Oh man, where do I start with these?
TL;DR: For its price, which floats around $20, it's a little hard to beat.
Review: While I gave these earbuds a rather positive review, there's definitely more to the story.
In terms of sound quality, these little guys are pretty nice, and if anything they are fun to listen to. Sporting a deliciously V-shaped sound signature, they offer some crispy crystal highs and deep idiosyncratic bass that is typically unheard of in earbuds at this price. For the purpose of this review, I listened to a couple lossless tracks that I feel prove my point with the Piston 3's connected to a Fiio K1 portable DAC/amp:
1. Clozee - Aspara Calling: Clarity of high percussions is evident here and extremely pleasant. The percussion in general is very succinct and fun to listen to. High-mids are powerful and rich. When all layers begin to com together, the narrow soundstage begins to become uncomfortably apparent. The mids are veiled, but due to the nature of this song, it's not very apparent.
2. Alina Baraz & Galimatias - Fantasy: Amazingly rich highs and lows throughout the piece, very fun. Bass can be felt quite much more strongly compared to other earbuds of this price. Soundstage is piss poor and detracts from the wonderful contrast between the highs and lows.
Ultimately, a few hours of using these headphones reveal that the biggest problem with the sound quality on these headphones is the sound signature coupled with the poor soundstage. The highs and lows are absolutely clear and accurate, making these headphones very colored and fun to listen to, but these earbuds don't capitalize on its strength by providing a large sound stage.
Now, the reason I'm being so critical of the earbuds while I gave it such a high review is due to the fact that I'm grading them as though I would a circumaural open ear pair of cans. Which these are not. So don't go around expect that these will sound like a pair of AKG K7xx, because they won't. The reason I'm giving such a high score is simply because you don't really get earbuds better than this for $20, while I'm certain they exist.
TL;DR: For its price, which floats around $20, it's a little hard to beat.
Review: While I gave these earbuds a rather positive review, there's definitely more to the story.
In terms of sound quality, these little guys are pretty nice, and if anything they are fun to listen to. Sporting a deliciously V-shaped sound signature, they offer some crispy crystal highs and deep idiosyncratic bass that is typically unheard of in earbuds at this price. For the purpose of this review, I listened to a couple lossless tracks that I feel prove my point with the Piston 3's connected to a Fiio K1 portable DAC/amp:
1. Clozee - Aspara Calling: Clarity of high percussions is evident here and extremely pleasant. The percussion in general is very succinct and fun to listen to. High-mids are powerful and rich. When all layers begin to com together, the narrow soundstage begins to become uncomfortably apparent. The mids are veiled, but due to the nature of this song, it's not very apparent.
2. Alina Baraz & Galimatias - Fantasy: Amazingly rich highs and lows throughout the piece, very fun. Bass can be felt quite much more strongly compared to other earbuds of this price. Soundstage is piss poor and detracts from the wonderful contrast between the highs and lows.
Ultimately, a few hours of using these headphones reveal that the biggest problem with the sound quality on these headphones is the sound signature coupled with the poor soundstage. The highs and lows are absolutely clear and accurate, making these headphones very colored and fun to listen to, but these earbuds don't capitalize on its strength by providing a large sound stage.
Now, the reason I'm being so critical of the earbuds while I gave it such a high review is due to the fact that I'm grading them as though I would a circumaural open ear pair of cans. Which these are not. So don't go around expect that these will sound like a pair of AKG K7xx, because they won't. The reason I'm giving such a high score is simply because you don't really get earbuds better than this for $20, while I'm certain they exist.
