[millmeister]

I'm in the market for some durable earphones at the budget end of the market and came across these phones on Amazon : http://www.amazon.co.uk/MediaDevil-Artisanphonics-luxury-earphones-microphone/dp/B00GAIP5CO/
 
I searched the head-fi forums for any mention of them (promise!) but came across zilch. Anyone have any opinions? Build and sound quality seem decent for the price (£30 as of Feb 14). The only possible drawback I can see is cable noise.
 

 

[MightyGadget]

I just did a review on my blog of the Acord E1 earphones, and from what I can see they are exactly the same as the MediaDevils apart from no mic.
I doubt I am as qualified to review earphones as many of the people on here but I was pleasantly surprised by them. I actually prefer them to my SoundMagic earphones as the build quality appears to be much better. 

 

[millmeister]

Thanks for the feedback. I had no idea there was another version out there - they would probably have suited me better because I don't need the mic. Anyway, I picked up the MediaDevils last week and have been slowly getting used to them. I'm not going to do a long review but I am pleased with them so far. A lot more detailed than my £20 Sony earphones (not difficult) and they have a good sound stage. Build quality seems fine but only time will tell. The nylon cable is an interesting touch and helps to prevent tangling. Microphonics aren't great though (although few earphones these days seem very good at this). Wrapping them around the ear seems to help.
 
All in all, happy with my purchase - let's hope they are durable.

 

[Aitch]

Thinking of getting these myself - can I ask how long the cord is?
 
Also, they're going for less than 20 quid in America!
 
http://www.amazon.com/MediaDevil-Artisanphonics-luxury-earphones-microphone/dp/B00GAIP5CO/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
 
Here was me thinking a British company would offer the best prices to their own countrymen! 

 

[hallom]

Hey millmeister, some time has passed since you bought your pair of EB-01's, what are your experiences about durability?
Or anyone who owns it?

 

[millmeister]

Durability has been impressive. They usually end up at the bottom of my bag so get pulled around the place quite a bit. The wooden housing has not worn at all and have had no problem with buds getting ripped off when you pull them out of pockets etc. The cable (kevlar reinforced apparently) has also been fine...
 
...so all and all they've been great.

 

[millmeister]

Another thing I should add is that the jack on my MediaDevils tends to activate Voice Control on my iPod Touch which is really quite annoying. It doesn't seem to happen with other ear phones so it must be connected to the Jack design in some way.

 

[hallom]

If you jailbreak it you can use iCleaner to disable voice control, and it even saves some battery not keeping the launch daemon active.

 

[millmeister]

Ah good call thanks. Unfortunately not currently jail broken since I got my last ipod replaced by Apple.

 

[hallom]

I bought the EB-1's, and I'm disappointed by the sound quality... It sounds, especially the bass, as if it came from underwater, boomy, it rapes and kills the music.
Does it have a burn-in period, after which it improves, or that's it, arrivederci?

 

[millmeister]

I bought the EB-1's, and I'm disappointed by the sound quality... It sounds, especially the bass, as if it came from underwater, boomy, it rapes and kills the music.
Does it have a burn-in period, after which it improves, or that's it, arrivederci?

 
You may have a point about the sound quality. I think my standards might be lower than yours however -  I've been generally satisfied with SQ. Have they improved after burn in?
 
Unfortunately having written a positive post about their build quality above, they've gone and failed me. No sound in the left channel caused by a loose connection in the integrated mic. I've been let down so many times with earphones, I'm starting to give up. Klipsch were bloody hopeless for build quality too.

 

[hallom]

Well, my one died too, in less than a year. The left channel stopped working. And I did not abuse it. Despite the excellent build quality, it is rubbish. Some may say for this money it's okay to buy a pair every year, well I'm not that person. Planned obsolescence just pisses me off. Especially because it was made from quality materials. The sound, while it wasn't excellent, it was okay while it lasted. Screw mediadevil, never again.

 

[millmeister]

That's disappointing. Are they still in warranty? I sent my faulty ones back to MediaDevil. They sent me a new pair which i promptly sold on ebay.
 
I bought a pair of Philips SHE9000's for £16 on Amazon over a year ago and they are still going strong. I've given up paying big money for earphones - they never last.

 

[hallom]

I totally forgot about warranty... But it's already late now, I've ran out of it anyway. I don't know what I'm gonna get next, but looks like IEMs are inherently flawed by design. And they just don't care to make it fail proof at a decent (or even an indecent) price. At least that's what I figured so far. Maybe I'm gonna get a folding one, like Koss Porta Pro.