[Mr.Gump]

I use the AiAiAi Y-Com headphones and I enjoy them. I do not consider myself an expert by any means though.

I like my headphones because they are unique looking and they have a mic which works with my iPhone. I also like that the earphones cords are very thick and do not get tangled and would be much more difficult to break. And they sound good to me haha.

 

[Gbjerke]

Couldn't the coil be to have one IEM behind your neck? Though that wouldn't really work out well, it'd be cool

 

[Mr.Gump]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gbjerke /img/forum/go_quote.gif Couldn't the coil be to have one IEM behind your neck? Though that wouldn't really work out well, it'd be cool

I don't have the spiral coil. As far as I know they only go with the non phone compatible models.

 

[thorsen]

I've been looking at them too and found them pretty cool as well. Did you try them?...are they good?...looking for new headphones as well...

My second choice would be more classic: Sennheiser cx300 precisionII

I have heard that they should be good...

 

[zephyr90]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thorsen /img/forum/go_quote.gif My second choice would be more classic: Sennheiser cx300 precisionII I have heard that they should be good...

The CX300 totally get blown out of the water by the Meelectronics M9, at about the same price.

On topic:
I think the swirl are ugly as hell, especially the large y-connector. The Aiaiai Tracks look decent but being designer headphones they're pretty expensive and there is some bang/buck monsters in that price range that probably deliver better sound.

 

[marcusd]

Having got the tma-1 on account of it being a fun colored mobile unit I decided to try out the Swirl myself, plumping for green.
 
The sound was typically Aiaiai, bass heavy, slightly recessed mids and clean treble - perfect for dance, hip hop and R&B. Comfy tips, good isolation and non fatiguing presentation made it for me an nice little IEM (not audiophile by the way, leave that to Baby Stax and customs lol). Considering the tough build I almost got one as my 'throw away' IEM's for rough and tumble except... problem...
 
I was demo'ing them in the Apple store on a nano and was about to get one when I asked to just demo the one I was goign to buy to make sure it is not a dud. After checking everything I twisted the 3.5mm connected to the female on the ipod. I got distortion or crackle or feedback - dirty connector maybe?
 
Bummer I thought, the demo set didnt crackle so I got another one, same thing, then another and another... on dear These were the green wire and orange tips.
 
I didnt go any further. Either a design flaw or a faulty batch but I suggest you test this before buying as it will drive you mad in the long run.
 
I will go back in a few months for the sale and if a new batch is in I will get a pair though

 

[MunkyHear]

funny you should mention this.

I bought a pair about 3 years back. Orange tips with green cable. And within 3 months of so the headphone jack of my 5g iPod had completely fried. Could be totally unrelated!

I don't use that pair any more.
I found the orange tips to lose shape, gunk up and split. I moved onto the other tips and found them to be a uncomfortable and unpleasant.
From what I remember, they didn't sound too good either and I slowly found myself using a chear pair of sonys instead.

However, they do look pretty cool and the cable could withstand anything! 
 

 

[earthpeople]

To be fair, my Senn IE8s crackled and made some noise when I twisted the plug the first couple minutes when I first started using them. After a little bit it stopped crackling and it doesn't happen anymore. It might be the same situation. I believe several other IE8 owners had the same thing happen.

 

[mbotie]

Quote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by holland /img/forum/go_quote.gif What's the coil for?

To make it look like you're on the security staff, maybe. I really doubt these were made to be tough, or to sound good... and what's with the name?

security staff with orange earpiece??? thats soooo gay wkwkwkkw.........
 

 

[marcusd]

Ah interesting so it is possible that we just have new shiny toy syndrome for the crackling it maybe needs to wear in - This might change my mind then.
 
Mbotie lol, you can just get them in black if you want, the thick wiring beats the hell out of the normal thin IEM wiring.

 

[patalp]

I think it's sort of a compromise between a J cable and a Y cable

 

[marcusd]

Quote:

funny you should mention this.

I bought a pair about 3 years back. Orange tips with green cable. And within 3 months of so the headphone jack of my 5g iPod had completely fried. Could be totally unrelated!

I don't use that pair any more.
I found the orange tips to lose shape, gunk up and split. I moved onto the other tips and found them to be a uncomfortable and unpleasant.
From what I remember, they didn't sound too good either and I slowly found myself using a chear pair of sonys instead.

However, they do look pretty cool and the cable could withstand anything! 
 

Gosh maybe it was just an ipod issue, I should go back their with my uber cowon weapons and see if they just don't like ipods lol.. 

 

[marcusd]

well I went back with a sansa fuze and fiio e7 combo and tried both jacks on these with no less than 12 different swirl units and the problem was there with all jacks so either it is a bad jack or design flaw - pity 

 

[MarjorieO]

Looks kind if similar to the Koss Sparkplug. I wonder how they sound...

 

[marcusd]

Quote:

Quote:

funny you should mention this.

I bought a pair about 3 years back. Orange tips with green cable. And within 3 months of so the headphone jack of my 5g iPod had completely fried. Could be totally unrelated!

I don't use that pair any more.
I found the orange tips to lose shape, gunk up and split. I moved onto the other tips and found them to be a uncomfortable and unpleasant.
From what I remember, they didn't sound too good either and I slowly found myself using a chear pair of sonys instead.

However, they do look pretty cool and the cable could withstand anything! 
 

Gosh maybe it was just an ipod issue, I should go back their with my uber cowon weapons and see if they just don't like ipods lol.. 

Just to confirm, same problems with all my gear - the issue seems to be that the ones I tested are quite old in the production range of Swirls and as such the early designs had a high return rate due to faulty jacks as confirmed by Aiaiai to me this weekend via email. Something to do with the plastic surrounds and the wires shorting when twisting.
 
Anyway should be able to do another review of these in a few weeks time as Aiaiai are sending me out a more up to date unit that does not suffer from these problems.
 
From my initial impressions - good highs, recessed mids somewhat, big emphasis on bass but unlike Bose or Monster the bass does not overwhelm the sq and no dark veil. I kind of like them, I shouldn't really being a Stax owner, but they match my needs for 'that throwaway' IEM - tough, durable, bassy and fun.