NOCS NS400 Titanium Earphones With Remote & Mic: White [REVIEW]

Having recently reviewed the impressive NOCS NS200 Aluminum earphones, we decided to test drive a slightly better offering from the same company, the NS400 Titanium earphones which also carry a dedicated mic and remote, compatible with most iPhone and iPod models. Full review after the break!

Features:

• Speaker: 8.0 mm dynamic
• Diaphragm: Titanium coated
• Sensitivity: 106 dB SPL @ 1 kHz
• Impedance: 16 Ohm @ 1 kH
• Frequency: 20 Hz – 20 kHz
• Housing: Titanium
• Cord length: 1.2 m
• 1 year replacement warranty

Price:

$89 at the following NOCS resellers in Canada:

• Amazon.ca
• Hudson News
• LS Travel
• MyMacDealer
• WestWorld Computers

For resellers worldwide, click here.

Review:

Like every NOCS product, the NS400 have also been designed in Sweden. While maintaining the same form factor as the NS200, these earbuds are housed in durable machined titanium instead of aluminum. Like the NS200, these are shipped in a neat rectangular box which carries the NS 400 earphones, 6 pairs of extra ear tips i.e 2x small, 2x medium and 2x large as well as a shirt clip.

Our NS400 review unit was white but you can also get these in black color. The minimalistic design is once again fairly attractive and highly comfortable. While the smooth titanium finish sure feels great, it also gives them the look of a more expensive earphone. The removable silicon tips are transparent white while the cord and the Remote / Mic have a solid white color, much like the Apple’s own earbuds.

The Remote / Mic module is once again situated at the perfect height and consists of 3 circular buttons. You can pause, play and skip tracks in addition to controlling your earphones volume with the remote. The mic worked as good as the NS200 in our tests.

Coming to the quality of sound that comes out of these titanium earbuds, I must say I’m impressed. If you look at the specs of NS400, they have a slightly higher sensitivity rating (106 dB) than the NS200 (95 dB) which means they are louder than the aluminum earbuds for sure. But do they actually sound better than the cheaper NS200? The answer is, yes they do!

Out of the box, they sound very similar to the NS200 but after a burn in period of 20 hours or so, they truly begin to shine. As a matter of fact, the bass response is much more accurate than the NS200. The mids are clear and highs are slightly less harsh than the NS200. For those wondering, I mostly tested these with my Trance collection including tracks from DJ Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren, Paul Van Dyk and David Guetta, all downloaded at 320kbps on MOG.

Conclusion:

In addition to a few entry level ear buds from Sony and Creative, I also own a pair of Westone UM2 dual-driver tru fit earphones with Comply foam tips. Of course they produce an amazing sound but you get that at 3x the cost of NS400. It won’t be fair to compare the two but tell you what, the NS400 sure has the ability to beat any decent pair of earbuds of the same price range in style, comfort and most importantly, the quality of sound.