I have a confession.

I’ve always used shitty headphones.

For the past few years, I’ve been listening to music either through stock Apple “earphones” or really cheap, noise-cancelling Sony headphones. It’s just never been a priority to me…which is weird because I really love listening to music. During that time, I found the best place to listen to my favorite bands was in the car (the 2005 Honda Element has a surprisingly awesome sound system). I could turn it up really loud and actually feel the bass.

My friend Brian had been telling me to get higher quality headphones for years. I was just passing it off as an unnecessary purchase. I figured my headphones were working just fine. After thinking it over and finally wanting to see what the big deal was, I finally caved and bought these thinksound ts02 “in-ear high definition” headphones.

I’m not a professional. I honestly don’t know a thing about headphones (or audio really). I knew that I needed something that actually differentiated highs, lows, mids, and bass. And I knew that I didn’t want massive “over-the-head,” DJ-esque headphones. I just wanted something that sounded good and didn’t look stupid in my ears. Again, my friend Brian came to the rescue and recommended these thinksound headphones.

The headphones look nice. They’re actually made of wood. I chose to get the “Black Chocolate” color. It came with a tiny carrying bag and 4 differently sized pairs of ear fittings. I had never shoved headphones like this into my ears before. You literally have to shove them in there like ear plugs. It was a difficult thing to get used to, but eventually I realized that it works nicely as “natural” noise cancelling.

As for their quality, they’re awesome! It’s nice to easily distinguish different instruments and hear everything clearly and crisply. So far, with what I’ve listened to, every genre of music plays great. I’ve listened to everything from John Coltrane to Sharon Van Etten to Wu-Tang Clan to Cloud Nothings. I find myself noticing new things about songs that I’ve been listening to forever. I’m now able to hear whispering before the song starts, or a chair creaking in the background, or instruments I didn’t even know were in there.

One thing I’ve found slightly annoying is that the bass can sometimes be a bit overwhelming. I’ve had moments where I had to change the song because I felt like my head was going to explode.

At $79.99, I feel like they’re a bit expensive. Other than that and the bass, I don’t see any other negatives. But I really don’t have anything to even compare them to. For a person that knows absolutely nothing about headphones and just needs something that sounds and looks great, the thinksound ts02 are a really good choice.

8.5/10