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Motorheadphones Overkill earphones

Motörheadphönes Overkill earphones review

Only way to feel the noise is when it's good'n'loud

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I like Motörheadphönes’ cans, but when I’m out and about I’d prefer a pair of ‘phones that are a little more discreet and, yes, easier to stash when not in use. Enter the band’s in-canal cans: Overkill.

And Trigger too, since both sets sport identical business ends. Only price and the presence of a microphone/remote control dongle separate one from t’other. Overkill has the remote, Trigger doesn’t, and you’ll pay a tenner more for it.

Motorheadphones Overkill earphones

Overkill? They're gonna pull your Trigger

Is it worth it? I’m not sure. Personally, I use the remote for two things: volume control and, less often, track skipping. While Overkill’s dongle will happily perform the latter with multiple presses of its large - for a remote control - play/pause button, there’s no volume control. Folk who like to use a dongle for actually talking to people will need it anyway, of course.

The dongle is mounted on a “tangle free” woven cloth cord, and it’s certainly better than a plastic cable cover when it comes to pulling the set out a pocket or bag and getting into a usable state quickly.

Motorheadphones Overkill earphones

Good sleeves make for a good fit - and good sound

Like other Motörheadphönes, Overkill and Trigger have an L-shape 3.5mm jack mount, and there’s a small, bullet-shaped, Ace of Spades-stamped toggle placed after the cord splits into two and runs up or down, close to or far from your throat, to shorten the left- and right-ear lines. The cord splits centrally so neither side is longer than the other.

Of course, with Overkill the toggle only runs as far as the mic, which is place seven inches down-line from the left earpiece.

Motorheadphones Overkill earphones

No control on Trigger, only Overkill - and you can't adjust the volume

The earpieces themselves are - see the theme? - bullet-shaped too and formed from aluminium, apparently. My sample set was silver, but you can get ‘em anodised black - much, much more discreet - or brass. The cables feed into the earpieces through a thick plastic wrap to keep them snug and minimise broken connections after over-aggressive tugs on the cord.

Motorheadphones Overkill earphones specs

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Next page: Squeeze my, ahem, Trigger

Volume Control ?

We don't need no steenkin volume control

Just preset it to 11 and be done !

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Compatible with ...?

Headphones and microphones generally work in just about anything ... remote controls are much less standardized and what works in one device may do nothing -- or entirely the wrong thing -- in another.

The picture shows an iPhone (I think) ... are these headsets for Apple devices only, or do they also work in Nokias, Blackberries, Samsungs, HTCs, or any of the others?

A review article like this should say!

[Question mark icon needed!]

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Anonymous Coward

£50? Sod that, just get some CX-300 IIs like any reasonable person and enjoy a much slimmer profile (hello wearing them in bed), better plugs and far, far superior sound for half the price.

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