It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed a pair of over-the-ear headphones. To me, music is second only to oxygen in sustaining my life. To say I’m picky about my listening devices is an understatement, like how Bostonians are picky about their favorite Dunkin Donuts. The Sadie by Blue Microphones is not your average pair of headphones. So does Sadie have what it takes to hold my musical baggage?
Let me explain.
There are two kinds of people when it comes to music. There are those who simply listen to music as they would listen to traffic or the sound of sea gulls commiserating on the beach — as background noise, something that is there.
Then there are people who consume music as the art form it is and pride themselves on their ability to not only discern and dissect, but choose the appropriate delivery system.
You can usually tell these two people apart by the former thinking that the Grammy Awards represent the majority of musical genres and artists and them bragging about their ninth pair of replacement Apple earbuds.
I try to avoid calling the latter audiophiles as that cultivates an image of a sweater-vest-wearing, pipe-smoking, wine-sniffing jerk lecturing you in a monotone voice about how Rush’s 2112 doesn’t stack up in composition to Antonín Dvořák’s 9th Symphony, but not for lack of trying. Instead, the latter are simply people who breathe music, compared to people who have it as a snack.
Yet, it is the audiophiles and their cultivated and meticulous world that tend to give us the best audio equipment, or at least, inspire it. While you might think that all you need to consume music is a pair of earbuds, you might think wrong.
When I get a new album I first listen to it at work on a pair of earbuds. Then I think to myself, I wonder how this will sound in my car? It sounds different. Then I think to myself, I wonder how this will sound in the airport (with a different pair and brand of earbuds). It sounds different. Then I wonder how it will sound on my computer speakers in my home office, my 4- year-old floor speakers in the living room, my small speakers in the kitchen, this tiny Bluetooth speaker and so on.
If you think this sounds astonishingly silly, then perhaps this allegory will help you understand. Have you ever thought to yourself that a Coke tastes better straight from the bottle versus the fountain, or the inverse? Or the can over ice better than a cold can or the bottle? It’s kind of like that, except that the crap you are drinking will rot your teeth while the stuff I’m listening to will heal the soul.
I don’t solely use music to escape the world around me as many believe music to be, an escape — I rely on it to function in the world around me. The Sadie by Blue is one of the best tools I’ve used to dig a musical hole in the dregs of daily life.
Sadie (we’re on a first name basis now) is one of three new headphones from Blue, famous for its microphones. The assumption would be that the same care would go into creating devices to deliver audio in the same fashion Blue creates devices to capture it. That assumption would be correct. Sadie is the big sister to Lola, little sister to Ella. Sadie is meant more for mobile device use as well as leveling out recordings that were mastered in analog.
Sadie has a built-in amp and 50mm dynamic drivers and a control knob to select between three different amp modes. The first is passive and works when Sadie is at low power so you can listen to your music regardless. This mode is akin to listening to music with headphones you found on the ground outside Walmart. I don’t recommend it unless you are desperate and haven’t charged the headphones.
Sadie takes about three to four hours to fully charge for at least twelve hours of listening time. At this point, you can turn the knob to the second mode, which activates the amps and is perfect for listening to music in the digital age. If you are expecting booming bass and ghost like mids, then Sadie will probably let you down.
When I put on the latest Run The Jewels release in my car, I get rattling bass. This is not the case with Sadie. Sadie takes that bass and smooths it out like that time I ironed a shirt. Sadie takes the mids and brings them up and separates each sound, then puts it back together. Sadie cuts the sharp edges off the highs and softy caresses them back into the overall sound. With Sadie, it almost feels as if you can pick out which layers were recorded together in studio and which were recorded and layered separately. That level of detail exists here with the sound isolation and reduced sound bleed.
Where the crushing symphonic synthesizers of Crunk Witch’s Heartbeats in Hyperspace are almost too grating to listen to at full blast on my ear buds, Sadie picks apart that sound and reconstructs it to deliver a level listening experience, but never leaving a note behind. That time you were straining to hear the acoustic guitar in a Falconer song over the electrics is a thing of the past. Each instrument, each sound is given its own place in your ears with Sadie, all coming together in the middle of your head for a complete sound.
One of my favorite albums for testing sound is BT’s A Song Across Wires. BT is an artist that blurs the line between traditional composition and modern technology. There is so much going on in his music that it is generally difficult to consume the whole of each track without missing something. Listening to this album, one that I’ve listened to more times than I can count, was made anew with Sadie.
The third mode helps further amplify music that was mastered in the analog age, such as your classic vinyl collection. It pumps up the amps just enough to enhance the low-end analog sounds of say an early Jethro Tull release on original vinyl. That flute still sounds like it was pressed on vinyl, that part can never be erased no matter how fancy your headphones. Rather, Sadie takes that flute and enhances it just enough so for a moment, you forget you are listening to a 47 year-old album.
As far as comfort goes, this is usually a sore point with over-the-ear headphones. Sadie was apparently modeled after Formula One race car suspension. Sadie has a multi-jointed headband design which keeps the earcups parallel. The joints are strong and easily adjustable. This does make Sadie a bit on the bulky side, but that can be easily dismissed once you get the memory foam earcups over your head and the world melts into whatever you are listening to. I didn’t feel the on-head pressure I usually feel with headphones and even my glasses melded nicely into the memory foam, only creating a small gap in the seal.
The only thing I really don’t like about Sadie is the proprietary headphone cable. It comes with two cables, one shorter cable with in-line controls for volume and taking calls. The other cable is longer, for when you are sitting on the floor listening to records because apparently your back isn’t too old to sit on the floor. Good for you.
Both cables plug into the control knob with an extended skinny jack. I’ve run into a problem before with another pair of headphones: the cat ate the proprietary cable. I had to chisel away part of the exterior of the headphone to get another cable in. That option wouldn’t exist with the Sadie, so mind your cables.
I have reviewed and owned a lot of headphones over the years and this is the first time I put on a pair and wasn’t overcome with apathy and indifference.
Music is life and finding the right delivery system for that music to your ears can be daunting. I have numerous pairs of ear-buds, speaker systems and so on in order to make sure my 400GB music library is always fueling my life. While over-the-ear headphones generally have a one night stand place in my world, Sadie is relationship material.
Sadie by Blue Microphones are available now on the Blue website. A review unit was provided by the manufacturer.
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