I've been a headfi stalker for many, many years, joining when the ER4 and whatever Shure or UE equivalent were just accepted as king, in fact the single most expensive thing I ever bought was with my own money in high school was a pair of brand new ER4P's. With the exception of the custom UE10's, these were basically the most highly regarded IEM or even headphone/earphone, this side of an Orpheus at the time.
However this is the first time I've felt compelled to post a review as by and large I think my hearing has deteriorated (I became an attack helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army for several years, the combination of turbine engines are 5.56 just ruined my hearing, and as such I've generally been more attracted to bass centric headphones lately- but, for whatever reason, recently seem to have been regained my high frequency hearing or at least the appreciation of what I have left..
So why am I reviewing the Monoprice 8320? Well, they're absolutely terrible, at least without the right fit. I'd read an insane amount on amount on them but still bought them and they'd always sounded terrible to me, the other night my RHA T10i's failed on me again (not a well made headphone despite the looks) and I was left with either my 7506's which I couldn't find, earpods or the monoprices, so I grabbed the monoprices after already having them written them off as being terrible, despite trying 5 or 6 different tip combinations and...suddenly I found one that fit, sillicon earbuds that I think I actually got from jabra bluetooth earphones.
For whatever reason they fit perfectly, even without playing music playing the isolation was exceptional and this benefitted a very specific type of rock, mainly, low-fi recorded rock, a good example is Interpol, who despite having great music, seem to have initially terrible recordings on their first two albums. The Monoprices' strength seem to be in digging up enough detail and melodic mids to sound good but without being able to resolve the flaws. There's no doubt they sound terrible without the right fit but once you do get it, I honestly think it's one of the most enjoyable rock music IEMs I've ever had for lower-fi recordings..
Cheers
Alex
However this is the first time I've felt compelled to post a review as by and large I think my hearing has deteriorated (I became an attack helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army for several years, the combination of turbine engines are 5.56 just ruined my hearing, and as such I've generally been more attracted to bass centric headphones lately- but, for whatever reason, recently seem to have been regained my high frequency hearing or at least the appreciation of what I have left..
So why am I reviewing the Monoprice 8320? Well, they're absolutely terrible, at least without the right fit. I'd read an insane amount on amount on them but still bought them and they'd always sounded terrible to me, the other night my RHA T10i's failed on me again (not a well made headphone despite the looks) and I was left with either my 7506's which I couldn't find, earpods or the monoprices, so I grabbed the monoprices after already having them written them off as being terrible, despite trying 5 or 6 different tip combinations and...suddenly I found one that fit, sillicon earbuds that I think I actually got from jabra bluetooth earphones.
For whatever reason they fit perfectly, even without playing music playing the isolation was exceptional and this benefitted a very specific type of rock, mainly, low-fi recorded rock, a good example is Interpol, who despite having great music, seem to have initially terrible recordings on their first two albums. The Monoprices' strength seem to be in digging up enough detail and melodic mids to sound good but without being able to resolve the flaws. There's no doubt they sound terrible without the right fit but once you do get it, I honestly think it's one of the most enjoyable rock music IEMs I've ever had for lower-fi recordings..
Cheers
Alex