[jarrett]

I hate to go out of my way to write unflattering thoughts about a product, but the hype train threads need a little sense.
 
Music listened to
 
Beethoven, Symphony 6
Holst, The Planets
Ali Farka Toure
Miles Davis, Bitches Brew
Miles Davis, A Tribute to Jack Johnson
Kraftwerk, Minimum-Maximum
Wayne Shorter, The All Seeing Eye
 
Here is what I own
 
Audio Technica ATH-CKM500
ECCI PR401
Fischer Audio Silver Bullet
MEElectronics A151
MEElectronics M6P
Sony MH1C
SoundMAGIC E30
Sunrise SW-Xcape v1
TDK BA200
VSONIC GR07
VSONIC VC02
Xears XE200PRO
Zero Audio Tenore (shipping)
 
For all that I own, each IEM has a distinct quality that I can pick out, love, and makes me want to return using them.
 
Not the Pistons.
 
At $30 the build quality is a beauty - I can even use the metal clip as a tie bar - but for all my time spent at Head-Fi, build quality and appearance has never been a strong selling point.
 
I was expecting a bass oriented signature that I could live with. The Pistons are also rather V-shaped sounding.
 
Here are my impressions
 

1. bass quantity that bleeds into the mids
2. no bass quality
3. recessed mids (I gave my Sony player a bump in the 0.4 khz, which didn't help much)
4. because the bass bleeds into the mids, the Pistons sound more recessed than they should be
5. poor treble extension
6. uninvolving lacking energy
7. couldn't find that special quality to love

 
In my view, I'm a fairly objective listener. I was surprised they didn't excel with any genre I listened to and, how uninvolving they were in presentation. Overall, I'm disappointed in them. They are in no way Hi-Fi sounding. If joker were to review a pair, I believe he would score them a low 7

 

[slowpickr]

What source(s) were used?

 

[jarrett]

Sony Walkman S618 

 

[vziera]

Oh ****... this ain't the thing I wish to find right now D;

 

[Winno]

  Oh ****... this ain't the thing I wish to find right now D;

Don't sweat it.
Offset this opinion with all the good stuff and fun over at http://www.head-fi.org/t/703651/the-xiaomi-pistons-thread.
Plenty of people love them if that'll make you feel better with your decision.

 

[jarrett]

Hey in hindsight it's only $30. I got the MH1C when it was $25. You never know how it will turn out. This is likely the first (or second) time I went after an unknown brand

 

[vziera]

I'm so devastated right now... got no job hoping to make best decisions possible by thorough research over the internet and this is what I end up finding?? it's on its way right now already, was about to get either a used ba200 for only $90 or a bnib mh1c for only $15 before.. sigh

 

[Winno]

Look, don't stress about it.
With the easy filter mod and 100 hours or so burn in, the Pistons change very very much from new and fully filtered.

And besides, there will ALWAYS be another deal better than the last if you really are set on spending more for something else.

 

[vziera]

@Winno
 
you're my bro

 

[DeadMan]

I just got mine. So not had time to burn them in yet. Initial impressions. Heavy on the bass which veils the mids and highs pretty badly. I was hoping for less bass or rather bass that was a bit less of a hog on the rest of the audio spectrum. The bass has a masking effect which is kinda irritating. I hope they open up a bit more with burn in but from experience a burned in set of earphones tend to get MORE bassy. But I hope I am wrong. I will test with some better sources though sin ce this was only an initial listening through a HTC One M7 and some low bitrate dance music.
 
Still they are OK for their asking price I guess. I will update you if I find they change for the better or worse in the new few weeks. If they don't improve any I shall try the filter mod.

 

[mochill]

Do filter mod and see the difference

 

[1clearhead]

  I just got mine. So not had time to burn them in yet. Initial impressions. Heavy on the bass which veils the mids and highs pretty badly. I was hoping for less bass or rather bass that was a bit less of a hog on the rest of the audio spectrum. The bass has a masking effect which is kinda irritating. I hope they open up a bit more with burn in but from experience a burned in set of earphones tend to get MORE bassy. But I hope I am wrong. I will test with some better sources though sin ce this was only an initial listening through a HTC One M7 and some low bitrate dance music.
 
Still they are OK for their asking price I guess. I will update you if I find they change for the better or worse in the new few weeks. If they don't improve any I shall try the filter mod.

with the filter mod that "mochill" mentioned and probably changing the tips with the medium tips that come inside your piston box under "M". You will probably believe the hype on "the xiaomi pistons thread". They're that good!
 
Note: You have to burn them for at least 5 days or 100 hours.
 
Please get back to me after you tried all of the above and let me know what you think......

 

[dragonhf]

I really like Xiaomi Piston 2.1 If Version.
The whole experience. It comes in a very nice "chocolate box" and it even smells good.
Not as quiet good as my pair of Nuforce NE-700M improved version, but it´s very close.
And if we are talking about price, it´s unbeatable.
Plus I´m not afraid that it will break, as my pair of NE-700M that cost me 5 times more.
If it breaks I just buy a new pair. Kind of sad that the volym buttons doesn´t work with iphone.
But on the other side, neither can Nuforce NE-700M.
The microphone works great, I skyped with my wife and she told me she heard me clearly.
I don´t have golden ears, but these pair of in-ear is good. I´m very satisfied.
 

 

[Supercritical]

For the price under $30 and full metal construction, the quality is on par if not, better than pretty much any earphones at this price point.

 

[wafflezz]

  Oh ****... this ain't the thing I wish to find right now D;

Don't stress it there are a lot of IEMs out there with value in mind. For me personally the etymotic ek5 was incredible. They no longer have em for 20$ but even at 30-35$...just outstanding. There's a lot of those hidden gems out there, probably some even better than my etys. They're out there...somewhere