[Snake]

^^^ Which may confirm my suspicions that the NE-8 was developed on an amped system. Between the 12-ohm impedence and your bass results, I don't think NuForce really tried these cans out with a large number of non-amped players.

The NE-8's have very nice midrange especially for a can at this price, and good transparency at the top too. But on a non-amped system that isn't a Cowan (I believe, just making an estimate due to many Cowan's high output), bass through midbass is sadly lacking. With (quite a bit of) bass boost it comes back to wonderfully flat and I do enjoy the NE-8's overall transparency, just wishing for more bass on a normally-driven system.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Time to resurrect this old thread...

I will be flying with my kids (6 and 2 years old) in a month and was looking for a good inexpensive IEM that if they got a hold of (especially the toddler), I wouldn't care so much...so I thought I'd give the NE-8s a try.

They just arrived today and wow....a great IEM that I actually prefer to both the Ety ER-4P and RE0s. Not by much, but considering they can be had for under $70 new, they do offer quite a bit of value!

Many have complained about the fit and all ears are different, but they absolutely work with my ears. They fit just as well as my IE8s and better than the ER-4P, RE0, and UE10s ever did.

Sound wise I would describe them as balanced and I thought maybe a little on the bright side, but with a quick A-B with my RE0s, they are definitely warmer than the Hifiman offering.

The RE0s do have more pronounced treble, but I can find that fatiguing over time, I like the NE-8 presentation better. The mids are their strongest point and the bass is deep and taught (more balanced than boomy, but enough for me). I would say the bass impact is slightly better than the RE0s too.

They are very well built and as mentioned fit with my ears very well. The carrying case is great, it's small and sturdy. I do prefer them to the SE110, SE210, SE310, ER-4P, ER-4S, and the UE10s (I never did get into them).

I really think that these are an under appreciated IEM here on Head-fi and would very much recommend them! Great sound, build quality, fit (for me anyway) all at a great price.

Hat's off to Nuforce for making a sub $100 IEM compete with much more expensive audiophile IEMs.