Not much burn in so far, but here are very brief first impressions:
1. There is no isolation, against sound coming in. Bizarre for sealed headphones, but there we are. I have both the MacBook and iTunes volumes at 50%, and I can hear conversation.
2. Sound does leak out, but this can be avoided by (a) adjusting the cups well, and (b) not blasting it loud enough to make you go deaf. (b) should be done anyway though this is gonna be tough in a noisy environment given #1 above.
3. I don't know if this is just because it doesn't isolate well, but it's not very loud. I can't listen to classical (e.g., Mozart's Requiem) in a cafe, with just three other small conversations around (i.e., not a busy Starbucks). Can't hear the quieter bits. So...maybe the claims that this can go unamped are not entirely accurate. Then again, it might just be the lack of isolation.
4. These do Rock brilliantly. They do. I have Smoke on the Water on at the moment, and I can hear all the instruments clearly separated: Guitar riffs, high hat, vocals... They do female vocals well too (e.g., Sarah Brightman, Alison Krauss). Clear, and not too sibilant. And I'm glad report, they're good for jazz. Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Diana Krall. All good. The highs aren't too harsh (e.g., Davis's Flamenco Sketches), and the details are brought out in a way my cheap HD201s didn't do. There's depth as well...soundstage? I can hear the sax in the "front" and the piano to the side and the drum softly but clearly behind the sax. Brilliant.
5. They don't do chamber music as well (e.g., Mozart's Requiem), but I'm hoping that'll change with some burn-in. Ditto for other classical-ish stuff, actually (e.g., Joshua Bell, Maxim Vengerov, Boston Symphony Orchestra). So, not a great choice for instrumentals at the moment.
So far so good for Rock, Jazz, and Vocals. Not so good for classical-ish instrumental pieces. I'm no audiophile, but for the US$110 I spent, these are great!
And for how much??
