Etymotic Research EtyKids Safe-Listening Headset

not to insert. to properly insert, you should insert until it reaches your eardrums, if you sense it touches to your eardrums, you should pull it a little back slowly (unless you want your brains pop out). its isolation is great, i can give it that.
 
if you listen at low volumes and have large air canal, this would have been a deal for $30, if it had not so much microphonics (and you can't wear it cable up configuration), you can listen it at so low volumes (if you stop breathing that is) that you can't believe it, but you probably don't and you have normal air canals, like most of us. i just can't believe these are for kids.
 
i am not gonna bother to go into detailed sound aspects. they just sound dull. even if juiced (i don't believe you can juice these tiny drivers) i don't believe that they will sound any better. worst $30 spent ever.

I previously owned an Audio Technica ATH-ANC23 and found that although they sounded great, I didn't like the idea of having to replace the battery as well as the comply foam tips whenever they get grubby. I also didn't like the pressure that the ath-anc23 emits on my ears as it felt uncomfortable like as if you're climbing a high altitude.
So hence I set myself to find a pair of noise isolating IEMs to be used around the office / daily commute.

I generally listen to classical, female vocals and country as well as audiobooks, so I won't delve into bass/mid/treble response due to my limited music genres.

As there were very few reviews on these at the time of purchase, I decided to give it a shot anyway because they were cheaper compared to the HF and MC range.
I'm also not that fond of IEMs so I didn't want to spend anything more than $80 AUD.

When I received them, I was quite surprised as to how well they isolate sound.
I work directly behind a photocopier, and there's currently construction works going on in the adjacent lot.
I can say that it does an impressive job at blocking noise during listening.
Compared to the ATH-ANC23, it sounds clearer and blocks out sound as effectively or even better. Comfort wise....well it took a while getting use to but it's ok now.

As these have a 300 ohm resistance, they do effectively save your ears when you max out the volume on your portable tunes.
This feature can however be bypassed using a portable amp. I find this to be handy when you need to use it to drown out noise whilst intently listening to audiobooks during work hours

One problem I found was that recently I was flying around and I was using these to watch a movie on my Samsung Note 10.1 Tablet.
Unfortunately there were many scenes where there was a lot of whispering and quiet sounds and I was unable to hear them speak even at max volume.
That is my only complaint; if I had my Fiio E5, I think this would've been easily resolved.
 
In the end, I gave my sister the ATH-ANC23 as she would probably appreciate them more than I would.

Overall, I enjoy these and they are easily a good upgrade from the ipod earbuds
 
H.M

 

For 20$ this is quite ridiculous. Balanced armatures are sweet

EDIT-ok spending more time with these the sound is really something special. I'm not even using any fancy amps, heck this audio output is straight from my laptop(nice soundcard). Every note just begins and ends perfectly. Comfort is better with the stock "small" tip. Really the biggest turnoff for any person would be the whole deep seal needed. It's a major headache at first which is why I don't think these will suit kids. But audiophiles on a budget? Oh yes

Will do a full review if you guys want me to