Monoprice 8320 IEM

I bought these after reading the reviews. Boy, was I impressed. These phones smoke my Klipsch S4's. Although they are IEM's and not earbuds they smoke my Yuin PK1 earbuds too. These phones are the best I've found for under $200, no joke. You'd be hard pressed to find a better sounding IEM for the price, or for that matter 25 times the price. I love them. If they were priced at $100 I would still pay the price for these great sounding phones. What else can I say, BUY THEM!!!!!.

The true budget IEM king!
 
First of all, there are no accessories and packaging. The IEM comes in a plastic wrap. That's that. Can't complain for $7 though.
 
The housing is a big, bulky shiny plastic. OK for the price. For me comfort is not bad at all, but for those who have smaller ears comfort will be an issue. Get another pair of eartips cos the stock ones are not so good. I use Meelec tips stuffed with Comply foam.
 
The worst part: cable. Super tangle prone, kinks, and no chin slider.
 
But... the sound! You can't get any better sq for even 5-10 times the price.
 
Bass: Has a decent impact and control, but lacking extension. Overall it is still enjoyable for most tracks.
 
Mids: Unexpectedly smooth and fairly detailed.
 
Highs: Fair amount of sparkle and detail, but again, lacks extension.
 
Soundstage: It is wide, but not really deep. 
 
Overall the 8320 is a very nicely balanced sounding IEM which worth much more than its price. Since it is very cheap, it is good to keep more than 1 for backup, practising recabling, try out stuff.

Don't hesitate, just buy these, they are a definite steal for 8 bucks.  I promise you, these headphones will put a smile on your face.  Nice separation of highs, mids, and bass.  It has nice control in high volumes and heavy bass.  Can basically handle any genre you throw at it.....
 
The texture of the wire does not bother me, i think its kinda cool, i think they are a handsome pair of headphones, though i'm more concerned about the sound.
 
More for sitting down still and listening to tunes, not for working out (too much wire noise).

I bought my first set of 8320 two years or more back. They were very flat in the beggining then someone sugested these should be burned in for a few days with white noise. An old cell phone and white noise generator helped break these things in. Man o man what a difference. Made my bose IEM look like dollar store headphones. Sound is a relative thing IMHO just like taste in food. Some like certain foods more or less. I stopped buying other types of IEM's. Simply put these are the most durable IEM's I have ever had, once you perform some choice upgrades they can be awesome.
 
I wore these for more than 2 years daily for at least 3 hours a day. They have never let me down.
 
My suggestions would be as follows.
 
1 - Get some better tips for these.
2 - Get a set of earplugs and cut them short and puch out a hole in them. Put them behind the tips for extra spring.
3 - do not forget to wrap the cable behind your ear to reduce microphoning of the cable. (Helps tremendously)
 
I even designed a 3d printable holder for these so you can store them in style. Here is a link. -> https://www.youmagine.com/designs/monoprice-8320-headphone-holder
 
I Even bought two more pairs to keep as spares as these after 2+ years are looking raged, but they are still 100% functional. If I bought 10 pairs I could have a lifetime supply of these. 
 
-Bruno

Allow me to preface this by saying that I have way more experience with headphones. The only IEMs I've ever owned before this were some cheapie $20 Sony IEMs, the MeElec CW31s, and the MeElect M9-BK. I've sold every IEM I've owned before this one, mostly because I felt like they never got any head time compared to my full-sized cans.
 
The packaging for the 8320 was about was minimalist as you can get -- there were the IEMs with inserts already on, no alternative inserts, no box, just a small plastic bag. 
 
The design felt pretty solid, especially for a headphone of its price. The clothed cable was a nice touch and felt like a definite step up over typical cables for low end earbuds and IEMs, but it did feel cheap. I did find that they very often got tangled. I'm actually very impressed with the durability of the cable so far. I've already accidentally hard slammed the car door on this cable, pulling the Monoprices out of my pocket with such force that one of the tips flew off and they still worked perfectly afterwards.  
 
The comfort could be better, but I'm not a giant fan of cheap IEM comfort. The lack of additional, different sized inserts is somewhat annoying, but they're also $7. The comfort is acceptable, but not something I'd want to wear all day. 
 
As for the sound, the bass is tight and punchy. The sub-bass isn't quite that extended and you get the typical dynamic driver drop-off at the sub-bass frequencies. Bass had a solid amount of impact, but the rumble made bass-heavy electronic music feel a little lacking. Overall, though, I found the bass response to be solid. The mids had a surprising amount of clarity. By no means was it crystal clear, but it was better than I remembered my CW31s. Overall, the details in the mids and highs was solid.
 
For the price, I give the Monoprice 8320s my highest praise. They're certainly not hi-fi audio, but they're absolute monsters in their price range. Most $7 earphones sound and feel like absolute crap, but these could definitely compete with the $20-40 MeElecs. 
 

Not the most glamorous IEM's... but looks aside, these things are BEASTS! Just buy them.. you may find yourself loving them!  If not, give them to someone else, because they are sure to!
 

I bought these cheap 'phones because of all the hype I saw on Head-Fi. The hype is so well deserved that I registered to Head-Fi just to add my weight behind these earphones!
I use these on my Sansa Fuze+ player and they sound absolutely excellent! With a good seal, which admittedly is difficult to get, the base can rattle your eyeballs....... NO KIDDING...... I was amazed.
 
My gold standard for "phones is the Koss Porta-Pro, And the various formats using that same drivers. On my Sansa Fuze+ the Porta Pros sound BREATHTAKING.... But I actually prefer the Monoprice over the Porta-Pros. There is an over-all pleasing and satisfying quality to these "phones that is difficult to explain. The sound is different than the Koss, Since the Koss are PERFECT, this would indicate that the Monoprice is inferior. Even so I consistently reach for the Monoprice and am extremely satisfied with the sound.  They are more efficient that the Porta Pros Too.
 
Now to be fair I also own a Sangean DT_400W pocket radio. This is a VERY high quality radio and the sound is WONDERFUL in headphones........ Except these Monoprice 6320s sound harsh and middy with that radio. The sangean's BassBoost switch only adds boominess to the mix. I would love to love the Monoprice on that platform also....... But no, the Porta Pros are the only way to go there.
 
For the $8 you just can't beat these "phones! My Koss cost $35 ON CLOSE OUT SALE, yet the Monoprice are every bit the equal on some platforms such as the Sansa player. The Monoprice will take amplification to the point of pain, in spite of the better efficiency...... I just don't have amp enough to make these drivers clack bottom. I can overdrive the Koss with the same amp.
 
If you don't like these 'phones then you didn't get a good seal..... Or your device just doesn't drive them well. The good reviews are ten to one against the bad ones. Buy some Monoprice, They are excellent. If you don't think so, just save them. Another platform will show them to be the (ugly) little jewels that they are! 
 
UPDATE! -  2/19/16    It's approaching two years since I reviewed the Monoprice 8320 . I am listening to them right now. The cord is all kinked and crinkly, The inside wires are poking through the fabric in tiny loops here and there. They are sporting triple flange MEE Audio tips now, for a quick and reliable seal. Looking rough and sounding WONDERFUL, they are in daily use and still going strong.
 
Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells........... That low organ pedal note just rumbles, a note nonexistent and not reproduced when listening with full size speakers by the way.  Freakishly clean tinkling highs...... Well...... Just like the ringing of bells! Let's not neglect Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon............ The heartbeat, WHUMP-BUMP.....WHUMP-BUMP.....WHUMP-BUMP, gives chills and goose bumps. The clear and pristine voice of the torch singer on The Great Gig In The Sky brings tears and you don't know why. The clinking of coins onto a table so accurate that you instinctively check your pockets for spilling change. Can you tell that I really love these earphones? The best $8 ever spent! Still going strong what, 20 months later? You can't beat that.

 
Just got these. Been out of touch with headfi iems for awhile after all i had before were dead or lost.
 
These are mid-way through burn in process and i'm beginning to love them. I'm not even considering the price yet. I got them through a local guy who brought over for SGD$13. These are balanced. They sound similar to my RE0s from what i recall. (They lasted me a pathetic month, too expensive to ship back over to China) I don't think beginners will truly appreciate unless they've tried around IEMs way higher than this bracket range.
 
Sound
Not as detailed as Fischer Audio's DBA-02 and not as bass heavy as FA's Eterna.  
A class above Meelectronic's M6 which sound too digital and fake to me.
Slightly different from Brainwavz M2. (which are really good IEMs)
Similar sounding to RE0. (Mine pathetically broke after a month, which tells you a lot and it was too expensive to ship it over for warranty.)
 
Fit
These are big. You need to get use to it or else you will hate it. It already hurt my ear abit wearing it around the ear method cause the housing is large but wearing it straight down is more comfortable but subjected to more microphonics. I used Sony Hybrids on mine. The stock tips are terrible. I only received one btw.
 
Bottomline
I already love this mid burn in, a lot of detail for a $7 IEM. Usually you get muffled crap at this price, no details no bass. This is a nice surprise. Way out of its supposed price range.
Most probably they could rope in more cash for this if it came with accessories and a proper packaging. Well just get them, if not just chuck them. These are good but don't expect good QC though, the plastic tip were slightly defective but it doesn't interfere with the sound.
 
LOW BUDGET IEMS AT AUDIOPHILE SQ. 
(notice how i'm comparing all the great IEMs way above the price range of the monoprice 8320. that serves as a reminder to keep in check that price does not equate best sound quality. so take everything with a pinch of salt and try it. Planning to get a couple more since these are very affordable for a poor student like me.)

Exceptional sound quality, tight bass, engaging highs and is a nice all rounder. Also found that a headphone amp (FiiO E10 in my case) makes this little guy shine. Great value is what I expect from Monoprice and that is exactly what I got. Lacks extension both in highs and lows but can't really complain for the price.

For the price these little guys sound amazing, my only con is that they just came in a paddle envelope inside a clear bag with a tape model number on it. But other than that the sound these babies dish out are to unbelievable. Order them directly from Monoprice.com since they are selling it the cheapest.

These little things sound really good, even though they cost less than $8. How do they do it? Everyone should try these at this price, I mean why not? Totally useful phones for nearly nothing. You can't go wrong.

I read reviews on this and I said let me try this out, for $10 I couldn't lose. This surpassed all of expectations for a $10 IEM.

I am going to purchase a set for my wife, she was also blown away by the sound.

These are amazing regardless of price. The sound is very likable, energetic, and fun while staying balanced and with natural timbre. The bass has nice impact, just the right amount. And it has decent extension. It is very on time and snappy. Really some of the best bass I've heard from a headphone under $300. The midrange is actually pretty forward sounding, right in line with the bass. It has a lot of detail and sounds natural. There is some cloudiness and fog in the mids, but not from being recessed. If anything they start to sound shout-ey at higher volumes. The treble is rolled off very early and not really detailed at all. The treble is there but stays in the background and never does anything special. But at least they don't fatigue your ears. The soundstage is very very good for an IEM and provides lots of depth and shape. The soundstage and imaging is a big part of what makes these headphones detailed. Everything is placed in a certain spot so your brain can then recognize a sound is being played based on location. This headphone made me realize how much a proper soundstage and phase response makes a big difference. 
 
What I like best about this headphone is its very easy to see the whole picture, all the details going at once and in sync. My brain finds it easy to psycho acoustically comprehend the sound. With the 8320, its like being in a helicopter high above a forest, seeing every tree and getting a vast picture of what the forest looks like overall. With the DT48, its like being on the ground with a microscope, seeing and smelling each tree up and personal.
 
A quick word on the rest: Stock tips suck, they kinda look cheap and cyborg like. The comfort is good enough for me. Isolation is pretty weak, not much to speak of but it does offer a tiny bit. It improves little with better tips. The sound will improve a lot, better bass response and an even more full sound. 
 
I just think these are good sounding headphones regardless of price. They could have changed the tangle prone cable, color the casing, different tips, put a logo on it, and sold it for $100 and I would still buy it. But I do hope they stay cheap. I beleive that eventually, the emerging high end, budget IEM and headphone market from china will dominate this industry. I mean, most headphones don't cost much to make. If you can make a headphone sound like this with dirt cheap materials, then your in business.
 
 

Fit is not so good, but can be fixed with some foam tips. Build quality is pretty good. Nice termination and Y splitter. I am very happy with the sound. I believe everyone hears things differently, so im just going to tell you what i hear when i listen to them. To me there is very little sub bass. Even with deep insertion and a perfect seal. That being said, the mid bass is there and its done very nicely. Its got good clairity, impact and It rides right along side to rest of the spectrum never overpowering the mids or highs. The overall bass performance, dispite the lack of sub bass and decay is satisfiying to me. Moving on to the mids. I think this is my favorite area of the spectrum. I hear good detail and i find it slightly forward, witch i love. Honestly, these have the best sounding guitars for metal and general hard rockin music out of all my iem's. I relly love the mids and guitars attack and crunch on these! The highs. To me they are nicely detailed. They can become a little rolled off sometimes, but overall im pleased with the highs. Excellent details heard from open/closed high hats.

Soundstage, to me is just a tad above average. I think it helps that the overall signature is balanced. Bass mids and highs are all presented evenly with a slight tilt to the mids. One of the only flaws i can say about these is that to me the do sound overly "thin". That the only way i can think to describe it. Turning up the volume just never seems to make them sound "full"'.

I really like these alot and i find myself choosing theses more often than not over all my othet iems due to their stellar reproduction of guitars. Oh yeah and these respond well to my fiio e6 too.

After reading Dsnuts' lengthy thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/580769/the-monoprice-8320-mep-933-the-7-11-club, I had to jump on the bandwagon and get a pair for myself.
 
After opening my package from Monoprice, I see two little plastic bags containing the two pairs of 8320s I ordered.  Fancy, I know.
 
First thing I did, like anyone would do, was try and stick them in my ears.  Well, try as I might.  I could not get them to stay where they belong.  The stock tips are just awful.  Made out of a super cheap, flimsy rubber.  Impossible to get a good seal and if you have ears like mine, they will just pop out.
 
Luckily, changing out the ear tips is about the easiest mod you can do.  I quickly went to my bin of earphones and stole the tips off my JVC Marshmallows.  They fit like a glove on the 8320. 
 
I then placed the Monoprice "mini hair dryers" into my ears.  Sat back and in moments, I was in bliss.  My first thought is...  How can they sound this good?  Am I imagining it?  Is my brain filling in the gaps of sound?  These are $7 IEMs!
 
They are better than the hype.  You just have to hear them to believe it.
 
 
Tips about the Tips:
 
To get the best sound out of these little monsters, make sure you get either aftermarket tips that fit, like the Comply T-400 or Sony EPEX10A/BLK Hybrid.  That or find tips from other earphones you have laying around.
 
Also, very important to get the non-stock tips as far down your ear canal as you can.  The farther down, the better the bass and overall sound.
 
Here is a picture of my 8320s, with tips from my JVC Marshmallows:
 

 
 
The Fit:
 
One thing is for sure, as you will see pictures of other people wearing these, is that the "R" and 'L" stamped on each IEM should be sitting upright as you have them in your ears.
 
Most people will say, you should have the cord run over the back of your ear.  I slightly disagree with this.  The plastic part that comes out of the earphone faces downwards.  It seems silly to me to then bend it back and run it over the ear.  For me, just letting the cord hang down works best.
 
In this picture you will see how I wear them (and my ears seem to be built for these, they fit PERFECT).
 

 
 
The Sound:
 
Highs:  The highs never seem to become too harsh, yet there is lots of detail.  They roll off very well.
 
Mids:  LOVE the mids.  They are fun and forward.
 
Lows:  Get a good seal and these will bump.  They also respond very well to some bassier EQ Settings.  Fun song to really get a feel of what these can do.  Try: Tron Legacy Soundtrack (Daft Punk) - Solar Sailer.  And put up the bass.
 
Overall Sound:  For me, the mix of Highs, Mids and Lows fit together so well.  I can listen to them with almost any kind of music.  The are great all around IEMs. 
 
 
Bottom line.  Buy these.  Buy them now.  Buy multiple pairs for yourself and for friends/family.  The more you buy, the cheaper they get!
 
..

I am not a regular headphones/earphones user so what caught my eye originally was the articles in Lifehacker. To see a $9 version of anything compared favourably to $100+ version is something to pay attention to whether the item is earphones or cruet sets.
 
When the shipment arrived I was surprised how small the carton was. I had seen unboxing videos on Youtube and expected something larger for the quantity involved. SO, you can imagine I was a little disappointed to find bulk packed items just in small plastic bags with no packaging at all. Of course, if they had been packed in boxes, the shipping charge would have been higher but I was a little disappointed.
 
I got a pair out, reviewed the videos and photos of how to wear them, and slotted them in.
 
Many people have remarked about the fit with a significant minority saying that just did not fit at all. While some of those may have later found they were wearing them incorrectly, many must genuinely have had problems. My last earphones were Sennheiser and they came with different size tips to get the best fit. A budget item is just that but I know that we will be offering ours with different sized tips (at extra cost) to try and address this issue.
 
So back to my installation process. I have trouble inserting ordinary foam ear protectors but I had no problem with the 8320s which was a pleasant surprise and, though I have not had them long enough to evaluate long term comfort, they felt fine and now my wife has nicked my set to listen to Beethoven while she marks school work.
This must surely come down to the issue of features/value/price. I think the 8320s deliver a great deal more bang for the $ (or punch for the £) then anything I have ever heard of but if they are not for you, there is no much you can do about it.
 
8320s in my ears and I fire up iTunes and take the first thing it offers me... Neil Young ah!!!!!!!!!!
 
Most amazing thing of all? The volume was not LOUD but very adequate and I then realised I had it on the lowest possible setting before mute.
 
Happy listening.
 
 

I've been a headfi stalker for many, many years, joining when the ER4 and whatever Shure or UE equivalent were just accepted as king, in fact the single most expensive thing I ever bought was with my own money in high school was a pair of brand new ER4P's. With the exception of the custom UE10's, these were basically the most highly regarded IEM or even headphone/earphone, this side of an Orpheus at the time.
 
However this is the first time I've felt compelled to post a review as by and large I think my hearing has deteriorated (I became an attack helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army for several years, the combination of turbine engines are 5.56 just ruined my hearing, and as such I've generally been more attracted to bass centric headphones lately- but, for whatever reason, recently seem to have been regained my high frequency hearing or at least the appreciation of what I have left..
 
So why am I reviewing the Monoprice 8320? Well, they're absolutely terrible, at least without the right fit. I'd read an insane amount on amount on them but still bought them and they'd always sounded terrible to me, the other night my RHA T10i's failed on me again (not a well made headphone despite the looks) and I was left with either my 7506's which I couldn't find, earpods or the monoprices, so I grabbed the monoprices after already having them written them off as being terrible, despite trying 5 or 6 different tip combinations and...suddenly I found one that fit, sillicon earbuds that I think I actually got from jabra bluetooth earphones. 
 
For whatever reason they fit perfectly, even without  playing music playing the isolation was exceptional and this benefitted a very specific type of rock, mainly, low-fi recorded rock, a good example is Interpol, who despite having great music, seem to have initially terrible recordings on their first two albums. The Monoprices' strength seem to be in digging up enough detail and melodic mids to sound good but without being able to resolve the flaws. There's no doubt they sound terrible without the right fit but once you do get it, I honestly think it's one of the most enjoyable rock music IEMs I've ever had for lower-fi recordings..
 
Cheers
Alex

Great sounding iem's. I was amazed that they could sound this good for only $7! The only bad thing about them is that the tips that come with are pretty bad. You can get replacements for them on Amazon for pretty cheap though.

Hey Head-fi,
 
The 8320 have a lot of hype, but there are several aspects of it that I can't help but dislike. However, if you can look past these issues then it's really a very nice IEM.
 
Here's my review:

 
To sum it up:
There's a surprising amount of clarity, though instrument separation isn't the best. I felt that there was a distinct lack of bass (this could possibly be attributed to an improper seal, though I was under the impression that they were sealed adequately.). Comfort is a bit of an issue, as the top of the 8320's dig into my ear a bit. Microphonics are strong with this one (and they leak more sound than would be expected), but the mids and highs are quite good for the price. Just don't expect too much from them...
 
I'd love any feedback that you have, and thanks for the inspiration!