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!

  Thanks ID, I'll try it this afternoon. I have those blue ones (Hearos) that I unwittingly bought a ton of a while back. I have to say I'm dubious, but maybe I'm focusing too much on the path the sound takes down the crooked ear canal. Maybe it is about the fit of the IEM after all. I'm not...

I'm worried my IEM days are numbered. I've noticed that my ear canals are of different shape. I'm 43, and just 6 or 7 years ago it was no problem to wear any style of IEM. Now, very few IEMS can deal with my right ear, the canal of which seems to have become more curved than the left. I know...

I think I must be even older, because I haven't heard of any of the shows anyone's mentioned!

 Jeez, thanks for the catch. I was so focused on the light and staying still enough I didn't even notice. Take two... [Photos replaced on previous page]

Let's leave Baycode alone. He's got the right to do whatever he wants, and be on vacation, or be wherever without us making slanderous suggestions about him. I was only joking about tracking him in China with a GPS, trying to poke fun at the conspiracy-theory mentality that's been popping up...

Here are the AG-R1's in my ears, with hook and without. They sit pretty flush. My camera produces a slight fisheye effect up close, so keep that in mind (my ears are average size, maybe smaller than they appear here) [EDIT: I screwed up L & R in the first shots, thanks to the guy who caught...

    I agree, he could be. The only way to know would be to fit him with a GPS tracker, so we could know what country he's in. These days he might be having dim sum.

The Illuminati have something to do with it, and it is becoming clearer that there are links between the JFK assassination, Havi, and 9/11. The truth will come out -- probably before the B6 does...!

I've been listening to the Au-Glamour AG-R1. Not much to add to Twister6's excellent review, which I agree with an all fronts. I wouldn't be able to do a review like that anyway, but I hope it's OK that I reposted the link:  ...

The B6's. I prefer to call them swashbucklers.