Brainwavz S0 Review

Brainwavz strive to produce great looking, high quality earphones that come in at an affordable price. The S0 (S Zero) is positioned towards the upper mid end of their product range making it an interesting option for anyone that is serious about their music. Find out what we think in our Brainwavz S0 review.

This is our first time that we have seen a set of Brainwavz earphones – they’ve been on our radar for a while & this is something that we’ve been looking forward to. Brainwavz mission statement makes it very clear as to what their intentions are:-
“At Brainwavz we have a simple mission, to produce innovative, high quality audio products with a dedicated focus on high-end sound at a realistic price”

We love to see companies pushing themselves to come up with great new products at an affordable price – but have they managed to pull it off with the S0 (S zero)?

Sleek and Well Thought Out

The first impressions that you get from the packaging are good, very good. The design & quality of print are very sleek, clean, precise and well executed – this packaging has been thought about by someone that cares a lot about what they are doing. Inside the box is a simple molded plastic sleeve that holds the earphones and accessories in place – no fuss, & its very easy to access the earphones themselves.

The S0 earphones have a black metal casing that feels incredibly tough and has a nice soft shine to the finish. The red cable exit is molded plastic that seems to have enough flex to provide strain relief, but yet remains strong enough to survive rough treatment. Moving downwards, the cable is a black, flat silicon cable. On some earphones in the past we have found that flat cables can be too thick & heavy, as well as too thin and flimsy. The cable on the Brainwavz S0 seems to have managed to strike a good balance between strength, tangle resistance and weight. It is a little heavier than some other cables we’ve seen recently – but it certainly isn’t an issue. The cable split reinforcement and gold plated jack plug are both pretty standard – both have some added visual detail and are well finished.

Also in the box you’ll find a great hard shell storage case – possibly the nicest case we’ve seen to date that has been included with a set of earphones. Inside the case there are a couple of pockets at the back of each half of the shell for you to keep the cable clip and eartips…

Eartips included with the Brainwavz S0:
– Standard Black Silicone (small, medium & large)
– Translucent Red Silicone (small, medium & large)
– Bi-Flange Silicone x1
– Tri-Flange Silicone x1
– Comply S400 foam tips x1

Yes – that’s an impressive 9 sets of eartips. The inclusion of a set of Comply tips is always a nice touch in our book, the S400 are intended by Comply as a sports set. Compared to the regular T400, the S400 allows more external sound to enter your ear as well the music. This means that they sound more natural and open as a result, but still retain plenty of bass unlike most sports eartips. The secure fit with the Comply tips is fantastic & incredibly comfortable. While in testing we preferred the sound of translucent red silicone eartips (more direct, punchier & fuller bass) – the difference in sound between the two is fairly minimal and some people may prefer the sound with the Comply tips as a result.

Another nice touch is the inclusion of a velcro cable tie – a very simple addition you’ll agree, but it really does help keep them stored nicely inside the case. Overall, the package is very good – everything that you would want is for once, actually included in the box and that’s a big box ticked for us.

A Personal Soundscape To Escape With

Sink or swim time. The vast array of eartips included in the box makes for an interesting time trying them all out & seeing which ones sound better (they do make quite a bit of difference). As mentioned above, overall we liked the translucent red silicone tips the most, with the Comply S400 foam tips coming in second. From here on, we are talking about the sound of them using the translucent red silicone eartips.

The first thing that struck us about the sound of the Brainwavz S0 is the sheer scale of it – its big. Not only is it big – it has levels of detail that are so crisp, you’ll wonder why you’ve not heard them before. The sound seems incredibly direct and precise – it fills your head completely allowing you to escape with the music.

The bass is big, deep, warm but still retains detail. The mid range has a really nice punch to it with the higher mid range really bringing out details and excitement. The treble is open and spacious – just as it should be. The S0 earphones don’t add any kind of additional character or colour to the sound – they just sound good, very good. They also seem to work just as well with all genres of music that we’ve thrown at them – Electro, Dubstep, Rock, Classical & Pop…they all sound equally as good!

Brainwavz S0 Review Conclusion

We were intrigued by these from the first peek at the box – and it seems with good reason. The product as a whole has been put together incredibly well as a high quality package. We really like the understated design, and the materials used feel tough and hard wearing. Yes, there are possibly too many eartips in the box – the red translucent silicone tips & the Comply S400 foam tips would be more than enough. And, yes, there isn’t a control button or microphone. But…

These are earphones built to listen to music with – not for making phone calls…and for once, that is a good thing. We think that the Brainwavz S0 earphones are a fantastic choice for anyone that cares how their music sounds…at this price point with this sound quality – they are pretty much unbeatable!