Skip to main content

Meters headphones hands-on review: Analog style with a digital twist

Ever since Beats by Dre proved that headphones can be as much of a personal style statement as a way of listening to music, audio companies have been looking for ways to dazzle your eyes along with your ears. Marshall uses its iconic guitar amp-inspired design language to lend a retro-cool vibe to its headphones, while Urbanista and Apple use bold color choices to make picking a pair of headphones as personal as choosing a T-shirt.

But when it comes to wireless headphones that send a visual message to those around you, it’s pretty hard to compete with the Meters by Ashdown Engineering, a line of British headphones that boast a working analog volume meter on the outside of each earcup, like the kind you’d find on a old-school ’70s amp.

Recommended Videos

Are the $350 Meters OV-1-B-Connect more about the meters or the music? Skeptics might be surprised to learn they’re much more than a gimmick.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Intimidating design

Meters Music OV-1-B-Connect Headphones
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

The first thing you notice about the Meters OV-1-B-Connect is their enormous size. It’s partially an optical illusion created by the design. The earcups are only about a quarter-inch thicker than an average set of over-ear headphones, but the ear cushions flare out from the earcups and the pivots are big, curved chunks of aluminum that wrap around the back half of the earcups. When combined with the heavily padded headband, the Meters are incredibly chunky looking.

They get a little smaller when you fold the hinges, but not much. Thankfully, Meters includes a hard-shell carry case.

Heavy, but comfy

Meters Music OV-1-B-Connect Headphones
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

At 13.4 ounces, the Meters are definitely among the heaviest wireless headphones you can buy. Only the Apple AirPods Max, at 13.6 ounces, are heavier. But because of the huge amounts of padding on both the ear cushions and the headband, they’re surprisingly comfortable. Not wear-them-all-day comfortable, but definitely comfy enough for several hours of continuous use.

Less noise, less silence?

Meters Music OV-1-B-Connect Headphones
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

Active noise cancellation (ANC) is notoriously hard to do well. Many headphone companies have tried their hand at it, but only a few — like Sony, Bose, and Apple — ace the test.

The Meters have built-in ANC that you activate with a switch on the right earcup, but you need to use it judiciously. It does a great job of killing low-frequency sounds, like the white noise of a loud fan, or the rumble of traffic, but if you’re already in a fairly quiet environment, it introduces a very noticeable hiss. Best to leave it turned off unless you really need it.

Super sound

Meters Music OV-1-B-Connect Headphones
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

It would be tempting to write the Meters off as a gimmicky product because of their signature volume meters, but they actually offer superb sound quality. With the factory settings, they give a warm yet balanced signature, not too heavy on the bass, and with nice definition in the mids and highs. If your phone happens to support aptX HD (a wireless standard for streaming better-than-CD-quality audio), you’ll get an impressive amount of detail, with a soundstage that is intimate but layered.

If you want to tweak the EQ, the Meters app gives you a five-band equalizer to mess with, but unfortunately, there’s no way to save your settings — something Ashdown should definitely fix with an update.

But as good as they sound, they don’t perform better than other wireless headphones at this price. The Sony WH-1000XM4, Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, and Marshall Monitor II ANC are all better picks for sound quality.

Them meters

Meters Music OV-1-B-Connect Headphones
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

Those volume meters — the whole reason for buying a set of Meters — are a bit of a conundrum. On the one hand, they’re undeniably cool. You can change the backlighting color in the Meters app to suit your mood (clothing?) as well as the brightness.

But if you’re hoping to give folks around you a show of your active listening session, with the meter needles actively jumping around, you’ll need to crank the volume — dangerously so.

Ashdown seems to understand that this will be the temptation, and warns owners against it: “This can be seen as a safety feature for concerned parents and guardians. Listening to loud music for prolonged periods of time can of course severely damage hearing.”

Frankly, using a set of visible volume meters as a way of keeping your kids listening at safe levels is a terrible idea, especially when there are products on the market that automatically limit headphone volume to safe levels, taking away the need for active monitoring of any kind.

Plus, who is going to spend $350 on their kids’ headphones? Never mind, I don’t really want to know the answer.

So. if the meters aren’t an effective way to protect the wearer from loud sounds, and if getting the meters to bounce around in a way that’s noticeable to others requires dangerously loud volume levels … well, you see my point.

Conclusion

If you’re in search of wireless ANC headphones that make a bold statement to those around you, the Meters OV-1-B definitely fit the bill. But perhaps more than any other headphones I’ve seen, your money will be going toward what others get to see, instead of what you get to hear.

Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen is a contributing editor to Digital Trends' Audio/Video section, where he obsesses over the latest wireless…
Bang & Olufsen’s latest headphones look gorgeous and cost a fortune
Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H100.

Iconic Danish audio brand Bang & Olufsen (B&O) is well known for both its stunning industrial design, as well as its premium prices, but we still weren't quite prepared for its new Beoplay H100 wireless headphones. They're sleek, built from a combination of leather, aluminum, and scratch-resistant hardened glass, and each earcup has a rotating "haptic" dial for intuitive control over both volume and noise cancellation. The price for these new cans? $1,549 -- a huge increase over the company's previous flagship, the Beoplay H95, which were already pricey at $800.

If you can afford them, the B&O Beoplay H100 are available September 3 in three color options: Infinite Black, Hourglass Sand, and Sunset Apricot.

Read more
Legendary cymbal brand Zildjian dives into headphones
Zildjian Alchem-e Perfect Tune headphones.

Even folks who have never picked up a pair of drumsticks probably know the name Zildjian -- or at least, they probably recognize the company's distinctive script-like logo. It's emblazoned on every Zildjian cymbal, making it pretty hard to miss in hundreds (if not thousands) of music videos. Now, for the first time, you'll find it emblazoned on the side of wireless headphones thanks to the company's Alchem-e Perfect Tune, a $400 set of noise-canceling cans that can be personalized to your hearing.

The new headphones -- available in three colors --  share the same Alchem-e branding as the company's first electronic drum kit, which launched earlier this year, starting at $4,500.

Read more
1More says its $90 SonoFlow Pro HQ51 headphones are better than Bose and Sony
1More SonoFlow Pro HQ51.

1More has released two new upgraded products in its wireless headphones and open-ear earbuds lineup with the SonoFlow Pro HQ51 ($90) and Open Ear S70 ($120). Both will be available mid-to-late August, with $20 discounts for those who order during the promotional launch window.

The SonoFlow Pro HQ51 picks up where the original SonoFlow leaves off -- the two models have a nearly identical shape and design. Comfort may be slightly enhanced -- the new cans now use leather ear cushions. 1More has given battery life (which was already outstanding at 50 hours with ANC) a bump to 65 hours, a number that jumps to 100 when you turn ANC off.

Read more