Features & Final Thoughts

Given this is a pair of Zalman headphones we're looking at here, there's got to be something out of the ordinary with them, and although you won't find six speakers this time you'll still find four. However, the ZM-DS4Fs don't do surround sound or anything fancy like that, as this time around there are two speakers built into each headphone, one 28mm tweeter and one 40mm woofer.

Although it may seem a little over the top to call it a woofer, the ZM-DS4Fs produce quite a lot of base for their size, and without losing out on the high-end. It's an interesting design and Zalman has managed to produce a pair of headphones that are compact but still offer quite a bit of oomph.

The specifications are slightly odd though, as the frequency response isn't that great at around 50Hz to 20kHz. This is quite poor even compared to a pair of ear buds, as most tend to start at around 10-20Hz. Now, there is a matter of what you can actually hear, but even the upper limit isn't that impressive considering the dual speaker design.

The impedance seems to be very low for a pair of headphones at only 32 Ohm, but this shouldn't really matter too much as it would technically make them easier to drive, and combining both speakers makes this 64 Ohm which is quite normal for a pair of headphones.

The ZM-DS4F's weigh around 124g with the cord, the cord measures 150cm and has a standard angled 3.5mm jack at the end. The only bad thing here is that the cord is connected to both of the cups, rather than just one. This means they tend to tangle more when you wear them.

They're not sold as gaming headphones, but rather as a companion for your MP3 / CD player or PMP. They'd go great with your PSP or Nintendo DS as well, or any other usage for that matter. We tested it with a Sandisk Sansa E270 MP3 player and it sounded very good with a wide verity of music. We also tried watching a few movies and some TV programs on a computer with them plugged in and the sound quality was again very good.

They might not be a gamers dream, but the ZM-DS4Fs aren't half bad gaming headphones either, though we really wish Zalman would release a gaming headset with a built-in mic, can it be so hard to do?

As a pair of fairly affordable headphones, they carry an MSRP of $29.50 USD (around $37.50 AUD). We have to say that they're pretty damn good for the money.

- Pros

Foldable design

Affordable price

Good sound quality

Long enough cable

- Cons

Nothing really out of the ordinary

The black design doesn't look as good as the white one

Rating - 8 out of 10