How I turned these $60 headphones into an audiophile's dream (without spending a penny)

Lately, I’ve been kicking it late-90s style with The Prodigy. The band’s music transports me back to a wonderful time in my life when I first discovered Linux and was a proud member of a long-time acting rep company (Stage One).

You’ll have to pardon the reminiscing, but that’s some powerful music.

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When I unboxed the EarFun Wave Life hybrid active noise-cancelling headphones, I realized “Fat of the Land” would be a great album to see how these headphones could stand up to some unrelenting, electric beats.

How did they fare? Let’s find out.

How do they sound

When “Fat of the Land” is heard through even halfway decent equipment, it’s still a brilliant experience. So, it came as no surprise that I found myself dancing around my office like it was 1997 and I was attending a rave. All that was missing were glowsticks, my favorite cyberpunk attire, and shoulder-to-shoulder people getting their electric funk on.

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Normally, when I use EarFun headphones and earbuds, I immediately connect them to the EarFun app to customize the EQ. I was surprised that I didn’t feel the pull to do just that with the Wave Life headphones. I listened to the entire “Fat of the Land” album with the default EQ curve, and it sounded quite good.

Tweaking EQ in the EarFun app

Then, I decided to connect them to the EarFun app and tweak the EQ to better match my usual curve. Once I did that, the music hit the sweet spot, and I found myself dancing at my desk. I spun up the band’s “No Tourists” album and had to crank up “Boom Boom Tap,” and I wound up unable to type because I was in the zone of that groove.

The EarFun Wave Life produced the right amount of bass (without overdoing it), plenty of highs, and just the right mids. To my surprise, there was even a decent soundstage with these inexpensive headphones. As is often the case with this genre, the sound didn’t feel too compressed and blended.

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I could discern different sounds and could close my eyes and imagine the artists standing on a stage, each separated from the other. The minimal vocals were front and center, but the keyboards and drums were more split left and right. It all came together to create a soundscape with me whirling around the office like a tiny tornado.

Eventually, I put on “Poison” (from “Music for the Jilted Generation”) and cranked it up as loud as my ears could tolerate, and the sound remained clean. This song, in particular, really showed off how well the Wave Life headphones can handle the low end.

After “Poison,” I had to pull myself away from The Prodigy to see how the headphones handled other genres. It was no surprise that everything I threw at these headphones sounded great — from rock, pop, classical, choral, metal, prog, blues, jazz… you name it, and it slammed.

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One of my favorite moments with these headphones was listening to “Happy Birthday” by Devin Townsend. At the end of the song, when Anneke van Giersbergen’s angelic voice drifts off into the distance, it was just glorious, and it never fails to transport me to happier places.

Don’t be fooled; these are not audiophile headphones, but at $59, no pair of headphones could possibly reach that pinnacle of definition. These are low-end headphones that sound like they belong in the midrange category.

ZDNET buying advice

This is a simple sell: If you need a pair of headphones that will have you dancing around your house (or even out in public) and you don’t have much cash to drop, the EarFun Wave Life headphones are an excellent buy.

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EarFun is one of those companies that most American consumers don’t know about, and yet they quietly and consistently produce some of the best low-end devices on the market. Buy a pair, throw on your favorite tunes, and dance the night away.

The specs

• Hybrid ANC with AI cancels up to 45 dB
• 40mm composite drivers
• 4 onboard mics
• Frequency Response: Up to 40 kHz (Hi-Res Audio certified)
• Game Mode reduces latency to less than 55 ms.
• Battery life: Up to 60 hours (no ANC) and 37 hours (with ANC)
• Modes: Normal, Ambient, ANC, Wind Noise Canceling, Comfort ANC, Strong ANC (via app)
• Dimensions: 8.2 x 7.8 x 1.9 inches
• Weight: Less than 9.5 ounces (approx. 264 grams)