Love my pearl white M-80, and for electronica, this is a seriously good headphone. Very engaging and unique. Despite having a small size (I'm coming from using DT770s as portables), the M-80 does a very good job at convincing me they are larger in stature. It has taken a few weeks for me to really get them, but now that I do I am very impressed by these excellent headphones. Frankly, I'm shocked by how much value can be had for such little money. I would guess that some people in China are making not very much money for their work. I know everybody gets all "I expect more from the packaging on headphones" (the M-80s are quite well appointed in this department), but frankly for me, I would rather either pay less and have a no-frills package (I know they need shelf wow to sell retail), or pay the same and know that more money was spent on the material or R&D. Regardless, it is quite apparent that a great deal of time and resources went into R&D and it shows in the sound which matters, packaging means squat to me, I don't listen to packaging, I listen to headphones.
I will need more time before I can really get a handle on what these cans do with other genres, but for electronica they are amazing headphones. They sound so good that I have a hard time not just playing electronica over and over again. I need to throw on some good Steely Dan. I did play some Dire Straits (Ride Across The River from Borthers in Arms) and I was actually very happy with the sound, happier than I expected to be. I have a used a parametric EQ to give a little boost to the treble, and I have tried to get a little deliniation between the upper bass and lower midrange to "decongest" the sound. The sound is a little congested in this area, but no headphone can do everything, there has to be some sound signature decisions made and if you try to deliver strong, artful bass and present midrange, with some material they will converge with less than perfect results. I found that by using the parametric EQ in Neutron through my Z10 I was easily able to make some minor adjustments that to my ears improved the sound in these areas nicely. Neutron is an audiophile music player that at $4.99 from Blackberry world was a steal. The combination of my E11 > Neutron and the M-80s has really pleased me. I'm a big fan of the M-80 and I can't wait to get to know them even better. A solid performer and I think they look really sharp.
I'm a noob here. I am impressed with the knowledge base here. I am not an audiophile or can/will pretend to be. I don't have the disposable $ to be either. I have been a musician/songwriter for years, though. That is how I approach sound equipment, as a musician.
