We live in an increasingly cable-free world, but some of us still want wired earphones. With many mobile device manufacturers getting rid of 3.5mm headphone jacks altogether, this is becoming more and more difficult to accomplish. But if your phone, tablet, or computer has a USB-C jack that supports audio output, Wicked Audio has just the solution for you. For $49.99, the Ravian headphones connect via USB-C to deliver bass-forward audio with a sensible balance between lows and highs.

Design

Available in black or white, the Ravian is a no-nonsense pair of wired, in-canal earphones with an inline remote control and mic compartment. Instead of terminating in a typical 3.5mm jack, the four-foot cable has a USB-C connection. Internally, the earpieces house 10mm Neodymium drivers that deliver a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz.

The in-ear fit is secure, and there are three pairs of silicone eartips to choose from, in small, medium, and large sizes. When the earpieces are twisted slightly, the fit is not only secure, but it effectively tamps down ambient sound thanks to some solid passive noise isolation. You don't get a pouch for storing the earphones when not in use, nor is there an included adapter to make them compatible with a standard headphone jack.

The inline remote control/mic enclosure is located on the right earpiece’s cabling, and it rests at about chin level. There’s a three-button remote control, with a central multi-function button for playback, track navigation, and voice assistants, depending on how many taps you give or how long you press it for. The outer plus/minus buttons handle volume control.

Performance

On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the earphones deliver palpable low-frequency thump, admirably balanced out with a strong presence of high-mids and highs. At top volumes, there’s no distortion, and at moderate volumes, the bass depth is still robust.

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Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Ravian’s general sound signature. The drums on this track can sound overly thunderous on some bass-forward in-ears, but here they get a healthy added thump without sounding ridiculous. The high-frequency tape hiss in the background takes a step forward, too, indicating some sculpting in the highs, as well. Callahan’s baritone vocals are delivered with a pleasant low-mid richness that’s lent some treble edge and crispness, as are the acoustic strums and higher-frequency percussive hits. Generally speaking, this is a bass-forward sound signature, but the mids and highs are far from ignored.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives enough high-mid presence for its attack to retain its punchiness, and the high-frequency vinyl crackle and hiss take a step forward in the mix. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with solid depth—it’s not over the top, nor does it fail to do justice to the ominous low-end force these hits are capable of. The vocals on this track are delivered cleanly and clearly, without much added sibilance.

For orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams’ , the lower-register instrumentation takes a step forward in the mix, but not in a way that shifts the balance too drastically. The higher-register brass, strings, and vocals are crisp and bright and maintain their place in the spotlight—this is arguably the most accurate the earphones get, on tracks with less deep bass in the mix. The lows are well-represented, but they don’t overpower the mids or highs on orchestral and jazz tracks.

The inline mic offers excellent intelligibility. Using Garageband on a MacBook Pro, we could understand every word we recorded cleanly and clearly. There was no hint of distortion, and the mic picked up plenty of low-frequency depth, adding some richness to the crisp clarity of the signal.

Conclusions

Wired earphones simply aren't made in the numbers that Bluetooth models are now. Throw in the fact that Wicked Audio's Ravian earphones are not only wired, but connect via USB-C, and there isn't much out there to compare them with directly. If you want a standard 3.5mm connection for a good price, you can't do much better than the $30 RHA MA390 Universal. For far more money, the $200 Etymotic ER4 XR and the $180 Bowers & Wilkins C5 Series 2 are also excellent 3.5mm options. But if you don't have a traditional headphone jack, the Ravian earphones are a welcome, affordable alternative.