Review: Mitchell & Johnson MJ2 – fulcrum

Sound

Getting energetic, hard-edged bass from the MJ1 requires squeezing the pads against the skull. Even then, that bass is firmest post-100Hz. Out of the box the MJ2 goes deeper, and is harder edged further down, with or without the squeeze. Perhaps because it uses the a similar driver set, its signature is similar to MJ1, but not that similar.

it is harder edged down below, and up above, sometimes brighter, and all of it pulled together into a more confined sound space.

Mitchell & Johnson’s headphone is absent a true bass monster. Still, coming from the MJ1, the Mitchell & Johnson MJ2 gives impresses itself as creature-esque, if only just. High bass thrums against the temples, and lower bass thrums agains the jaw. That lower bass doesn’t go deep enough to render the sub bass in the opening seconds of Markus Schulz’s Mainstage. Rather, it rat-a-tat-tat’s a detailed mid and upper bass against a slowly building melody. It is less bass pressure than you get from a DT880, and slightly less than from MyST’s OrotoPhones, but more than escapes the MJ1.

It certainly can’t replicate the club feeling. And yet, it isn’t bass shy. It’s got that Audio Technica CK10 detailed-but-cautious thing going on that drags you in for love of stereo detail and midrange tension. Positionally, the Mitchell & Johnson MJ2 draws instruments and environments closer than MJ1, and grounds each with a more centrally anchored bass. This effects a Grado-style sense of speed and stage intimacy. Unlike my favourite Grado headphones, MJ2 builds its medium-wide stage laterally rather than vertically. Vertical spread of instruments stands in the middle. Z-axis depth is medium-deep, moving about half a step in front of the head and about a quarter step behind it. MJ1 goes farther in both directions.

I love super-wide stages. I also love close stages. Medium-depth stages are things I’ve found pleasurable in the last year or two. This medium-depth stage sits between a Grado PS1000 and a Beyerdynamic DT880/600, but cleaves closer to the latter. As does its bright, energetic, and percussion-loving upper midrange. Its vocal region isn’t as warm as the MJ1’s, but percussion, high-pitched strings, and atmospheric chimes, are more controlled and better cleaved to their lower pitched edges. They are easier to listen to. It isn’t sibilant in the least, and its transition between upper mids is – at least among brightish headphones – one of the best I’ve heard at any price. I avoid raucous live music when using the MJ1. The MJ2 is easily more adaptable to a greater variety of musical genres. And similar to the MJ1, it won’t do it for duff duff-style bass heavy music. That is, no Ice Cube. It gets on with fast-paced hip hop: the streets, MC Solaar, and goes well with fusion hip hop from King Britt. It shimmers a bit more than neutral right above higher pitched male vocals. I think it’s great.

Make no mistake: the Mitchell & Johnson MJ2 is brighter than it is warm, or liquidy. It’s just not peaky, or sibilant. its upper range is more controlled sounding than the one in the MJ1, and less grainy than a Grado GH-2.

At the end, I wish low bass sound pressure was higher. Apart from that, the MJ2 nails most of what I want and how I want to hear it from a headphone.

End words

I went back and forth and back and forth between the MJ1 and MJ2. One fits and isolates better. One looks cooler and has richer wood hues. The other connects to balanced sources, lickety split. Both sound good, but each splits off in the mids. After many hours, I’m ready to say that I prefer the Mitchell & Johnson MJ2, and not by a small margin. Its tighter sound stage and warmer bass-through-mids anchors a clean, bright upper midrange.