City Lights In-Ear Earphones - Silver

Ok. So either you are an audiophile or you're not. Both will be pleased with these earbuds I think. I am going to go through my review with an overview first, cons next, and finally an overall wrap-up. So a little about me. I scavenge all over the internet to find quality items for bare bone prices. I don't care about "name brand" products like Nike, Bose, or Apple. If there is a good item for a bargain I will get it. Take a look at my other reviews to see what I mean... With that being said, I spent about a week looking on Craigslist, Ebay, and Amazon for a good pair of headphones. I had lost my Skullcandy headphones that I got on sale for $10; they were Ink'd w/ mic. I have also had in past experience, a Bose inear set that sounded great that a friend gave me. Side note: I don't consider myself a complete audio junkie who only listens to 320 kbps music using gold-plated, top-of-the-line Shure (or Ultimate Ears, etc...) fancy blah; but I do look for a good experience when listening to music. I chose these headphones over JBuds J2, Scosche IDR400M, fake Beats form China on Ebay, Skullcandy, or anything else mainly because of the good reviews in relation to the price and sound spectrum (frequency range). Initial reaction: When I first opened the package from the mail, I thought that the shape was kinda weird; similar looking to the Bose, actually. I wasn't sure what I thought about that, but I held my reservations. I opened the package, undid the coil, and stuck them into my iPod, and turned on the music. Here's what I discovered: Pros: * My first analysis was that the bass wasn't overpowering. I know that these are "ultra bass" and I am a heavy bass guy, but I don't want 50 Hz blasted in my ear so that I can't hear anything else. So I found the balance quite enjoyable. -This is not to say that everyone likes these levels; I am just saying that I find no fault in the balance * I listened to a range of music that included Derezzed from Tron, Dream is Collapsing from Inception, Changed Forever by TobyMac, The Real World by Owl City, Circus by Britney Spears, The Cave by Mumford and Sons, Untitled #3 by Sigur Rós, stuff from Vangelis, etc. SO I listened to about everything to get my opinion. * I found that nothing bled and sounded sh**y, or that a range was lacking. * I switched over to my computer, and turned the volume all the way up (not recommended). I did not notice any significant difference in balance, but I think the sound might have started to get muddled? I then turned it down as quietly as I could and still hear distinction between everything. I think the balance and clarity are both really good at this level. * They stay in your ears really well. No matter what I do, they are not coming out. Even while laying on them, but they are slightly uncomfortable if you do that. * This goes with the above, but the length is perfect; not too short (bad), and not too long (meh). Cons: * So let me address the issue of shape. It is weird, and when I first put them in, I tried to put them in backwards(!). After wearing them for about a minute, I decided that they were slightly uncomfortable to wear. Now, after two+ hours of use, I have decided that I was mistaken; I have to say they are pretty comfortable. I am sure there are a good number of people that don't like how they feel, but I don't have any trouble with them, yet. * I had to switch "squishy" size though; I guess my ears are too big for the mediums? This next thing is a BIG problem. The material used is not bad, I don't think, and it is better than those flimsy, cheap "squishys". BUT unless you want to spend half an hour trying to get a different size "squishy" on, I recommend sticking with the mediums. They are IMPOSSIBLE to get onto the speaker head. (If you should need to change sizes, flip them inside out and try that way) * The way they wrapped the cord in the packaging is just unacceptable. They made a tiny tight coil at the bottom to fit the non-display part. However, they wrapped the jack with it, and the number 1 problem with headphones is that the jack falls apart. LOOSEN UP ON THE WRAPPING!!!!!! * A kind-of con is that there isn't a mic. I would be willing to pay another dollar or two for an inline mic. I use that quite a bit with my iPod, Kindle Fire, and phone, and it seems that everyone is sticking it on, and making new functionality for them. * Sound isolation is not incredible; it's not bad, but there are people talking in the room adjacent to mine and I can still hear them pretty distinctly even while listening to music at a low level (the level for doing homework and studying) So after using them for all of 3ish hours, that is my review. Overall, I would give an 8 for style, an 8+ for comfortability, and a 10 for sound.