By Odeisel

If there was ever anything that annoyed me about portable music, it’s cheap ass headphones. I know sometimes you get caught out there and you have to buy some on the run occasionally, but cheap headphones can totally ruin music for a two big reasons.

You’re probably playing some “music” nobody else likes but thanks to your poorly made headphones, everyone can hear every single word of your crappy music, even on the loud subway, even though you’re at least 10 feet away from others. Second, you’re already listening to an mp3 and the quality of your music needs all the help it can get to stretch itself into the realm of CD quality sound. (Tough luck trying to get that big echo record sound. We’re out on that). A good pair of headphones can bring out the lows and treble highs without sounding like noise.

You may prefer ear buds with noise reduction or ear muff style, over-the-head phones that block out sound. If you’re at the gym, those may not be the most conducive to getting your workout on (and not breaking your headphones). This column is about introducing you to the latest in headphones of all varieties and brands.

This edition of Headphone Home take s a look at the I-Mego Thrones, an over the ear headphone with microphone and adjustable volume. In honor of the Baltimore Ravens’ recent Super Bowl win, we checked out the Poison model; a shiny metallic black and purple. The headphones are soft and the headband is leather and smooth and while the phones feel secure on your ears, they aren’t too tight. The fit was cool, the ear muffs cover what they need to cover, but they don’t totally engulf your ears so that you’re oblivious to what’s goign on around you.

At higher volumes, others can hear your music, but conversation wise, on cell phone calls, you’re pretty secure unless your baby mama is screaming you out, or you’re talking about  sports. Then all bets are off. The pic control one button features answer/end call functionality as well as play/pause and skip track capability for just about all popular cell phones/mobile devices. There is an adapter for Nokia phones as well.

Packaging wise, I-Mego spared no expense as well. The Throne comes is a soft fabric pouch along with an adapter for any mobile phone and the standard HiFi adapter. The Throne features 40mmX2 drivers and maintain clarity towards the higher end of audio output. Maximum volume is very high and these headphones do knock awfully hard. The bass isn’t as low as some other brands (including the Throne Gold, which is suited for Hip-Hop and  Rock) but  the sound continuity along higher volumes is very strong, particularly for  the price range ($130 USD).  You can purchase the I-Mego Throne Poisons (and Golds) HERE.

Add the Thrones to the ever growing list of headphones that cost far less than Beats but are of equal or greater quality.  We blasted Kanye’s Yeezus for an entire afternoon and it was very crisp. Here are the specs. Not a bad deal.

• Impedance: 32 ohms ± 15%
• Drivers: 40 mm  X 2
• Sensitivity: 103 dB ± 3 dB
• 4ft. (1.2m) with 1/8″ (3.5 mm) stereo-mini headphone plug
• Frequency response: 20 Hz – 20,000 Hz