drgroove said:

I have been checking these out myself, heres the best price I have found and supposedly these have the new drivers
 
http://www.ecost.com/prod/Electronics/Headphones/Stereo/Future+Sonics+Universal+Fit+Professional+Earphones+-+Onyx+Black+-+ATRIO+M5/62848613.aspx?navid=155441524&source=k186085&cm_mmc=Affiliates-_-Performics-_-k186085-_-eCost.com:%20Best%20Selling%20Manufacturer%20Recertified%20Notebooks

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I had a chance to listen to them today.
 
Listening Impressions
 
The quality of the files used ranged from v0 mp3 to FLAC on both setups. I did not find much of an improvement with the use of the impedance adapter so my notes on both with and without were more or less the same.
 
Atrios has been known to have nice quality bass (at least from my short readings of them int he past). I found the bass extension to be very good going to the lowest of lowest and low enough to the limit of my hearing. Sub bass had plenty of impact, rumble and definitely had a strong presence. Typically with  bass heavy earphones I associate that with a mid bass hump (like an Eterna v1 or IE8) but there wasn't much of a mid bass hump due to the sub bass. The Atrios definitely has more of an emphasis in the sub bass than mid bass. The bass as a whole was pretty good although it was a bit slow at times. Decay from a single note lasted too long and would be too much when many bass notes are played in succession. The bass impact was a bit more than my HJE900 so definitely north of neutral and probably a better option than my HJE900 for those bass heads out there.
 
Moving to the midrange there was definitely a recession there. The amount of recessed mids seemed to be similar to my foam modded HJE900 (I do need to put some more foam in the HJE900 but I digress). Vocals were definitely recessed when I compared them to the Coppers as well as my Livewire customs. The electric guitar has a nice authority to it when it comes into the music. Acoustic was nicely detailed however definitely took a step back. In terms of instruments I found that strings were nice with these. There was nice detail with stringed instruments.
 
Treble is decent on the MG7 but nothing to write home about. I don't find it bad but nothing great especially at the price range I'm assuming the MG7 is at which is roughly $200. i consider the treble on the Coppers better but it is more expensive and iirc it has a MSRP of $399. I also consider the treble extension of my $99 RE-Zero to be better. I found cymbals to be really off and unrealistic. There were some songs that sounded good but more often than not they did not sound very good with cymbals. There is a certain decay that goes with the crash cymbal and the decay was way too long than it should be. I also found that the hi-hat tended to sound somewhat metallic. However the main issue is the crash cymbal and the presentation of the crash is not done very well.
 
Sound stage was somewhere around average to a bit above average. I may have been spoiled by good sound stage lately but I consider the RE262 to have a superior sound stage to the MG7 but I am not a big judge on sound stage. I don't care for sound stage too much since this is an earphone where sound stage is limited in my experiences. Imaging and separation was a bit better but not by much.
 
Timbre while usually being better than BA earphones with some exceptions here and there was good in certain areas and bad in others. The cymbals are the first thing to fault when I think of the timbre of these earphones.
 
There is something else to notice with the MG7. These earphone do not sound good (at least to my ears) with low level listening. I found that a higher listening level is preferred for these but I do not like listening at higher volumes for obvious reasons. The midrange was not as recessed with a higher volume but still recessed nonetheless.
 
Conclusion
 
I was told that the MG7 would be around $200 and that what I was listening to was the final product. I consider it more of a beta product than something that is finalized for a couple of reasons. While bass is good the treble and upper mids needs some work. It lacks the clarity and detail that I am accustomed to hearing although I am used to earphones that are very good. There was an issue with cymbals that was reproduced with both my J3 as well as my dac/amp. The bass is good and the midrange is decent but not good. Sub bass was the best part of this earphone and if you want something that has a lot of emphasis on sub bass with decent mids and a lackluster treble then I guess this could be an option. However I think there are better options out there that have a more complete sound and does not cost as much. The HJE900 was also there and if I had to choose I'd pick the HJE900 over what I heard any day.
 
Please note that these are just my impressions and the actual product may be different especially for those who advocate burn in since I do not know how many hours the pair I listened to had. 
 

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starsky5000 said:

I really wanted to like these. I was hoping they would sound good. But guess not!

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Sound (8.5/10) – As expected, the bass is the dominant aspect of the sound signature of the M8. What is surprising is just how technically competent the low end is. The bass is extremely extended, dropping below 30Hz without significant roll-off and audible well into the low 20Hz range. With the exception of the Hippo VB, the Atrios may have the flattest sub-bass of all the bass-heavy earphones I’ve tried. But it’s not just the excellent extension that gives the Atrios their reputation – the bass is detailed and impeccably textured. The dynamic drivers found in the Atrios can move quite a lot of air and, while the impact isn’t quite as precise as bass produced by BA-based earphones, the Atrios exercise impressive control over their low end. The bass is neither muddy nor bloated and can be an incredibly satisfying underlying element on bass-light tracks. On tracks with dominant basslines, however, the low end of the Atrios can be intense and perhaps even a bit overpowering if your personal preferences lean towards more analytical sound as mine do.
 
Recessed slightly in comparison to the low end, the midrange is clear and detailed. The clarity lags slightly behind the Sennheiser IE8, Hippo VB, and most armature-based earphones in the price range but still manages to impress for an earphone balanced the way the Atrio is. The mids are smooth, surprisingly uncolored and natural-sounding, and blended well with the bass and treble. Stringed instruments sound especially crisp and pleasant with the Atrios but vocals have good presence as well. The treble is just as smooth and relaxed as the midrange and boasts impressive extension with silicone tips and a slight bit of roll-off with foamies. The top end is quite natural and, though fine detail is not as forthcoming as with some of the more analytical earphones, the edginess present in the treble of earphones such as the Hippo VB and Panasonic HJE900 is nonexistent with the Atrios.
 
The overall tone of the Atrios is quite dark, especially when using foam tips, but the presentation is quite monitor-like in nature. Soundstaging is good for an IEM but they won’t keep up with a Sennheiser IE8 or Phiaton PS200. Compared to the IE8, the Atrios have noticeably poorer separation and are a bit more tiring as a result. Truth be told, the Atrios sound like an IEM version of the popular M-Audio Q40 monitors – both are quite flat and uncolored aside from the hugely boosted bass, matching also in the little details such as the dark tone and fairly spacious and three-dimensional soundstage. As proper monitors should be, the Atrios are fairly revealing and 128kbps mp3s are a no-no with them. Lower listening volumes are also not ideal for extracting all of the detail the dynamic drivers of the M8s can produce.

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kunlun said:

Name a pair of earphones and I'll find a bad review for you.

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rawrster said:

I was told later on that they only had 15 or so hours instead of whatever I was originally told. I usually try to see if others will like an earphone based on my tastes and I usually can tell when one earphone is better than another earphone on technical ability regardless of my preferences. I just reported what I heard from the 1 hour session I had with them. I will say that it takes longer than 1 hour to have a grasp of what an earphone is capable of and is no way a final word. It takes more than 1 person for there to be a general consensus and I don't consider that a review but an impression as 1 hour can't give me enough for a review.

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