Firs off, I'd like to express my gratitude to Edifier for selecting me to reviews these IEs. I appreciate this very much.
I've experimented with a couple types of music, both Alternative (Rock), as well as something softer, with a more acoustic feel to it, as well. The sound files I used were most likely purchased on iTunes, and are obviously compressed. I did not use any EQ for my testing regarding the review, itself (but have listened to these with EQ options enabled also however). My source is the onboard music app with an iPhone 5S.
I did find these IEs to be very comfortable. I did notice some driver-flex upon insertion, and pretty much each time I insert these into my ear canals. This is not really bothersome to me, because when I hear that sound, I can be assured that I have a good seal inside my ear(s).
To be expected at this price level, the build quality is most likely all plastic. But it is a very nice shiny plastic design, and does not necessarily look "cheap". These are also being offered in several color options. So you do have a bit of freedom to chose the one that suits your fancy. The cable seems to be composed of a rubbery material, which does appear to resist tangling, but also holds its previous shape, perhaps to a fault. I believe there are three tips provided inside the minimalistic box/packaging. And there is also no type of inline control set included on the cable, itself. So there is no way to take calls, or control the volume or play tracks, except from the source, itself.
Now, on to the sound quality.
First let me discuss the sound stage right off the bat. These phones seem to depict a lot of wide space, in terms of left-to-right openness. But not much depth (front-to-back).
When talking about the actual signature, to my ears, these IEs depict a very warm, tight sound. If you like hearing detail in the vocal regions, you are in for a treat. Or any other musical instrument quality which typically resides within the Midrange frequencies (I believe that the piano is a good example of this). These phones in my opinion do one thing very well. They magnify the Midrange. All of the frequency points in the Midrange spectrum seem to be elevated. And these phones do this quite well. From the upper-low end all the way up to the lower-high end of the Midrange spectrum. The general focus of these phones is right there, within all of these frequency points of the Midrange sound.
This can be a good thing, but it depends on what type of music you are listening to. The reason I say this is because I found that the lower bass region to be lacking a bit in presence. This is not to say that there is no bass at all. As a matter of fact there actually is a good bit of it however, most of the bass is what you would expect to hear in the lower-midrange region of the sound spectrum. Right there in that region there is a plentiful amount of it. And in this aspect it conveys a very warm, tight sound. This IE does portray somewhat of a darker signature in general, and much of its detail is right here in this region. And so, although the bass is present, it is not necessarily present in the capacity that I would have liked. Albiet, I'm sure that proper EQ adjustments can alleviate this. But I specifically wanted to write this review from an objective perspective. Due to the anemic lower-bass element, I found that the Alternative (Rock) samples I listened to with these did not have the essence or power or life to them that I was hoping for. I would definitely not recommend these IEs for this type of genre.
Unfortunately, I'd have to say that the High end also seems to be lacking (to my ears), as well. The H210s just simply do not convey the shimmer, or clarity that I had become accustomed to from other IEs (like the i285, for example). What I am hearing instead, almost seems like the upper-high end has been veiled. They lack the luster and sparkle of other IEs I have had the pleasure of getting to experience over the years. But there is one good thing about this though. Sibilance is completely non-existent here. As a result of the rather tamed high end, I did not find the experience of Alternative (Rock) to be to my liking for this reason either (a point I have already made previously).
So then, the obvious question would be, what type(s) of music genres would be appropriate to listen to with these. I did find that softer, more acoustic-centered offerings did not sound bad at all. Especially where you are wanting to focus on vocals. Most of your vocal detail in music is typically in the Midrange arena. And acoustic guitars don't sound bad at all here. Especially if you are listening to something like a single person playing a guitar and singing. I believe that Jazz music might work well with these IEs. But the more instruments you start throwing into the mix, the less detail you are likely to be able to make out. It just starts sounding veiled and anemic, with some detail getting drowned out in the mix (at least to my ears, anyway). However, obviously proper EQ adjustments could probably make these IEs come to life, I would imagine. And I did listen with EQ turned on (prior to my testing), and did find these to sound much better with EQ, than without).
And so, in conclusion I find these H210s to do some things very well. But just not everything. Its most likely going to depend on what type of music you are wanting to listen to. For a budget IE they really aren't bad at all --- it certainly is a good starting point if you are just wanting to get your feet wet in the world of head-fi gear. And from there I'd suggest that you play around some with the EQ on your source, and see what happens after that. They are still a rather warm/dark sounding IE. But with certain genres this is not necessarily a bad thing.
I've experimented with a couple types of music, both Alternative (Rock), as well as something softer, with a more acoustic feel to it, as well. The sound files I used were most likely purchased on iTunes, and are obviously compressed. I did not use any EQ for my testing regarding the review, itself (but have listened to these with EQ options enabled also however). My source is the onboard music app with an iPhone 5S.
I did find these IEs to be very comfortable. I did notice some driver-flex upon insertion, and pretty much each time I insert these into my ear canals. This is not really bothersome to me, because when I hear that sound, I can be assured that I have a good seal inside my ear(s).
To be expected at this price level, the build quality is most likely all plastic. But it is a very nice shiny plastic design, and does not necessarily look "cheap". These are also being offered in several color options. So you do have a bit of freedom to chose the one that suits your fancy. The cable seems to be composed of a rubbery material, which does appear to resist tangling, but also holds its previous shape, perhaps to a fault. I believe there are three tips provided inside the minimalistic box/packaging. And there is also no type of inline control set included on the cable, itself. So there is no way to take calls, or control the volume or play tracks, except from the source, itself.
Now, on to the sound quality.
First let me discuss the sound stage right off the bat. These phones seem to depict a lot of wide space, in terms of left-to-right openness. But not much depth (front-to-back).
When talking about the actual signature, to my ears, these IEs depict a very warm, tight sound. If you like hearing detail in the vocal regions, you are in for a treat. Or any other musical instrument quality which typically resides within the Midrange frequencies (I believe that the piano is a good example of this). These phones in my opinion do one thing very well. They magnify the Midrange. All of the frequency points in the Midrange spectrum seem to be elevated. And these phones do this quite well. From the upper-low end all the way up to the lower-high end of the Midrange spectrum. The general focus of these phones is right there, within all of these frequency points of the Midrange sound.
This can be a good thing, but it depends on what type of music you are listening to. The reason I say this is because I found that the lower bass region to be lacking a bit in presence. This is not to say that there is no bass at all. As a matter of fact there actually is a good bit of it however, most of the bass is what you would expect to hear in the lower-midrange region of the sound spectrum. Right there in that region there is a plentiful amount of it. And in this aspect it conveys a very warm, tight sound. This IE does portray somewhat of a darker signature in general, and much of its detail is right here in this region. And so, although the bass is present, it is not necessarily present in the capacity that I would have liked. Albiet, I'm sure that proper EQ adjustments can alleviate this. But I specifically wanted to write this review from an objective perspective. Due to the anemic lower-bass element, I found that the Alternative (Rock) samples I listened to with these did not have the essence or power or life to them that I was hoping for. I would definitely not recommend these IEs for this type of genre.
Unfortunately, I'd have to say that the High end also seems to be lacking (to my ears), as well. The H210s just simply do not convey the shimmer, or clarity that I had become accustomed to from other IEs (like the i285, for example). What I am hearing instead, almost seems like the upper-high end has been veiled. They lack the luster and sparkle of other IEs I have had the pleasure of getting to experience over the years. But there is one good thing about this though. Sibilance is completely non-existent here. As a result of the rather tamed high end, I did not find the experience of Alternative (Rock) to be to my liking for this reason either (a point I have already made previously).
So then, the obvious question would be, what type(s) of music genres would be appropriate to listen to with these. I did find that softer, more acoustic-centered offerings did not sound bad at all. Especially where you are wanting to focus on vocals. Most of your vocal detail in music is typically in the Midrange arena. And acoustic guitars don't sound bad at all here. Especially if you are listening to something like a single person playing a guitar and singing. I believe that Jazz music might work well with these IEs. But the more instruments you start throwing into the mix, the less detail you are likely to be able to make out. It just starts sounding veiled and anemic, with some detail getting drowned out in the mix (at least to my ears, anyway). However, obviously proper EQ adjustments could probably make these IEs come to life, I would imagine. And I did listen with EQ turned on (prior to my testing), and did find these to sound much better with EQ, than without).
And so, in conclusion I find these H210s to do some things very well. But just not everything. Its most likely going to depend on what type of music you are wanting to listen to. For a budget IE they really aren't bad at all --- it certainly is a good starting point if you are just wanting to get your feet wet in the world of head-fi gear. And from there I'd suggest that you play around some with the EQ on your source, and see what happens after that. They are still a rather warm/dark sounding IE. But with certain genres this is not necessarily a bad thing.
