I have never considered writing an earbud review until now. And ironically, a highly favorable review, only after they broke! For the past several years I've tried more than my fair share of buds, and more recently Ive made my selections only after reading sufficiently favorable reviews here - too often being somewhat disappointed by fit and performance. So much that my conclusion has been that earbud listening seems to be a highly subjective experience, with one person's favorite buds being another's "meh" buds. So bear in mind that my own experience may differ - slightly or completely - from yours. On fit - a simple criterion to apply, and seemingly simply unachievable. I wanted earbuds that would, first and foremost, stay put while working out in the gym. I don't jog, and i have almost exclusively come to rely on strain relieving shirt clips to minimize the wires tugging on the buds from normal light jostling. Something about the shape of my ears - and ear sweating! - prevents all of them from sealing properly and staying put - at least for very long. Aftermarket special bud covers, ear clips, you name it, nothing seems to help that much. These have managed to stay put a little longer than any others. I credit their slightly angled shape for achieving this, but for those of you cursed with similarly uncooperative ears, adding a shirt clip goes a long way to stabilizing things. It's a shame very few bud manufacturers include these, so when I get hold of one (usually spotting one left on the gym floor) it's like gold to me. On Performance - nearly equally important, and this cheapskate wanted lower-priced buds that still sounded quite good. At one point I found some first generation Skullcandys that seemed very good, but then they broke (inevitably too soon with all buds!), and I then discovered that the new and improved versions actually sounded worse! I read some rave reviews about Sonys and Panasonics, but sure enough my impressions were MEH. Either too much/not enough bass, garbled or attenuated highs, lackluster midranges, in various combinations.I was beginning to suspect that my ears natural frequency sensitivity range needed to match the buds output for satisfaction. Fair enough, but did that mean I was going to be left to hunt and peck forever until I could randomly make that match? I still believed a flat-ish and wide frequency profile (again, at a cheap enough price :-)) would be the best approximation. I truly like hearing sounds from the entire range and and bothered by any portion being muffled. I listen to lots of trance with its enormous variation in synthesized sounds, with and without vocals. Some light and heavy rock, occasional new age stuff. Im fine with missing the sounds of fingers sliding along guitar strings and such. I accept that synthesized instruments lose lots of finer tonal subtlety right out of the shute. And soYES, these come closest to a decent overall sound so far! Not perfect, mind you, as I still hear the occasion tinkle that I suspect was meant to be a more complimentary instrumental. The bass doesnt punch at my eardrums, but I am satisfied with its poking. AND CHEAP!!! But then they BROKE!!!! Given they lasted nearly a year, I wasnt overly bothered. It was only then that I went back, tried some of my MEH backups and realized, yet again, how much better these were than the others in my pile. So I got to work, getting ready to buy replacements, but determined to diagnose the suddenly erratic connection and try my hand at a fix. I found, in this particular case, that the control buttons teensy little circuit board lost its solder connection to an even teensier wire. Luckily I have a variable heat range soldering iron with a sharp tip, a somewhat steady hand, and a cheapskates determination and FIXED IT! So happy now. I didnt know earbuds could uncover an emotional range in me as welli. I REALLY LIKE these buds. Ive decided to buy spares regardless, and even buy the slightly more expensive model to see if Audio Technicas sound still works for me up through its product range, with more satisfaction for more coin. If anyone would like more details on the other buds Ive tried, just comment back. Happy bud hunting!
