Alessandro MS-1i Headphones – Unboxing

My friend Geoff recently ordered himself a pair of Alessandro Music Series One (MS-1i) Headphones (the additional “i” extension refers to the revised 2009 version of the original MS-1 headphones) through me (taking advantage of the falling US Dollar), and they arrived at my place two days ago. I managed to open them, take a few photos, and do a bit of testing. I do like my high-quality audio, but I’m far from an audiophile, having relatively little experience with high-end equipment.

:: Unboxing/Technical Details

As with many professional equipment companies/products, you pay for the quality of the actual product. As with this pair of Alessandro MS-1i Headphones, they are simply packaged like pizza-box, where the pizza is the pair of headphones, connected by a modestly long cable to a 3.5mm audio jack, bundled with a single 1/4″ to 3.5mm adapter, along with some nice foam padding for general protection of the headphones.

Specifications taken from the Alessandro Website:

Transducer type: Dynamic
Operating principle: Open air
Frequency response: 20 – 22K Hz
Sensitivity: 100db
Nominal impedance: 32 Ohms
Driver match db: 0.1
Features: Vented diaphragm, Non resonant air chamber, UHPLC voice coil wire, Standard copper connecting cord
Weight: 198g
Cable length: 2.1m

:: Design/Comfort

My eyes were like “Woah!” when I first saw the design for them. I had done some research into these headphones before, as Leon had proposed buying them a few months ago, but I had never really payed close attention to the design/aesthetics of the headphones. The overall ‘at a glance’ is simple; an all black design, a ‘leather’ band that’s used to cover the metal keeping the headphones together, (Gives a nice, little ‘premium’ look to them) your foam pads, a Y cable, branding and model number on the headphones. Nothing too elaborate/different to your standard headphones. Closer inspection reveals that you can actually see the driver itself, thanks to the grill that is, the headphone cover. Which is cool, but it does raise some concern to me of exposing a driver like that. If I had a pair of these, I’d be careful where I put them (a little more than I normally would) and avoid wearing these outside when it’s raining…

The headphones aren’t as comfortable as some headphones I’ve tried, (namely the Audio Technica AD-700s) but that’s not to say that they’re uncomfortable. Adjusting them to fit my big-ish head wasn’t too much of an issue, and I found the pressure they exert on you ears and head borders comfortable without being uncomfortable. With continual wearing, I’m sure ears will adjust quickly.

:: Sound and Conclusion

The MS-1is are ‘open’ headphones, generally giving a wider sound-stage, but leak sound. In terms of the MS-1is, I found that high’s lacked that nice ‘sparkle’ and strong bass frequencies weren’t very pronounced. There was a lack of ‘boom’ that many audiotypical-teens and bass-heads prefer. I noticed particularly, that string instruments lacked definition. Though, bass and highs are often weak-points of open-air headphones. Generally, open-air headphones produce outstanding mids, and the MS-1s follow that trend. As expected, mid frequencies sounded impressive, and were very clear and defined. The MS-1is seemed to leak less sound then I had expected them to. (substantially less than the AD700s)

Considering the price point, the MS-1is sound great for a pair of open-air headphones, and out-of-the-box, they performed impressively. Overall, sound was clean and generally clear, and no audible distortion. I’m kinda annoyed that I don’t have a pair of these myself.

If you’re looking into doing more research about them, or looking to purchase a pair, they’re avaliable for $99 or $109 (for the MS-1i) USD on the official Alessandro Website, and ship to many international countries for free.