Expert Review by David Solomon
Music of Jah People!
The Marley Exodus on ear headphones boasts the name of the legend’s most celebrated recording. I was hopeful that these headphones would live up to the name. In many ways, they do!
The Fit & Finish
The House of Marley Exodus EM-FH003-HA is one of the most unique headphones I’ve ever worn. To be quite honest, I am not at all a fan of the headband design. The belt-like look of headband is unique but the elastic part of the headband ultimately exerts far too much pressure on my larger-than-average size head. The headband can be slightly loosened through some gentle hand pulling, but even this exercise will not make this headphone a comfortable choice for larger heads. The ear pads are plush, but small and rest on the ear. The overall look of the headphones is one of uniqueness and rugged antiquity. The cable has an apple remote and microphone embedded into Y intersection (a bit lower than many competitors that embed the microphone at about chin length). The call quality still showed to be perfectly fine and I enjoyed having the remote at the Y intersection rather than next to my chin.
The cable has the signature Rastafarian pattern and is cloth sleeved, but like other House of Marley headphones, shows to be extremely microphonic…that is you can hear vibrations when the cable is touched.
The headphones ship with very nice canvas pouch which snaps to seal. The canvas pouch is a nice touch which adds to the rugged charm of this very unique-looking headphone. It is worth mentioning however that while the headphones are fairly small in size, they do not fold up for storage or travel.
All About The Sound
This is where they get it right, mostly. In terms of celebrity-endorsed headphones, these are among the best I’ve yet had the pleasure of hearing, especially at their price point. Make no mistake, these headphones are quite warm and offer a whole lot of bass, but the overall tone is very natural sounding and a lot of fun. One thing that is very important to mention is that the sound of the EM-FH003-HA is very dependent on the placement of the earcup, more so than is typical of headphones; even the slightest movement can alter the sound of the headphone quite a bit.
The Good
- Really warm, but lively sound. Very natural sounding, particularly with male vocals where extra body can enhance the tone.
- Extra bass punch adds a lot of fun and visceral impact to the sound.
- Lush mids which add depth and clarity to the sound.
- Sounds full and alive right out of the iPod/iPhone and other portable devices.
The Bad
- The extra bass impact, body and warmth may be a bit too robust for some music listeners looking for a more neutral tonality.
- Due to the on-ear design and tight fit, the soundstage is not as large as some other offerings.
- The treble rolls off a tad prematurely, adding a little cloudiness at times to some warmly mastered recordings.
Listening to Jamiroquai’s “Virtual Insanity”, I was very pleased to hear the bass be so full and punchy without intruding on the vocal. Typically headphones which offer such robust bass, cannot help but have the bass intrude in other areas of the mix, specifically vocals, where clarity is essential to the enjoyment of the music.
Listening to Marley’s own “Exodus”, the sound showed to be a match made in well… heaven! The hard-panned guitar reverb which opens the track and quickly mixes with the organ sounded almost live to my ears. By the time the bass and percussion dropped in, I considered it already one of the best listens I’ve ever had of Marley straight out of the iPod. When very deep bass frequencies are on a recording, the Exodus headphones can effortless reproduce them in subwoofer fashion. It certainly did so here.
Listening to U2’s “Bullet the Blue Sky” I found the bass response to be a bit too robust. I felt the kick drum sounded weighted and restrained, rather than punchy and aggressive. I would have preferred less subwoofer bass here.
Listening to “Take Care” by Drake featuring Rihanna, I was surprised by how well these handled hip hop; it handled hip hop better than many Beats headphones; much better! The beat was slammin’ and the vocals, both Drake’s rap and Rihanna’s sing were clear and well defined.
Listening to Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” one of the ultimate bass grooves, the sound was awesome! The snare and bass, so tightly locked on the recording, sounded like huge with each passing thump. The snap of the snare accompanied by the underlying bass groove always makes me think of quickly falling guillotines of sound. The Exodus had the right amount of weight on the bottom, a clean midrange, and a natural treble presence which all in all, demonstrated the groove in a very impactful way.
Listening to “Groovin’ High” as performed by the Keith Jarrett Trio from their ‘Whisper Not’ album, I was wishing for a bit less sub-bass. The piano had great depth however, and the notes were able to move quickly without the sense of murk. The transient response is actually very good for a headphone of this nature. The overhead mics on the drum kit were easier to place than is typical of on-ear headphones.
Last Word
With a name like Exodus, the EM-FH003-HA’s have a lot to live up to. The sound quality is certainly on par with higher priced celebrity offerings from Beats by Dr. Dre and Soul by
Ludacris. With this in mind, the Exodus is an enormous success. The fit and comfort of the headband will depend very much on the size of your head, and in my opinion this is a bit problematic, as for me, I would not be able to enjoy using these for long listening periods. I wish the manufacturer would reconsider the tension of the elastic material used in the headband design.The Exodus Headphones is one of the best on-ear offerings to be found under the umbrella of celebrity-endorsed headphones when it comes to sound; however for me specifically comfort was an issue with a big negative impact on the overall rating. Others with normal sized heads (yes, mine is giant) didn’t seem to have as much discomfort as I did with these headphones, however none were real big fans of the elastic band. Everyone, however agreed that these are one of the best sounding celebrity headphones at any price point.
Rating Chart at Price Point
| Sound Quality | 9 (emphasized bass) |
| Design & Features | 7.5 |
| Comfort | 6 |
| Isolation | 6 (passive) |
| Portability | 7 |
| Value | 8.5/10 |
For measurements and details of this headphone’s performance, please fe
el free to download this informative data sheet, generously supplied by our friends at innerfidelity.com. This download provides a series of graphs detailing the headphone’s unique frequency response, isolation ability, impedance and phase characteristics, Total Harmonic Distortion characteristics as well as other headphone-specific measurements.
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