Philips recently introduced their latest flagship headphones made in-collaboration with international Dutch DJ legend Armin van Buuren. Armin gave Philips the knowledge of what’s important for a professional DJ that’s constantly on the move. We are honoured to have been given the chance to lay our hands on this pair of exclusive on-ear headphones – the A5-PRO DJ Headphones. The design architecture of the headphones is based on comfort and long lasting performance. The headphones made its debut at a private Miami Winter Music Conference performance with Armin showing off the headphones to the crowd.
The headphones did not come in any nifty packaging such as those like Jabra or Razer unfortunately. It would have been nice to see a more robust and concrete packaging for these precious. The A5-PRO is encased in a normal slip-case box. Unboxing reveals the A5-PRO neatly folded in the center of the packaging. A 3.5mm jack detachable coil cable (coil section extends to 4.7m), 6.35mm mono jack plug adapter, user manual and a carrying bag is included in the packaging.
You can feel the luxurious design and build quality of the headphones. The leather headband alongside hand-stitched finishes on the headband projects the quality of hand crafted perfection. The hinges and joints at the earcups and headbands are made of hard anodized-aluminium construction. You might be intimidated by the crackling sounds that it makes when you swivel the earcups 90 degrees into position. But fret not, as these pair of headphones are made to last while on the move. The thick hinges are robust and strong and definitely worth the money you paid for. If you’re a traveller like Armin, you will love how these pair of headphones fold up into a compact size which you can fit into bag or backpack without taking up much space. The letters “L” and “R” are engraved onto the left and right hand side of the earcups, if this is a feature that floats your boat.
The Philips A5-PRO features a 50mm high-definition neodynium drivers made to handle 3500mW of maximum high power. Philips also boasts about the dual sided locking cable inputs. You can easily plug the cable in on either side of the earcups. You have to match the pattern of the jack before plugging it in, as this locks in the cable to prevent the cable from coming off when your hands are busy on the spin table. The comfortable leather ear cushions are replaceable as well.
Putting it to the test, some HD audio ought to be played to do these pair of headphones some justice. The moment you place these earphones around your ears, you will immediately feel the noise cancelling effect. The first thing I played was Luigi’s Headphone Test on YouTube. It is used to test your hearing ability as well as the 3D sound effect. You can really feel the difference of audio produced from the headphones. Audio is crystal clear, there is enough depth in bass and it does give you that cinematic audio experience.
The A5-PRO is able to handle a minimum of 10Hz to a maximum of 24,000Hz of frequency range. Sensibility of the A5 is 105dB at 1mW and it has an impedance of 16 Ohm. Different genre of HD audio was also played such as pop, acoustic, rock and classical. I would say, you wouldn’t want to take it off your ears once they’re on and music starts playing. Its really is an enjoyable music experience that you won’t be able to get from a pair of normal headphones. Amazing enough, these headphones don’t heat up after hours of usage and it doesn’t feel heavy on the head even though it weighs 370 grams.
Competitors might step up to the challenge, but for now, the robust and compact features of these DJ headphones will lead the pack.The A5-PRO is in a league of its own and if you can afford the price, I suggest you invest in one for an exhilarating music listening experience.
