Degauss Labs is a newcomer from Sweden. It seems like a caring company, with its website offering advice on burn-in processes and Android control apps. The Degauss Labs SPKRS headphones is the first product we've seen.
The company specialises in phone-friendly headphones: every product from its small range has microphones and buttons. Degauss caters for iOS and Android, although the SPKRS model has a single universal button.
This thoughtfulness extends to the selection of ear tips, which includes a tapering triple-flange option, intended to go right up to your brain. If that’s not your thing, there’s also a soft memory foam tip.
From the tangle-friendly flat cable to the coated aluminium bud, the SPKRS have a lovely design. The build quality is good, they’re solid yet light, and very comfortable to wear.
The sound, however, is a little disappointing. Degauss has intentionally aimed for “MASSIVE bass for today’s most popular music”, and we feel that they’ve overshot it. The low end dominates the performance and forces everything else to retreat to the background.
The bass itself is deep and relatively tight, but it comes at the not inconsiderable expense of clarity and articulation. The opening of Muse’s Panic Station is conveyed with a tremendous sense of energy and power, but everything else feels slightly blurry. The SPKRS also trip up a little when it comes to conveying changes in pace.
This is a shame, because there’s an impressive sense of scale, and just a little more balance would improve things significantly.
