[jant71]

I recently went in on a Hisoundaudio Rocoo P auction. I might have thrown in a few extra $$ but I planned to ask for a pair of Live earbuds to try out and review. Based on the sound signatures of the Live and Living earbuds and the Rocoo I asked Jack if he could include a pair of Live buds with my purchase. Mr Fu kindly agreed. I think it was a good deal all around as I have been happy with both items.
 
The Live buds are Hisound's "audiophile grade" earbuds setting them apart from the PAA-1 and PAA-1 Pro that they offer at the lower levels. The Live cost around $99 US. They are available on ebay or retailers like Lendmeurears.
http://lendmeurears.com/product_info.php?cPath=14&products_id=111
 
Here is what you get...

 
PACKAGING:  In a small cardboard box you receive the Live earbuds, 4 pairs of earphone foams, a cable clip, a circular zip case, and a warranty card.
 
BUILD:  I think the Live have very nice build quality. High up there with some of the best earphones we have seen from Chinese manufacturers. Better than the Yuin and Blox buds I have had.
 
The accessories are nice. The foams are the denser higher quality type. No "donuts" are included since the Live have no holes in the center of the speaker. The clip is just like the one SoundMagic includes with their phones but with Hi branding. The zip case is of nicer quality than the usual woven type we see having a nice rubber pull and good fit and finish.
 
The Live themselves have a familiar housing we have seen before but that is both more attractive and sturdier than the more generic MX400 style we see all too much. It is metal with machined edges and looks and feels more high end. The larger bottom portion adds some weight to balance the speaker end. This makes them feel very balance in the hand and while wearing them seems to help them be more stable. The speaker grill is plastic on the live while a metal speaker grill is found on the flagship Living model. The cable is very much like th CK10 cable but thinner. Soft, supple, stays supple in colder temps. It is thinner so it is light and unobtrusive but still seems durable. The cable is terminated into a straight 3.5mm plug.
 
SPECS:
 
Driver : 16 mm Dynamic.
Impedance: 32 ohm.
Sensitivity: 105 dB/mW.
Frequency Response: 16Hz - 22 kHz.
Plug Size/Type: 3.5 mm straight.
Cable Length/Type: 46 in., 6N OFC cable.
Warranty:  One Year.
 
SOUND:  The Live earbuds are voiced like a monitor. Live is a good name as they hint at the what they sound like, realistic and accurate. They are the textbook monitor sound. Extremely flat in balance with no part of the spectrum forward or dominant. Equal extension on both ends. Bass, mids, and treble all have equal quality of clarity, detail, texture, etc. So even you can pick out anything that either excels or doesn't. What you can pick out is all the notes, sounds, and voices. The live are big and open sounding and put a good amount of air around things like a monitor usually does. You get that effect where you feel you are listening to something bigger than the little things in your ears!
 
The Live buds play above a phone like the M2C by bringing more detail, texture, clarity and having a bigger sound. They are neutral sounding yet smooth. They have a bit of weight down low and nicely apparent treble that stops before being bright. Neutral and balanced. Not bassy but not lean either. They are very, very good at truly reflecting what comes before them at the source. They also take to EQ and sound adjustment well. Very much what a good monitor should be and they do live up to their name! 
 
CAVEATS:  While I totally recommend these earbuds and have mostly complimentary things to say about them there are two things you should take note of. They have 16mm drivers so they are on the larger side. Take that into account. They fit me very well(average size ears) and stay in well also but I can't speak for everyone. The other things is that they have monitor sound in a portable earbud. Once you get out in the hubbub of the real world you may need to compensate with some extra bass to counter the usual loss of low frequencies. Two small things that may or may not apply but worth mentioning.
 
SUMMARY:  My favorite earbuds no doubt! Fantastic sound, great fit, high quality look and feel, and they play very well with every source I have. They are an audiophile grade bud and their sound does live up to the "Live" name!
 

 

[Danneq]

Hmmm... I've been looking at these, but my fascination with vintage Sony and Aiwa earbuds has put my interest in these aside.
 
Have you heard the Audio Technica CM-series? I think that the housing might be similar to the older CM-series, but I'm not sure. And perhaps the sound is tuned similarly?
 
Might give these a try later!

 

[Danneq]

By the way, do you think there's any difference between the Live and Living earbuds? I thought that the Living was an earlier version, but there's a seller of Hisoundaudio earphones on Ebay who sells both the Live and Living. The Living costs $149 compared to $99 for the Live. The only difference I can see is the cable and the name.
 
Hisoundaudio Live
 
Hisoundaudio Living
 
 
EDIT: I found the answer myself. The Living has got a silver plated cable, which pushes the price up with $50...

 

[jant71]

Quote:

Hmmm... I've been looking at these, but my fascination with vintage Sony and Aiwa earbuds has put my interest in these aside.
 
Have you heard the Audio Technica CM-series? I think that the housing might be similar to the older CM-series, but I'm not sure. And perhaps the sound is tuned similarly?
 
Might give these a try later!

I did have an Technica CM before and there are differences.

The AT housing is not centered and when including the strain relief the AT is a fair bit longer. Fit is subjective but the Live fit me much better. They have better balance, stability, and being shorter are less "there" if you know what I mean.
 
The Living would be the one to go for if you want the AT sound tuning. Those favor the high end a bit more like the higher end CM series. The Live are probably better for everyday use out of a portable since they don't really favor the treble.

 

[Danneq]

Okay, the CM7 series?
 
There's a seller on Ebay UK who's selling what he claims to be ATH CM7. They look like this:

 
I reacted since that is the housing that Hisoundaudio uses for their Live and Living earbuds, not the one that Audio Technica used for their CM7 earbuds. So it's a fake. The frequency range is strange: 20-14.000 Hz and 51 ohms impedance.
 
On Audio Technica's homepage the frequency response of the ATH CM7 is listed as 10-45.000 Hz and the impedance is 16 ohms...
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audio-Technica-ATH-CM7-Earphones-Ear-Headphones-1st-Class-Delivery-/150729967533?pt=UK_AudioVisualElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Headphones&hash=item231834c7ad
 
 
Anyway, not sure if I would want to pay $50 extra just for silver plated wire. So I find the Live earbud more interesting...

 

[Danneq]

One last observation about the fake ATH CM7 listing:
 
Look at this picture:

 
 
It's interesting to note that it says on the bottom that the earbuds are made in Korea in 2010. ATH discontinued the CM7 some time in 2007 when the CM700 series was released (the CM707 series replaced the CM700 in 2010).
 
It is difficult to read, but on the box it say that the frequency range is 16-22.000 Hz and that impedance is 16 ohms. I do not want to support sellers and makers of fake headphones, but I am a bit curious to try out these fakes...

 

[jant71]

You might have to look close but those are the housings that some company's use like OVC(ocvaco) and they are a bit different from the Live. They don't have the same shape and the LIVE are not ported in the rear.

ported/vented in the rear and deeper cylinder shape behind the driver.
 

Live have no hole and have a shallow convex dome behind the driver instead of a cylinder.
 
I'm sure that fake may sound as good as the old OVC buds if you can find a review of them. IIRC, they were a bit better than the MX400/MX500 and were pretty cool back then. If those fakes measure up in sound quality to those then you can go out and buy that level of SQ from a real warrantied manufacturer for less than that fake costs. You can buy the KPH-13(treble driver from the KDE-250) for $10 with a lifetime warranty. A bit plasticky but if you want that CM7 sound(big stage, lean and very detailed textured). I modded mine a bit(foams and metal headband) so maybe the cost goes up $10 but it is better than the M2C which sound a bit muddy and smaller in comparison.

 

[kanuka]

nice review earbud'dy'! 

 

[kjk1281]

Thanks for the review! It's good to see another earbud manufacturer that places an emphasis on build quality as well as sound quality. The only thing that bothers me about Hisound is their product naming: I know this is a review of the Live, but then there's also the Living that Danneq pointed out. Very confusing.

 

[jant71]

Thanks guys! Live is a cool name that has been used before. Living not so great a name but they should be a great bud. The Live is just one of the hardest little phones to find absolutely anything wrong with. It does nothing wrong! It just won't have the absolute best this or the best that but everything it does is very, very good. And so perfectly balanced in how well it does things. Easily made the Blox and even my ES55 which is certainly a good little headphone expendable. Just a step up in SQ from those.

 

[Danneq]

Quote:

Thanks for the review! It's good to see another earbud manufacturer that places an emphasis on build quality as well as sound quality. The only thing that bothers me about Hisound is their product naming: I know this is a review of the Live, but then there's also the Living that Danneq pointed out. Very confusing.

It's difficult to find any info on the Live and Living, but I think the difference is that the Living has got a silver plated cable while the Live has got an ordinary copper one. Frequency responce and sensitivity are slightly different. Other than that, I do not see any difference...

 

[jant71]

The Living have the metal mesh grills while the live have similar plastic grills to the M2C. No holes in the middle. The Living comes with donuts since the grill has the holes all over. With donuts, silver cable, and totally perforated grills, the living are about getting the most treble and detail. I would assume the Live are the choice for the average portable user and the Living are better out of true rigs and would be fairly bright/lean outside and straight out of portables. Some reviews mention the Living and Ety in the same breathe.

 

[david1978jp]

My Live was first batch, it fell apart 3 times - we did not want to bother with it any more; a few had same problem in China. If you have a good local dealer, you will have less headache for warranty. As to sound, if you are not a treble person, its treble can be too sharp and oddly congested from time to time. Audition it before you buy.

 

[alphaphoenix]

Got mine with my Rocoo-P deal as well. The Live quality is iffy at best as mine had a blown driver upon audition.  I appreciate Jack sending me a replacement, which looked refurbished to me, but sounded good the first time.  It reminded me of a more open sounding MTPC, but I too found the treble a little shrill.  Perhaps more burn in time may had remedy that.
 
Anyhow, since I got the Live for free, I gave the replacement away to starving student member to replace his broken Yuins.  For $99, IMO, there are a lot better alternatives. 

 

[goodvibes]

Like the reviewer, I think mine sound great and aren't too hot in the least. Live biuld seems solid to me. I'd probably find the Living a bit much with the silver cable and hotter grill but these sound great. However, my ears have a hard time fitting buds so I don't use them much. Weren't all their early units the Living?