[gs4user]

Glad I stopped by here first... I was on a fence between a few $50 IEMs but with this deal these are so much better

 

[aim54x]

I just unboxed my set this morning and straight out of box I am pretty impressed. Hoping I will get that improvement with some burn in as described.

 

[chillen]

just got mine in yesterday, straight out the box these sound awesome. the best you could get for 40$ IMO.

 

[mtldrm22]

   
The M-DUO has the same amount of clarity as the FXT90. The detail is nearly there as well, but sometimes the treble makes it sound a "tad" analytical when there is low to moderate bass presence, but otherwise pretty semi-smooth/semi-aggressive sound signature and the bass kick is slightly more emphasized on the M-DUO than the FXT90. It's AWESOME! It really does remind me of the JVC FXT90.

Do the M-Duos have more bass and sound fuller than the FXT90?  I just returned the FXT90 because I thought they sounded very thin and not a lot of bass.  I listen to mainly rock/metal.

 

[MDFMK]

The bass on the M-Duo is certainly more impacful.  I don't know if the actual quantity is greater or not, but the perceived power is definitely higher imo.  I don't know if it would do for a proper basshead, but for just about everyone else it should be more than strong enough.
 
I guess the best way to put it is that the M-Duo's bass sounds more aggressive, as does the earphone as a whole imo.  The signature is pretty similar to the FXT-90, but to me the M-Duo sounds more forward than the JVC's.

 

[mtldrm22]

  The bass on the M-Duo is certainly more impacful.  I don't know if the actual quantity is greater or not, but the perceived power is definitely higher imo.  I don't know if it would do for a proper basshead, but for just about everyone else it should be more than strong enough.

What about the sibilance? I heard the M-Duo are pretty aggressive and prone to sibilant.  Any other suggestions in the sub $100 range?

 

[MDFMK]

 
What about the sibilance? I heard the M-Duo are pretty aggressive and prone to sibilant.  Any other suggestions in the sub $100 range?

 
There is some sibilance.  Personally in my case it isn't overbearing and it never sounds overly harsh, but if you're very sensitive to sibilance you'd likely do well to consider other options.  Sadly I don't quite have the experience to make a wide range of recommendations here, but it sounds like you're looking for an earphone that has a fairly strong bass emphasis without being very v-shaped and aggressive.
 
Supposedly the Yamaha EPH-100 retains the strong bottom end while avoiding sibilance and harshness further up, but that one is closer to $150.  :\

 

[mtldrm22]

Yes, thanks for the suggestion! I will check iut the Yamahas.

 

[Bansaku]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents on the M-Duo. I have been rocking these impressive IEM since late summer, so it's safe to say that these are well worn and well burned in. Being my first headphones from MEElec, all I can say is that the M-Duo impressed me on all aspects from design to sound quality. From the moment I plugged them into my 5th gen. iPod Touch I knew that would be my headphones of choice until they break, and I don't see that happening any time soon. Simply put these are awesome! 
 
Design quality is above par. The monitors are made of a combination of a tough metal housing coupled with seamless, strong plastic. The cable is reinforced with kevlar and take extremely well to the cold. At temperatures around -25'C the cable retains it's flex and does not appear to be affected by the cold at all. Well done MEElec! The wire strain reliefs (both on the plug and monitors) do an excellent job as well. Several times the cable has been snagged (damn Safeway shopping carts!), violently ripping the monitors from my ears or launching my iPod from my pocket, and the monitors have held up well showing no signs of damage. Like us all, I have ruined many a pair of headphones this way, so call me more than impressed.
 
Sound quality is amazing! I can not recall a pair of IEM I have owned that has clean, powerful sound that is not only fun but exciting! Other IEM I have owned in the sub $100-$200 price range from brands like Sony, Shure, Sennheiser, JVC, Koss, Monster (ya I know...), and Bose (barf!) simply do not compare to the M-Duo.
 
Sound Stage: The best description I can give would be concert quality. For being IEM, the sound is very big and wide; height is great, width is impressive. Main vocals are slightly recessed (I prefer this) but are front and centre and come through with clarity. Instrument separation is perfect, with a good balance of being both transparent and dynamic. Panning sounds are spot on in placement and overlap the other instruments with good transparency and no sense of washout. 
 
Bass:  Powerful, deep, accurate, controlled exciting! Wow! Never have I heard such awesome bass/sub bass in a pair of IEM! First off I do have to mention that the M-Duo will not add bass where there is none, period! The M-Duo will only produce bass that the track dictates. Purists will be relieved. That said, when the bass is called upon, it is felt with pure power and excitement. Whether it be bass heavy genres such as EDM, techno, industrial, rap, the M-Duo simply perform above the curve. Bass-heads will NOT be let down. The bass is at least equal to some of the 2-3x priced Beats/Monster IEM, but in comparison the M-Duo actually sound right. Never is it overpowering or muddled, nor does drown out the other frequencies. Just pure bass bliss!
 
Midrange: As stated by myself, and others on this thread, mids are slightly recessed. There definitely seems to be a gentle V-curve that does dip in the middle. However, vocals and instruments in this frequency range do not seem to suffer much, being up front, smooth, and clean sounding overall.  I actually find this brings out the rest of the instruments more, allowing one to better enjoy the music. Lets face it, when we listen to songs, we tend to sing along in our heads (some out loud 

), so in my opinion having the instruments brought forward actually compliments one's listening experience.
 
Treble: Sparkly, bright, crisp, clean, non fatiguing! Cymbals crash with great attack and decay, flutes sound flutey, electronica sounds like a laser! Chimes are rendered perfectly with each bell being perfectly heard and distinguished with perfect ring! I can't really complain about the treble at all. It just sounds great, need I say more?
 
Texture:  From woodwind to brass, bass guitars to bass drums, raspy voice to grunting, and anything electronica, the M-Duo sound amazing! This is where the wow factor comes in! Once you hear the pluck of a stand-up bass, the mutes on brass, or wind passing through a pan flute, hairs will stand up on the back of your neck. It is hard to describe texture in sounds, and thus will not attempt to. Instead I will simply make a statement; Never have I heard such beautiful texture in a pair of (consumer grade) IEM, ever! Outside of nature, the only time I have ever heard such great texture was through my pair of 300W (RMS) 6 ohm loudspeakers fed by a high current amp with 6-gauge 4 strand pure copper cables. Seriously.
 
Sibilance: This is where I agree but disagree completely with other's views of the M-Duo. I don't want to start a heated argument over the subject which eventually hijacks this thread (believe me, it's been done here in the past). However, I have to speak on the subject, which in itself is subjective. Firstly, sibilance is ONLY produced by the human voice, especially in western languages. It is produced naturally and is in every word that has an S, F, and to a lesser degree T and P. It is the bane of all sound engineers! No speaker adds sibilance without affecting the rest of the sound spectrum. Period! That said, the M-Duo produces absolutely no added sibilance. Likewise, they do not hide or diminish natural sibilance in any way.
 
I will agree though that for some stating that the M-Duo do add sibilance, you are correct, kind of. On some voices (particularly female), the M-Duo will add a tiny bit of edge (or harshness) to it. This is NOT added sibilance. There is no bleeding of s or f sounds. Think of it this way, a normal 'S' sound like Sss. With the M-Duo, that 'S' sounds like SSs. An 'S' with added sibilance would sound something like SSsseh, and the effects would be heard in instruments like cymbals, shakers, and snare drums. To be fair, I compared several tracks with varying degrees of sibilance using both my M-Duo and my balanced armature UE SuperFi 5 Pro (both dual drivers with crossovers). To my surprise, the exact same sibilance can be heard almost identically across all songs on both IEMs! As stated, the only thing that the M-Duo adds is that tiny bit of edge to voices that have higher than normal sibilance. Anyway, to end this mini-rant, if you are sensitive to sibilance, these may not be for you. 
 
All in all, I love the M-Duo IEMs! At a MSRP of $80 are a steal, easily outperforming (over-hyped) IEM that are much more expensive. Fun, exciting, powerful, musical, durable, affordable; MEEelec has knocked this one out of the park! A Grande Slam!
 
Hey MEElec, how about an M-Trio? Or dare I say M-Duo hybrid; balanced armature for mids/treble coupled with dynamic driver for awesome bass!? 

 

 

[Niyologist]

  Just wanted to add my 2 cents on the M-Duo. I have been rocking these impressive IEM since late summer, so it's safe to say that these are well worn and well burned in. Being my first headphones from MEElec, all I can say is that the M-Duo impressed me on all aspects from design to sound quality. From the moment I plugged them into my 5th gen. iPod Touch I knew that would be my headphones of choice until they break, and I don't see that happening any time soon. Simply put these are awesome! 
 
Design quality is above par. The monitors are made of a combination of a tough metal housing coupled with seamless, strong plastic. The cable is reinforced with kevlar and take extremely well to the cold. At temperatures around -25'C the cable retains it's flex and does not appear to be affected by the cold at all. Well done MEElec! The wire strain reliefs (both on the plug and monitors) do an excellent job as well. Several times the cable has been snagged (damn Safeway shopping carts!), violently ripping the monitors from my ears or launching my iPod from my pocket, and the monitors have held up well showing no signs of damage. Like us all, I have ruined many a pair of headphones this way, so call me more than impressed.
 
Sound quality is amazing! I can not recall a pair of IEM I have owned that has clean, powerful sound that is not only fun but exciting! Other IEM I have owned in the sub $100-$200 price range from brands like Sony, Shure, Sennheiser, JVC, Koss, Monster (ya I know...), and Bose (barf!) simply do not compare to the M-Duo.
 
Sound Stage: The best description I can give would be concert quality. For being IEM, the sound is very big and wide; height is great, width is impressive. Main vocals are slightly recessed (I prefer this) but are front and centre and come through with clarity. Instrument separation is perfect, with a good balance of being both transparent and dynamic. Panning sounds are spot on in placement and overlap the other instruments with good transparency and no sense of washout. 
 
Bass:  Powerful, deep, accurate, controlled exciting! Wow! Never have I heard such awesome bass/sub bass in a pair of IEM! First off I do have to mention that the M-Duo will not add bass where there is none, period! The M-Duo will only produce bass that the track dictates. Purists will be relieved. That said, when the bass is called upon, it is felt with pure power and excitement. Whether it be bass heavy genres such as EDM, techno, industrial, rap, the M-Duo simply perform above the curve. Bass-heads will NOT be let down. The bass is at least equal to some of the 2-3x priced Beats/Monster IEM, but in comparison the M-Duo actually sound right. Never is it overpowering or muddled, nor does drown out the other frequencies. Just pure bass bliss!
 
Midrange: As stated by myself, and others on this thread, mids are slightly recessed. There definitely seems to be a gentle V-curve that does dip in the middle. However, vocals and instruments in this frequency range do not seem to suffer much, being up front, smooth, and clean sounding overall.  I actually find this brings out the rest of the instruments more, allowing one to better enjoy the music. Lets face it, when we listen to songs, we tend to sing along in our heads (some out loud 

), so in my opinion having the instruments brought forward actually compliments one's listening experience.
 
Treble: Sparkly, bright, crisp, clean, non fatiguing! Cymbals crash with great attack and decay, flutes sound flutey, electronica sounds like a laser! Chimes are rendered perfectly with each bell being perfectly heard and distinguished with perfect ring! I can't really complain about the treble at all. It just sounds great, need I say more?
 
Texture:  From woodwind to brass, bass guitars to bass drums, raspy voice to grunting, and anything electronica, the M-Duo sound amazing! This is where the wow factor comes in! Once you hear the pluck of a stand-up bass, the mutes on brass, or wind passing through a pan flute, hairs will stand up on the back of your neck. It is hard to describe texture in sounds, and thus will not attempt to. Instead I will simply make a statement; Never have I heard such beautiful texture in a pair of (consumer grade) IEM, ever! Outside of nature, the only time I have ever heard such great texture was through my pair of 300W (RMS) 6 ohm loudspeakers fed by a high current amp with 6-gauge 4 strand pure copper cables. Seriously.
 
Sibilance: This is where I agree but disagree completely with other's views of the M-Duo. I don't want to start a heated argument over the subject which eventually hijacks this thread (believe me, it's been done here in the past). However, I have to speak on the subject, which in itself is subjective. Firstly, sibilance is ONLY produced by the human voice, especially in western languages. It is produced naturally and is in every word that has an S, F, and to a lesser degree T and P. It is the bane of all sound engineers! No speaker adds sibilance without affecting the rest of the sound spectrum. Period! That said, the M-Duo produces absolutely no added sibilance. Likewise, they do not hide or diminish natural sibilance in any way.
 
I will agree though that for some stating that the M-Duo do add sibilance, you are correct, kind of. On some voices (particularly female), the M-Duo will add a tiny bit of edge (or harshness) to it. This is NOT added sibilance. There is no bleeding of s or f sounds. Think of it this way, a normal 'S' sound like Sss. With the M-Duo, that 'S' sounds like SSs. An 'S' with added sibilance would sound something like SSsseh, and the effects would be heard in instruments like cymbals, shakers, and snare drums. To be fair, I compared several tracks with varying degrees of sibilance using both my M-Duo and my balanced armature UE SuperFi 5 Pro (both dual drivers with crossovers). To my surprise, the exact same sibilance can be heard almost identically across all songs on both IEMs! As stated, the only thing that the M-Duo adds is that tiny bit of edge to voices that have higher than normal sibilance. Anyway, to end this mini-rant, if you are sensitive to sibilance, these may not be for you. 
 
All in all, I love the M-Duo IEMs! At a MSRP of $80 are a steal, easily outperforming (over-hyped) IEM that are much more expensive. Fun, exciting, powerful, musical, durable, affordable; MEEelec has knocked this one out of the park! A Grande Slam!
 
Hey MEElec, how about an M-Trio? Or dare I say M-Duo hybrid; balanced armature for mids/treble coupled with dynamic driver for awesome bass!? 

 

 
Well done with this intricate review. 

 

[pcharouz]

btw they are 40$ on woot.com now  

 

[Bansaku]

Heyas folks, recently I discovered an amazing free app for iOS (possibly Android as well) called Onkyo HF. Not only is this a great alternative to the built in iOS player, it also adds 24/96 and flac support which is great for external DAC/amps. However, the most powerful feature of this remarkable app is the inclusion of a parametric EQ! The only downside to the player is that it seems to lack any Sound Check support. So lately I have been trying to balance out the sound on my iPod Touch, making it more neutral and have pretty much achieved my goal. This is what I did:
 
Took this

 
And turned it into this

 
 
Using the right column values as a dB baseline I then transferred the frequency curve to the parametric EQ, adding a touch more sub bass

 
 
The end result turned out to be better than I anticipated! In fact, that edge/harshness I noticed in certain sibilance is completely smoothed out; Marie Fredrikkson and Per Glassell of Roxette tend to have a lot of natural sibilance, and the M-Duo put a sharpness to their voices. Not any more! Brian Johnston and Bon Scott of AC/DC sound simply amazing! Of course, even with adjustments, the M-Duo are  still only as good as your worst digital track! Patience is the key here, but the end result will give you much more of a natural sound. And I will say this, the M-Duo take very well to EQ adjustments! 

 

 

[tinyman392]

  Heyas folks, recently I discovered an amazing free app for iOS (possibly Android as well) called Onkyo HF. Not only is this a great alternative to the built in iOS player, it also adds 24/96 and flac support which is great for external DAC/amps. However, the most powerful feature of this remarkable app is the inclusion of a parametric EQ! The only downside to the player is that it seems to lack any Sound Check support. So lately I have been trying to balance out the sound on my iPod Touch, making it more neutral and have pretty much achieved my goal. This is what I did:
 
Took this

 
And turned it into this

 
Using the right column values as a dB baseline I then transferred the frequency curve to the parametric EQ, adding a touch more sub bass

 
 
The end result turned out to be better than I anticipated! In fact, that edge/harshness I noticed in certain sibilance is completely smoothed out; Marie Fredrikkson and Per Glassell of Roxette tend to have a lot of natural sibilance, and the M-Duo put a sharpness to their voices. Not any more! Brian Johnston and Bon Scott of AC/DC sound simply amazing! Of course, even with adjustments, the M-Duo are  still only as good as your worst digital track! Patience is the key here, but the end result will give you much more of a natural sound. And I will say this, the M-Duo take very well to EQ adjustments! 

 

 
Quick note, that spike at the 90 Hz range should not be there.  It's a resonating frequency in my setup.  Should produce slightly better results  

 

[Bansaku]

   
Quick note, that spike at the 90 Hz range should not be there.  It's a resonating frequency in my setup.  Should produce slightly better results  

 
Thanks for the tip. Image corrected.

 

[tinyman392]

   
Thanks for the tip. Image corrected.

 
No problem XD Glad the measurements could help you tame the treble XD