Product spotlight: AKG Q460 Black

Headphones were once packaged with a flimsy cardboard rear and a moulded-plastic front held together half-heartedly with four staple pins. However, when the box carrying your new headphones looks like something your replacement kidney should be delivered in, one tends to sit up and take notice.

Headphone trends in the UAE started with Skull Candy and reached its peak with Beats by Dr Dre. The youth these days don't care much for brands such as Sennheiser or Shure despite having a combined total of 152 years in the industry as compared to Skull Candy's nine years and Beat's four.

Your average pop divas have their perfumes and now your music legends have their headphones. That being said, Quincy Jones, the multi award-winning producer, composer and musical overlord has hopped on the bandwagon by lending his name to AKG by Harman.

Steering clear of acoustic jargon such as ‘unique audio mechanisms', ‘high output' and ‘acoustic tautness', GN Focus will give it to you straight.

What's in the box?

The headphones come in black, white and watch-out-for-me-as-I-cross-the-road bright green. We, thankfully, received the black pair and were safely indoors during our review. In the box are a neat brochure on the Quincy Jones signature line, another on the workings of the In-Line remote control, a warranty card, the In-line microphone and remote control, two different lengths of detachable cables, one jack adapter, a carry case; and the headphones themselves.

With the help of progressive metal band Dream Theatre and the late Michael Jackson, we put the Q460 through its paces. The headphones are surprisingly light and the earpieces are comfortable. Your music definitely sounds better and this audio quality is somewhat addictive. If you get used to it, you can never go back to your normal earphones/headphones again. Naturally, the bass, treble and stereo separation is near perfection; it would have to be if it had to stand a chance in this market. With headphones being a perpetual cranial attachment to new-age music enthusiasts, Harman and AKG designed the Q460 in a way that you never need to take it off. The unit works well with iPods and the additional microphone line-in syncs perfectly with your iPhone.

The only drawback is that if you are in a crowded area, pumping your tunes over 50 per cent of the volume will cause annoyed looks to come your way… just ask my colleagues. Retailing at Dh579 the Q460 has set the bar high.