[mrmoto050]

   
Yup, thanks to bhazard and others, your wallet is in for a whole lotta pain. But it makes me happy to see others suffering from the same affliction. So thank you for that! 

Yep, but it's a very enjoyable hobby.

 

[BloodyPenguin]

Wow...s-018 price has raised up to 12.99 which is still dirt cheap for the Sq. I bought two at 7.99 wahahaha. Also they changed the description to 10 mm titanium micro driver. This is too awesome.

I JUST bought another pair of them this afternoon for $7.99. Lucky for me, I just saved 61% by a few hours.

..

 

[goa604]

  Dont want to read only one sentence about the Soundsouls anymore!!

 
Really pity they are sort of US-only.
 
I cant understand why the Awei ES-800m does not get that much attention here. It sounds much more the same as the Havi B3P1 than the MP8320s and is available all over the world for $4,99 +$0 shipping. Mids sound the same as the Havis (though not quite the same quality), and the highs and lows are just a tad more present. They DO need 200> hours of burn in though before the bass cleared up completely! At first it was a bass canon but now it's there when needed and the soundstage is quite good too. The cable is great too, they have had more than 3 years of very much use and it's still in excellent condition (also the cable's flat so wont tangle). Must admit I dont have owned many IEMs but each time I take them, I rediscover them. Also they sound much clearer and more open on my Samsung i9000 voodoo than the Clip+.

 
I have Awei ES-800m and i dont like them at all. I would say they have very muddy sound, mid bass bloat, very weird and artificial mids. Sub bass is non existent next to that mid bass. 
I dont know how to describe how they sound exactly but the sound reminds me of tin can phone. http://i.imgur.com/e8KaZEU.png
Cable was ok, borrowed them for a day and got them with the broken cable back. I will never know if it was bad cable or someone yanked it like an animal. 
You mentioned they sound better on Samsung i9000, now i have to agree with that. They really do sound better on i9000. 

 

[Ruben123]

  The ES800 are beaten by a wide margin now by many of the other sub $10 sets recently mentioned here. I have a drawer here of Awei and JBM iems that I never touch. Some are good for up to $25 in value, other models are terrible.

A pity. Well maybe not. Guess you refer to EDSE and its brothersssssss which are quite good yes.

  Yes, too much bass bloat, but definitely not bad.
 
I need to break all those out again and practically give them away.

I have the Q9 and I found out they have a balance problem, but many of your friends could really like them. The sound is quite neutral, but the bass could reach subwoofer-type sound (not quality) with a bit of EQing.
 
 

   
I have Awei ES-800m and i dont like them at all. I would say they have very muddy sound, mid bass bloat, very weird and artificial mids. Sub bass is non existent next to that mid bass. 
I dont know how to describe how they sound exactly but the sound reminds me of tin can phone. http://i.imgur.com/e8KaZEU.png
Cable was ok, borrowed them for a day and got them with the broken cable back. I will never know if it was bad cable or someone yanked it like an animal. 
You mentioned they sound better on Samsung i9000, now i have to agree with that. They really do sound better on i9000. 

Guess yours is faulty then... or was. Or I have to listen more and more to get more experience

 

[BloodyPenguin]

*Disclaimer* - SoundSOUL sent me the E-10 and M-10 for free to review. I bought the S-018 with my own funds.

I could go into big detail explaining each model, or I can give you just the short and sweet version: The SoundSOUL S-018 is a magical budget earphone. Buy one, buy it now before it goes up in price even more. (From $8 to $13 already because of this thread).

I will say a few words on the other two models:

The E-10 is every bit as bassy as advertised. Bass that is out of control, slow and bleeds well into the upper mids.

Fit is actually quite good, well for me. I am confused though with the cord. It is clearly designed to go over the ear, but the material wants to slightly spring away. A simple fix would be to include an ear guide.

Build quality is very much at the budget price it lists at. Though the same hard case that is included with all models is actually very nice.

The sound signature seems artificial and messy. For the low price of around $8, you could do worse I guess, but it is very hard to recommend these in anyway.

---------------

On to the M-10. It is metal, it has the best premium build of the three. Comes with a decent mic built in and a non-tangle cord that works well.

Sound quality and signature are slightly better than its bassy brother the E-10.

Bass is still very present and does leak into the mids, though still manages to be a little more refined.

Overall sound is more controlled than the E-10, but still has a touch of that same artificial presentation.

These run about $17 and again I find then hard to recommend.

----------------

The clear winner is the S-018 which I stated long ago. It shares nothing with its brothers. I have a feeling that the S-018 was switched at birth. Presentation and clarity are out of this world for the price. Vocals are mind blowing and comfort is wonderful.

**Another note**
This whole review and photography was done on my Galaxy S4. This is my only option as I had to quietly do this while my wife sleeps. I apologies for the low quality photos and any grammar mistakes I made.

 

[EISENbricher]

My first time ordering through MisterTao, and I am amazed! They bought the product I ordered (VJJB K1) and have put 7-8 pics of it as well as the packed parcel with my name, address printed and all the SingPost tickets etc. Didn't expect this much lol...

 

[cowculator]

Awei ES800 is very muddy and the overall sound is artificially dull. I dun like it.

For the price, there are much better ones out there today.

 

[funkoid]

Desperately trying to order a pair of the SoundSOUL S-018 but can't get the link to go through the MisterTao site. I'm UK based, can anyone help me?
 
edit - Think I've figured it out, they're coming up at $24.43 USD for me now though Budget will only go to $15 at the moment.

 

[Ruben123]

My Aweis are 3,5 years already, maybe the newer batch is worse? It is not muffled at all, very slight v-sound with a peak downwards in lower highs.

Edit:fixed 'quote' to what this post's about, thanks to goa604

 

[goa604]

+1 BloodyPenguin
 
Quote:

Mine are 3,5 years already, maybe the newer batch is worse? It is not muffled at all, very slight v-sound with a peak downwards in lower highs.

Please quote the post you are referring to because people wont know you are commenting on Awei ES-800m. 

 

[EISENbricher]

  Desperately trying to order a pair of the SoundSOUL S-018 but can't get the link to go through the MisterTao site. I'm UK based, can anyone help me?
 
edit - Think I've figured it out, they're coming up at $24.43 USD for me now though Budget will only go to $15 at the moment.

Same dilemma here.... too expensive on Tao.
Pls let me know if you find any good link with Int'l shipping,.

 

[ilikeiem]

Has anyone tried MyKimo MK500? I bought it from Aliexpress Store No.1002134 (Beijing PonyExpress) for only $6.42.  Sound is quite good for the price.  But still I like KZ-ED8 ($9.10) > VJJB K1 ($7.99) > MyKimo MK500 ($6.42) 

 

[Ira Delphic]

*Disclaimer* - SoundSOUL sent me the E-10 and M-10 for free to review. I bought the S-018 with my own funds.



I could go into big detail explaining each model, or I can give you just the short and sweet version: The SoundSOUL S-018 is a magical budget earphone. Buy one, buy it now before it goes up in price even more. (From $8 to $13 already because of this thread)...

 
Very nice, balanced review. For the price you can't to wrong! Also check out the KZ thread. There are some comparable IEM's for the same price. BUT you have to wait 3-5 weeks for delivery from China to the US. Like Soundsoul - there are very fine KZ and also mediocre, independent of price.

 

[Whitigir]

Very nice, balanced review. For the price you can't to wrong! Also check out the KZ thread. There are some comparable IEM's for the same price. BUT you have to wait 3-5 weeks for delivery from China to the US. Like Soundsoul - there are very fine KZ and also mediocre, independent of price.

You know why there is hidden gems among the mud ? I guess new entrepreneur into headphones and earphones just pour money out there, and hire mostly new development team. These guys went out and bought what their pocket allowed. Sometimes, there are very very good quality drivers, made with the same materials, a slight different design, and exposed full potential of the drivers. Coincidentally this drivers get to these newer people, they also coincidentally housed it inside a mediocre housing, together with somewhat not so sloppy wires works, and it exposed almost everything from it.

I feel this same drivers inside a more thoughtful designed shell could be very superb.

These extraordinary drivers costed so low to manufacture, due to materials, and how easy it was to produce....again, doesn't mean it is bad. They just happened to pick it up for cheap, produced it, and wanted some profits. As long as they sell, they have a job.

I believe there are many more out there to discover. As China is the country to produce the largest speakers drivers as much as in ear drivers on the world. I am not lying to you, but some of my baby girl toys has some awesome speakers inside it....and for toys.....I was like....what da hack ?

 

[HouseOfDoom]

It's all in the skills and dedication of the audio technician tuning the driver. A really good tech can make a low cost/low quality driver (aka most KZ models) sound good or decent. A great tech can also take a really good driver, like the one found in the S-018, and make it sound like a "giant", punching way above its price. Look at the positive reviews for the auglamours! Those are basically college audio tech students tuning what I believe would be very low cost drivers, but the dedication and time they took to tune them, produced a very solid product. Can you imagine what kind of sound they could get from a high quality/high cost titanium, beryllium, or bio cell/liquid polymer driver??

It's all about the care and love one puts into tuning. i.e. Zero Audio/SoundSOUL S-018 ect.