As one who owns numerous pair of headphones etc I can say with all honesty that the SoundMagic PL30 are just absolutely incredible !!! At first listen I was not too impressed, nice soundstage, clear sound, can't beat the price. Interesting but certainly no match for my Shure SE310's or Yuin PK1's right? Wrong. Something about the way they fit (takes a bit of experimenting with the tips) When you find the right combination trust me you'll know. Deep bass, HUGE soundstage and detail detail detail. I don't know if maybe the type of driver is what I like, I don't know if it's the fit. All I know is I use these everyday and grin when I shove em in. Now I won't subject myself to ridicule more than I have too but I DO use these more than my Westone 3's. I am not saying they ARe better, that would be ridiculous. What I am saying though is, something about these puppies keep me hooked and incredibly immersed. BTW, associated equipment.... I'm using an 80GB IMOD from Red Wine Audio, iMod ALO Cryo, and a Emmeline "P-51 Mustang" Portable Headphone Amp. Here's the deal I think and maybe it's from owning almost every type of home speaker ever created (seriously). I think I'm just not an "armature" guy. Naturally modern armatures are a modern day marvel, I won't begin to dispute that. Also, a three armature design with passive crossovers like in the Westone 3's is just like mind boggling. Fact is though the 9mm "drive unit" of the PL 30's in my opinion kick serious butt. Just like with speakers, some people swear by ported designs, others, unported. Some like electrostats, some like ribbons, it's all a matter of taste. If I put on a pair of iems and 3 hours later I'm still groovin and enjoying myself like a happy kid then I've found a great product. The PL30 is a great product.