The Lowdown
If you’re looking for a standard-design DJ headphone and don’t want to splash out on leather-clad “pro” models, look at the Reloops. They ought to be rather durable, and they come with two sets of plastic earpads that let you choose how you want them over your ears. A coiled cable and gold plated 1/4″ and 1/8″ plugs round out this headphone package that you might want to check out if you’re looking for a mid-priced option.
Video Review
First Impressions / Setting up
You get a choice of colours so you can buy those that suit your style / DJ controller / favourite shirt. The model we review here is the RHP-10 Flash Black, which I presume refers to their black body with bright blue parts. Anyway, I used them as the headphones in a video review of a piece of DJ gear recently and had more enquiries about the headphones than the DJ gear, so I guess they’re a popular colour!
Inside the rather large cardboard box, you’ll find the coiled blue cable plus some spare earpads (more later on those) in their own little cardboard box, a drawstring plastic carry bag, and of course the headphones themselves. The bag and the top of the headband bear the words “Reloop Flash Black” in a flashy italic font, and they are so-called Limited Edition, each pair bearing a number (30676 on ours, so I don’t think there’s exactly a shortage of them out there).
The headphones have a plastic-covered wide headband with a fabric nylon mesh inside, and the apparent aluminium reinforced jumbo hinges, as well as the outside of the earcups, are finished in black matt oily-feel plastic, which is a nice finish. The earcups are loose and rotate through a lot of angles including folding into the headband for easy packing and carrying.
The ear pads are plastic, not leather, and you get two choices: A set (fitted) with small holes, so they sit on your ear, and a set with much wider holes, so they fully enclose your ear. I preferred the latter, for better isolation. Good to have the choice, though. The coiled cable fits with a twist action into one of the earcups and has a right-angle 1/4″ converter over a 1/8″ jack on the other end. Both ends are gold plated.
In Use
I found the headphones reassuringly chunky yet comfortably light, and fitted with the earcups that suited me best, they were as comfortable as most DJ headphones (ie, they grip your head firmly to allow them half a chance of cutting out most of the ambient noise). Due to their size and design, they felt very familiar – look at most full-sized DJ headphones, and you’ll see startling similarities on the basic design. (Interestingly, Reloop’s own RHP-20s, which we love, break from such a design).
Most important thing, of course, is how they perform. The large drivers ensure a decent output volume, and I couldn’t separate the punchy, ample bass from that of much more expensive headphones. The mids and highs were balanced and overall as a DJ headphone the sound is exactly what you’d expect and want. No complaints there.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a standard-design DJ headphone and don’t want to splash out on leather-clad “pro” models, look at the Reloops. They’re as the name suggests (Flash Black, not RHP-10) rather flashy, and the colour if not the design certainly turns heads. Tech spec wise, though, they move past fashion, with a proper replaceable, detachable coiled cable, single-wire in/out, decent-sized, free-moving earcups and sound that’ll be fine in any DJ booth.
I think they ought to prove pretty durable, and in short, if you like the style (there are several colours to choose from) and price, and don’t mind forgoing leather finish, I can recommend them.
