razer on the audio front and, unfortunately, the m250 didn't surpass our expectations. Despite being advertised as having "deeply enhanced bass specifically engineered for digital players", we found the bass to be of poor quality. Very low frequencies were produced, but overall, the bass lacked proper detail as subtle frequencies weren't audible.

Furthermore, the bass was overshadowed by the rather bright mid-range and high-range frequencies. These also lacked detail and weren't well controlled, which gave them a very tinny sound. There was also a noticeable harshness in the high-range frequencies, which made listening somewhat unpleasant.

Instrumental separation and placement was quite good, with prominent distinction between different sections in the music, but this wasn't enough to make up for the overly bright and muddy sound. Audiophiles will be unimpressed by the overall sound quality of these headphones.

The m250's design was also displeasing. Each headphone has a fairly standard over-the-ear clip, which is quite a popular style these days. However, Razer has built it with moveable ear clips that snap into place once you put them on. In theory this helps keep them in place, but in practice it winds up putting unnecessary pressure on your ears, which quickly gets painful. A design such as that found on the Koss KSC-75 headphones, with simple rubber clips that slide easily behind the ears, is much more effective. It's hard to recommend headphones that can't be worn for long periods of time.

Aesthetically the m250 headphones have a metallic silver and white motif that makes them stand out from the crowd. The cable length that's provided by Razer is a little short. Tall people may struggle to wear these headphones properly with their music player located in their pants' pocket.

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