[Majin]

Xears has been well known for their excellent bang for buck and their bass and clarity, but what if you could get the same product for even less?
 
The Xears usually cost 30+8 shipping euro but these IEMs from dealextreme are available for around 7 euro and they have a mic. If they sound like my Xears TD-III they sure are better then  the Monoprice 8320 price/quality ratio.
 

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/awei-es900i-stylish-in-ear-earphone-w-microphone-for-iphone-4-black-3-5mm-plug-125cm-cable-110909
 

http://xears.com/produkte/giant-force-xgf500pro
 
 
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http://www.dealextreme.com/p/in-ear-earphone-with-microphone-for-iphone-black-3-5mm-jack-119cm-cable-81871
 

http://xears.com/produkte/xears-motion-xmpro

 

[nipit]

Intersting find indeed

 

[Ulti]

Good find indeed! Have you ordered them to compare?

 

[Huxley]

Ordered, lets see what these are like eh.

 

[kckc]

Quote:

Ordered, lets see what these are like eh.

Thanks for being the guinea pig haha. Looking forward to what you think about them.
 

 

[Majin]

I hope you like them. You also ordered some other cheap IEMs right? 

Quote:

Ordered, lets see what these are like eh.

 

 

[david8613]

i just recieved in the mail the wood ones model ES Q 5, very nice looking, the gold the wood, even the cord is nice... out of the box the highs are very subdued, mids are also subdued, but the bass! big, fat, goes really low... i hope with a good burn, will bring out the highs a mids. i only 7.00 bucks on ebay, what the heck... how did you make out with other ones you ordered?
<a href="http://s1141.photobucket.com/albums/n592/david8613/?action=view&current=0834ddf6.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n592/david8613/0834ddf6.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>
 
http://s1141.photobucket.com/albums/n592/david8613/?action=view&current=6282f4ad.jpg

 

[Majin]

i didn't order them but several other head-fi members did, so lets wait for some impressions

 

[SanjiWatsuki]

Ordered both of them. I'll compare them against all the other "giant killer" IEMs I've been stock-piling, haha.

 

[david8613]

I'm having fun listening to the es-q5, huge massive, hard hitting bass, the highs and mids are somewhat recessed as mentioned before so I ripped out the earwax guards, seemed to help some, also changed out the tips to some hybrids, boy these give your ears a work out! tremendous bass, the most bass I have heard in an iem. sound stage is somewhat small, mids and bass pan very well not so much the treble, these are definitely bass head style phones they can go very loud. the build is really nice, the cord is tangle free which I like, they also look very upscale with the wood and gold...

 

[Huxley]

Yup the phillips she3850 and tt isurus.
 
The other buds haven't arrived yet, must be taking the slow boat from china.
 
The phones i ordered are the ES900i, didn't get around to grabbing the others.
Quote:

I hope you like them. You also ordered some other cheap IEMs right? 


 

 

 

[Huxley]

Right got my ES900i today, 'i' meaning they have the usual ipod jack.
 
Sound so far is muffled, but it produces a good sub bass, mids seem laid back and there's a little sparkle but nothing to write home about.
 
There's also no cable slider, but with a lot of fiddling you can get the cable clip to keep the cables the way you want.
 
Also the cables are of the flat variet, and the l/r markers are on the strain reliefs.
 
You get three tips, s/m/l though the mediums are black whilst the others are grey, and they are very soft.
 
Also fit is crackly until they settle in, i guess it's the wax guards moving about.
 
Fit wise they are very comfy, they have a nice metal body to them.
 
Anyway i'll do a better write up once i've burned them in a good deal.
 
But for the money they're certainly a good deal.
 
Quick edit - The mic button works nicely, pressing causes poweramp to pause which is nice.

 

[Majin]

Kinda sounds like xears so far, since they also have driver flex (crackling), good sub bass and with burn in the mids and highs should be better.

 

[sunspot]

Quote:

Kinda sounds like xears so far, since they also have driver flex (crackling), good sub bass and with burn in the mids and highs should be better.

I have a pair of AWEI ES600-m which I'm still test-driving/burning in.
 
Those are NOT Xears drivers, although they could be seen as having a similar signature to some pairs (i.e., crazy big bass).
 
There is some sparkle so I find them better than, say, the Kanen KM92, but Xears headphones are quite a bit less muffled, except maybe their cheap pairs like the PB120--don't have those with me right now to directly compare though.  I don't think they're as good as the Xears Bullets, for instance.
 
Driver flex is quite high, but otherwise I find the build quality to be very very good for such a cheap pair (6.80 USD: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/awei-es-600m-noise-isolating-hi-definition-in-ear-earphone-red-3-5mm-audio-jack-1-2m-cable-105753) and the form factor is very user friendly.  The flat cable is NICE.  Not too flat from the split to the buds so they're easy to wear cable up.  Strain reliefs a bit hard, but still miles better than the KM92 in terms of build quality.
 
Don't know if they sound the same as the ES900i, though Huxley's description fits my experience.
 
With bass EQ'ed down, they're pretty decent for the price.  Comfort is very good, driver flex is only there at insertion time, and they can be worn cable up or down.  Isolation is very very good.  Sound is not spectacular, but doesn't annoy me too much (a bit of veil, but better than most cheap pairs I've heard).  Without EQ, bass is teeth-rattling, so some may like them for that.  Mids are recessed, though, so you don't get to hear them much without EQ
 
Don't get me wrong, those have a good price/performance ratio (esp. factoring it form factor and build quality) but the sound isn't on the level of the better Xears pairs.
 
I'm waiting for more cheapies (the XKDUN CK-700 and a pair of Kanen KM-948s) and will probably do an impressions thread

 

[Majin]

You do own the cheapest pair of awei IEM that might explain some sound difference between that and the Xears TD-II. My TD-III is also veiled when i just received them but with lots of burn in the veil has lifted up allot.