Thomann’s t.bone brand is aimed squarely at the budget end of the market. But the vast majority of its products I’ve tested have been pretty decent, and recently I was particularly impressed by the performance of its RM 700 ribbon mic. Up for review now I have the new HD 515 headphones. At £25 a pair, you probably wouldn’t have big expectations of these headphones, but it’s fair to say other brands such as Superlux have certainly shown that it is possible for budget headphones to challenge more expensive designs, so I am optimistic these can do the same.
As you might expect for a budget offering, the design is simple and the accessories limited to one 3m lead. That said, the use of a regular minijack connection on the underside of the left earcup means you can use any minijack-type lead if you want to. There’s no locking system for the plug, but the socket produced a reassuring click when I plugged them up.