Reviews for Parrot Zik Wireless Headphones by Starck

I just received these headphones and they work very well. The sound quality is very good and the pairing is dead simple. I have not had them long enough to test battery life so I cannot comment on that. The touch control is slick and works as advertised. All in all I'm very happy with my purchase.

OK-

I received these headphones as a christmas gift this year. I knew that I was getting them, researched them and couldn't wait to tear open the box.

SO...

I paired the Parrot Ziks with my iPhone first, and started listening to music.

When I first started using them, I was severely impressed by the design and comfort of the headphones along with the noise canceling feature.

HOWEVER...

I immediately noticed that the "next/previous" feature was not working at all as advertised; however the volume touch gesture was in fact operating correctly.

I decided to let them fully charge and try them again later... This time by pairing them with my iMac and using them to listen to music/make conference calls via iChat (now "Messages")...

AGAIN... Disappointed.... The music started to cut out, the audio sounded horrible and thin, then I started picking up random television program audio from god knows where!?!?

I WAS ON MY LAST NERVER WITH THESE POLISHED CRAPHONES...

UNTIL---

I updated the driver to version 1.03...

Instantly I fell in love with the Parrot Ziks.... No more audio problems, no more dropped bluetooth connections, call quality is great AND all touch gestures are working!


BATTERY LIFE---

A great deal of people seem to be complaining about the battery life... I don't think we can expect much longer battery life than what is currently availalbe with this much technology built into wireless headphones....

I used my Zik's a solid day through use of wireless music listening around the house, making phone calls to about 2-3 people.... AND listening to my "Ambiance" app on my iPhone while sleeping....AND they didn't die until the next day around noon.... To me that isn't bad considering the high quality design of this product.


SOUND QUALITY--

I am an audio hi-fi nut. I own a small audio/visual production studio and own loads of high end audio gear (current setup is Apogee Quartet through KRK Rokit 8 studio monitors with Sub)... So you can imagine that being impressed by sound quality to me is hard to accomplish. I also own a BOSE surround sound system in my home that is all digital and sounds ridiculous for movies and 5.1 channel audio localizations. I owned a pair of BOSE Quiet Comfort Headphones (I think that's what they were called?) Anyway, those were my real first 'personal noise canceling' headphones that I used on the go and was always bragging about how good they sounded and how you couldn't hear anyone talk while using them. Those were great until the cheap connector on them broke right off and the wires to either can developed a weak connection... Pretty disappointed in Bose's parts as of late...

ANWAY... YOU GET THE PICTURE.

Parrot has outdone themselves as far as SOUND Quality goes with the Ziks. The bass is truly responsive and doesn't have any sort of unnecessary gain boost like the majority of headphones do nowadays.

The ability to control the binaural localization through Parrot's "Concert Hall" app is AMAZING.... Way too often headphones are made and produced by companies (or designers) who produce/listen to one type of music.... This app gives you the ability to place the frequencies in the right POCKET for the type of music that YOU enjoy....

ALSO the ability to simply drag and drop the EQ frequencies and make your own USER EQ is amazing...


OVERALL 4 STARS...

Only because Parrot undershot the product lifecycle on this one....

Never release a product with faulty firmware... ALL customers have high expectations from the GET-GO... if they are let down during the initial use of a product.... THAT'S IT.... return city, bad mouth bash.... you get it.

PROS:

These headphones were well worth the investment. They have a memory foam inside the ear cups that is very comfortable. The features work great and I love the fact that the sound quality is so great even though it's bluetooth. I am a huge freak about sound quality meaning I can't have a whining noise in quiet parts. These headphones sound excellent with no added whining noises. With that and the cool, sleek design, you can't go wrong.

CONS:

There have been two times in the past week that I have had my phone in my back pocket listening to music, and when my arm passed to long in front of my side, the music would skip a couple of words. It doesn't bother me seeing as how it rarely happens.

First let me start by saying.. I love music, I love sound... I been looking for some Bluetooth headphones after my Phiaton's failed on me. I wore those headphones around my neck daily, and I was just thinking of simply just getting another because they sounded great. And the convenience of not having it tired with a headphone jack to any of my device were great as well.. But on the other end, I wanted something different.. A completely wireless experience..

Now, it brings me to the Parrot Zik... I'm rather a techie when it comes to gadgets and everything. And, I researched plenty of headphones.. Compared it to the Harmon's wireless headphones and Beats wireless headphones, the features for the Zik's just out weigh those headphones.

Pros...
Amazing Sound
NOT overwhelming bass, a completely wholesome sound
Wireless Touch Controls
Incredible Design
Noise Cancellation
Syncs with an App

Cons...
BATTERY, BATTERY, BATTERY

There's simply no comparison in regards to the features with these Zik's, the battery is my main concern. I do have a Mophie Powerstation, but I plan on buying a spare to keep with me while on the go, because 6 hours is just not good enough. I'm satisfied with these Zik's.. The price is expensive, but when I looked at other headphones and the features Zik's has.. I get it. I'll recommend them just make sure to get a spare battery...

The concept of gesture touch headphone is brilliant. But i found the sound response to be less than ideal. I have not been able to use the phone functionality - just doesn't work. If you wear a beanie or cap over your ears and under the headphones, the sensor thinks you have taken them off and disconnects. The volume control from swiping the right can only uses part of the full volume control of your iphone. So you have to turn volume up manually and then can only turn down about 50%. If you have the volume manually set low, the Zik volume only turns it up a little. It takes a long time for them to turn on and sometimes they just randomly turn off. Super annoying.

They look good and feel good.But they slide off my head when I am laying down because they are so heavy. The battery doesn't last that long. It is great that you can recharge it with usb though.

I am on the fence about wether or not to return them. There are a lot of problems with them. For the price I don't recommend.

These are AMAZING headphones! The sound is crisp with pumping, but controllable base and very clear and distinct midrange and highs. They have enough volume to spare. They are pricey, but you really get what you pay for with these. Technology wise, there are no BT headphones that come anywhere close to these. I would guess that many of the folks who give these bad ratings have the same limited knowledge about how to work them that the salesperson (Not Apple) I dealt with had. These headphones totally come alive when using the Software for iPhone/iPad or Android9 Firmware upgrade required and NFC works with Jelly Bean OS only). It is virtually impossible to properly sell these and show what they can do without the mobile software. I'm using mine with a Samsung Galaxy note 2 and the NFC pairing was completely effortless. NFC is so cool and convenient (C'mon Apple!) I also tried them with my IPad 3rd Gen and outside of having to take a few extra steps to pair them; I had the same great experience. Noise cancellation is superb! Careful, you will forget where you are if you are on the train with these and miss your stop.

I will tell you this; make sure you put them on correctly. If you put them on backwards, you are sure to think there is something wrong with them.. Get an extra battery for those long days of use and you're good to go!

Only complaint.... The soft bag "thingy" to store them... Parrot could have definitely done better for these gems with a hard case to protect them!

Overall... A+ Rating for the Parrot Zik's - couldn't be happier!

These headphones are the same price as beats, but unlike beats, they dont just use a $5 microchip to boost the base with an equalizer. These really do have the bass. When you listen to these you can tell that they really are worth the $399.

These headphones have two important differences from most that may affect your satisfaction:

(1) Audiophiles are used to the paradigm of pure unvarnished reproduction of sound. The ideal amplifier is "a straight wire with gain;" the perfect transducer produces sound waves exactly as input electrically (no harmonics, no variation with frequency or level). Audiophiles typically find fault with any sort of "addition" or processing of signals, even compression and tone controls. These headphones in contrast have digital signal processing at their core. Digital signal compression over Bluetooth, active noise cancellation, equalizer and "concert hall" effects are built in (the latter three can be switched off). As many reviewers have noted, listening with the headphones' DSP off is disappointing. They are not designed to - and do not - reproduce accurately without the DSP (that is, as passive headphones).

Noise cancellation does a good job on droning air handlers and motors, but also colors music subtly. In an otherwise quiet environment you might prefer to switch it off. I find the equalizer and concert hall effects intriguing and use them on some recordings, but purists are bound to find the effects introduce artifacts. These headphones are well designed for listening in non-ideal listening environments (office, commuting, airplane, busy household) but not for critical audiophile listening.

(2) The headphones have a sophisticated digital controller: the Parrot Zik app on your iPhone. Do not think of the app as an optional add-on, but rather a key component in listening with these headphones. But also do not confuse the role of the app as the music source. You might get the impression from some reviews that the headphones only work well if using iPhone as the audio source, but that is incorrect. Using the standard audio cable with 3.5mm plugs, you can listen through any source with an audio jack. The three components for listening are audio source, headphone, and controller (iPhone app). Listening to a source other than the iPhone via the cable, the app still controls the noise cancellation, concert hall effects, and equalizer (so long as still Bluetooth paired with the iPhone).

Quibbles:
- the headband is heavy enough to slide back and forth as you move
- every change on the controller (iPhone app) generates sharp audio "click"
- the cans are not fully around the ear, but largish on the ear

I love the idea of not having to bring my iPad out of my bag to play music, functionality is great.

My only concerns is definetly one that everyone has touched on is we need a pare battery or something along the lines and update firmware so it's compatible with more bluetooth hardwares e.g. Playstation 3... I say this because it's already in the league of being used as a handset so why not a simple headset as it has mics(4 to be exact).

They are Greg none the less and I'm happy with my product but there's a lot more cons than pros at this stage and I know it can b fixed, hopefully that's sooner rather than later.