These were my first real earphones, and I bought them entirely because they'd been spreading like a plague on a forum I used. Upon first hearing them I was disappointed, but over time they grew on me, and until upgrading to the ER4, they were a firm favourite. Some of my friends couldn't get the fuss, nor understand why anybody would spend a hundred bucks on iPod earphones, but then again they were and are still listening to fake Sonys off eBay with the bass turned to 11.
The bass on these isn't room shaking, but it is present and accurate. If you want massive bass, then there's plenty of multi armature or on-ear options, but to be frank, massive bass is felt as much as it is heard, so bass music is best left to subwoofers, and accurate reproduction left to headphones, which these excel at.
For my first real audiophile product, I think these were a great introduction to how music should sound.