[DervishD]

Hi all!
 

After a LOT of time testing them I'm finally able to write a little review on these new phones from Meelec. I had them in red, and they looked darn cool! These are the phones:
 
http://www.meelec.com/MEE_M11_Sound_Isolation_In_Ear_Headphone_p/earphone-m11-mee.htm
 

As always, please take into account that these are my personal views, and as such they may be subjective. I try to be as neutral as possible but it's not always easy to accomplish...
 
 

As an introduction, we are dealing here with IEM phones, about 65$. The housings are exactly the same ones that the old M11 had, but now they finally have the drivers they deserved. The old M11 had a very warm sound, excellent in my opinion for quiet, relaxed listening sessions, very intimate, but they weren't "all terrain" phones, certainly not the most appropriate phones for some music styles.
 

I'm very happy that Meelec reused the housings, because they are very good, and gave them more balanced drivers.
 
 
Building quality, appearance. Well, take a look at the housing.
 

 
 

I decided to have them in red since almost all my phones are black and and I wanted to change things a bit. The tips featured in the photo are the "fake Sony hybrids", that work particularly well with these phones.
 

The building construction is awesome, as with all Meelec products (except, maybe, the M2...). The phones feel solid but light. The housings are made in anodized aluminium, the strain reliefs are very solid (they've suffered some aggressions while testing them without any problem).
 

The cable is the one that all new Meelec models have, made of a kind of slippery silicone, not tangle prone and with very low microphonics, with something that looks like a metal jacked under the silicone, rendering it a very resistant cable. Probably the weakest point is the "Y" joint at the neck, but it hasn't broken.
 

To further reduce microphonics, the cable features a shirt clip, as always. I've removed mine, though, since the microphonics are almost non-existant and the clip made it difficult to me to put them in my pockets.
 
The jack is a 45 degrees-almost-L-shaped. Look at the photo below:
 

 

This design is a tradeoff between the low profile of an L shaped plug and the button accesibility (ya know, today's players can be darn small!) of a straight plug. Although I prefer L-shaped plugs (the low profile, you know), this design works pretty good and it's low-profiled enough. Solid, it has resisted some nasty pulls.

 

It's gold plated, by the way, even though in the photograph is difficult to spot.

 

The phones have, in my opinion, two many drawbacks: the "R" and "L" marks are printed in a very very little font, and looks like they will erase with time; second, the strain reliefs doesn't have any tactile feedback indicating the left and right phones. So, with little light, both housings are identical, it's impossible to know which one is the left one and the right one. With light, the labels are difficult to read.

 

Good thing is that I've told about them to Meelec and they are looking for solutions.
 

Regarding accesories, you will find the usual Meelec ones: the silicone thingie to roll the cable, the plane adapter and the semihard case to carry the phones. AND an impressive collection of silicone tips, with surprising designs. I'm going to talk about them.
 
First, the usual ones. Three sizes and a pair of biflanges:
 

 

Little to say about them: comfortable, good isolation and good sound, but they slide out of my ears. I have that problem with almost all tips in the market.
 
 

The "sleeved" ones. They look like the shure olives, but they are not foamies. Very curious. They provide an almost instant seal, without having to meddle with the phones. The problem is that they are a bit on the thin side and although that means very high comfort, it means less isolation too. When music is sounding, there is no problem, though:
 

 
 

The fat ones in the middle I was unable to test because they don't fit in my ears. Too big tips, too smal ears
 

And now, for "difficult ears" like mine, which are small and with a nasty tendency of sliding out the phones, we have the "chubby double flanges". They are bi-flanged, but shorter, smaller and more cylindrical. They allow for a deep insertion but with high comfort (choosing the right size, of course). Getting a seal is a bit more difficult, but not much. They isolate better than the "sleeved" ones, but they are not as comfortable. I can wear them for some hours without problem, nevertheless.
 

 
 
 
 
Now, let's go to wearing comfort.
 
 
 
Comfort, wearing.
 

I've had them in my ears for almost 10 hours in a row, without any problem (excepting reinserting them at times, when they slided-out). My ear canals are small and funnel shaped (well, more "funny" shaped), and assymetrical, so getting a comfortable fit with IEMs is a difficult task to me. The stock tips are, generally, very comfortable. To me the most comfortable ones are the "sleeved" ones, that allow for a very deep insertion.
 

In general, since the housing have that bullet design and are very small, it's like not wearing anything in the ears even if you are a fan of inserting the IEMs directly to your brains
 

Even though the stock tips are very innovative and incredibly comfortable, I still prefer foamies. The problem with foamies is that they affect the sound, stealing some midrange.
 

This phones are very suitable for sleeping. I can swear it because I've felt asleep many times with them on!. Really, barely noticeables once inserted, specially with Comply tips.
 
 
 
Noise isolation, sound.
 

Weeeeeell, we are getting into dangerous territories here: the quality of sound and the sound signature. But before getting into it I want to talk about isolation.

 

With this phones, isolation depends heavily on the tips used. With the "sleeved" tips, isolation is average, maybe sub-par with the M9 or the SoundMAGIC PL50. With the other tips the isolation is well above average, allowing listening to music at a very low volume, which is great for the health of our ears.

 

Now, about sound. With the M11+ Meelec wanted a much more balanced thatn the M11, and in my humble opinion they got it!. I'm not saying that the sound signature is balanced, but that is more balanced (a lot) than the M11. This said, I think the M11+ are fun sounding. Very fun sounding They work with all kind of music, with deep basses (maybe not enough for bassheads, but...) that doesn't eat the midrange, a little recessed mids but with good voice reproduction, and clear and controlled highs that doesn't sound harsh at all. The highs are a bit bright-lacking at times, but that's not a problem to me.

 

These phones are a tradeoff in sound: the soundstage is wide, with space sensation but without converting any song in a live performance; detail is adequate, less than a balanced armature, but allowing to concentrate in the small things in music; instrument separation is much like the M6, allows to diferentiate very well between the sounds, and I love it.

 

Finally, if I had to choose just one word to define the sound, I would say it is "clean", in the sense that no frequency eats others, they have a kind of purity in the sound and the silent passages are really silent, only music, no hissing.

 

They are not the most balanced phones, but they are reasonably balanced; aren't the most detailed phones, but they have high detail; aren't the most bassy phones, but basses have body; aren't the most brilliant phones, but highs are there clearly; aren't the phones with the best soundstage, but the soundstage is amazing given the size; not the more precise phones, but sound placement is incredible; summing up, they may be not the best phones in any department, but they do everything above average, they don't have a single bad point in sound in my opinion.

 

This features made them, IMHO, one of the best phones in the price range, because they don't have any clear defect. Well, just one: when amped, the basses are a bit uncontrolled, but since they don't need amp at all, it is not really a drawback.

 

Last thing I wanted to comment about the sound is that foamies steal a bit of midrange, so I was afraid that was the price for extreme comfort and isolation, until I tried with the "fake Sony hybrids" (well, I don't like to call them "fake" because they're not sold as "genuine"). They don't slide out of my ears! They provide great seal and doesn't seem to affect sound. I'm going to use them in all my phones when I run out of foamies. They're great, absolutely great With them the sound of the M11+ is really awesome, because the mids go forward noticeably. The voices sound so lovely that listening to Loreena McKennit almost made me cry in pleasure
 
 
Summing up.
 

Summing up, I think they are great phones at a great price. Well, since Meelec has gone into the 60 USD region, you can find more competence, but not many. If the PL50 had the basses the M11+ have, for example, I would consider them better than the M11+, but...

 

I think that maybe 50USD is a better price for the M11+, but 65USD is not bad at all, you are not going to find much better alternatives for that price, in my humble opinion and taking into account I haven't tested as many phones as other people here. I've listened to phones with more than double MRSP and they were frankly worse.

 

Right now they're my favourite phones in sound. In price/quality, the M9 are still my favourites, probably, but if I want good sound, I use the M11+. And, given that Meelec love to launch sales from time to time, you can buy them for less than 65USD probably, so they will be a PERFECT buy!

 

Hope you like the review and my excuses if I forgot to comment anything. Feel free to ask, dudes!

 

[wanger]

Thanks for the review!  Thinking of picking up a set sometime soon...

 

[Icy56]

Great review, I used to have these for maybe a day or two but I gave them to a friend because I didn't need them and I found it really hard to get a seal even with sony hybrids. When you insert the earphones how do you know when its deep enough? Its kinda hard knowing how far the iems are in your ears because of the super tiny size so I am just wondering what do you do to know. I wanna try em out but every time i use them it just doesn't seal.

 

[DervishD]

I'm sorry Icy56, but I don't do anything special with them to get a good seal. And I don't insert them too deep because then I lose the seal, that may be your problem. Try with bigger tips and a shallower insertion.
 
I have a couple of IEMs that doesn't seal when inserted deep. For them, and even though my ear canal is small, I use bigger tips and shallow insertion. They slide out more easily, of course, but at least I can use them and get a seal.
 
Anyway, it's a bit shocking to hear that you can't get a seal, these phones have been the easier ones to me for that. I can get a seal with them using almost any tips.

 

[kanuka]

so you'r the one who made this review
http://www.reproductormp3.net/auriculares-y-amplificacion-portatil/mis-impresiones-personales-de-los-meelec-m11/
i liked that one. much easier for a spanish speaker like me. "muy buena"  (and those smiley's are so funny)
so, from now on i can ask you in spanish

 

[DervishD]

Hi kanuka
 
Yes, my mother tongue is Spanish, and feel free to ask me directly in Spanish, for sure
 
I wrote a review in that Spanish forum because I was noticing a lack of reviews in Spanish. I'm quite used to English-only forums, but I know that many people in Spain is not as used, so I decided to write the review.
 
As you can see, I'm not very active in any forum, neither ReproductoresMP3 nor here, I'm very short of time at the moment.
 
Anyway, if you want to ask me anything in Spanish, PM me.
 
Bye, and thanks for the compliments