After posting a thread asking for helping choosing between ue sf3s and nuforce ne7s, someone suggested the Z.buds. Coincidently, I am on vacation in Salt Lake City, so I was able to pick up a pair from their hq for the $40 price tax-free and shipping-free.
Long story short, I am VERY impressed for $40 flat.
To start, the packaging was nice and they included two sets of foam tips and three different sized olives. It came with one triple flanged tip, but didn't include a second to complete the pair, so that disappointed me. I could go back and get a second one, but I think I will just order some complys anyways. I found the medium sized olives to fit best, but they are somewhat uncomfortable and don't form as nice of a seal as I hoped.
The nylon cord is pretty nice and even the red color doesn't look bad. I was kind of weary of having a set of buds with a red cord, but it actually looks good. The microphonics are pretty nice as well. I only can hear cable noise if there is no music playing, but once there is sound coming out there is absolutely none. The cord management with the hangin' tight feature is pretty nice. I was also weary about how the metal beads would look in real life, but they look good and grip the cord very well. Hangin' Tight also serves it purpose well by moving the weight of the buds to my neck.
The music controls unfortunately do not work with my 1G ipod touch, which is disappointing. I am not sure if this is a defect or just that the 1G tough isn't compatible with the feature. However, the microphone works very well. When using the hangin' tight config, the mic sits right over my right shoulder and picks up my voice perfectly. I used it for a few phone calls on my LG Dare and people noticed that I sounded noticeably clearer.
Now for the important part, the sound quality.
Given that I do not have the experience with the high-end buds that a bunch of you all have here, I cannot compare it to them, but I have owned UE SF3s and E2Cs in the past. For half the price, easily surpassed the quality of the E2Cs and are of the caliber (or possibly greater than) the UE SF3s (it is difficult to compare since I owned the SF3s three years ago).
The bass on these buds is incredible. It is incredibly punchy, deep, and accurate. When listening to the Roots, the bass boomed, and when listening to rock, it was beautifully present while not overpowering. I love it!
The mids are warm and sound great. Acoustic guitar parts almost have a vinyl-like quality. I would attempt to describe it more, but given my lack of experience in this kind of stuff, I would probably just sound like an idiot
The highs also stick out and are definitely not overpowered by the bass and mids. They are clear and distinct. However, given that these are rather bass heavy, they would probably not perform well for classical music and solo vocals. The highs sound good in rock, rap, and metal (most of the music I listen to), so I find them adequate.
Overall, I am very satisfied with these especially since they were $40.
I know a lot of you guys aren't sure to make the dive for these since there aren't too many reviews by members, but for $40, you will likely not be disappointed.
Long story short, I am VERY impressed for $40 flat.
To start, the packaging was nice and they included two sets of foam tips and three different sized olives. It came with one triple flanged tip, but didn't include a second to complete the pair, so that disappointed me. I could go back and get a second one, but I think I will just order some complys anyways. I found the medium sized olives to fit best, but they are somewhat uncomfortable and don't form as nice of a seal as I hoped.
The nylon cord is pretty nice and even the red color doesn't look bad. I was kind of weary of having a set of buds with a red cord, but it actually looks good. The microphonics are pretty nice as well. I only can hear cable noise if there is no music playing, but once there is sound coming out there is absolutely none. The cord management with the hangin' tight feature is pretty nice. I was also weary about how the metal beads would look in real life, but they look good and grip the cord very well. Hangin' Tight also serves it purpose well by moving the weight of the buds to my neck.
The music controls unfortunately do not work with my 1G ipod touch, which is disappointing. I am not sure if this is a defect or just that the 1G tough isn't compatible with the feature. However, the microphone works very well. When using the hangin' tight config, the mic sits right over my right shoulder and picks up my voice perfectly. I used it for a few phone calls on my LG Dare and people noticed that I sounded noticeably clearer.
Now for the important part, the sound quality.
Given that I do not have the experience with the high-end buds that a bunch of you all have here, I cannot compare it to them, but I have owned UE SF3s and E2Cs in the past. For half the price, easily surpassed the quality of the E2Cs and are of the caliber (or possibly greater than) the UE SF3s (it is difficult to compare since I owned the SF3s three years ago).
The bass on these buds is incredible. It is incredibly punchy, deep, and accurate. When listening to the Roots, the bass boomed, and when listening to rock, it was beautifully present while not overpowering. I love it!
The mids are warm and sound great. Acoustic guitar parts almost have a vinyl-like quality. I would attempt to describe it more, but given my lack of experience in this kind of stuff, I would probably just sound like an idiot
The highs also stick out and are definitely not overpowered by the bass and mids. They are clear and distinct. However, given that these are rather bass heavy, they would probably not perform well for classical music and solo vocals. The highs sound good in rock, rap, and metal (most of the music I listen to), so I find them adequate.
Overall, I am very satisfied with these especially since they were $40.
I know a lot of you guys aren't sure to make the dive for these since there aren't too many reviews by members, but for $40, you will likely not be disappointed.
