I still have Soundmagic E10M which I bought many years ago. It still sound phenomenally good and overall it only few notch lower in overall sound quality when compared to my current favourite Audio-Technica CKR9LTD, Onkyo E700M and Audio-Technica CKX9. So it is just natural for me to get this current Soundmagic in-ear flagship the E80. They has 3 variant E80 without volume/mic like I have on this review. The other 2 versions are E80C with volume control/mic and E80S with mic/single button remote control. I prefer one without volume control/mic unless there is only one version like my Onkyo E700M.

 


Brand new in sealed box for 58 USD? Yes with full accessories as shown below.

 

Come with hard case, shirt clip, SML size T400 comply foam ( I use M size) and the usual sets of silicone tip if you prefer that over foam tip. Not so lavish but more than adequate for most user.
 
Built quality;
Somehow the twisted cable and Y splitter on this E80 and other Soundmagic (E10,E50) look exactly like my old Boarseman CX98. Maybe coincidence or maybe they have same manufacturer. It has fully functional cinch/ chin slider. Both Y-splitter and jack are made of silver colored metal. But the 45 degree jack is not my favorite. I prefer it to be completely straight or completely L -shaped.Just personal preference. Other user will find it otherwise. Housing and nozzle are made of metal too and strain relief on housing and jack are made of of firm but still slightly flexible plastic. So full mark for built quality.


Almost completely sit flush in ear. So comfortable for all day use and even to sleep on one side. The 'small' 10mm driver does really help .

Too many? Yes way too many but all earphones here cost 60USD and less each.

Direct/ closest competitors. CKR9LTD, E700M and old E10M.
 
Sound quality;
Initial sound out of the box is totally unremarkable, that mean it really need a burn in. Now it has more than 60 hours of burn in period by continuous music playback on my Lenovo A397i.
The most prominent feature in its sound for me is the airiness, and big sound stage. Just below Audio-Technica CKS990 but above Audio-Technica CKX9. The details is very impressive, even better than E700M and CKR9LTD. Not by much but still noticeable. Bass amount rated at 7/10 but it has proper impact and fast enough for even dance/EDM song. Song like 300 Violin Orchestra and Taylor Dayne's Tell It To My Heart did bring out the extra amount in details and really setting it apart from the already excellent E10M. Treble amount at 8/10 with some noticeable coloration but no sibilant at all. So E80 has huge sound stage and airiness of sound, with a lot of details and noticeable instruments separation, above average bass with proper impact and fast response, and some smooth treble. Very much balanced sound indeed.
 
Comparison with Onkyo E700M;
Simply put , I prefer E80 sound quality overall. Just wish that I bought E80 earlier , but I got E700M for a good value so all is not loss here. E700M is more in look and style department. The 1/2 in ear design with oval nozzle make it harder to stay in ear and big driver make big and heavy housing too. Overall soundstage and and bass is on E80 side while other aspect like vocal, treble  and detail are almost equal.
 
Comparison with Soundmagic E10M;
No competition . E80  is better in sound quality and built quality to. E10M has more V-shaped sound to it but still very fun to listen to.
 
Conclusion;
Obviously this E80 is my new best earphone. It is not the best in all frequency/sound quality wise. Soundstage/ bass king is still belong to Audio-Technica CKS990, while details and treble are actually belong to my old Sony EX650 and Audio-Technica CKX9. I pefer vocal on Audio-Technica CKR9LTD. But collectively as 1 package this E80 is unbeatable both in sound quality and built quality. If you can find a BNIB with excellent value please go for it. It is easy to recommend this as compared to other earphones like CKS990, CKX9,CKR9LTD or even E700M.

Xiaomi released their first hybrid about 1 years ago. They are extremely cheap but most reviews said that sound quality is not the strong point for the 1st gen Mi hybrid. Then Mi Hybrid pro released late last year with just slight increase in price. Of course I am interested but the arrival of ultra excellent Onkyo E700M has keep me engaged and entertained well until I decided to purchase this Mi hybrid pro from Gearbest on 6/1/2016. It arrived yesterday and I immediately put it in burn in station. It has more than 30 hours of burn in period up until now.The box contained Mi hybrid pro itself with 4 set of black silicone tip and one cloth case with 1 more brand printed. The box said it was manufactured by 1more division. Unfortunately all the ear tip are too small for my ear and has to resolve with my trusty Spinfit L size.


Design;
The housing, remote and straight earphone jack are made of metal except for the black nozzle on housing which is plastic. The nozzle are angled so it is easy to recognise left and right side housing just by feeling. There is black coloured metal coming down from housing before the real cord come out. They are hard and rigid so it is really not a proper strain relief. Fortunately on earphone jack there is a real flexible plastic as a strain relief. Remote located on right cord. It has proper volume up and volume down button which worked well with my Lenovo A397i. Centre remote is fully functioning for music play/pause and double click to skip/forward song. Not tested yet for mic function. Cable/cord is a black rubbery plastic, not really prone to tangle. But since it was made by 1more I actually hope that its cable has fabric coating like my 1more voice of China. Generally the build quality is good but not top notch like 1more voice of China or even Rock Zircon.

With competitions; Onkyo E700M and Audio-technica CKB50.

Sound;
Well I don't have high hope on this Mi hybrid pro when it come to sound quality. Generally it is a V shaped sound with extra emphasise on treble. Out of the box it has a very high pitch shrilling sound with boomy bass. So definitely need a burn in to get the most out of it. I just put on my usual Spotify playlist and keep on playing up until it has more than 30 hours burn in period. Does it sound better? Yes. But the treble is still very bright and splashing with noticeable colouration and some sibilance. Bass amount about 7/10, and not as impactful as I wish. Vocal as expected is not prominent as compared to bass and treble but still quite clear. Details and instruments separations is below average so background voice and background/additional sound are still heard as distance sound. In general Mi hybrid pro has a V shaped sound with over emphasise on teble and fast but not impactful bass. Fun sound but not as aggressive as I prefer especially when listening to my metal, hard rock music.

Comparison to Audio-technica CKB50 ;
Not comparable. CKB50 is a bass oriented single balanced armature driver. Mi hybrid pro is clearly a better sounding earphone especially on treble and bass area. However CKB50 has better vocal and details. Not to mention it is more comfortable and lighter.

Comparison to Onkyo E700M ;
Triple driver vs single driver; easy win for Mi Hybrid pro? Not at all. Single driver Onkyo E700M has more balanced sound. Treble are controlled well with no sibilance and bass is more impactful. Voice and details are clear too. But generally the overall sound quality of Mi hybrid pro is not that far behind.

Conclusion;
This is stil one of the cheapest triple driver out there. Some other competitor is **** DT2 plus (2 BA+ DD) vs 2 DD + 1BA in Mi hybrid pro. The sound quality is excellent for something that cost 25USD. Next one probably want to buy the much hyped Urbanfun hybrid as comparison. Not recommended for everyone since many people will find that the treble and sibilance are not bearable to their ear. Me? I have to confess that I am more of treble head than bass head, so I prefer treble oriented earphones like Audio-technica CKX9, LZ Z03A, UiiSii HM7 etc. All come down to our own preference, otherwise just get more balanced sound like Rock Zircon or Onkyo E700M.

I bought this Onkyo E700M during 11.11 sale on Aliexpress for 48USD. Maybe no big money for many people but for me anything above 40USD can be considered fairly expensive. It only came with M size ear tip and hard case with Rillipac brand (Aliexpress seller).


The cable is the most striking feature for this earphone. It looks good but unfortunately there is no strain reliever on housing or on jack. So have to really careful when storing the earphone inside the case. Or perhaps I will put some silicone on my own as a DIY strain reliever. Both housing and earphone jack are made of metal while Y splitter, remote/mic and chin slider are made of plastic. The cable itself looks fairly tough but I still wish that both black/ clear cable will have another outer covering probably a clear plastic /silicone. Otherwise the cable is a bit long for me but taller user more than 6 feet might find the cable is just the length for them.

The housing is made of metal up until the oval shaped nozzle. I used spinfit L size for perfect fit. I tried foam tip but it make the sound muffled, so in the end I settled with spinfit. The nozzle is perfectly angled and fit nicely into my war canal. The design is half in ear so there is no way the nozzle can be pushed deep in ear canal. The metal housing does not feel really heavy inside the ear. Listening to music for many hour is fairly comfortable just avoid doing a lot of walking with it. It not really that secure like sport orientated Audio-technica CKX9.

The single remote button is functioning well to play/ pause and forward the music play. Microphone worked well too. The other side of conversation can hear me talking clearly. Just wish volume button or slider on their succesor.

The competitors ; Audio-technica CKR9Ltd and Audio-technica CKX9

Sound;
Out of the box E700M sound harsh and piercing, with good amount of details and non impacful bass. It sound slightly worse than Audio-technica CKX9. Now it already has about 40hours of burn in period and the sound has significantly improved. The bass amount at 7/10, has medium impact but adequate for most song even for bass heavy songs from NWA. Not as impactful as proper bass oriented earphone like Audio-technica CKS990 but good enough for most genre. Vocal is loud and clear, no issue about that. Treble amount 8/10 with some colouration and thankfully no significant sibilance after 40hours burn in period. The details is excellent and music instruments can be heard playing separately but harmoniously. Background vocal can be heard clearly not just some distant sound. Generally it sound nicely balanced and highly detailed with just enough bass impact. Just wish it has better treble, well just personal preference as a treblehead.

Comparison with Audio-technica IM50 ;
The reference earphone since I bought it BNIB at full 60USD almost 2 years ago. Unfortunately against E700M this IM50 sound so hollow with more emphasise on bass. The details is minimal and all the background vocal and extra instruments just playing distantly. Not that IM50 is totally bad sounding earphone, just that E700M sound far better.

Comparison with Audio-technica CKX9.
This has very similar sound signature with E700M initially, with low impact bass and piercing sibilance. However after burn in the E700M bass became more impactful than CKX9 and the treble has tame down and the colouration has become less noticeable. I still like the treble and coloration from CKX9 though, but overall E700M still sound slightly better and more balanced than CKX9.

Comparison with Audio-technica CKR9Ltd ;
This is really tough battle as the king of my current earphone. None is really superior than the other. Both sound very balanced with CKR9Ltd has more impactful bass and E700M has more details. However E700M is more comfortable for long listening.

Conclusion :
Excellent sounding earphone with flamboyant design. If you need something that can stand out among the crowd this is the one you want. Not really the ultimate in sound quality but good enough for now as part of my earphone rotation. Just my wish for next models, successors ; volume controller and proper strain reliever please.

I bought this Mifa M1 from Gearbest for 23USD. Mifa made a claim that this M1 model is one of the smallest stereo bluetooth speaker in the world. I have no idea if this claim is true but it definitely pocketable in my large pant.

Inside the box;
1. Mifa M1
2. Yellow coloured microUSB charging cable
3. Manual book and warranty card

Against my fully featured Audiobox Bluetooth speaker

Back of Mifa M1. Charging port and microSD slot covered with rubber flap

Rubber flap flipped up to reveal reset hole, microUSB charging port and microSD card slot
Control;
4 buttons on top plus LED and mic hole
1.(+) for next song-short press, for increase volume-long press
2. (-) for decrease volume- long press
3. M (mode) / POWER button. Long press- Bluetooth on, long press again Bluetooth off
short press while power on will change mode from Bluetooth to microSD
4. Bluetooth / pause/play button.
5 LED
Blue- connected
Red- charging
Blue-red alternating - pairing mode

Out of the box, there is still few hour of play time from Mifa M1. Charging takes less than 1 hour. It can be charged by power bank or wall plug. It can still be used while charging. Battery life is excellent. On Gearbest promo it stated battery life of 4 hours. But in real life I can use it almost continuously from 9am to 6 pm with few more hours of battery left. So in that sense it almost has an infinite battery life with relatively small 950mAh battery. Excellent job Mifa.
Pairing is straight forward. Power on the M1, LED will blinking red-blue light and just turn on our smartphone Bluetooth to pair to M1. After that it will auto pair to any smartphones that it had already paired before.

Control is pretty straightforward for any kind of Bluetooth speaker or even Bluetooth headset. Since there are no dedicated button for volume, the (+) button is a next song button for short press and volume increase button for long press. Same with (-) button which decrease volume on long press. Probably it can go to previous song on short press but I never try because most of the song play, next or previous song are controlled from smartphones apps. But it is weird enough since Mifa claim it has its own apps to control play from SD card. Until now I still cannot find the apps on Google play. I tried once playing from microSD card inside the Mifa M1. It was not convenient to manually skip song one by one until I reach the intended file. In the end I just scrapped the idea of playing 1000 song from SD card.

Sound
I bought this Mifa M1 with one sole purpose. To listen to music at work. I am an orthopedic doctor performing operation once or twice a week (8am to 5pm). The operation theatre size is about 30x30 feets. I use my Nokia Lumia 620 as my music player mainly playing from offline Spotify. I only need a medium volume so eveyone inside operation theatre can still communicate with each other. This mean a volume of 18/30 from my Lumia 620. So a very loud and big speaker like my Audiobox is not needed there.
The most striking sound that came out from M1 is the bass. They are about 8/10 in amount but only have medium impact. Vocal are clear but as expected details and treble are not very prominent. But it delivered good enough sound for the intended environment. Nothing more but nothing less.

Comparison with Audiobox Bluetooth speaker,
The only other Bluetooth speaker that I own, Audiobox has removable Nokia battery, FM radio, AUX port and full size SD card slot. It is loud enough to be used as a main speaker to watch movie with my home theatre set up; Smartphone>Miracast>Projector >Audiobox. It is chaeper too just about 15USD if I am not mistaken. The bad thing are ; using miniUSB instead of microUSB and producing static noise if using it while charging, and sound distortion at high volume.
The only downside for Mifa M1 against Audiobox is absent of AUX port. The volume is slightly lower but it sound has low distortion at high volume.

Conclusion,
Depending on the intended use, it can be an excellent choice if you need a medium to low volume music play. Most likely not the best sound but you really need to fork out even more money for equivalent stereo Bluetooth speaker from Xiaomi or Bluedio. Not to mention more mainstream brand like JBL and BOSE. Not recommended for everyone but if it fit your need, this Mifa M1 can deliver the best sound from one of the smallest Bluetooth stereo speaker around.
Just 2 requests for next model(M2 perhaps?). AUX port and working smartphone apps. Thank you.

Updated, apps for Mifa Bluetooth speakers including M1 and M9.

I bought BNIB JBL Synchros reflect (original version) and used it as my main sport earphone especially when I use armband for my smartphones. It has excellent sound quality and very comfortable and secure while doing exercise. This year I saw this JBL Synchros reflect mini and attracted to its small size. I bought this Reflect mini from Ebay seller ; seagogo from China that claim selling an original JBL reflect mini without any accessories. All for 32USD including normal shipping. It arrived 3 days ago and has more than 50 hours of burn in period. Anyway I saw one seller in Aliexpress selling Reflect mini for 29USD which using almost exact pictures and advertisement material as Ebay; seagogo. This seller in Aliexpress ; Rilipac which I believe is the same seller as Ebay; seagogo. Just my wild guess since they are selling many similar items too.

Without the reflect. The cable/cord is fairly thick about 3mm and has a grey reflective stripe alongside it.

White reflect from camera flash, hence the Reflect name

Plastic housing half black-red. This is my current smallest earphone with diameter of 8mm and 5.8mm driver. Platic nozzle come with small silicone ear tip only. Nozzle is angled about 40 degree and feels comfortable and secure in ear, with original tip or Comply foam like this?

45 degree earphone jack is a neither here nor there design. I prefer full L shaped or just straight jack. Some people might like this design. There is single button remote which worked well to play, pause or forward music play. To bad no volume control like the original Reflect. Chin slider is functioning well.

With original JBL Reflect which is designed as half in ear. The new Reflect mini is a true in ear design with option to use half in ear silicone tip (not supplied in my package). Seller only supply black, carbon fibre design KZ hard case.

Sound ;
As expected it has the usual JBL house sound. Bright sparkling treble, good details and impactful bass. In short it sound like the original JBL Reflect with some different. I will rate the amount of bass 7/10, treble 9/10. The details is good with noticeable colouration but not as pronounced as my Audio-technica CKX9. As expected also the soundstage is just above average but still considered excellent for such small driver. Volume is slightly below average but still within acceptable level. On my Onn X5 player I need to use level 15-17/30 for most of my music, as compared to loud earphone like Audio-technica Ckr9ltd which only need between 12-14/30. About same level of loudness with LZ-Z03 and UiiSii HM7 or Audio-technica CKX9. For sound quality alone Reflect mini will likely be placed at no 6/7 in my in ear collection. I am not treating this Reflect mini as a sport earphone since it didn't come with its half in ear silicone tip and I am using it mainly for normal music listening with occasional sport use. Since it has a very small housing it can be push quite far deep into the canal and thus blocked out almost every outside noise.

Comparison with JBL Synchros Reflect(original version) ;
I prefer the new round cable from Reflect mini. It is fairly tangled proof and has minimal memory effect. It stay almost straight all the time and fairly flexible too. Cable from Reflect original version is flat, quite rigid and has some memory effect. But the original version has perfectly functional remote with volume control. For pure sound quality however there is no contest, I prefer the Reflect original version. The bass amount rated at 8/10 and it has proper slamming impact. The volume is louder and it sound more balanced. The only sound that better on Reflect mini is probably the treble.

Conlusion,
Reflect mini is not intended as a replacement or Mark II version of the Reflect original version. They have very similar sound signature with Reflect original has more impactful bass and Reflect mini has more bright treble and sightly more details. What has improved in the mini version is the cable and it has lighter/smaller housing. But the mini lost volume control and has no option to use short cable for arm band. Eventually everyone has their own preference, and pure sound quality is not everything.

I bought Onn X5 from Ebay for 43USD. Initially I have my eye on Xuelin Ihifi 770 which cost 78 USD on Aliexpress. But at same time I want to buy Audio-technica ckr9ltd for 46USD {Aliexpress}. So in the end I bought Onn X5 and Ckr9ltd. Best decision so far. Of course I expect the Xuelin will be a better player than X5. Wolfson chip, bigger battery, more buttons. But together the X5 and ckr9ltd made an excellent combination.

Design ;
So far so good. I paired it with Topping NX2 and new audio cable from AliExpress. Not sure how the cable is giving any extra value to sound quality but it looks cool and cost only 6USD. The reason why I paired it with Topping NX2 is that I can use volume button on NX2 easily. On X5 I have to press any button to activate the screen, press Vol on the left and then press the button on the lower part of X5 to change volume. I wish it has dedicated volume button because there are so much empty space on X5 body to place the dedicated volume button. On normal play the will forward / rewind the song play. The power button on right will serve as play/pause button while on playing mode. If I long pressed it it will power off the player. Again there is another dedicated on / off button on bottom of X5 {between 3.5mm earphone hole and micro usb charging port. Personally I prefer the power button to just be used as play/pause button. There is no need for overlap function between power button and on/off button. Just my own opinion, maybe other people may find it useful. Bottom line; dedicated volume button please, preferably on side of body or on front plate above button.

Otherwise the square metal body is impressively thin and light. The micro SD card slot is located on right side of the body. Just push the card all the way in until clicking sound heard. Another push to the micro SD card will spring eject it out from the slot. It supposed to support up to 32gb card, but some user put 64gb card and X5 can detect it as well. Not sure about that because I only have 16gb card on my X5.

On bottom of X5 there are 3.5mm earphone hole, microphone hole for voice recorder, on/off button and micro usb charging port. It is very convenient choice to use micro usb for charging because I can use any regular smartphone charger to charge the X5. It can be charged using power bank too. And I can still use it while charging. Battery life is excellent. Manufacturer claim of over 20 hours. But it can still be used while charging which usually took about 60 to 90 minutes depending on charger. So it almost has infinite battery life.

Sound;
It sound excellent on its own. More emphasis on treble and detail with fairly strong coloration on any of my earphones. Most of my earphone like Audio-technica IM50 usually does not have very sparkling treble and almost no colouration heard. Somehow with X5 the treble on IM50 sound sparkling bright with noticeable colouration. But most of the time I paired the X5 with Topping NX2. With this combination, the treble and colouration are tamed down slightly to a more pleasurable level. What I don't like with NX2 is that it somewhat blunted the bass impact but still to an acceptable level. But more importantly I can use volume controller on NX2 without the need to activate screen on X5.

Software;
As usual with 8gb built in memory the files can be accessed by artist, album, and song. Unfortunately files on micro SD can only be seen and managed by folder only. So for files inside micro SD, I can only play the files within the folder. And when I stop the folder play and off the X5, the next time when I power on the X5 it will still start with files from built in memory. It is different when I am playing files from build in memory. X5 can still remember the last song played and will start with the same song next time I power on the X5. Quite annoying but have to accept this flaw until the next firmware or next DAP purchase.

The highest quality files in my collection. FLAC 24 bit 96kHz is playing without problem. Manufacturer claim support up to 24bit 192kHz. Some other player like Xduoo X2 and Fiio M3 can support up to 16bit FLAC so I skip them.


5 band equaliser up to 6K frequency, definitely not enough for me. Maybe sufficient for others. Anyway there are always the preset equaliser like Bass, Jazz, Pop etc. But I always have my custom equalizer on any device that support it. At least up to 12k like Olympus WS832.

Additional features;
1. Voice recorder.
Not likely to use this. I have Olympus WS832 for that.

2. FM radio
Functional as expected. Not going to use this regularly either. Radio is for car use only.

Conclusion;
For around 43-50USD this is still the cheapest 24bit player around. There are many 16bit lossless player around but 24bit player is more future proof as I am collecting more albums from HD Tracks. Other player selling around this price are Xduoo X3 and Fiio M3. Both support up to 16bit lossless file. My suggestion to Onn manufacturer to include dedicated volume button and better custom equalizer frequency support.

I bought this ckr9ltd from AliExpress for 47USD, less than the usual 120USD RRP. Few fellow buyer with original ckr9ltd claimed that this is a real deal. I have no problem whatsoever to believe that despite the extremely "low" price. Actually it can't even be considered as cheap as this is my second highest price earphone after the BNIB Audio-technica IM50 which I bought for 60USD.

Beautiful in red and gold. This is the most striking and beautiful earphone that I ever have.

Double flange tip, nothing less. From 2 different earphone one is from MEElectronics S6P.

Difficult to fit in as the front part is hinging on the tragus. Longer tip like double and triple flange is recommended. Or over the ear if you prefer.

Sound;
Out of the box{ or package in my case} it has already produce excellent sound. Bright and details sound but bass is not that fast and tight. So after 80 hours of burn in period the sound change significantly. The bass become tighter and faster, but amout rated at 6/10 just above average. What make this earphone different and special among my other earphones is the amount of details. I can hear much more new sound from the song that I already heard over and over again. The instruments can be heard playing separately but harmoniously. The background vocal can be heard vividly accompanying the main vocal not just a distance sound like I heard previously. There are permanent background colouration which is more welcoming and less distracting than the like of Audio-technica ckx9.
The treble amount rated 8/10 but the quality of it is better than most of my current earphones except FXT90 and Sony EX650 . It has managed to sound brighly without any additional splashing or "splattering" effect. Just nice. The soundstage and airiness of sound is above average but lower than my 2 earphone with bigger soundstage ; Audio-technica CKX9 and Cks990. On summary this Ckr9ltd sounds extremely details, and bright treble that blends well with fast and tight bass. The coloration is nice and smooth.

Comparison with FXT90;
Was my best earphone before Ckr9ltd. The main difference is on the details. While FXT90 sound phenomenally excellent, the vocal is not as clear as ckr9ltd and the details is not that great. In return FXT90 is more comfortable to wear and lighter.

Comparison with CKX9;
This earphone has a very J-shaped kind of sound with sparklingly bright treble and very strong coloration. Obviously not as good ckr9ltd but very fun and pleasing to ear indeed. Bass is just adequate and it has wide soundstage just slightly lower than Audio-technica Cks990 but better than ckr9ltd.

Conclusion;
The best of the best among my earphones. Not having the biggest or best in every range. The treble, bass and soundstage champion belong to FXT90, and Cks990. But it truly excell at vocal and details. You can buy it full price at 120USD or if you are more adventurous and willing to buy the earphone without box, Aliexpress is your best source so far. But the price is really fluctuating. The lowest that I encounter was on 11 November 2015 sale where it was down to 44USD. Some Aliexpress store has it for USD90. I believe they are all genuine OEM Audio-technica product. Your ear will tell you whether they are fake or not. And I really regret missed the 11 November sale.

I bought this Cks990 through Aliexpress for 32USD.Official Amazon price at USD130++. Has been using it extensively for last 3 weeks with total burn in period of over 100 hours. Are they original Audio-technica product. I don't know. I does look and feel like an expensive earphone. Does it sound good? no. Because it sounds excellent . I only have one brand new in box {BNIB} Audio-technica product which is the IM50. I bought it at full price of USD60, just for comparison purpose when I bought earphone from AliExpress. So far it has done it job excellently as my benchmark for 60USD earphone.

Cks990 with my current source, Samsung Galaxy S Advance {2012) and Topping NX2 DAC/amplifier. S Advance is currently the best sounding and loudest smartphone that I currently have. Unfortunately it is and ancient smartphone which tend to freeeze after extended music play. Better than my latest smartphone Ulefone Power and previous smartphone HTC Desire 820s and Nokia Lumia 620. The only smartphone that is superior than all smartphones mentioned here was the late Lenovo s930. Yes late=dead. The L shaped earphone jack is pretty in red with proper strain reliver. Cable is dual channel design just like my Audio-technica IM50. It is tough and has moderate resistant to tangle. It has almost no memory effect and can be straightened almost immediately after coiled inside round semi hard case. The unsual fact about this design? While listening to Amber Rubarth binaural album, somehow the left-right sound has reversed. In the recording one side {left if not mistaken} has female voice and on right has male only. But all my other earphone has totally reverse sound (right-female, left-male). Not that it affect the overall sound quality. Just it feels weird.

One of the most good looking earphone that I ever have. With original black core tip which is both comfortable and secure in ear. As usual it follow CKS line design with 2 chambers. One for the 13mm Dual Magnetic Field Driver - for whatever it is. And another one as a reverberation chamber. I suppose it act to widen the soundstage and the airiness of sound( hope I give correct definition here).

Make no mistake, cks990 is a huge earphone by any standard. It may looks like normal size but I have fairly big ear. That is why I am using the largest size ear tip that come with the earphone. The design is semi in ear, so only the nozzle and silicone tip will be inside ear canal. The reverberation chamber is protruding out significantly and obviously it cannot be used while sleeping on the side. Thankfully for clever design and lightweight material used the housing sit really comfortable and secure in ear. Also with the help of long black silicone cable strain reliever. And with usage of big and grippy silicone tip it really help blocking allmost all environmental sound even at low volume.

Sound;
Initial sound out of box{or package in this case } - extremely big and boomy bass with some treble heard. Really big soundstage and airiness of sound.Thanks to the dedicated reverberation chamber. Bigger than CKX9, FXT90 and EX650. Vocal is clear and some details heard. So it sound almost like L shaped. So I just use it for normal music play at medium volume and slowly can detect some noticeable improvement in overall sound. The big/boomy bass has become slightly lower but tighter, faster and more impactful. Even though cks990 is a true Solid Bass earphone, somehow the bass never reached what I believe basshead level. If I have to quantify the bass I will rate the amount at 8/10. Other basshead level earphone like Pioneer se-cl541 and Denon AH-C100 has 9/10 bass amount{according to my own ear}. This is actually a plus quality since the bass didn't overpower the treble and vocal. It mixed nicely with treble {rate at 7/10 in amount} and thus produce a heightened kind of balanced sound. At current burn in period of 100 hours, the treble amount has rise significantly to an acceptable level. It sound almost metallic like {ala Audio-technica ckb50 treble} without any noticeable sibilance. It is definitely not considered as sparking or bright, but for a Solid Bass line it is already considered excellent.

As a Solid Bass earphone Cks990 has unusual amount of details. Not as details as Sony EX650 or LZ-Z03A but very close. The vocals are very clear and I can hear new background backing vocal that I never heard before, especially with sub 20USD earphone like Boarseman CX98, Rock Zircon and UiiSii HM7. So in summary Cks990 has a heightened kind of balanced between bass-treble together with fantastic details and clear vocal. Cks990 has really big soundstage and airiness of sound uncontestable by any of my other current earphones.

Comparison with CKS55;
Never own this Cks55 but it is widely available in most Audio-technica demo rack. No contest here. Cks55 has a definite L shaped sound. The bass is boomy and not as impactful. The vocal and treble is obscured by the overwhelming bass. Still good but if you have choice and money Cks990 is the way to go.

Comparison with Pioneer se-cl541 ;
Was the king of bass before Cks990. The amout of bass is insane, tight and thumping. Overall better than Cks55 with slightly clearer vocal and moderate amount of treble. Extremely good with EDM/metal just like Cks990. I never use it lately because of imbalance channel{ right side sound slower}.

Comparison with Audio-technica IM50 ;
The reference for the Aliexpress buy. This earphone sounds excellent on its own. But the value come with its excellent construction and cable. When I compare it to cks990 initially IM50 sounds better. After 100 hours burn in, cks990 has managed to outperform IM50 in overal sound quality. The bass amount for IM50 rated at 6/10 and treble at 7/10. The bass is not as impactful and fast as cks990. But treble is better with IM50. Otherwise soundstage, vocals and details all leaned towards cks990. Generally IM50 is one of the most balanced sound earphone in my collection. CKS990 sounds better because of its better mixture of bass-treble along with wider soundstage. Build quality is on par for both. Cks990 is more comfortable and secure even with below ear hearing style vs over ear of IM50.

Conclusion ;
Cks990 has rise to no 4 spot in my own collection ranking/preference. The top 3 are FXT90, EX650 and CKX9. Why I am preferring those 3? Easy because I am more a treble-head than bass head. Most of my music collection are metal, rock with some EDM and pop. They are handled admirably by those 3. In occasion when I decide to listen mostly to metal/EDM Cks990. I will definitely not recommend this Cks990 to everyone, especially with small ear since it can be overwhelmingly big and probably heavy in your ear. Secondly because it is not suitable for all kind of music. If you only want to have just one earphone to listen to every musc genre this is not your answer. Choose it for correct music it will reward you with excellent, engaging and fun sound.

Bought this Moxpad X90 on 24th February, arrived on 5th April so just 10 days from AliExpress China. Initially I wanted to wait for 29th February sale, but somehow on 24th one seller has this X90 for just 17USD (normal price now 22USD). This was my first ever bluetooth headset from AliExpress. The only other sport bluetooth headset I currently own is Avantree Jogger Pro which I bought many years ago, but didn't like it. Simply because of lacklustre sound quality and difficulty to pair it with smartphone.

Small blue box about 10cm height. Only come with micro usb charger cable and 3 pair silicone tip.

Preferred way to wear, cable and remote under chin, neck. You can put the cable behind the neck too.

Size comparison with Jogger Pro

Avantree Jogger Pro, above ear behind neck wear only

Blue transparent housing showing off dual 9mm and 7mm driver, with yellow tip from LZ-Z03A. Remote on right side of cable. Centre multifunction button; on-off, start-pause music, receive-end call. + button, short press forward music play, long press volume up. - button function the other way round. Microphone hole is on the other side. It work well for call. The other side of calller can hear me clearly.
Cable attached to the housing are actually memory wire with transparent plastic cover. Functional and comfortable at the same time.

Battery ;
Proper wall charging only. All 4 power bank that I own with multiple cable failed to charge it. Full charge about 2 hours. With continuous Bluetooth music play from smartphone it lasted roughly about 2.5 - 3 hours. None of the Moxpax own commercial or manual stated the true battery capacity but I guess it may have 60-100mA battery. Expected since the battery is on the remote which is slightly larger than remote without built in battery. Anyone expected bigger battery please look elsewhere. The battery capacity is not the selling point fot this X90.

Sound quality ;
Big bad bass. Tight and thumping only slightly slower in bass response when compared to excellent earphone like Rock Zircon. Vocal is clear, however treble is not as bright as I like but still acceptable. With fairly short battery life there is no way that I can properly burn in the dual driver to their intended optimal performance. But luckily out of the box the sound is already excellent so further burn in is not really necessary.

Comparison with Avantree Jogger Pro ;
No bass, tinny metallic sound, low volume. The sound quality is just lacking. But it is very secure and has amazing 12 hours battery life. Just charged once. Dig it out in few months and it still has few hours of battery life. Waterproof too. With X90 you keep on wondering just when it will run out of juice.

Conlusion;
When you minus the terrible battery life, you still has one hell of an audiophile grade Bluetooth headset at a budget price. No wonder it selling very fast over Aliexpress. Just one wish, double the battery capacity on Mark II version.

I bought Topping NX2 through Ebay for 42USD. It arrived from China to Malaysia in 3 week which is quite fast considering most of my other shipment from China usually took 4-6 weeks.
As usual they provide accessories like mini USB charger, short 3.5mm male to male jack, 5 pairs of round Velcro and 2 stacking band. First impression; it's housing is smaller than I ever imagined. Pictured above with one of my smartphone Samsung Galaxy S advance (2012) which has 4 inch screen.The housing itself was made with metal. There is some small gap at the top plate. Not more than 0.5mm but still noticeable. The top and bottom plate are secured with 4 screws (with Allen key hole) at both side of housing.
 
 
 

Stacking with Samsung Galaxy S advance using provided rubber band. Top and bottom screws used to secure bottom, top plate. Most likely removable with correct Allen key.

The top side of Topping NX2 matched with bottom side of Samsung Galaxy S advance. This was one of the rarest phone with earphone hole at the bottom together with micro USB charging port. This is my favorite combination for ease of charging and listening to music at the same time. Even better if both earphone hole and micro USB port are located at the top but unfortunately not many phone has this kind of combination.On Topping NX2 top plate there is volume control (0-10). Beside that there are aux in hole and earphone out hole. And at the other corner the is short stick for on and off switch. I call it stick because it is not a button and it protruding about 3mm from top plate. There is blue LED button in between the earphone hole to indicate that Topping NX2 is functioning.
 
Sound;
This is my first ever portable amplifier, so I have no idea how it affecting the sound from headphone/earphone. Generally the end effects are; slightly lowered bass quantity with dampened bass response. So the bass somehow sound less impact-ful and some user commented that it sound muddy (what ever it is). Otherwise the other effects are it widen the soundstage making the sound fuller and heavier. Treble and detail are become slightly more prominent . The end effect/summation making overall sound more engaging and even fun. I tried it on my biggest impedence earphone Audio Technica CKB50 (65 ohm) and Topping NX2 can easily drive it to insanely loud volume.
 
Power;
The battery last almost forever (or 100hours as claimed by manufacturer). Even when on charging it can still fully functional. Full charging take about 1 hour.
 
USB DAC;
I tried it on my Acer AIO desktop and old Acer laptop (2007). Both detect Topping NX2 automatically and install the intended driver. All my smartphone has no OTG function so I never tried USB DAC from smartphone.
 
Conclusion:
I have second thought about this whole amplifier thing. While it generally give a whole new sound to my earphones I think it is better to get a player with built in powerful amplifier. This is why I am missing my late Lenovo S930. Most of the time I only use about 10% of the volume and some loud earphone like Soundmagic E10 already sound too loud with lowest volume. Subsequently I bought HTC Desire 820s. Bad mistake, now I use 40-50% of volume to drive most earphone. With AT CKB50 I even have to use up to 60% volume. Topping NX2 did help with this problem but if I have both player and powerful amplifier it will be great. Maybe there is LG V10 which will cost me an arm and leg.
 
 
I

Bought this from local online shop Lazada Malaysia. But shipping still from China so it just arrived 3 days ago after 1 month in transit. I paid RM40 or about 9.5USD about the same price if I buy from Aliexpress. After I tried for short time to confirm both channel working it went straight to burn in station.So far it has more than 50 hours of burn in period. Should be enough because there is not much difference from the sound out of box.
 
 

Excellent material used here. Housing made of black ceramic (real zircon ceramic?). The nozzle are perfectly angled. The silicone tip are the original, they are very comfortable and grippy.
There are vent at the back of housing (top of golden area). The strain relief are clear silicone just like my Uiisii HM7.

The cable are covered with grey braided fabric up until before Y-splitter. After that the cable is just covered with grey plastic.Y-slitter is tapered shaped metal with grey plastic strain relief. The earphone jack is L-shape with similar grey plastic strain relief. Single remote with Rock brand is on right cable after the Y-splitter. The remote work perfectly for play/pause single click and double click for forward/next. Never try yet for microphone function. Generally the built quality is on par with excellent quality earphone like Xiaomi 1more Voice of China.
 

With the sub 20 competition; Uiisii HM7(with Huawei AM12 tip) and Boarseman CX98(with KZ ATE tip).
 
Sound quality;
Excellent out of the box, not much different noted even after 50 hours burn in period. Perfect sound? Definitely not. Better than some more expensive earphone? Yes, some of course.
The bass is above average in quantity, fairly tight but not thumping. Slightly slow in bass response as compared to the likes of JVC FXT90 and Sony EX650.  But slightly better than direct competitors; HM7 and CX98. The treble is fairly bright and blends well with the bass. There are some noticeable sibilance, very mild and not really distracting. Some mild background coloration heard. Just noticeable but not really quite prominent like Boarseman CX98 or Audio-Technica CKX7/9. The vocal are slightly recessed as compared to bass and treble, but not to the extend it sounding like V-shaped. The details is moderate and more noticeable than HM7 or 1more Voice  of China. For me the sound of Rock Zircon is still balanced ,with fairly 'smooth' bass and mildly sibilance treble.
 
Comparison with Boarseman CX98;
I like built quality of cable from Rock Zircon better. CX98 has slightly springy and stiffer cable.The lightweight ceramic housing with angled nozzle are very comfortable on Zircon. But generally I still prefer CX98 sound quality. Rock Zircon has higher amount of 'smoother' bass as compared to CX98 moderate amount but with faster bass response. There are more details heard on CX98 and the mildly piercing treble is preferred over Zircon fairly smooth treble. Of course in the end there are not much different in sound quality between these 2 excellent sub 20 earphones.
 
Comparison with Uiisii HM7;
HM7 has fairly aggressive sound signature as compared to Zircon balanced sound. HM7 unfortunately need higher volume than any other earphone mentioned in this review. Bass is the weakness for HM7. Otherwise both Zircon and HM7 has excellent quality cable and ultra lightweight housing- metal vs ceramic. I choose Zircon over HM7 for pure sound quality.
 
Conclusion;
I will not compare this Zircon with 3 of my highest rated earphones; Audio-Technica CKX9, Sony EX650 and JVC FXT90. They are still in league of their own. But there are few more expensive earphone that lost preference to Rock Zircon and Boarseman CX98. Those are Zero Audio Carbo Basso and Sony XBA10. I am currently waiting for LZ Z03A from Easy Earphone. Hopefully this LZ can finally challenged or even surpassed those excellent triad. So for 9USD this Rock Zircon has truly rocked it. It has very similar sound quality to CX98 that cost 20USD and even better than some 30-40USD earphones that I own.

This is the 2nd earphone I bought purely from excellent review by Igor Eisberg of Audiobudget website. I bought it from Aliexpress for 8USD. They are still on transit somewhere. Today I have a chance to make a window shopping and tried out few earphones in my local electronic mall in Low Yat Plaza, Kuala Lumpur. They are selling mainly a lower end earphone and some midrange earphone that cost up to about 120USD. Fairly affordable I must say. The most expensive that I tried was Denon C100 Urban Raver, about 90USD RRP. Some excellent low end earphone like Philips SHE3595 and SHE 3905. They also have Logitech UE400 ,about 30USD. Sennheiser CX300II is selling for 55USD.

Suddenly I saw this UiiSii HM7 at one of the shop selling at about 6.5USD. Unbelievable, if I haven't ordered yet from Aliexpress I will definitely buy it immediately. The test earphone was pink but they also have both grey and gold version. What I noticed first was the housing itself. It made of metal which I didn't expect from a very cheap earphone like this. It shaped like a 3/4 globe or "orb like" as described by Mr Igor. They are very small about 1x1x1.5cm with nozzle. It almost feels weightless in my ear and sit quite firmly with it's stock clear silicone tip. This kind of ultra lightweight design make it very comfortable for long listening, but can be easily pulled out due to shallow fitting.
The 2nd feature that I noticed was the soft clear cable which clearly show of the inner copper cable. It may looks like the one on KZ series earphone cable but it has better quality material and not sticky. I don't exactly know what material they use but it does feels like a silicone. The cable is thicker than KZ cable probably about 2mm diameter before the Y splitter. The Y splitter and earphone jack are both made of cylinder shape metal and the jack itself is straight type. There is no chin slider but I will no complaint because it is not really necessary due to extreme lightweightness of the housing. There is single button remote and mic on right cord after Y-splitter. It fully functional as music remote for start stop and double click forward. Not having chance to check the mic fuction. Overall the built quality are excellent and the material used make it actually feels more expensive that the RRP. Thumbs up UiiSii team, whoever they are.

Sound quality;
First impression ; this one sounds very aggressive but fun. Everything are there. The tight and thumping bass, clear vocal, sparklingly bright treble without any sibilance. Details are abundance but not as details as sony XBA10 or EX650. The closest earphone that has this kind of sound signature is Jvc-ha-fxt90. Yes you read it right. It almost sounds like the mighty FXT90. All for 6.5USD. Excellent price to sound ratio? This is totally beyond that. As if they have managed to squeeze in both FXT90 driver into such tiny housing. I am not sure you want to believe e it or not but for the whole day of trying out earphone in Low Yat Plaza, this UiiSii HM7 has managed to beat all the above mentioned earphone including my own earphone that I brought together today, the king of sub 20 himself, Boarseman CX98. Yes in pure sound quality I have to rate this HM7 higher than CX98, Denon C100, both Philips, UE400 and CX300II.

Comparison with CX98;
As a reigning king of sub 20, the CX98 has better built quality and accessories. The twisted cable with glossy plastic coating will likely last longer than the soft silicone coated cable of HM7. Sound quality wise, no competition at all, HM7 has better bass, better vocal and the sparkling bright treble is smooth and sibilance free. I never expected this since the price is 3 times higher with CX98. Of course with 20USD CX98 has better package and built quality, not to mention it looks better than HM7.

Comparison with Denon C100 Urban Raver;
This one has different sound signature. Really tight and thumpin bass but with recessed vocal and treble. In another word almost L-shaped sound signature almost similar to my Pioneer SE-CL541. Very good for bass heavy music but not really suitable for vocal or treble heavy music. In that sense the aggressively balanced HM7 is suitable for most music and sounds very pleasant to my ear. C100 as expected has better built quality. It has remote with volume button which not working with my HTC Desire 820s Android phone. Probably it work for IPhone or maybe I have to install apps before it can work.

Conclusion ;
My journey through budget oriented earphone has made me found the unexpected but pleasant suprise like this HM7 and CX98. Both sound particularly excellent no matter what music I am listening to. If you prefer something extremely cheap with maximum sound quality possible, this is it. Probably nothing can beat it in pure sound quality within sub 20 price range. At least until I got my Rock Zircon which is also on transit. Currently on Audiobudget Rock Zircon has still manage to stay on top according to Mr Igor. Just wait and see how is Rock Zircon performance against 2 mighty sub 20 champion the CX98 a d HM7. Is it better than FXT90? Close but no cigars. So the quest will still continue.

Who is Boarseman? I don't know. I read good reviews on KZ HDS1 here. I have KZ ATE which is quite good for a very low price. So I made so research on the net on HDS1.So one of the link brought me to Mr Igor Eisberg's Audiobudget website. Pretty extensive collection of dirt cheap China branded and made earphone. By budget it means that all the earphones featured and reviewed on this Audiobudget are priced 20USD and lower. Some goes as low as 6USD. So it is a heaven for people looking for a fairly good earphone on a budget. Many people including me prefer to buy 5 earphones for 100USD instead of just 1 or 2 earphones for same price. Some people are just collector. They doesn't mind using 2nd or 3rd rank earphones. Buying just single good earphone for 100USD has never cross through my mind. So far I had probably spend around 300USD for about 10 earphones. So roughly about 30USD each.Some cost 60USD like Audio-technica IM50, some cost 9USD like KZ ATE. For that money probably I can buy 1 extremely good earphone like Dunu DN2000. A highly recommended earphone with all round good review. Most likely I well enjoyed it for a month or two. Then the boredom will creep in. Or I probably use it to death and the ultra-expensive earphone will fail in a year or less. Another analogy to this is when I bought a phone. Many of my friend bought top of the line Apple iPhone 6 plus 64gb for about 800USD. They will use and cling to it for three years. Myself on the other hand will buy HTC Desire 820 or Lenovo Vibe P1 for 250USD and by the end of 1st year will change or trade in for another 250USD phone. By the end of three years I have change to total of 3 phones. Of course the IPhone has the fastest and fluidest interface in the world. But for myself I just couldn't stomach the idea of looking and using the same old phone for the whole 3 years. Different people, different idea. That's why we are human.

Enough with ranting. I bought this Boarseman CX98 through Aliexpress. So far there is only one seller selling this product. The other seller has CX98s selling for 39USD. Not sure about the difference because both CX98 and CX98s has very same specs listed. It arrived quite fast just 10 days from China to Malaysia. I am very excited with the packaging. The CX98 is using fairly thin plywood box to store the CX98 earphone itself together with Boarseman branded orange-blue zipper case, earphone tips and cable clip. The amount of accessories are excellent. The housing nozzle was fitted with double flange clear ear tip out of box. The tip is quite comfortable and secure so I keep it as it is. They also supply a pair of red colour generic foam tip with 5mm core, and another 4 pairs of usual single flange silicone tip of various size. Cable clip is also supplied with Boarseman brand etched to it. So full mark for packaging and accessories.
Clockwise;cX98, ckx9, FXT90, EX650, 1more.




With 1more voice of china

Built quality ;
Generally excellent, almost on par with ultra-excellent 1more voice of china. The housing made of metal with 2 tone color. Red on the inside and another half round grey metal on the inside. This is a good design since the half empty side is on the front I can actually feel the emptiness in the dark. Since the design is straight barrel and straight nozzle this feature is really helpful to determine Left-Right of the housing. And it looks good and unique too. The housing strain relief is a hard plastic and there is a vent next to it. The Y-splitter and jack are grey metal cylinder. The audio jack is straight type and strain relief is again a hard plastic about 3mm height/long. The cable is twisted type ala current Soundmagic cable with glossy black pastic covering. They are slightly springy but fairly tangle free and flexible. There is no noticeable microphonic from the cable.

Sounds;
I will describe the sound is more towards J-shaped. Initial impression out of the box; low bass, vocal a bit recessed and the treble is moderately piercing sibilance and bright. I immediately sent it for burn in. Now it has more than 30hours to it. There are some noticeable improvement in the sound quality. The moderately piercing sibilance has tamed down to mildly piercing sibilance which I suspect is the intended sound signature. Otherwise the treble is very bright with very mild coloration heard. Details is not that great which is very common for sub 20 earphone. The bass has slightly improved after burn in. The amount is moderate but it is not very tight and thumping. Vocal somehow stay the same even after burn in. They are a bit muffled and almost drown out from the superbright treble. Soundstage is average and not as wide as CKX7/CKX9. So it is one of the few J-shaped sound earphone that I have. The other earphone that has this kind of signature in my collection is Audio-technica CKX9. It also reminds me of Audio-technica M50 which I believe has this J-shaped sound. But M50 cost more than 150USD and has very prominent treble and colouration that not only sparklingly bright, but I tend to call it as splashing and splattering. Quite unique and enjoyable sound but not natural or even balanced.

Comparison with 1more voice of china;
Obvious contender for sub 20 throne. Sound quality wise CX98 is clearly a better sounding earphone. 1more has very balanced sound signature but never excell in any of the frequency, so it is a good al rounder. CX98 on the other hand has a very good treble and good bass so it is very good for most music genre except vocal heavy song. But built quality and comfort goes to 1more.

Comparison with KZ ATE;
Another good perfomer in sub 20 area. KZ ATE has balanced sound signature which is slightly better and more fun to listen than 1more. Bass is slightly weak and not that tight compared to CX98. Vocal is better with ATE. Treble is where CX98 excell and it make ATE treble sounds very tame. CX98 is also has much better built quality and comfort.

Comparison with Audio-technica CKX9;
The only other earphone with J-shaped sound signature in my collection. But this is already in different level kind of sound quality. The bass has similar amount but tighter and smoother. Vocal is clear and details are abundant. Treble is sparkling bright but smooth with more noticeable colouration. Good try CX98.

Conclusion;
I will stop here for comparison. Both EX650 and FXT90 have even better sound quality than any of earphone mentioned above. So it is not a fair coparison. Generally I will rate CX98 slightly lower than other earphones like Soundmagic E10 and Zero Audio Carbo Basso. But within its price territory of sub 20 earphone in my own collection nothing can beat it in pure sound quality. However on Audiobudget site, this CX98 has been dethroned by even cheaper earphone the Rock Zircon which according to Mr Igor, has the perfect sound quality for a budget earphone . I have to be honest here all these 20USD earphones, however good or excellent their sound sound quality may be, will not likely surpass your excellent earphone like FXT90 or RE400 etc. Just my opinion. Maybe Mr Igor will disagree. I don't know. But for now I will likely buy the Rock Zircon to compare with this CX98. Thank you for reading.

I ordered KZ ATE on late November 2015 base on the hype citing that KZ ATE is one of the best earphone from KZ stable.  Almost all (or all?)  available reviews on the net indicated on how good or excellent this KZ ATE.  Most of the reviewer with multiple KZ earphones just swear that this is definitely one of the best earphone from KZ stable and some even claim that it can rival sound quality of other earphone costing 50-100USD range or more.  I definitely have few earphone within that price range so I am excited to compare how this 8USD earphone can sound as good as 50USD earphone. As usual my source of earphone lately came from Aliexpress. However this is my longest wait so far for any item to arrive from Aliexpress. My KZ ATE has just arrived today and already has about 10 hours of burn in period. 

Built quality;
This is how the ATE look like.  The housing are made of smoky/grey semitranparent plastic. I can see the copper driver inside. The nozzle is about 4mm,made of same plastic as housing with metal mesh covering the nozzle hole. The nozzle has good angle and the whole housing is fairly comfortable in my ears either with the provided large silicone tip or with medium foam tip (coreless).  The problem with the foam tip while it is very comfortable in ear, it is very easily detached and can be left inside the ear after the housing removed.  For safety reason. I will definitely recommend to replace the original coreless foam tip with silicone tip or other type of hard plastic core foam tip. The cable is very generic for KZ family. The copper core cable is covered with transparent plastic which is quite rubbery on touch. The cable/cord itself is quite springy although not as bad as my other earphone like Huawei AM12 cable. The bad thing about the cable the location of Y splitter which is quite low,  in my case it located just below the xiphisternum/ upper abdomen area. To make it worse,  there is no chin slider. In above picture I actually use the provided small Velcro as my chin slider. The single button remote, mic located on right cord,  very near to mouth.  I tried to play and pause music which work well,  but  2 click forward button just not functioning. The strain relief near housing is made of hard plastic,  which is not a good solution. Luckily the 3.5mm jack is better with L-shaped and good, flexible soft plastic strain relief. 
So in the end KZ ATE scored a mix of good and bad for built quality.  I hope KZ will address  the cable problem. Cost is not a limiting factor. I have ultra-excellent cable from Xiaomi  1more that cost 19USD. I believe people like me and many more will appreciate a better cable and definitely willing to pay more to get it. Also on the wish list, built in chin slider. Some will say that cable with built in remote, mic is not suitable for chin slider since it can't slide up to the chin. But I have Sony EX650 AP with same remote, mic configuration which came with  built in chin slider. 
 
Sound quality;
Excellent  out of box! Just with minimal burn in period it has already produce a reasonably good sound. The bass is just average / medium in amount but fairly tight. Not as good as EX650 or FXT90 definitely. Slightly slow  compared to those earphone. About the same quality as my Audio-technica CKX9. The treble is sparkling bright, which is the best quality for this KZ ATE. The details is there but not very prominent compared to other more expensive earphone. Vocal is clear for most song. Soundstage is just average not as wide as CKX9/7. So sound quality wise it is definitely up there among the more expensive earphones in my collection. At least it is on par but definitely not better than any of those more expensive earphones. 
 
Comparison with Xiaomi 1more voice of china ;
This is one of the best earphone within 20USD price range. The strength lies on the excellent built quality and comfortable fit which cannot be rival by most of my other earphones. The sound quality for KZ ATE is definitely one step higher. Except for the bass which os comparable, all other qualities are leaned towards KZ ATE. If KZ decided to use better quality material for the cable then only it can rival the Xiaomi 1more in general. 
 
Comparison with Audio-technica CKX9;
My current favourite earphone. It has a very smooth sound with wide soundstage and a lots of details.  There is noticeable colouration which generally pleasant and enjoyable. Hard to describe it, sound quality wise on general I will still put it below JVC FXT90,  but the fun factor is with the CKX9. Compared to KZ ATE,  CKX9 has very similar bass amount and quality.  The treble is sparkling bright in both earphones but CKX9 sounds smoother and more enjoyable. I will rate vocal as slightly better on KZ ATE. 
 
Conclusion ;
So now I believe in the hype of this dirt cheap earphone that can rival much more expensive earphone in pure sound quality. What KZ need to improve in the next version is just the build quality department. Otherwise what I have here is an excellent sounding earphone, which cost almost nothing for a near audiophile sound quality . Highly recommended if you can tolerate above ear fitting and slightly low quality  cable. 

I bought this Xiaomi 1more Voice of China on 11 November flash sale for 19.60 USD. Usual price is around 25USD from Aliexpress. They arrived about 1 week ago. So the earphone has already more than 30 hours of burn in period. On arrival I am really impressed with the retail box and available accessories. As usual it come with M size tip fixed on nozzle with 3 more different tip in the box. It also come with unique metal design shirt clip. Anyway I decided not to use the provided shirt clip and use a generic plastic shirt clip from Aliexpress also. The silicone tip also replaced with generic foam tip from Aliexpress. Out of the box I paired it with my HTC desire 820s and start listening to my music. 1st impression, I found that the sound is quite good. Everything is there. Moderate but tight bass, some details, fairly bright treble. But it still sound a bit muffled and congested.

Pictured with Huawei AM12





After 1 week of extensive use, I found that the sound has slightly changed. The bass has become more prominent but still moderate in amont. The treble is brighter and more details heard. Soundstage is moderate. Very good sound eventually. But still not comparable to my other higher grade earphones like FXT90, Sony EX650 or even Audio-technica CKX9. That is expected, but it still sound good nonetheless. Anyone coming from low grade earphone or stock earphone that come with your smartphone will immediately notice the different in sound quality come from this 1more Voice of China. The other good thing is the built quality. They are truly excellent. The material used for the housing are partly metal. The y-splitter and earphone jack are also made of metal. The initial part of cord before y-splitter is covered with red braided fabric. After y-splitter the divided cord are red plastic which claimed as kevlar reinforced. The volume and remote control is located on right cord. They are fully functioning on my HTC Desire 820s. Volume control work as expected. Music control at centre button for play forward and rewind is also functioning well. Microphone and call button [also the same centre button] is also functioning. The other caller can hear me clearly through the mic. The other good thing is the fit. The housing is lightweight and the nozzle is angled. I got perfect fit to my ear with help from foam tip. I even tried using it for sport. Absolutely comfortable and secure. However this earphone is not rated as sweat or weatherproof, so use with caution. For better fit and comfort shirt clip use is highly recommended.

Comparison with Huawei Honor AM12;
The obvious but less popular contender for Xiaomi Piston range. Huawei AM12 can be purchased for as low as 6-7USD in Aliexpress for original blue color version. AM12 sound signature is very different from Xiaomi 1more. They are truly bass heavy earphone. In fact I rated it 2nd just below my bass monster king Pioneer SE-CL541. It has very boomy bass but unfortunately not very tight and fast. The treble is there but not as bright as Xiaomi 1more. They are very good for EDM, and somehow I like it for rock, metal music also due to thumping drum sound. Unfortunately it has very minimal details and I don't like it's springy cable. The Xiaomi 1more is a more balanced earphone, suitable for most music but unfortunately not sound excellent in any of them. It also has better treble and details. For comfort and design Xiaomi 1more is a clear winner, but sound quality wise somehow I lean more towards Huawei AM12.

Conclusion;
I am not going to compare it against other midrange earphone like JVC FXT90, Audio-technica CKX9 or even Sony EX650. They are completely in different level. As far as the sound quality goes it can only compared to other earphone within 20USD like Huawei AM12. What we have here is an excellently built earphone , with fully functioning volume and remote button. It also very comfortable for long listening and very secure even for sport. For about 20USD it is an excellent upgrade from stock earphone. But sound quality is just good, never excellent.

This is my latest purchase from yet another Aliexpress adventure. I bought this CKX9 about 3 weeks ago and just arrived 2 days ago. I called it adventure because there are 2 or 3 sellers currently selling CKX9 and CKX9is and yet apparently I am the only one that made the purchase. So there is no comment whatsoever about the product from those sellers in Aliexpress. For 29USD I don't expect any fake earphone from those sellers. For replica or poor copy usually accessory shops will sell them at around 6-7USD, so for 29USD this is already considered a fairly normal price for any good earphone.
The moment I got the package, the notice the CKX9 that I received is black colour, not blue as I ordered. I come with only single silicone ear tip ?M size with M size audio technica C-tip or ear hook.  This make me more suspiciuos as the seller sent a wrong coloured CKX9 to me. Anyway I just ignored about the wrong color and immediately try the CKX9 with my HTC 820s.
 
The first impression? This is the one and only earphone that sound extremely awful out of the box. It sound muffled, very congested without any bass or treble heard. Not giving up I just continue to burn in the earphone at about 1/2 max volume. 2 hours later I listened again to CKX9 . This time I heard a totally different sound. As I still have Audio technica CKX7 , I know exactly what to expect from this CKX9. They do have very similar sound signature especially the noticable coloration. I am so glad that the CKX9 has just reveal it's true sound after just minimal burn in period so I just continue with burn in process for about 20hour more.
 

 

 

Pictured with my CKX7 in white.If you notice actually the C-tip on CKX7 is from CKX9 since CKX7 doesn't has a vent/hole like CKX9.
 
Comparison with CKX7;
The most obvious different with CKX7 is the rotating nozzle in CKX7 . In CKX9 the nozzle is angled and fixed. The second different is the hole/vent on CKX9, CKX7 doesn't has that. In term of fit and comfort the CKX9 win. The rotating nozzle actually causing the CKX7 to wobble inside my ear,luckily the C-tip (which obviously belong to CKX9 ) does help to stabilise. CKX9 even without the C-tip is already quite secure in my ear because of the angled nozzle. Both original silicone tip or the red comply foam are very comfortable in ear and I can proudly say that this combination of comply foam and c-tip are one of the most comfortable and secure for CKX9 . Sound quality wise there is no competition here. CKX9 is clear winner over CKX7 due to smooth and more balanced sound. I tried to like the sound from CKX7 ,but in the end there is a very noticeable sibilance or hissing sound. Not much but still noticeable. In CKX9 - no sibilance at all, even at a very loud volume. The bass quantity is more on CKX7 but bass in CKX9 is nicer and tighter. CKX9 also have more details and bigger soundstage. In term of treble CKX9 is better. Both has fairly bright treble but not really sparkling or splasing. But as usual the treble in CKX9 is very smooth as compared to CKX7 which can sound harsh with noticible sibilance. There is only one thing that I notice from both CKX7 and CKX9, there are persistent extra sound in almost every song. It sound like an extension or echoes from music instrument like cymbal or even sometimes it sound like a maracas. It always there , so I definitely notice it but in CKX7 the extra sound can sound harsh and luckily in CKX9  it sound smooth and nice.
 
Comparison with CKX5;
So to complete the review I include CKX5 as part of the CKX trinity. I never own this earphone but has auditioned it many times in stores. CKX5 has more balanced sound if compared to CKX7 and generally I prefer CKX5 to CKX7. As usual ,as the lowest rank member the sound quality is definitely not comparable to CKX9. It sounds more congested, the bass is moderate at best and not very tight, and the treble is not as bright as CKX7/9. It also has very small soundstage.Both CKX5/7 actually using same C-tip design, different from CKX9 which has extra hole for the vent.
 
Comparison with JVC FXT90;
This is my current king of my earphones. The reason I bought CKX9 is actually to get a better sound quality earphone that can actually dethrone FXT90. Well, I fail again. In general I still like the sound from FXT90. The CKX9 sounds very smooth, with bigger soundstage and almost perfect fit to my ear. The FXT90 is better simply because it's sound very aggressive in a good way. The bass quantity is almost the same but in FXT90 bass is very tight and thumping. Song like Do What U Want from Lady Gaga/R. Kelly somehow show the different of these 2 earphones. Bass in CKX9 in this song somehow feels it coming slower and loose as compared to FXT90. Not to say bass in CKX9 is bad, just to say that FXT90 is superior in this regard. What really diferent is the treble in FXT90 which is brighter and sparkling. Treble in CKX9 is bright and smooth but personally I prefer FXT90. There are 2 things that  are better with CKX9. It is definitely more secure and comfortable. With FXT90 and silicone tip sometimes I have to insert it using above ear configuration to get best fit, but the comfort has lost in this configuration.
 
Comparison with Sony EX650;
My current no 2 ranking before the arrival of CKX9. I have comfort issue with EX650. The sound quality is very comparable with CKX9, but bass is better in EX650. CKX9 has bigger soundstage and the smooth treble is slightly better than the already bright EX650. Not much different in sound quality between these 2, but for long hour listening the CKX9 will likely replace my go to comfortable earphone Audio Technica CKB90.
 
Conclusion.
What I have here is very capable midrange earphone which has excellent value thanks to Aliexpress. Will I recommend this everyone?- definitely not. The CKX trinity earphone is fairly large earphone by any standard. The cable is very long especially the distance from Y split to the actual earphone. Most people with small ear will find these CKX trinity overwhelmingly big and uncomfortable to their ears. But for me and other head-fier with big ear some of you will find CKX9 as very comfortable. Aside from comfort issue, the sound quality from CKX9 is as good as other midrange earphone like Sony EX650 and JVC FXT90. So my quest for better earphone to dethrone FXT90 will continue. Meawhile I truly recommend this CKX9 together with FXT90 and EX650 to everyone that can get the best out of them. For anyone looking at CKX7 I have to recommend either CKX5 or CKX9 as a better alternative.

Written originally in http://www.head-fi.org/t/738635/new-audio-technica-iems-ckr7ltd-ckr9ltd-ckb50-ckb70/30 thread on 4th September 2015.
Silly me because I just found out how to add new item for review,  discussion purpose. 
 
I bought the CKB50 through Aliexpress for just 26USD, free shipping. They described it as original CKB50 and even blurred out the AT logo. Just received it 2 days ago of course without original box, just come with extra 4 pairs of silicone tip. I have Sony XBA10 as my sole balanced armature earphone before this so I am excited to try this CKB50 as a comparison. This is no ordinary earphone even the specs shows impressive features like 65ohm impedence and a strange frequency response of 20hz to 15kHz. Even with high impedence it is still easy to drive with my HTC Desire 820s. But surely I have to crank up the volume to about 20 to 25% of total volume. My other earphones normally will need up to 10 to 15% volume. 
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There is only one seller with only single gold colour CKB50 currently sell in Aliexpress. I have no idea whether this is truly original Audio-technica products or not. It doesn't matter anyway. Out of box/ or package in my case it already sound impressive. It has big and tight bass sound. Definitely bigger than XBA10 or FXT90 but not as big as IM50. The vocal are clear and details are almost as good as XBA10. The treble is moderate at best not as sparklingly bright as FXT90.
 
Comparison with IM50;
IM50 is my 1st AT product bought BNIB at full price of 62USD so I am very sure that this IM50 is real original Audio-technica. It was my best earphone until I bought FXT90. The best thing about IM50 is the build quality. The cord is super tough but flexible. CKB50 cord is springy and not very flexible. Nevertheless there are not much different in SQ between these 2. Bass amount is slightly higher in IM50 but CKB50 is tighter. Details and treble are almost the same.
 
Comparison with XBA10;
XBA10 is my 1st ever balanced armature earphone. Bought BNIB but at a discounted price. Still very original Sony product. This is still my current king of details amongst my earphones. It sounds nicely balanced and details. CKB50 is only better in bass. Very surprisingly bassy for single balance armature driver.
 
Comparison with FXT90;
The 1st earphone I bought through Aliexpress. Same story selling as original FXT90 for 32USD. Sounds fantastic out of package. Moderate but tight bass, sparkling bright treble, good vocal and details. Good for any kind of music genre. CKB50 is better in bass amount and probably has slightly more details.
 
Addendum;
1. Fellow head fier in above mentioned thread suggested me to try Sony hybrid tip to get better bass response.  I already tried that and the tip has been permanently stuck to the CKB50 nozzle until now.  The tip is very comfortable and does really enhanced the bass until reaching the level of IM50 in term of quantity. But as I mentioned bass on CKB50 is tighter. 
2. Comparison with Sony EX650 . My latest purchase after CKB50. 
EX650 is rated as 2nd best currently amongst my earphones just below FXT90. But being built with solid brass means that EX650 is heavy and uncomfortable to use for long period especially for my right ear. If I happen to have long time to spend listening to my music surely I will pick up CKB50 or even FXT90 over EX650. 
 
Conclusion.
A very good entry level balanced armature earphone. I only wish that Aliexpress has CKB70 and FXT100 selling at OEM price like this CKB50 and FXT90. Very secure and comfortable  in ear even with half in ear design. Very fun sound signature. The cons are the springy and microphonic cable without any chin slider or shirt clip. Otherwise an excellent value at just 26USD.

Another adventure in Aliexpress has made me found this absolute gem. The EX650 just arrived today and it is a version with single button with mic on left side. I paid 22USD ,free shipping. The actual price in most store is around 60USD BNIB. I have tried this EX650 in Sony Store before and really like what I heard. But for 60USD it is pretty expensive for me. So when I found this EX650 on Aliexpress,I never hesitate to buy it. 1st impression - no doubt, this Aliexpress EX650 looks and sounds like original. The closest sound signature that I heard before was Audio-technica CKR5. Almost same details but EX650 has better and tighter bass.

Built quality/ construction.
On external look, this is definitely one of my best looking earphone to date. Very solid construction, both cable and brass housing are excellent. Fairly thin but serrated and tough looking cable. Complete with chin slider. At Y splitter written Thailand at one side and MDR EX650 on the other side. Single button with mic located on left cord, fully functional for taking/ending calls, but I haven't try the mic yet which is not important since I bought this EX650 purely for music listening. The strain relief at housing are made of silicone and very soft and flexible. And might be the 1st to degrade too. Strain relief on L shaped 3.5mm jack is also strong and flexible. The housing are made of gold coloured brass with half plastic on ear side. The nozzle are made of brass too and angled for better fit. Unfortunately only left side housing with default medium tip fit well. My right side ear has different shape so I have to use large tip but still not very comfortable. Not the earphone problem really just my odd anatomy making fitment for many earphone to my right ear a bit difficult and the sound also will always slightly low on all earphone. Fortunately I can adjust the channel more to the right in my smartphone equalizer.

Comparison with FXT90
My current best earphone, also from Aliexpress adventure. EX650 has more details. FXT90 has more sparkling treble. Bass amount and tightness are almost the same. Generally FXT90 still sound slightly better for me. For me the FXT90 has more balanced and slightly more aggressive sound,

Comparison with XBA10
My only other earphone from Sony, bought BNIB. Both have excellent built quality with tough serrated cable and chin slider. Only shape of cable are different. EX650 rounded, XBA10 slightly flat. XBA10 has no strain relief on housing but not really necessary due to extreme light-weightiness of the housing. Brass housing on EX650 is quite heavy but soft strain relief and angled nozzle really help to counter the weight. Sound wise the amount of details are almost the same. But bass is better with EX650. Generally I prefer EX650.

Comparison with Audio-technica ckb50
My most recent purchase before EX650. As usual from Aliexpress. CKB50 has very good lightweight housing design that fit my ear very well. The bass is tighter and higher amount. Treble is almost at same level but EX650 has more details. CKB50 has very fun kind of sound that goes well with bass heavy genre and rock/metal genre. Generally EX650 has much better built quality but in the end I still prefer sound from CKB50 which is "aggressively fun".

Comparison with Soundmagic E10
E10, one of the most popular and highly recommended budget earphone with multiple awards and all round good review. This is where the origin of 'fun' sounding earphone. The bass on E10 is bigger but EX650 is tighter. E10 has better, more sparkling treble. Unfortunately the details are lacking as compared to other earphone in this review. For that I choose EX650 over E10.

Conclusion
EX650 is definitely one of the good earphone in my collection. Details and pleasant to ear. For 22USD the price is only 1/3 of BNIB EX650. The present of single button and mic are bonuses but not really necessary. There are better earphone in my collection but EX650 is definitely one of the best. It is suitable for rock/metal music which are the majority of my music collections. On top of having good sound it also has the best look so far among my earphones. Highly recommended for certain kind of music. For bass-head, probably can stay clear with this EX650.

Just received my JBL synchros reflect (wired version) with Android control button. Bought it from American seller; from_wow in Ebay which advertised it as "like new, still in retail package". Received it in just 10 days after payment. Truly speedy delivery thanks man. For your information I have tried JBL synchros reflect (bluetooth) before and I am truly impressed with its sound quality. So this wired version has exactly similar sound quality. So just a matter of preference -wired or bluetooth. For me I prefered a wired version since it has almost all features that I want and need from a sport earphone. and obviously the wired version is much cheaper. After opening the box I played it straight away. Burn in period? Forget it. It sound phenomenally good right out of box.
 
Features I want/need from sport earphone;
1. Short wire since I usually use it with smartphone and armband. It supplied with extension cable for normal use.
2. Volume button for Android.  Yes it is fully functioning with my HTC Desire 820s. The other sport earphone with volume button that I have is BOSE SiE2 , unfortunately it is an iPhone version so it is not functioning with Android phone. My other 2 sport earphone are Meelectronics S6P and Auria Zeal which has volume slider which is functioning but not very friendly.
3. Remote control and microphone. This is important when the phone is inside the armband and I am doing some serious workout. Fortunately all 4 sport earphones ; JBL , S6P , Auria and SiE2 has fully functioning microphone. The other side of caller can hear my voice clearly.  So far only JBL and S6P can control music play -one click for play/pause , 2 clicks for next/ forward and 3 clicks for rewind/back. Auria and SIE2 have erratic behaviour when handling remote music play. But for simple answering and ending call all 4 sport earphones function well.
4. Secure fit while exercise. The best fit is BOSE SiE2 >JBL reflect> S6P > Auria Zeal. Auria Zeal has fairly good fit initially but after just few uses somehow it just loose it fit. BOSE earfin has the best design so far. JBL reflect has almost similar design of earfin with my Audio Technica CKX7 (or C-tip as called by Audio Technica). But I never intent to use CKX7 for sport due to absent of remote and microphone. Other manufacturer like Bluedio has similar design (copied?) on its bluetooth sport earphone like Bluedio S3. But Bluedio is still Bluedio. I have their Bluetooth earset and there is no way that they can have sound quality like SiE2 or JBL reflect.
 
So now the unboxing;

 

 

The box looks fairly new and has been open before.
 

But everything inside look new.
 


Taken with flash to show the reflective cable and similarly reflective extension cable.

Side by side with SiE2. Different placement of remote, volume control and microphone. With JBL reflect the design makes the microphone closer to mouth but the remote and volume control is best handle with right hand. SiE2 remote button and microphone located at Y splitter and further away from mouth but button can be pressed with either hand. Volume buttons on SiE2 did not work with Android phone.
 

Different earfin design. SiE2 is more secure.
 

Different shirt clip. The Reebox branded SiE2 shirt clip is the winner here. Hey JBL ! that design is only suitable for a pen
 

C-tip of CKX7 is almost similar with JBL reflect. The different is CKX7 is a pure in ear design earphone and JBL reflect and SiE2 is half in ear design. This design is more suitable for sport since I can partly hear the surrounding /environment noise. The disadvantage -needs higher volume.
 
Sound quality;
1. Bass -this is it. Big, thumping but very tight bass. Fortunately the bass is well controlled and not overshadowing the details and treble. The amount of bass is almost similar to my biggest bass hitter of all -the Pioneer SE-CL541. But compared to the Pioneer, JBL bass is better since it is well controlled and tight. On Pioneer the enormous bass is best for certain music like EDM but somehow I like it for rock/ metal too since it enhance the drum thumping effect. But details and treble are almost drown out.
 
2. Details and vocals- definitely not the best IEM for this. SiE2 is slightly better in this area .My other IEM Sony XBA10 is still a king followed by JVC FXT90. Details is still quite good but vocals is nearly drown out by big bass and brightly sparkling treble. I am not going to call the JBL as V-shape , it is still fairly balanced but more towards bass. Unlike FXT90 which is also a kind of balanced sound IEM but more towards treble. What make FXT90 better is vocal , which is clearer.
 
3.Treble -another big winner here. Bright and sparkling. But somehow I still like treble from FXT90. The treble on JBL is mixed with bass making the the treble sound not as pure as on FXT90.  A bassy cymbal anyone ? Just my opinion. Not really a downside , just a different sound signature. Still enjoyable.
 
Overall SQ for me; FXT90 > JBL reflect> IM50> XBA 10 . For sport earphone SQ ; JBL reflect > BOSE SiE2 > Auria Zeal > Meelectronics S6P.

I bought a gold coloured Sony XBA 10 in a retail store in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia for about 42 USD about 2 month ago. Fairly old stock with original box but plastic wrap still half intact- means it never been open before. They are made in Thailand. True enough the earphone and all the accesories are still intact inside. Many pairs of Sony silicone/ hybrid tip. Unfortunately even with the best fit hybrid tip, the earphone is still wobbling around inside my ears, so I end up using my Comply foam. Still slightly wobbly but better fit now. The body of earphone itself is so small with diameter of less than 1cm. Any pulling movement on the cable can easily loosen the ear tip. The supplied shirt clip does help but unfortunately the design of clip itself is not very friendly.
 
The clip is quite large, oval in shape with 3x2cm dimension. No spring mechanism ,it use different trick to function but still effective.

 

Almost non existent strain relief on the earphone itself.Not so important due to extreme light weight of the earphone.  Red ring indicate right side earphone. Small Comply foam initially used for Soundmagic E10. Fit 5mm inner diameter. Outside diameter about 11mm.The cable is flat type , quite tough but not really tangle-free.
 
Pros
1. High in details and good treble. More suitable for vocal heavy music . Pop rock and metal are  also suitable.
2. Extreme light weight , very comfortable to use for long duration.
3. Flat type but tough cable, complete with chin slider and odd looking but functional shirt clip.
4. I bought it a very low price , BNIB from local store. Immediate enjoyment!
5. Unique sound signature from balanced armature driver
 
Cons
1. The light weightness causing problem with fitting. Comply foam and shirt clip did partly help with proper fit.
2. The usual problem with single balanced armature driver- not enough bass. It is there but still below average in quantity but still satisfactorily tight , but not thumping. Not really a big problem just make me looking further up - probably XBA 20 or XBA 200 (if it exist).
 
In pure sound quality I will rate XBA10  just below my second best IEM , Audio Technica IM50. IM50 has bigger bass but not as tight as XBA 10. IM50 has more balanced sound so it is suitable for most music type even EDM and rock/ metal. For vocal heavy / pop music I still prefer XBA10 since it reveals more detail. Unfortunately when compared to FXT90 both IM50 and XBA 10 are still slightly inferior SQ- wise. Neverthelss this XBA10 is still a very good entry level to balanced armature driver IEM.