I compared these speakers little brothers, the B3030A before purchasing against Genelec 1032A. The B3030A was less harsh and they seemed to have a more natural low frequency. Then again both are not meant to blurt out farting bass notes, and my own preferences are towards smoother tones, so the Genelecs didn't impress me anyway. The speakers arrived with individually measured frequency response curves, mine are measured 01-11-2011, so that's friday, and my speakers are brand new! First impression was that they're HEAVY! And a bit ugly.. But it's...

I'll be comparing it with the intergrated chipset in my laptop (Realtek AC'97) and the Nokia X6 phone with and without E7 as an amp, using AKG K 272 HD, Sony XB-500 and Sennheiser CX-300 and Audio Pro Addon One active speakers with a Tangent Evo E8 active subwoofer. Although I was skeptic whether something from DealExtreme could sound nice or not, I was quite pleasantly surprised. E7 USB DAC vs. Realtek AC'97: Hands down, pants down, the winner is E7. No noise (don't own any really high effinency IEMs or the such but anyway), faster, more detailed...

It's an unfair comparison, but I'll compare them to AKG K 272 HD, source being FiiO E7 USB DAC for both. (I equalize the AKG by +3dB through 20-80Hz)   Build: The soft, pillow like earpads are a godsend. The leatherette feels comfortable, and doesn't cause sweating. The joints and headband aren't as assuring, and feel prone to breakage. Since they're a gift for my gf I won't break them just to try it out. Oh well, atleast they're very light and you just forget about them in five minutes. The short cord has a cute tiny 1/8" plug that won't get in...

I got a gift card to this store and the only worthwhile earbuds they sold were these (others being some $10 really uncomfy looking Sony and Philips ones). I knew these are widely loathed, atleast among the elitists in 4chan. I can see why, but they're exaggerating in my opinion, these are fairly decent, especially if you can grab them for $30 something. More than that and you could do better, I suppose.   Sound Quality: There's a load of bass, and it sounds OK and doesn't distort, but it could be significantly faster (in dubstep and speedcore...

Every time I put these headphones on I have to get used to some little nuances. That's because with some records, the mid-highs sound ever so slightly more hissy than with my Audioengine A2 look-a-likes, and my subwoofer is way more muddy and loud than the articulate, accurate bass of the AKG K 272 HD. The initial impression wears off after the first few minutes, from which onwards I really start liking the sound of these cans. [EDIT: I confess, I didn't want to write this because I thought all the hi-fi people in here would flip at me but honestly...