More complete review and comments:
To start with, full thanks to the Spider for supporting the site and providing the contest. I was one of the winners of these IEMs and am very grateful for the opportunity to have these. They are surprisingly good for their price range.
My sources for comparison are flac and Pandora high quality from my laptop through m2tech hifrace evo to Parasound dac2000 ultra balanced cables to Parasound p/ld 2000 preamp (as headphone amp), Android Nexus S with VoodooSound for on the go.
One thing I'd like to make clear, I'm not a small person or with small ears, and I like these TinyEars, so they are not just for people with small ears! As a reference, in the Klipsch x10 I use the large double flange quite comfortably and for the best seal. In the etys I seem to be a medium.
As advertised, the TinyEars are quite light and comfortable. As for sleeping, particularly with the comply foam tips, these are the most comfortable iems I have, possibly with the exception of the Klipsch x10. Even my full custom Miracles aren't quite as comfortable for sleeping (as they stick out slightly further so there is more pressure if you turn the head sideways and the cable run behind the ears is slightly less comfortable while sleeping.
Under a motorcycle helmet, I found them quite good once I got them set. However, they did tend to not stick in my ears as well as hoped when attempting to put the helmet on.
Microphonics as mentioned are pretty strong. They are however much better when worn up. I also was a little disappointed in the plug join, as the strain relief there doesn't look that great. As an overall, I'd say in my mind as part of the whole package the cable seemed to be the weakest link in the package.
Sound signature to my ears is fairly neutral. In comparison to my HF3 etymotics, they are similar with a slight bit more bass emphasis. Soundstage and clarity is quite good overall, surprisingly so for their price range.
Also, I have noticed that the tips make a pretty big difference in the sound. As mentioned above, the Comply are my favorites for comfort, however, the sound quality is quite different with them vs the silicon tips. They are more muffled, the highs less clear, and the bass more prominent. However, I do like this combination for sleeping and low level relaxing listening. It tends to work for making the music much more "background" and they do have great isolation (probably slightly better than the silicon double flangetips)
The only other iem even close to the price range of these that I have listened to is the Etymotic MC5. When I a/b the MC5 vs my HF3, it was immediately no contest. The detail level and clarity was quite obviously lower in the MC5. When I a/b the MC5 and the HF3, the difference is nowhere near as obvious. The detail level and clarity and treble at casual listen seems to be in the same ballpark, particularly with less complex passages. When I listen to the HF3 critically, there is no question that it is still better and things are clearer and more coherent, but the point is unlike with the MC5, it was a jarring immediately obvious difference, so I feel that the TinyEars are considerably closer. Considering the high reviews, and considerably higher price point of the HF3s, I think that is saying quite a bit for the merits of the TinyEars.
It's been fun for me to review these, as it helps to bring my collection into perspective. I believe that what you gain as you start going up the spectrum is more consistency in excellence. For example, my Miracles sound good on everything I put them in period, whatever source, whatever song. The HF3s have occasional songs where I find them lacking but are usually a consistent amount off the Miracles. The TinyEars have moments of absolute brilliance where they are quite good, and other areas where they are further off my higher end phones. For example, in Rodrigo y Gabriela Buster Voodoo, which has a fairly complex layering of guitar and other tracks, the TinyEars come off with less coherency in the overall. It sounds a lot more like a lead with more muted accompanying tracks. My higher end stuff seems bring it together with equal weighting and more coherency.
Overall, I personally think these are great headphones for their intended purpose and price, and I think they have great sound for their money. I seem to be drawn to neutral to slightly bright in my preferences and these seem to fall in those lines.
