May 2010
Rockford Fosgate Punch Plugs Review
Big Bass in Your Ears!
Email - Rockford Fosgate is a company that knows bass. They make some of the most beloved car audio subwoofers on the market. So it's only natural that when they decided to expand their business and start developing earphones that they would go with what they know best.
The Punch Plugs also
exemplify another aspect of
audio products for which
Rockford is well known. I'm
talking about their industrial
design. Not only do their
woofers, like their Power
series, deliver in terms of
audio, but they're cosmetically
very appealing as well.
These new in-ear monitors set
themselves apart immediately
with their design. The monitors
are unusual first for the size
and secondly for the shape.
Neither aspect interferes though
with the fit. In fact, of the
many products in the category
that I've tried I have to say
that the Punch Plugs are one of
the best in terms of fit. It's
made with the right angle for
easy insertion and a very good
seal. The product is sold with
five sets of different sized
"Comfort Plugs". I also like the
flat cable with a low friction
jacket that is intended to
reduce mechanical noise. It's
also stylish and much less prone
to tangling than your standard
rounded cables. Plus the low
profile 3.5mm connection means
it won't cause you problems when
you try to plug into your
encased iPhone or other device.
The Punch Plugs, as I
mentioned, are very big. That's
because it features a 15mm
driver. That's significantly
more than the typical earphone.
And you will hear the
difference. A lot of times an
earphone is too bright and the
type of bass that we enjoy in
the car doesn't transfer when
you're listening through them.
That's not an issue with the
Plugs. This is the closest I've
heard to hearing the type of
mid-bass to bass we're used to
listening to within a vehicle
cabin. Now whether that's
something truly desirable is a
separate issue.
Ad advertised, the Plugs
don't distort at high volume
levels. You'll get an unreal
dose of bass though. It'll
remind you of some bass-heavy
system in a car that you heard
at some show. Depending on the
type of music or particular
song, it can be quite enjoyable.
But what's its best selling
feature can also be the very
quality that undermines it. The
audio reproduction isn't that
realistic; the balance of
frequencies is skewed by the
dominating low-end. It's
actually a lot of fun listening
to bass music or genres like rap
and certain types of electronica
or some heavy rock on the Punch
Plugs, but I wouldn't recommend
it if you're listening to
lighter fare. I preferred one of
my other earbud monitors. But at
$99, I don't think you have to
think of the Rockford product as
your single solution, so to
speak. It's like speakers that
have different audio qualities.
If you could, you might want to
listen to certain music with
specific speakers. It's
difficult, of course, to swap
your car speakers for different
genres, but you can swap
earphones. In a way, it's great
fun to have the Punch Plugs and
use them the way you might
increase the gain on the bass
controller in your dash and
crank a tune while driving on
the open road. As long as you
bear all that in mind, the Punch
Plugs are a cool product to
have.
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