Roseselsa Distant Mountain On Ear Retro Wired Headphone Review (1) – Nobody Goes There Anymore—It’s Too Crowded

Two $64.99 Roseselsa Distant Mountain headphones were kindly provided by the manufacturer for my (and Jürgen’s) review – and we thank them for that. It can be purchased from Rose Technics.

Gorgeous-looking (if blingy) $80 phone from an obscure Chinese maker looks like the perfect style assessory to my We Are Rewind WE-001 tape player (We Are Rewind WE-001).  I don’t usually gush about unboxing and packaging, but the DM’s is sublime, with a detachable MMCX cable, a generous supply of extra ear pads and a box marked “Giveaway”, which contains a little plastic headphone stand embossed with a caricature of a big-breasted, spear carrying redhead. Good stuff.

The millions of you who follow my every word know by now that I’m a sucker for this style of mini, open-back can, although the Distant Mountain is a bit larger and heavier than predecessors like the Koss Porta Pro and Senn PX100—it’s actually closer in size/weight to something like the Grado SR60.

Lambskin-wrapped metal headband (comically referred to as “headbeam” in the product lit) feels sturdy but does apply some clamping pressure and you’ll feel some wearing fatigue after an hour or two. The mangled English-language product literature appears to have been written by a crack-addled AI chatbot (“Dulging Into Beautiful Sound” “Fashion Oufits for Street Snap Live Camera”); it’s an absolute scream.

As  Jürgen notes, the earcups don’t swivel, so you’ll need to be careful with fit and placement to get optimal sound—these can lose bass impact if they don’t sit right on your ears.

Though spec’d at a modest 32oHm/115dB, I found the Distant Mountain hard to drive; my Kindle need to be maxed out for the DM to show any balls while my WE-001 tape player managed better but lacked some of the fullness and physicality it had with say, the Koss KSC75 (which is ostensibly harder to drive).

Utilizing a dongle (in this case the Hidisz S8) was a very big improvement, and you will need an amp to hear these at their best. Note that the manufacturer will include a dongle with the cans for an extra five bucks, the quality of which I am uncertain. 

I hear these as slightly bright (but free from glare) and L-shaped, with a dominant, DEEP bass presence, forward mids (vocalists sound a few steps in front of the other performers) and somewhat rolled-off high end which shows a smooth, thick note texture but misses some airiness and micro-detail.

Soundstage is surprisingly narrow and a bit closed-in; despite the amped-up bass there’s no bleed between frequencies, so clarity is good. Attach transients are a bit slow, but low end retains its shape and avoids boominess or monotony; Blue Note jazz and other less busy arrangements sound very well-sorted.

Bass-heavy fare like Ska or techno has a nice swing; bassheads will find these appealing. Tonality is actually quite good—rich and natural, if not highly resolving—but again that overemphasized <40Hz region gives the DM a slight incoherence, like a system with an imperfectly-integrated sub. These would benefit from some EQ to bring down the level (I used the Wavelet app when listening with my phone).

Most obviously compared to the Koss PortaPro/KSC75, the Distant Mountain has more impactful, less bloomy bass, more accurate imaging and a fuller, cleaner midrange.  The Koss is more comfortable and has more high end extension and resolution; purely on its sonics the Koss is the better-sounding phone, with a more analogish timbre.

However, for the twenty buck difference the Distant Mountain is leagues beyond the plug-ugly Koss in terms of build, looks, accessories and hipster swag. Everyone should own a Koss, but I’d also encourage you to buy a Roseselsa if you anticipate needing to look cool on a cruise ship or at a MAGA book burning.

The Distant Mountain is at its core a fashion-first product—if it weren’t so damned good-looking I’d probably cast it aside as competent but unremarkable. However, suitable amped and paired it certainly sounds good enough to justify the asking price; considering its aesthetic merits it seems like quite the bargain.

Specifications Roseselsa Distant Mountain