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I'm thinking of getting these as a gift for a non-head-fi girlfriend.
Any owners want to chime in with encouragement (or steer me clear)?
Pseudo disclaimer: I prefer full sized phones while at home or at work. Recently, however, I've been on the more and more, using my PK3s. They met an inquisitive kitten at my mother's house and, well, are no more. So I had to get a set of portable phones, and decided to go with the Thinksound Rains.
I've only had them for 2 days, so quite a limited amount of listening time, but I'd say that they would work fine for a non-head-fi girlfriend.
They're fairly easy going with source. I've tried a variety of songs in MP3s and FLAC, and they're forgiving with lower bit rates. Out of my laptop (D630), the Rains are sensitive enough to pick up a bunch of noise, but it's fairly hard to hear the noise during songs. Out of an old Creative Zen Nano, they sound good. They sound better out of a Clip +, but it's not a huge difference.
They're also comfortable. No need for a deep insertion and they're small. Oh, and they look pretty good. Though a non-head-fier might not care if their cans are woodies or not.
As for the sound: you're buying the Rains for a non-head-fier. It shouldn't matter so much for her, especially if she's coming from iBuds or the like. Of course, if you plan on listening to her IEMs, then that's a different story. Sadly, I lack the experience with other IEMs to make a true comparison.
But, from what I hear, the bass impact is more than enough for me. Bass is fairly detailed, though it sounds likes theres a hump in the mid bass. As others have said, the mids are full and rich, and maybe slightly forward. I'd also call them decently resolving--I can't hear all of the details that my ESP950s bring out, but they're easily better than the JVC RX700s I have lying around. I know, I know, that's a large disparity in price, but I don't have any other phones present to compare with. The highs are clear and fairly extended, but a little splashy at times. Some cymbal heavy songs lose a bit of coherency, imo. It all comes together to make an enjoyable, musical experience. It's not perfect, but you can't expect perfect in this price range.
And that's the key. For $55 or so, this looks great, sounds great, and is even eco-friendly (another plus, depending on your girl's politics). And, just because you or I can hear the deficiencies in them, that doesn't mean a non-HFer will. I'm more than happy with my purchase, knowing full well that I don't fully know the IEM market. I can't imagine a non-HFer wouldn't like these.