Top positive review
3 people found this helpful
Unbelievable Cost Effectiveness
By Greg Evangelista on Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2011
Just as some background information, I do consider myself to be a quasi-audiophile. My usual points of comparison when it comes to sound quality are the Grado Sr325is, Beyerdynamic Dt 990 80 Ohm, AKG K272HD, and Shure SE210. For this review I've been using a Cowon J3 with Meier Corda XXS with all tracks in FLAC format or 320 mp3. The first point I'd like to make about these particular IEMs is that they are very surprising at first listen. They simply do not sound like a $30 product (in a good way). Overall sound clarity is very good. The entire sound spectrum is represented well, and separation between instruments is more than acceptable. These monitors have a very distinctively dynamic driver type sound to them, in the fact that they are warm and punchy, but a bit "slow" in their reproduction. I've noticed that any potential muddiness in the low end is highly affected by the recording. A recording where the low end is muddy will not be cleaned up by these monitors, yet well recorded music benefits from the low end response the CW31 provides. Mids are a little recessed, and are sometimes overshadowed by the low end, but I would sooner attribute this to the type of house sound MEE is going for as opposed to being any sort of shortcoming. Treble is competant, though to my ears (which are used to the sharp treble of the 325is) its not very prominent. Altogether, these monitors provide a warm sound which does not contribute to any listener fatigue, and is pleasant, clear, and adaptable. Compared to any sub $30 "monitors" by consumer brands, these simply outperform any expectations the average customer may have. Nothing sold at Best Buy for this amount of money will come anywhere close. For the more discerning listener, these monitors will surprise you, I guarantee it. Do they sound as good as a lot of the really expensive stuff we tend to buy? (looking at you Head-Fi) No, not quite, but its a matter of getting 75% of the performance for 20% of the price. The CW31 is very comfortable for extended listening. The provided tips are more than adequate, although some folks may want aftermarket foams (such as Comply) as these only come with silicone tips. As for the silicone tips, I've found that the triple flange tips provide the best isolation and sound. Microphonics are not really an issue, which is nice. The cord is an impressive teflon coated thing, which only adds to the surprising build quality for the price. In conclusion, I am supremely impressed with what you get for the money with these monitors. Such a bargain would have been unheard of a few years back. If you're the person currently looking at sony "monitors" in this price range, stop now and buy these. For those of you that are used to hi-fi material, I would advise buying these just for the fun of seeing just what $30 can get you nowadays. They don't need an amp (and dont really benefit too much from one), and you can throw them into your Cowon or Fuze+ and shove the whole mess in your pocket for the day, not worrying about the cost. You just cant do that with an expensive set of IEMs. Finally, I don't really buy they whole burn-in thing, but others have said these benefit from it. Take that however you will.
Top critical review
Great sound, not so great durability
By J. Beck on Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2013
I'm not some fancy audiophile so I'm sure my plebeian ears are missing out on something, but these headphones sound pretty nice. The bass is not too high, which it seems like every other earbud manufacturer goes nuts on, so I liked that a lot. A lot of music that sounded like crap on my older JBL Marshmallows sounds a lot better now, especially vocals. The cable is very nice and durable feeling, plus it doesn't get all tangled up as easily as some other headphone cables I've had. It comes with a great set of the rubber ear pieces, more than most seem to. I'm not sure how replacement ear pieces would work since it has a sort of oval adapter that they snap onto - it might deform them. It also comes with a nice little case that you can fit your headphones + the extra ear pieces in. Unfortunately, after only about a week of use the wooden part is separating from the plastic base that holds the rubber ear piece on the right ear. It's hard to tell if the manufacturer glued them together and chose lousy glue, or if it's supposed to clip in and there's some sort of manufacturing defect. I babied the heck out of these things too - usually I am not nice to electronics but I took special care to always put them away in their case when I was done with them and to treat them carefully. They still play, but the plastic part seems to rotate freely around the wood - the left side doesn't do that so I assume they both shouldn't. I am pretty disappointed, for $25 I would've liked some modicum of build quality. The manufacturer does offer a warranty, but I'd rather the thing stay together out of the box - as it is I have to choose between gluing it back together myself or RMAing and waiting a week using my old half-broken headphones. Besides, if they did this the first time (and other reviews indicate I'm not the first person with this issue), why would I expect them to get it right the second? I don't really see any change the manufacturer could make to improve this that I can't do on my own. Update: I want to be fair here, so I'll note that the issue was pretty trivial to fix with some glue and a few minutes of my time. Just make sure you use glue designed for both wood & plastic, and be really careful about how you orient the plastic piece relative to the wood piece when you're setting it. Sound quality is still great, of course.
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