keanex
Keeper of The All-New Headphone Buyer's Guide
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
- Posts
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Pros: Price; Color options; Price to quality ratio; Soundstage Depth
Cons: Grain throughout; Narrow Soundstage; Cheap build feel
Tonal Balance: V-shaped, aggressive lows and upper mids with decently represented mids.
Style: Worn Down In-Ear Monitors
Cost at Time of Review: $8
Thanks to MEE Audio for the review unit.
Nothing about the RX18 will leave you with a high-end impression. Let me make that clear and direct up front. Everything about the RX18 screams budget from packaging to the build, heck I haven’t seen a split cable in a long time, but there you have it. With that said the RX18 seem to be built to well-enough specifications as to not fall apart with the abuse that I’ve given them over the past two weeks or so. I was hard on these on purpose, the target market is the general public, the type who will likely stuff them in all sorts of cramped spaces with no regard for proper storage. I’ve been treating them as such and so far no issues have developed. While this is expected given the short timespan, they seem to be able to handle a bit of abuse.
Fit
The fit is moderately shallow and only comfortably worn downward, sorry over-ear people. The included tip set is lacking, but I was able to get a good seal with the provided tips. positioning the RX18 is simple and they don’t seem to be dependent on the inserted angle. As for the fit, I wouldn’t necessarily call them comfortable, but after an hour I have no irritation in the canal nor on the outer ear that comes in contact with the plastic housing. Once positioned the IEMs sit securely enough to jog with. Isolation is moderate, I have no issues hearing music while vacuuming at the very least.
Using the Bass Shaker Test the bass extends deeply and sounds somewhat linear. The bass does trail off slightly as it reaches the higher bass frequencies, but for an $8 iem I’m pleased with the production results.
In actual listening the bass is hugely represented and mostly overly so. Bass boosted and aimed at the general consumer, these won’t impress many with their range and quality. The lack of definition between bass notes hurts, as does the generic texture of the bass. Overall boomy without much range in notes, though not entirely one note. While the bass isn’t the epitome of quality, I have to give credit where credit is due, and that’s in the way of control. No the bass isn’t punchy, nor do the notes have defined edges, but the bass is contained rather decently in the soundstage as to not take over the midrange.
Bassy and rather generic, but not obtrusive best describes the bass.
Mids & Highs
The midrange is grainy with a noticeable recession in the lower-mid frequencies before peaking in the upper-mid to lower treble. The midrange is a bit shouty, with a sharp and forward brightness through the higher frequencies, noticeably grainy and unrefined, but not sibilant. I find myself able to listen to the sibilant heavy Glory Box from Portishead without issue, for example. The notes aren’t entirely defined, but the distinction between the midrange and the bass is decent enough to keep the midrange coherent.
There’s a noticed lack of definition in the upper mids into the treble, cymbals sound noticeably generic, for instance. The brightness does grate after a while, making the RX18 a poor choice for extended listening sessions, at least when listened to at louder volumes.
Presentation
Imaging and width are not qualities that I would begin to associate with the RX18. The width is rather narrow and imaging is best noticed in depth rather than left and right positioning. Depth is the strong point of the soundstage. Instrument separation is mediocre, just good enough to keep the headphones from sounding a mess with complex recordings, but not good enough to give clear definitions between the instruments. Overall impression is a rather forward sound cramped in width, somewhat of a tunnel effect.
Cons: Grain throughout; Narrow Soundstage; Cheap build feel
Tonal Balance: V-shaped, aggressive lows and upper mids with decently represented mids.
Style: Worn Down In-Ear Monitors
Cost at Time of Review: $8
Reviewing Process
The RX18 have at least 50 hours of play time in order to adjust and understand the sound to a level in which I feel secure in sharing my opinions on them. They’ve mostly been used with my Sansa Clip Zip, but have also received playtime through my Matrix HPA-3U. While I feel confident that I have a good feel for the sound and construction of the RX18, this is still a subjective review and your personal experience may vary. Personal experience will always be the best way to form an opinion on a headphone, though I hope that my words may be of some help also.Thanks to MEE Audio for the review unit.
Build & Fit
BuildNothing about the RX18 will leave you with a high-end impression. Let me make that clear and direct up front. Everything about the RX18 screams budget from packaging to the build, heck I haven’t seen a split cable in a long time, but there you have it. With that said the RX18 seem to be built to well-enough specifications as to not fall apart with the abuse that I’ve given them over the past two weeks or so. I was hard on these on purpose, the target market is the general public, the type who will likely stuff them in all sorts of cramped spaces with no regard for proper storage. I’ve been treating them as such and so far no issues have developed. While this is expected given the short timespan, they seem to be able to handle a bit of abuse.
Fit
The fit is moderately shallow and only comfortably worn downward, sorry over-ear people. The included tip set is lacking, but I was able to get a good seal with the provided tips. positioning the RX18 is simple and they don’t seem to be dependent on the inserted angle. As for the fit, I wouldn’t necessarily call them comfortable, but after an hour I have no irritation in the canal nor on the outer ear that comes in contact with the plastic housing. Once positioned the IEMs sit securely enough to jog with. Isolation is moderate, I have no issues hearing music while vacuuming at the very least.
Sound Quality
BassUsing the Bass Shaker Test the bass extends deeply and sounds somewhat linear. The bass does trail off slightly as it reaches the higher bass frequencies, but for an $8 iem I’m pleased with the production results.
In actual listening the bass is hugely represented and mostly overly so. Bass boosted and aimed at the general consumer, these won’t impress many with their range and quality. The lack of definition between bass notes hurts, as does the generic texture of the bass. Overall boomy without much range in notes, though not entirely one note. While the bass isn’t the epitome of quality, I have to give credit where credit is due, and that’s in the way of control. No the bass isn’t punchy, nor do the notes have defined edges, but the bass is contained rather decently in the soundstage as to not take over the midrange.
Bassy and rather generic, but not obtrusive best describes the bass.
Mids & Highs
The midrange is grainy with a noticeable recession in the lower-mid frequencies before peaking in the upper-mid to lower treble. The midrange is a bit shouty, with a sharp and forward brightness through the higher frequencies, noticeably grainy and unrefined, but not sibilant. I find myself able to listen to the sibilant heavy Glory Box from Portishead without issue, for example. The notes aren’t entirely defined, but the distinction between the midrange and the bass is decent enough to keep the midrange coherent.
There’s a noticed lack of definition in the upper mids into the treble, cymbals sound noticeably generic, for instance. The brightness does grate after a while, making the RX18 a poor choice for extended listening sessions, at least when listened to at louder volumes.
Presentation
Imaging and width are not qualities that I would begin to associate with the RX18. The width is rather narrow and imaging is best noticed in depth rather than left and right positioning. Depth is the strong point of the soundstage. Instrument separation is mediocre, just good enough to keep the headphones from sounding a mess with complex recordings, but not good enough to give clear definitions between the instruments. Overall impression is a rather forward sound cramped in width, somewhat of a tunnel effect.
