WOW, great review but I must be listening to a different earphone or there are quality control issues. I've never really bought into burn-in but these are very un-BA like. I had to tip roll quite a bit to get the perfect seal, the stock tips weren't great for bass. Bass on the set I have is strangely DD like. As most of us do when trying out a new set for reviewing I use the same songs to test different aspects. I'm a huge Queen fan so i use WATC (BASS, treble), Innuendo (micro detail), Millionaire Waltz (genre) and the Bohemian Rhapsody vocal-only operatic section.
We Are The Champions - Those first few bass notes at the start sound great, nice and round, good speed and decay and good body. A lot of BA sets have this too thin and it doesn't stick around long.
Innuendo - There is a great acoustic guitar section dead centre that has three little solos battling against each other and right after there's deep bass fairground carousel music (?). With the x49 the guitars have good body and the third guitar dead centre you can hear the little notes it plays quite clear, a lot of earphones this remains hidden and you only have the guitars left and right. Straight after you have Freddie sing, "You can be anything..." which can obstruct hearing these little carousel parts, with the x49 you hear them quite clearly in the background, the same with a little keyboard part on the right.
Millionaire Waltz - this song is typical Queen, which jumps between genres from vaudeville to hard rock, back down to ballad, with big harmonies. Again, most BA earphones struggle to play the very first left side bass notes with much body, and they sound thin and fleeting. The x49 does, that's all I'll say there lol. It also does the hard rock part with good energy and smoothness, even though it can be very aggressive and harsh with other BAs. At the and there's a lot happening with electric guitars, big bass side harmonies and centre vocal. Again they are clear with microdetails very good.
Bo Rap - well no prizes for what this tests. Soundstage soundstage soundstage. I find the x49 has great imaging and depth, all around the headspace. I also discern certain deep harmonies very well, harmonies that can be hard to hear on other earphones. i can pinpoint the three singers parts very well too.
For some others, I enjoyed the detail they bring out in the orchestra on Phantom Of The Opera, the same with the jazz parts in La La Land. A also love the mids on Forever Autumn.
Lastly, I think the x49 is excellent with drum solos and accurate cymbal splashes.
I think they're a great all-rounder. You should give them more time.
I've only bought a second set of two other earphones. The Delta Tango Six
and the CCA C10, but I have another x49 coming. This may not go down well, but I've been neglecting the KB100 for them. Don't beat me.
Shows we all hear different... tho the way you described them reminds me of the way I heard them first listen, especially sub-bass?!?!?
MICROPHONICS is very bad admittedly, but £13. I use the ear hooks from Final e2000 when outside with them.
Here's the tip I use which are a bit firmer (the blue one, the other is stock). I tried wide bore but they really lose bass power and depth. SpinFits not bad, cp800 ones.
