The retail package for the IE 80 is one of the most impressive IEM packages I've seen. The IEMs are nicely presented and the brushed aluminium box looks very sleek. Opening the box confirms this with a the box despite being plastic with aluminium faceplates seems very well constructed and more than adaquetely protects the IEMs themselves although the L shaped 3.5mm connector can be difficult to fit into the case. The included tip selection is very wide. However for me, this is where the problems began. The tips selection, while wide, is still...

  Comfort and build quality: The KNS8400 comes with wonderfully soft memory foam pleather ear and headband pads. They can get hot after several hours use, but that's expected for closed pleather. They clamp fairly well, not too tight, not too low, I can have a moderate headbang and these headphones won't budge. The cable is detachable and about 8ft long(as measured with a 15cm ruler). It's not great since it's very long and prone to tangling itself and trying to coil itself back into whatever way it was last stored. There is an additional 1ft...

Pros: Quite cheap (I paid £69) Soundstage is fantastic at this price The detachable cable is a great addition at this price point and ensures a much easier repair if the cable fails. The provided foam tips are incredibly isolating and not exactly cheap if you try and buy them separately! Wonderful for vocal music, mids are very good. Surprisingly bassy, it's not overpowering, but it's certainly there and is quite detailed. Possibly too much bass for some. No sibilence in the highs.   Cons: The cable to earbud connector is fragile...

Almost 3 years ago and with the low budget of £20 I set out to buy a pair of reasonable, rugged in ears that could be used as a travel, camping and workout buddy. These just so happened to be on sale at £8 at the time, although they more usually retail for £12-14.   They gave up on me last month, after a fairly traumatic life.   While not even close to audiophile sound, they are great for the price, with fairly punchy bass and reasonable trebles. The highs were rather lacking, instead of being able to discern between frequencies, they all...