Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)SOME PROBLEMS
To get usable sound, these earphones need to be inserted properly. It was not easy to figure out. You need to push them well into your ears (gently), with the tips a bit into the ear canals. At first the air pressure that forms causes my ears not to hear the sound well. Now pull them slightly out, and get a sensation a bit like your ear popping, as the ear equalizes pressure. It helps to listen to music while you're doing this so you know when it sounds right. If you hear almost no bass, they are not inserted correctly.
You can get a sense about what they SHOULD sound like by pressing them gently well into your ears while listening. This causes a good air seal, which is essential to hearing the bass. I find they sound pretty good if I hold them in place; eventually I figured out how to get them to stay there, at least awhile.
Isolation with sounds around you - on an airplane or train, or a noisy office - is not as good as earbuds like Koss "The Plug" (the earphones I have been using a few years), which have a fitting like a foam ear plug to fill my ear and isolate outside sounds. Of course outside noise will be less of a problem if you are listening to music fairly loud, but doing so will degrade your hearing over time.
The cord is covered in a woven fabric. If anything rough rubs against it, you can hear it through the cord attachment to the earphones. For example, when I am walking, the cord rubs against my face, and if I don't have a *very* clean and fresh shave, my whiskers cause enough friction to send a sound a little like someone blowing into a microphone.
A minor problem is that the plug is long and slender. On my Koss earphones (Koss "The Plug") and most others I have seen for portable use, there is an L-shaped plug that is less prone to getting into the way or even breaking than this one is.
They are much smaller than my other earphones, but I don't think that is an advantage. Then again, it might be just the thing for the person who always finds earphones too big for their ears.
iPOD lovers: beware, these are black. :-)
THE SOUND
Once I figured out how to insert it correctly, I began to appreciate the sound. These earphones are very clear in the middle and high range. The DO play bass notes (and if you think otherwise, re-read the first two paragraphs), but they are definitely NOT for a listener who likes a lot of bass. I think they are best suited to jazz, classical, or listening to the more subtle aspects of dynamic material that has a broad range of sounds.
My Koss earphones are a bit louder, much stronger in the bass, but a bit more mushy in the middle and high end.
Adjusting the EQ on your player will make a big difference in how these sound - unless the problem is that you don't have bass because they are not inserted properly, in which case pumping up the bass won't help that much (I tried). In that case, re-read the first paragraphs.
OVERALL
Not for the loud rock listener who loves bass, but maybe near-audiophile at a low price point, IF you can get them inserted properly and stay there. Better for children and women, who don't have beards to scrape against the cord. But I'm not sure they are worth the trouble.
I'll keep listening and perhaps post an update if I change my mind.
DISCLOSURE: The Amazon Vine program gave me these earphones free of charge in exchange for reviewing them. I do not get paid to review products, beyond that, and I always give my honest opinion whether I pay or not.
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