Monster iSport LIVESTRONG® In-Ear Headphones

First of all, I am not a audiofile with several pairs of $1,000 headphones. I am more of a casual listener but I do like good sound. This is also my first review on head-fi so give me some feedback on this review.
 
  For a long time I was happy with cheap headphones, apple, JVC, skullcandy, etc. Well after a while I wanted some more serious  headphones  for some heavier listening so I picked up some Isport immersions. I had them for about 4 months. At first I loved the bass that I got out of the better headphones but after I got used to them I realized that bass was too bloated over the rest of the sound. The mids where terrible and I felt like I really wasn't getting what I had paid for and that I was missing a lot of the song.  It sounded ok listening to dubstep( because of the bass) but once I switched over to some metal and the song quality went to crap. The bass would kick in at odd times and the recessed mids would just drop the quality and make the song sound like it was coming out of a can.
     I did like the way that they stayed in my ears when I was doing things and I will argue for the hate that they get because they are hard to get in. After you have them for a while you get used to putting them in a certain way and It just becomes natural. It is a little hard to get the right combination of the ear pieces but once you get them right then they are fine. The noise cancelation is good too as well as the comfort. They feel really natural and after a while of listening you start to not even know they are in.
   Anyway, I gave them a terrible review for one thing. Not the sound( even though it really wasn't what I expected from $100 headphones). The durability is absolutely terrible. I had them for about 4 months but after a while in the one ear, the sound started to decrease. It was still fine in the other ear but the left ear faded in sound noticeably. The next day I went to plug them into my computer and I got no sound from the left ear. At first I thought I hadn't plugged them into the headphone slot all the way but they where all the way in. I was furious. They where never abused, and never mistreated.. I looked in the manual and saw that they had a one year warranty. Sent them back and monster replaced them but in the time that I had them the immersions had been discontinued. They sent me back the livestrong editions. I opened them up and the packaging looked great. I had them for about 5 months this time and overall they preformed the exact same as the immersions had. About at the 2 month mark, the glue that held on the rubber strip on top of the in-cord control volume control and mic started coming off. The rubber piece came off all the way and I was disappointed. I just kept using them after that and things where fine for about another month. One of the in ear pieces broke! I was just putting them in one day and They felt weird when I put them in so I took a look at them. I was still mad but I just put some new ones in and kept on listening.. Next month, the inevitable happened. Just plugged them in and one ear just didn't work. This time I was really mad. Not only did the one ear not work but there where the other problems as well., Called up monster again but I haven't heard back yet. Honestly, I don't know If I even want them replaced.
     Overall, these things are a piece of crap. The durability is terrible,the sound wasn't as good as I expected, and I don't want them again. I do not recommend these headphones to anybody unless they want headphone that work ok for a few months at a time. NEVER EVER BUY THESE!

Intro
Let me start by saying this is my first review here on head-fi and I would appreciate any feedback good or bad. Also I purchased these for $30 and will be reviewing them as $30 earphones. 
 
Design 
I think that the design is my favorite part about these earphones. I have always had issues with earphones falling out and never being able to move with them in my ears. That is not an issue at all with these once they are in my ears they are there until I want them out. This is great particularly for working out which is what I use these earphones for mainly. These earphones are very customizable and this great fit should be attainable for everyone.
 
Build Quality 
The build quality seems pretty good to me. I am no expert here but I know that I do not worry about them breaking almost no matter how I use them.
 
Packaging 
The packaging was nice and it made me feel as though I was part of a club or something special because I bought these headphones. The packaging here was actually nicer then the packaging for my TF10's.
 
Sound
Bass 
The bass is the defining sound on these earphones much like Beats or other bass heavy models. The bass is overpowering and creeps in on the mids and highs drowning them out. This is rather annoying to me but can be fun sounding on some songs. I am admittedly a little bit of a basshead but these are just to much for me even.
 
Mids 
Very recessed not much to talk about I do not like them as I feel as though I am missing a good deal of the songs. Mids also seem to lack detail when they are present. 
 
Highs
Recessed but not quite as bad as the mids in my opinion. Lacks sparkle and detail gives off a very dark sound.
 
Amping
I tested these with my Schiit stack (magni/modi) as well as straight out of my phone and computer. I think that they sound slightly better out of the amp. With more controlled bass and it seemed to gain a little bit of that detail that it was missing before. That being said I do not think that an amp is very practical with these (for working out at least).
 
Comparison 
I did an A-B of these with my UE triplefi 10. I think that the TF10's are superior in almost every way. As I was listening to the music back and forth I kept finding myself yearning for the TF10's with the iSports on. The TF10's are just more detailed better sounding earphones in my opinion. Songs used for comparison: Hot Sauce by Jessy J, Sail by Awolnation, The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult, Not Afraid by Eminem, Streets of Gold by 3OH!3, and Symphony No. 7 by London Symphony Orchestra. The only song that was even close in my opinion was Streets of Gold by 3OH!3 the iSports sound was kind of fun for this song but still missing details. 
 
Conclusion 
I am happy with my purchase of these. For $30 they do their job in my headphone collection. They have a great fit and their sound is acceptable for $30. I think that for $30 these are a great buy but I would not spend more then $50 on them. Hope this was helpful.

   As I got a new iPhone 5 because my old one broke I decided to get some in-ear headphones while I was at it. I have owned a lot of different in-ear headphones before, but over the past few months I haven't had any. I had a pair of Shure, that were 170$ I do not recall what model, these surpass them in many ways. They aren't like Beats, my Shure reminded me greatly of Beats Solo, however these are something different. These are a true pleasure to listen to, they have some traits of higher end headphones. You can feel the music (to an extent, its not that great). They look uncomfortable when you see them, but once you find the right ear piece and hook, they are easy to get into your ear so they actually sound except able, and you hardly know they are there. If you do not have it perfectly in, it will sound horrible, so your ill be quite aware they aren't in.  These actually can get to highs that Beats cannot, and don't have the horribly muddy bass. These are one of my favorite headphones to listen to, and they top Beats, and Bose in my opinion, for 100$ you can't go wrong with these.