While searching around for the best IEMs for my taste and price range, there wasn't much info on these so I'll add my thoughts on them.
All listening was done via 160GB iPod Classic --> Fiio L9 LOD --> Fiio E11 amp (quite an amazing product for the price, but that's not the subject of this review)
Source material was mostly 256kbps or higher mp3 and ALAC (converted form FLAC for iPod use).
*sorry for the poor quality, bad lighting plus camera phone doesn't mix so well
Build Quality/Comfort/Isolation
They seem well built, the plastic shells are very light, but do not feel cheap or prone to breaking. The very light weight makes them very comfortable. The cable seems sturdy, but is rather thin and there is no strain relief. Only time will tell if this will be an issue (although I take very good care of my things). They claim to use Kevlar reinforcement, so I'm hoping it will be fine. My biggest problem with these is the microphonics. The cable thump is loud enough to distract from the music. It is not terrible, but it is definitely there. Too bad these do not come with a shirt clip... Although wearing the cable over the ears can help, and it does not affect comfort of the earpieces. They come with 5 sets of silicone tips from XS to XL and 2 pairs of Comply foam tips. In the end I could not get a comfortable seal with any of the silicone tips, but the foam ones are amazing. They fit fairly deep so isolation with these IEMs is good. I'm sure there are others out there with better isolation, but these are fine for everyday use at school. Once the music is playing I cannot hear outside noise.
Sound - The Important Part!
I am somewhat new to the IEM world, so honestly I wasn't sure what to expect from a pair of IEMs at this price, but I am very pleased. Overall I would say they are slightly dry/analytical and fairly neutral, if not slightly lacking in the sub bass region. The midbass is very nice with a good amount of impact, but the lower end suffers a little, at least to my tastes (using HE-400 at home, so I'm used to more deep bass). Luckily this is perfectly remedied by the bass boost of the E11 amp, adding just the right amount of weight and fullness to my music. The mids are great, very clear and balanced. Vocals come through with awesome clarity. The treble is just awesome, not overly bright but still nicely pronounced. Only very slight silibance from time to time, but nearly nonexistent most of the time. The upper mids and treble are my favorite part about these IEMs. They are amazingly detailed and have a wonderful airiness to them that gives a very open sound. I was fearing a somewhat dark closed in sound as I have little experience with good IEMs. Also to my pleasant surprise was the soundstage. It is just wonderful at this price, and from in ears nonetheless. Nice wide soundstage with decent depth and good instrument separation.
Overall I am very pleased with this purchase. I got them on sale, but even at MSRP they are a great deal. Lots of detail, not particularly lacking in any frequency range (especially with the bass boost on my amp), nice airy open soundstage, and good isolation for portable enjoyment.
One side note: while an amp adds to the soundstage and clarity (plus a LOD bypasses the terrible iPod headphone out), they work just fine out of a portable device.
