The Numark Red Wave headphones offer a lot for the cash - but how do they sound and feel? And how will they stand up to abuse from clumsy handed DJs?
There’s lots of choice in DJ headphones, especially at the budget-to-mid part of the market. Nowadays it is possible to find headphones that look similar to the pro models costing US$200 or more, but for well under US$100. That’s where the budget Numark Red Wave headphones fit it. To the untrained eye, they look no different to many far more expensive pairs.
Big, bold (they’re red, silver and shiny gloss black) and with a number of features that should appeal directly to many types of DJ, these therefore appear to be a good contender for those who can’t afford one of the higher-end models. Let’s take a closer look.
Unboxing and first impressions
In the box is the headset itself (folded into moulded plastic), plus a box containing “cable and accessories” – that means the cable and a standard soft carrying bag.
The cable is straight (ie not coiled) and is detachable, with an 1/8″ TRS on one end and a dual 1/4″ and 1/8″ TRS on the other, so it will work with MP3 players and their smaller headphones sockets as well as with DJ gear.
I’d rather have seen a coiled cable. Coiled cables are great for DJing…
The cable is plenty long enough, roughly eight foot at a guess. However, the end that plugs into the headphones is moulded to fit snugly in a certain way, meaning that while there’s no chance it would accidentally come out, it can be set to come out if yanked hard – probably a good thing, because that means if someone trips on your cable while you’re playing, it’ll pull out rather than snap or break. Alternatively, a quick twist and it’ll stay in no matter how hard you pull on it.
I’d rather have seen a coiled cable. Coiled cables are great for DJing because when you’re stood right by your gear, they coil up and don’t get under your feet, but they still give you the option to walk away from the equipment without removing your headphones should you wish.
The Numark Red Waves fold up small and tuck neatly into the supplied bag.
The headphones feel quite light for the size. The headband is bendy steel covered with grey and red plastic padding that’s stitched on.
The earcups and swivel connectors are in moulded silver-effect plastic, similar to the Sony MDR-700s in look although functioning in a slightly different way. The earcups have striking brushed silver Numark jogwheel logos on a black background, a gloss black plastic ring around the back, the ear-side section being stitched black leather with a red detail. The internal covers for the 50mm drivers are padded.
The earcups tuck up into the headphones for transporting, can fold 180 degrees vertically to point outwards for single-ear monitoring, and they also swivel 90 degrees backwards.
The quality is as you might expect for phones in this price range – there is a lot of silver plastic, but there are also some nice details, and the leather – while certainly not the quality of the best DJ headphones – is OK.
They are comfortable to wear, with a good two inches of adjustment possible on each side to fit your head. While the ‘phones apply reasonable pressure to the ears, this is countered by the soft and comfortable earcups, and also bodes well for proper isolation from outside noise in use.
In use
I tested the headphones in our studio using the Novation Twitch, a controller not known for its loud headphones output. I used a 320kbps MP3 of the track Garden by Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – a warm-sounding house track – as my test music.
I happened to have two other pairs of headphones nearby: the smaller Allen & Heath Xone XD-40s, and a pair of similarly sized but more expensive headphones, the Reloop RHP-20s.
The Numark Red Wave headphones plugs: There's an adaptor so you can use them with MP3 players as well as DJ gear.
Compared to the Xone XD-40s, the sound was fuller and the isolation from the outside world more complete. The Xones sounded punchier, with the Numark headphones having a more muted, comfortable sound. With their bigger earcups and superior padding, the Red Waves were also more comfortable.
Compared to the Reloops, the Red Wave headphones had similar sounding mids and highs (ie a little tailed off and muted, but still with enough clarity for easy manual beatmatching), but the bass response on the Reloops was truer. The bass sounded boomier on the Red Waves compared to a more natural sounding bass response from the Reloops. Both felt equally good regarding how well they isolated the outside world, but the Reloops had softer, superior leather and stronger, higher quality hinges.
Conclusion
The Numark Red Waves look striking (you’ll either love them or hate them, but if you have say the NS6 or the NS7, or even the Vestax Typhoon, they’ll match up pretty nicely with your gear), are comfortable to wear, and sound OK for the price. They are sensitive enough to give you decent volume, and isolated enough for you hopefully to never need to turn everything up to 10.
They offer good value, and would be fine for home use and occasional public gigs.
I’d have preferred a coiled cable, and for me there’s a question mark over how strong the hinges are (this is always a weak spot with headphones and I’ve broken a few pairs with a similar design of hinge in my time).
Overall, they offer good value, and would be good for home use and occasional public gigs. If you were playing night after night with them I think you’d end up accidentally breaking them in the end, but you can’t expect true pro quality at this price.
For what you pay, they’re a decent set of semi-pro DJ headphones and a step up from smaller-drivered and cheaper phones.
Video
Summary
We like:
- Striking looks
- Detachable cable
- Comfortable
- Mids and highs clear but not harsh
We don’t like:
- Straight cable (coiled would be better)
- Plastic swivels are a weak spot
- Bass is a little boomy
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Product details:
Size & weight: 50mm drivers, 0.6lb (0.29kg)
Price: US$66
Buy from: Amazon.com
What do you think?
Have you got or are you considering the Numark Red Wave headphones? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Now go to:
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Tags: budget headphones, dj headphones, headphones, numark
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
I’ll stick with my HD-25′s, senns are always a sure bet. However, looks nice if you want lookers but the boomy bass would be a dealbreaker for me since accurate bass is a must for solid mixing.
[ link ]I wouldn’t say it’s boomy enough to affect mixing, just in comparision with the Reloops. The bass is certainly a lot better than the Xone XD-40s, which I use as my main headphones for smaller gigs, so I’d say it’s fine for mixing.
[ link ]I bought a pair of these and thought they sounded pretty good. But the bass in them sounds a bit drawn out. Not as punchy as I’d like. But great headphones in this price range. If you can spend just a little more get the pioneer DJT-1000′s.
[ link ]Phil, thank you for this review!
It looks like almost all headphones for the price bellow $100 have poor/inaccurate bass and/or low volume level e.g. Beyerdynamic DTX 800 or Behringer HPX4000.
I have no idea what to choose within this price range ($50-100). Could you recommend any please?
[ link ]If your lucky, amazon.com sometimes has the Sony MDR-V6′s on sale for about 67-98 dollars.
They are AWESOME headphones that are very durable. Off sale they are $100+ Headphones.
[ link ]Thank you!
[ link ]I have been using the Technichs 1210 headphones for 10 years. My current pair for almost 7 years. I wouldn’t really even consider something like these. You’re better off spending more up front and getting something that will be a workhorse for years to come.
They also look crap and toy-like/gimmicky in my opinion.
My next cans will be Sen HD-25′s.
[ link ]I have a pair of these that I have for a backup. I’d have to agree that for the money, you can’t go wrong with these headphones. One annoying thing about them though from my experience is that when you have them off and just resting on your shoulders, they tend to squeeze up at your face, limiting head movement. I find myself taking them off completely when they’re not needed and putting them back on a lot because of this.
[ link ]I bought those headphones a year ago and love em!! I don’t use them for critical listening situations. I use them at my gigs to cue tracks. Work great, love the straight cable and they did not fall apart like my Sony 700s did. I highly reccomend these cans. Very nice.
[ link ]I just bought these headphones about a week ago and they came in this saturday. So far I love them like you said I wish that the cord was coiled, and not so long. Another thing I don’t like about these headphones is that your ears get really sweaty from the leather. I like the bass on these things, but the highs could use a little tweaking. I give it a solid 8.0 nice comfortable, portable, and afordable ( amazon.com has them cheaper than any where else I have seen) btw I loveeee that song Garden by T.e.e.d
-DJ Grief
[ link ]Henry H.
LOL, Phil sure does love his Novation Twitch!
I have a pair of Numark Red Waves as well as the Sony MDR-V700s and A&H Xone HD-53′s. The Numarks are definitely boomier and overall more “muffled” than the higher-priced models, and I would not use them for studio work as they just don’t seem that true to me; too much low-end and not enough mid-to-high end. However, they do punch through in a live gig/loud room situation, and they look supa-cool while doing it, so that’s exactly where I use ‘em.
[ link ]“Phil sure does love his novation twitch” LMAOOOO its true
[ link ]Only $65 on Amazon. Great Deal!
[ link ]great review as always Phil…if you had to choose, would you prefer the Re-Loop or the Numarks?
[ link ]Unfair comparision as the Reloops cost twice the amount.
[ link ]Heyy
Currently mixing with a cheap pair of Senn HD 210s; looking at upgrading.
Redwaves look prety sick, but is it worth it? (i’m an Electro House/Dubstep DJ, so good bass is a must)
[ link ]I’d say until your Senns break, no – and then go for a pro pair – start saving now!
[ link ]Hi phil. Currently using the Numark HF125 headphones for bedroom djing that came with my mixtrack pro. Will I notice a massive difference if I upgrade to Red Waves or not? Im looking for some headphones £100 or less, but some with a bit of personality too, not just plain. What would you recommend?
[ link ]Sam
Yes, you would – the HF125s are too cheap to be considered a serious DJing headphone.
[ link ]Hello There,
Using this headphones for 3 months now and i have to say that for this price they are really really good!
Negative parts:
Sounds a bit dubby(boomier than normal)
Sitting a bit strangly on the neck.(I got used to it)
Isolation is not perfect.
Positive:
Value 4 money
The look Nice.
They Are very comfortable.
Built quality is very good for this price.(Dont agree with you Phil i dont see week spots,i dont think they will brake easilly)
Can use the with mp3,phones,pc(almost everything).
Detachable Cable.
Bottom line:if you not playing @ 140-150 db dub,dubstep,deep house,reggae(in general bass staff),with this headphones you have a great super cheap nice looking solution for just 70$.
[ link ]The hell is a jogwheel? Do you not know what a 45 snake looks like?
[ link ]