[jared basshead]

soundMAGIC being a Chinese company though its products got high marks in reviews and are often recommended as inexpensive quality IEMs. Their PL30, priced at less than $30, feature a bass dial like the much pricier Sennheiser IE8, and their PL50 are among the least expensive balanced armature driver IEMs. Both of these have a big fan base and helped to build the reputation of Soundmagic as a manufacturer of good sounding gear for a fair price.
 Those are history or legen...wait for it...dary (kidding)
 
 

 
 
 
(First of all before I start this thread I m really sorry for the upload images as some of them were taken with my  friends iPhone3g and some with my iphone 4s thanks to apple for improving HDR in 4s...)
 
 
so the E10M is specially for iPod , iPhone and ipad as preference by the letter 'M' which says the IEM is built in mic. But we may as well get a standard IEM E10 (without the letter 'M') that will work with any mp3/ audio player via 3.5mm.
 

now let’s look over the phone specs-

-Driver: Dynamic, 10mm Neodymium
-Frequency range: 15 Hz – 22 kHz
-Impedance: 16 Ohm
-Sensitivity: 100dB at 1kHz/mW
-Cable length: 1.2m
-Plug: Gold-plated, straight 3.5mm
-Silicone tips (single flange S/M/L, double flange M), shirt clip, carrying pouch.
 

Accessories and Build 

 
 The E10 come with a rather large synthetic leather pouch with drawstrings. Personally I’m more a fan of hard cases for IEM storage, but next to the phones that pouch should hold a small-to-medium sized MP3 player as well.
 

 
 
The included silicone ear tips are of the generic thin variety. I couldn’t get a proper fit and seal with any of them so I tried them with meelectronics M11+ that did work for me but I think inorder to get best isolation u need to consider comply flanges though i havent tried them yet.
 
 
7 flanges
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The included shirt clip should cut down a bit on cable noise and might provide a safer fit.
Isolation with various silicone tips is about average, despite the E10 being vented both in front of the driver and at its back.
 
 
Technically, the E10 perform nicely as well. Despite their low impedance and reasonable sensitivity they are well balanced – they go loud enough with any low-powered player, and they virtually don’t hiss, even with ‘hot’ sources. Since I already said that they go loud enough with portables so u may as well don’t need amping , but if u do then just in case I tried it with my Fiio E11 there wasn’t much difference to speak but then I hear very little hiss on left side unnoticeable generally but it did produce.
 

Sound

 
For a 45$ IEM , the sound is unexpected good which is what I liked of E10. So here we go, I tried it with my iphone 4s ( which runs cirrus logic audio chip) on the Sonic junky EQ app. Since m a bass head I wundnt say it is a bass heavy IEM.
 

Bass-

Bass on the E10 is well defined and sounds quite punchy. It’s not an overly forward bass, but certainly delivers more quantity than what goes for ‘neutral’ – maybe something along the lines of the Panasonic HJE900’s bass delivery. It can hit very deep and doesn’t distract with a flabby midbass hump. With some tracks it can sound a tiny bit loose, but in general it is well controlled. It should work well with most kinds of music, no matter if one listens to a folk singer’s laments or some filthy dubstep tunes.
 

Mids-

Their midrange doesn’t strike me as either recessed or forward, but in some tracks it appears that there’s a slight bump in the upper midrange. Resolution and clarity is generally fine, but at lower listening levels some complex musical passages (orchestral pieces, metal, etc) can sound a slight bit smeared together. For the price however, they compare very favorably to even higher priced IEMs – and turning up the volume a notch makes them sound clearer, as is often the case with dynamic driver phones.
 

Treble-

the E10’s treble might be described as a tiny bit recessed, giving them a slightly ‘warm’ overall sound character, in combination with their bass and midrange presentation. I dunno what to say here as I always disliked treble so treble of E10 is quite likeable in general but me ( lol ) .
 

Burnin-

There is no scientific reasons to things like burnin but me. The E10’s bass and sounstage varies after 3 hours of burnin to this time which I guess I have to do some more time and will post later.
Hence, yeah burnin did increase bass.
 

Conclusion-

It’s getting harder to justify buying high priced IEMs when quality gear like the Brainwavz M2 or the Soundmagic E10 are available for less than 50 bucks. Of course many high end IEMs might sound generally better, more refined in some aspects, or might have better build quality – but the law of diminishing returns is hitting harder and harder while inexpensive phones are getting better and better. I couldn’t imagine ever hearing such big sound out of such low priced things some three or four years ago.

 

[jared basshead]

burned it like 6 hours, so what i noticed is-
before the bass used to rumble with tiny but noticeable  harshness in it, that happened  when i maxed out the bass in EQ by using sonic junky EQ in my 4s, now the bass is little clear after 4-6 hours of burning. i m cool with.
 
to be honest i expected really more from them especially in bass department, well they are ok type but seriously not for bass heads.
to my friends they say the iem feels like born from the boombox...lol.
well they are not [size=10pt]professionals, so they can be fooled with a balanced amateurs and even with the apples stock ones.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]anyway 'll post later after 10 hours of burnin..[/size]

 

[H20Fidelity]

SoundMAGIC E10 and E10m are very capable IEM's that offer a little of everything for your money certainly exceeding their price tag.

Reading this review made me take my pair out tonight for a listen up against EPH-100, Monster Turbine and GRO7 MKII. I tell you what for something $35 they sure hold their own, even bettering Turbines imo actually by a large margin. They may not be the best at everything but what they offer is a piece of each pie which is certainly good value for your money. There's clarity, separation, decent soundstage. I don't feel GRO7 and EPH-100 sound X4 better for the each ones individual price tag though never expected them too. They're an excellent entry model and a must have for beginners or budget preferences..

Sounds crazy eh? $35 up against $150 IEM's. You'd be surprised the difference is not really all that far. Well, definitely not $120 further.

 

[jared basshead]

true though it holds a piece of cake of every flavour.
 
edited-
burn-in, they do have monstrous skull pounding bass, average bass extension with decent quality and awesome quantity. Average mid-bass but big sub-bass.
Overall a good pick for bass heads in sub-50$, bass being priority while mids/soundstage/highs are decent enough.

 

[H20Fidelity]

true though it holds a piece of cake of every flavor.
actually i bought these cans by reading reviews in here, lol all they said is sub-bass is deep and ll take you to the top, they should have said  that this is all the bass you ll get with a 35$.
anyway now i consider these two cans
-hippo vb and ath cks90
what do you say about them? 

If you add an Fiio E11 to your E10's they can become slight bass monsters, even owning IEM's like Monster Turbine, Hippo VB the E10's hold their own on the low end unamped. Honestly, Hippo VB will give you the most bass I have ever heard from an IEM (preferably amped) though there will be some bleeding at higher volumes. I haven't heard CKS90 sorry.

 

[HeatFan12]

Nice review Jared...

 
 
I like the E10s myself.  I think they have a very balanced sound that is non-fatiguing.  For bass, I recommend these.  These will put some pounding in your skull...lol...I started a thread on them a while back.
 
 

 

[jared basshead]

are you sure that amping it ll give noticeable bass?. i use the smallest flange provided with sM E10.
 
edit-
bought E11 and paired it to E10 , gobsmacking bass

 

[jared basshead]

Quote:

Nice review Jared...

 
 
I like the E10s myself.  I think they have a very balanced sound that is non-fatiguing.  For bass, I recommend these.  These will put some pounding in your skull...lol...I started a thread on them a while back.
 
 

thanks HeatFan12,
i have heard of F1X1 but have never used it. How do u compare this with hippo vb 

 

[HeatFan12]

Hey Jared,
 
Sorry, have not listened to the other 2.  Here is the link though.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/577508/jvc-ha-fx1x-xtreme-xplosive-impressions-hopefully-fan-thread

 

[H20Fidelity]

I've owned the FX1X. They're "OK" Not comparable to Hippo VB though. It's like a Volkswagen Kombi van lining up beside a Porsche at the lights.

 

[HeatFan12]

Quote:

I've owned the FX1X. They're "OK"

Not comparable to Hippo VB though. It's like a Volkswagen Kombi van lining up beside a Porsche at the lights.

 
 
lol...The Hippo VB must be skull crashers indeed H2O...Good times for sure!!!
 
Cheers

 

[jared basshead]

Quote:

 
 
lol...The Hippo VB must be skull crashers indeed H2O...Good times for sure!!!
 
Cheers

 

[jared basshead]

got the 77 red-black. will soon compare them with E10
 
actually i thought of giving a review to CKS77 but then saw there is already a great review from dsnuts ..very good and lengthy review..lol
 
well for now am getting a pro700mk2 and hfi580
gonna compare the bass of those and then punch a review on them.

 

[jared basshead]

update- 600 hrs burn-
mids are'nt recessed anymore or shud i say they are better. bass is more detailed and extended.
i listen to them on +3db bass on fiio 11.
and one more thing- if iOS user don't want to use amp on this then i would suggest to use the IEM  on the exclusive 'Denon audio' app, its just gives you everything you need to customize on lows and highs though you have to compromise on volume which is near to medium level.

 

[dukespecial]

Thanks for doing this review, I am in two minds right now whether to buy these or some on/over ears around the same price or a bit more expensive and this certainly gives a great argument to stick with IEMS!