Direct Sound EX-29 & EX-29 Plus Review
Extreme Isolation Headphones
Introduction
In this article, we delve into a detailed analysis of 2,652 user reviews from various languages worldwide to examine the Direct Sound EX-29 & EX-29 Plus. This analysis is performed by the RR artificial intelligence and updated daily with newly submitted reviews. The RR AI utilizes a complex algorithm to first scrutinize user reviews for credibility, filtering out unreliable ones. It then proceeds to dissect and evaluate the valuable insights within these reviews, providing users with ratings regarding the features of this product. Based on these assessments, users can make informed decisions about whether this product is suitable for them or not.
Ratings Based on Features
These results are a summary of user reviews of the Direct Sound EX-29 & EX-29 Plus. For example, 74% of 632 users who have commented on the Comfort of the Direct Sound EX-29 & EX-29 Plus have given positive feedback.
Highlighted Customer Reviews
Showing 1 to 20 of 37 Reviews
These are some of the best cans I've ever owned
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Headphones
Reviewed by Cory on Guitar Center
I read the other reviews here and noticed a couple guys saying the quality of construction on these things isn't very good. Worse yet, someone said the customer service is bad! This couldn't be further from the truth. I've owned my pair for about a year now and it's undergone a LOT of abuse in that time. I work in film and TV production and due to the nature of my work, my gear gets knocked around a lot. These cans have been dropped, stepped on, sat on, crushed under a heavy 2k light during transport, slammed in a car door, and been exposed to dust, dirt, rain and extreme heat (115 degrees in Arizona) and come through it all with only minor problems (a seam on the headband padding split, and the glue on the ear pads melted in extreme heat), both of which were dealt with by the company the same day or the next day from when I emailed them. Best yet, every time I've emailed the company, the OWNER himself has been the one to respond. These guys make an extremely durable, comfortable, quality product and clearly care very much about their customers. If you have any kind of problem with yours, remember that there is a manufacturer warranty of one year and go ahead and contact them to get your troubles resolved. I use EX-29 Extreme Isolation headphones on every shoot I work and have no problem recommending them to anyone, especially people in my same line of work. They're comfortable enough to wear for long days on set (I often wear them for 12 hours or more at a time with only short breaks to prevent listening fatigue), durable enough to survive being sat on by a 300 pond grip (although I wouldn't recommend doing that on purpose), and the isolation is invaluable to hear just what your mics are hearing, without any outside distractions. Add in stellar customer service and a great warranty, and you have one seriously fine product, especially for the price point. ... More
Very low quality connector/cable
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Headphones
Reviewed by Hanuman on Guitar Center
These headphones are decent sounding, offer some isolation and have the lowest quality cables and connector I have ever seen. Expect zero support from the manufacturer. Expect to replace the mini-jack connector or the entire wiring.
Impressive
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Stereo Headphones
Reviewed by Elephant Tusk Killer on B&H Photo Video
I use this product for critical listening while mixing and for recording. As well as music listening. I live in an unfortunately noisy area and these headphones help ALOT in only hearing the mix, and also if you just need to concentrate. It's passive noise block is quite nice. Even though they felt strange the first time, I wore them for 3 hours straight and realized they were fantastic for long durations- I didn't even notice them after a few minutes. These headphones have impressive fidelity for the price. I realized I was hearing more detail than I ever had before with my Bose and that's why things sounded a little different. Only two downsides I can find. 1. They have a stronger bass end than other headphones I've tried (including Bose and Sennheiser) so that's something to keep in mind when mixing. But really not a big deal. Didn't change much for me. 2. They are larger than they look in the picture, and they fit very tight to your head the first few times. Very sound advice: set them on something your headsize or bigger when not wearing them to fit the default resting shape. ps. When I was researching these headphones before I purchased them, many people complained about the materials used (plastic). If they were anything other than plastic the headphones would be unbearably heavy. However, they are very definitely sturdy so don't worry about that at all. Plus, if you DO happen to throw them as hard as you can at a brick wall, they sell replacement parts and you can easily repair them yourself for cheap. Brilliant. ... More
good tracking headphones
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Stereo Headphones
Reviewed by quietdesperation on B&H Photo Video
these headphones do have very good isolation. i would not recommend them for mixing, but for tracking they are great. they not only do a great job cutting down drum noise in the room, but they also keep the cue mix from bleeding into vocal or acoustic guitar mics. they have a frequency bump in the 1k to 4k range, and the low mids/low end seem a little thin. this makes them sound very clear, and not muddy or boomy. i was a little disappointed with the quality of the headband. It is certainly not terrible, but not very impressive either. they are comfortable for long periods of time. i definitely recommend them. ... More
The best
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Headphones
Reviewed by AluminumPancake on Guitar Center
These are the best noise canceling headphones I've ever used. I play drums and it cancels enough noise to not have the drumming overpowering your music through headphones (which means you don't have to blast it as loud as possible in your ears to hear your music clearly), but it doesn't cut it out so much that you can't clearly hear how your drums are fitting in with the music you are playing. These are more than worth the money. I recommend them to anybody, musician or not.
Ads
How does the manufacturer carry these?
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Stereo Headphones
Reviewed by musicwumusic on B&H Photo Video
The isolation is not as extreme as I thought it would be, but good enough for monitoring quiet performances while in the same room. Sennheisers are probably better in audio quality but they don't isolate nearly as much as these. I wonder how the designers thought these headphones would be transported. There is no carrying pouch included. The wires are pretty thin at the earpieces (they join together for a more durable cable after a short length), and where they join at the earpieces, the reinforcing cap is solid and long, making them useless as they cannot flex, causing them to be easily warped from the housing and they are made of thin material at the cable end, which is dangerous as they can bite through the cable if it got pressed against it, which is very much possible since the caps point straight outward. Unless you get a molded case, I don't see how the wires to these headphones will last outside of a studio setting. ... More
Love these!
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Headphones
Reviewed by Stephanie Medlin on Guitar Center
I am such a big fan of these headphones. The sound quality, isolation and bleed control are far superior to any other big brand or celebrity endorsed headphone. I've had these for six months now and have never had any problems. They are lightweight and just tight enough on my head to stay put without giving me a headache. I will never buy anything else. The limited edition white EX-29's are also very sleek looking.
great ear protectors; great sound
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Headphones
Reviewed by Josh Mitteldorf on Guitar Center
I've used these daily for 5 years now. The drivers are highly efficient, and produce a lot of sound at modest power levels. Sound quality is impeccable. I use them at home for cutting out ambient noise, and take them with me in the car, on trains and airplanes. On trains and planes, I sometimes wear them just for peace and ear protection, without playing music. They're solidly built and durable. Every 2-3 years when the ear pads begin to wear, I send them back to Direct Sound for refurbishment. Wish list: (1) After several hours on an airplane, they begin to feel too tight around my ears. (2) They work best for blocking out the middle and high frequency noise. Meanwhile, electronic noise cancellation technology works well with the low frequencies. This is a great opportunity: Noise cancellation should be incorporated in Direct Sound's next product. ... More
Used in audiometry research...
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Stereo Headphones
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
We purchased these headphones for a quick research solution for binaural isolation...essentially we wanted to reduce air conduction audio presented to one ear from reaching the other ear. The headphones provided on average 50 dB of isolation for this purpose. This is a quality product. The audio output diminishes with higher frequencies (3000 Hz) due to the use of the physically larger speakers (with greater mass). ---Physics rules so don't complain!--- These headphones will easily exceed safe sound levels (NIOSH criteria).
Exactly what I needed
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Stereo Headphones
Reviewed by Ronald on B&H Photo Video
I wanted a way to filter out the ambient noise and listen to my camcorder audio track. I wasn't happy with ear buds. Active noise canceling headphones are great for background hum (like airplane motors or lawn mowers) but are useless for sharp noises or people talking. Regular headphones were marginally adequate. I decided to give these a try, and they work great. Some small amount of outside noise still gets through (you can't help that), but I can now very clearly hear what the camcorder is actually recording.
Surprisingly good
Direct Sound EX29 Extreme Isolation Studio Headphones
Reviewed by Alan B. on Reverb
These were not bought thinking of high quality mixing, they were bought for there sound isolation -- and that they do wonderfully. Drummers love them. I love them for singers who need a loud click track (won't bleed into the mic). They sound fine but will not replace my $500 Sennheisers for any mixing decsions. I like the spectral lows/highs balance MUCH better than the Sony classics, which are much to bright for my ears. They give your head a pretty good squeeze, but not terrible. They have to do that for the isolation. I would not like wearing these for many hours. ... More
The Best My Ears Have Heard Yet
Direct Sound EX-29 Dynamic Headphones
Reviewed by James R. on Reverb
Paul Gilbert was the one who turned me on to the Direct Sound EX29 Plus studio headphones. And he doesn't just use them in the studio. I have seen him use these on stage live instead of in-ears or a wedge. I tried them based solely on his recommendation alone and was so glad I did. I have to say that if there are better headphones out there, I have not found them yet and especially not at the very reasonable price I paid for the EX29's! Compare the sound quality and isolation performance of these phones to more expensive models of any other brand. You will hear the difference. Cons: Haven't discovered any yet. ... More
Extreme Isolation!
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Stereo Headphones
Reviewed by Kenneth on B&H Photo Video
I need to listen to audio from a live concert mixing board fed to my camcorder. I can see the meters, but until now I have never been able to actually hear the audio feed. Now I can, even though the camcorder does not have a very powerful oupout. These headphones cut down the concert sound so I can hear the audio feed. Perfect!
Does what its supposed to
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Headphones
Reviewed by DC on Guitar Center
Great product! It was exactly what I needed for live sound situations. These cut out enough outside sound so I can hear the mix off the board fairly well. They are not the best sounding cans but they are far from the worst. These are destined to be the work horse in my collection.I highly recommend these.
Excellent headphones
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Stereo Headphones
Reviewed by Andy on B&H Photo Video
I use the headphones for DJing. They are great because they isolate what I'm hearing inside from the noise on the outside. Wonderful product, only thing not so wonderful is that they can wear a little bit tight.
Do not buy
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Headphones
Reviewed by Drummerdave on Guitar Center
I bought these to use to listen to music while playing drums. I didn't even make it one step before the cord fell out of my phone. I figured it was just me and kept trying to get it to stay but it wouldn't stay for more than a few seconds. I tried a friend's phone and it was even worse, just loose. I finally contacted guitar center and they said it's a known problem with this item. Then stop selling it!!!
No more sound leakage plus great sound
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Headphones
Reviewed by Will on Guitar Center
Headphones don't have a clamp but stays on your head just right. Also blocks a lot of noise while keeping sound in. Its no joke nothing leaks out of these. Perfect for the studio as wells as audio editing. The best bang for the buck in my opinion
Great Headphones
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Stereo Headphones
Reviewed by Rob on B&H Photo Video
Extremely comfortable with the right amount of Isolation. While drumming i am able to use these headphones for long periods of time due to their extreme comfort. Also they don't make the drums sound so boomy. I feel like i get a more natural sound from my drums while wearing these headphones.
Great Cans
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Stereo Headphones
Reviewed by Sound Guy on B&H Photo Video
Great isolation without sacrificing too much... The lows are a little compromised but well worth the isolation.
EX-29 really impressive for the money!
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Stereo Headphones
Reviewed by RuffNick on B&H Photo Video
Using this when recording vocals in my studio and there's really no bleed.. The drivers are decent and better than I expected (i have much more expensive headphone gear) so U can really feel the beat with this model. Earpads are comfortable, only the headband is a little cheapish.
