Now, I recall reading CNET's review on the much overpraised "Nox Audio Scout's" this is what originally made me want to get a pair of these in ears and I have to say, they do have an interesting design.
The flanges or rubber pieces on the side of the headphones may look nice or helpful but be warned! they are nothing more than a useless nuisance that gets in the way whenever you try to get a good seal.
Now, after my normal eighty hour burn in period I tested the headphones with my personal favorite binaural album "Dr. Chesky's Sensational, Fantastic, and Simply Amazing Binaural Sound Show" I find that this album not only is very well recorded but it also has a large selection of genres which makes it useful and in my opinion the best album to test headphones with. It also is a pretty fun experience.
My initial impression was very poor when I first gave it a listen in comparison to other headphones in the $80 range. the build quality is to be frank horrid, they feel like an IEM that you would find at big lots for $5 not something I would expect from a headphone that originally had an MSRP of $80.
Something mentioned frequently on review sites and other reviews that I've read were that the headphone cable was very unique being that it is flat apposed to the standard cabling, while being unique can sometimes be good in this case it is far from! It's somewhat difficult to explain but if I had to compare it to something that I believe the majority of the readers have come in contact with before then I would say a rubber band, and yes that's exactly what I mean.
The cables tangle oh so easily, they feel as if the tiniest amount of pressure would rip them to pieces so extreme caution is recommended when using these headphones.
To be fair the headphones do isolate outside noises pretty well and the sound leakage is minimal from what I've noticed, the microphone also functions pretty well so if you wanted to maybe listen to audiobooks and have a microphone for a cheap price to make calls and such then I guess this could suffice but for music I really would feel bad suggesting these to someone.
The sound quality is very tinny with little to no detail and the bass is very overpowering and it drowns out the midrange.
At the pricepoint ($79) there are MILLIONS of better options such as the RE-400 by HiFi man (My current favorite sub $100 IEM).
But seeing as how the prices have recently dropped to $20 (Still overpriced in my opinion) I would probably go the Monoprice 8320 route with third party tips.
All in all I would not suggest the purchase of these unless you absolutely need a headphone with a microphone and don't care about sound quality which is very unlikely seeing as you are reading this review on an audiophile forum.
Overall: 2 Stars
Sound Quality: 2 Stars
Comfort: 2.5 Stars
Design: 3 stars
Isolation: 3.5 Stars
Value: 2 Stars
