Haven't been active for over a year. Anything new in the area of low-cost ($50 or less), open-backed headphones?

  My position on the matter exactly... :)

Yeah EISEN, I find them bright and a bit harsh, but haven't burned them in yet either. Too busy with other stuff right now.

    Well I think you need to add "and if your eyesight's not great"..! I was taking pictures of it to post, and got a little flashlight to shine into the nozzle to show the tube. With that extra light suddenly that mesh was visible. For me, it's not visible to the naked eye. My eyes aren't...

Hello Dears, I'm wondering if someone with SoundSoul S-018 experience could answer this. I posted on that thread, which seems to be dead, so now I'm here instead. My question's about the plastic tube that's in the nozzle -- is it supposed to stay in there? I saw pictures of the earlier released...

Just curious, that plastic tube that's in the nozzle -- it's supposed to stay in there, right?   EDIT: I just saw some earlier pictures of the S-018's with the metal mesh filter on the nozzle. Much better than what mine look like, with what appears to be a piece of clear plastic or rubber...

Not discussed on this thread very much, but fits into the title -- I've been wondering about open, over-the-ear headphones from China. Something neutral, and not suffering from the weak bass that some open phones have. Thoughts, my dears?

The problem with the IEMs from China is that you buy what you think will be a good knock-around pair that you won't have to worry about. But then you end up liking them so much you start taking care of them. How you put them away, how you wrap the cord, etc. And your knock-around plans go down...

  I don't know if you noticed, but they're on vacation (New Year) for 10 days or so. They probably won't be doing any business until they re-open. Maybe you got that, though.

On Penon returns, for future reference if it's any help to anyone:   You have to email Penon to return something. They don't seem to pay any attention to the returns form on their web site, even though it appears hooked up to your account and has a "status" category and everything. I filled it...

OK thanks!   And as regards as to how confusing it is: there is no clear policy on their site, and the emails are rather hard to understand. But of course, you are right! Thanks everyone for their help and constructive criticisms.

  Thanks RJ. That's a big help. I'm still a little confused about overall return costs. The item cost $25, which includes shipping. So if I send it back for an exchange, they just send me another new one, right? And if I send it for a refund, they refund me $25, right? Or do they deduct for the...

Does anyone have experience with returns on Penon Audio? I need to return the $25 AG-R1's for a refund (meanwhile I ordered another pair from Penon so as not to wait for the whole process). According to my email exchange it seems he's expecting me to send the faulty ones back to him at my...

OK, people's advice has been very helpful, and thank you. I think (almost 100% sure) I was wrong about the cause of my problems with the AG-R1's. I tried the foam tip trick from the Hearos, but it didn't solve the problem. I was thinking about the diagram of the marching band in the city alleys...

Thanks Baycode, great information! Welcome back too. Sorry for our behaving badly when you were gone. ;)   Does that anchor symbol have any texture to it that you can feel? I like to operate on a no-look basis as much as possible!