surprising quality sound for a bass-centered design
review by
un-midas touch
I can confidently say I've had the opportunity to thoroughly test these bangin' little sleepers in the chiefest of proving grounds for nearly a year now. That being the back of an RTA Diesel powered bus, 5 days a week to work. With the engine right against my back and the transmission beneath my feet. Suffice to say one has to listen pretty loudly to fully immerse themselves in the music they're hearing.
And these have been up to the task. I bought them last year, at the local K-mart store closing sale. It seems the price you can get them for now is even lower than what a deal on them was back then. And let me tell you, on those terms you should not pass these up. I couldn't imagine a better value in this price range.
With a caveat I must add though; I paired them with my Sandisk Sansa clip+ with Rockbox installed. This allowed me very good control over the frequency spectrum. This seems to be necessary to get the full potential out of these, because you will inevitably come across the song or two (or any talk for that matter) which will require you to turn the bass down. Way, way down. I'd have to say that if you don't trust the capability of your player to mitigate it you should probably look to a more conventional earbud.
Don't take this to mean that they don't produce an excellent sound, if that's what you're thinking, I've played them near or at the maximum volume level I can achieve for almost all of my regular listening, and even after blasting many of my favorite songs well beyond the realm of comfortability, the output is never distorted to a noticeably lower quality, and to this day has not degraded from this abuse in the slightest. The sound is incredibly accurate, much more clean and bright than you would ever expect a product like this was designed for.
Since I've rambled on about the most positive aspect of my experience of these, I can't go without giving you the negatives. Thing is, they're shaped funny. This doesn't affect their feel in the ear, which is really quite comfortable due to the silicone encasement of the body. The strange thing is that, when inserted, the wire comes out of the top of the speakers at a high, outward angle. I assume this is for aesthetics, seeing as how it gives the appearance of having a tiny bomb inside your ear, wired to be detonated.
That's cool enough in it's own right, until one notes that this means the wires are perpetually bent down at the point where they exit. They haven't lost any structural integrity because of this, however it makes me nervous whenever one gets pulled out unexpectedly. Which, as I noted as the second con, means you've probably got a cup up in your ear to finagle out. Luckily though they are on there strong enough that they have never come loose in my pocket. For their power and durability, they seem quite light and don't burden your ears with long use. I in fact wear them at the desktop as well, simply because they just sound so much better than the generic tabletops I have.
So, in the grand scheme of audiophilia, these would probably not make the top of the true aficionado's list, but they do make for a pair you can easily switch to if you want to keep your good set in top condition, and shake your brain to bump world with these instead.
And for the price, I think there could be no better backup pair.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|
| light, comfortable, attenuate well to equalizer settings, as loud as you can stand an in-ear. Durable and resistant to clipping damage. | Funny shape makes wires slightly annoying, forming cups not exceptionally secure, come off in ear when removed too quickly. |
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