MEE Audio Matrix2 Stereo BT Over-The-Ear Headphones

A little background to help anyone looking to get killer headphones. I needed a new pair of high end headphones! I had just upgraded my Jambox, to the Big Jambox, and was so impressed with the sound upgrade, that I now needed another upgrade. I had to have the ability to have great sound when it was not appropriate to blow out my family and neighbors, especially if it was too late at night, or otherwise not a good time. I started going through reviews on everything out there. I think giving a little background on the reasoning of my research, may help some people with their decisions. I have previously purchased, over the last few years, some of the best stuff from Sennheiser, Sony and Bose. Like everything in technology, there are marginal increases over time, and although I had previously owned noise canceling technology (great for air travel) on both the Sony and I believe the Bose, maybe even on the Sennheisers too, there was a lot of new headphones out, they were getting better by leaps and bounds, and there were many conflicting opinions, and reviews. What caught my eye (ear? - LOL) first was the best companies had upped their game on bluetooth headphones, which I just really like, especially when it is not going to kill the sound of your investment. Newer versions of Bluetooth, with more solid connectivity, more convenience, better sound quality and control, etc., all added a new factor. I had bluetooth headphones before, but they were simply adequate. I was lucky that I never really got anything terrible with headphones. (I did have much more dramatic swings in quality with earbuds - some were horrible, some were really good, but nobody was bashful for charging top dollar for "studio quality" earphones, and I wasted plenty of money on stuff that was just OK) I planned on spending no more then $300, but would have spent a little more, if something was going to blow me away. I would rather go to $325, or $350, as opposed to burning up $280 for something not worth it. Where to start? I had heard a lot of good things about Beats. I thought there might be a premium for the name, but that was OK if the sound was going to blow me away. I also looked into the Soul, by Ludacris, line. I like all kinds of music. I like Hip Hop & Rap, but I also like Zeppelin, the Who, The Stones - then, just as an example, you can add in in Linkin Park, where you have real metal, but rap vocals on some of their best stuff, and then you can find awesome tracks by Run DMC, which is real Old School rap, but with real rock sampling brilliantly in the mix. My research was starting to point to the fact that some of the best headphones, like Beats and Soul, are absolutely great products, but pretty much targeted to a style of music, like hard driving bass tracks. I was also finding that if you went down that path, with headphones that could faithfully reproduce that pounding bass line, you were probably going to have a trade-off with the midrange, and high end, sound. So, this all made sense, but if you stick to one type of music, you were done, and could just buy the heavy base driving models. For me, this meant buying different headphones for different music, or finding something that might be a slight sacrifice, on pounding bass, but would have excellent sound and range, throughout the highs and lows. So, surprisingly, I ran into this brand, MEElectronics, that had many different styles, starting at $50, then some between there to $100, and then some a little higher, but they had a comparison chart of the differences, on three of their popular models, including how long their charges last, etc. and the type of bluetooth each type used, as well as some really advanced tech. On top of this, they were getting rave reviews! Honestly, I was going to buy their Air Fi Runaway model, which were so reasonably priced, and had bluetooth too, I figured that I could buy another pair, from another company, just for heavy bass tracks. I could not believe the reviews and the price. You can easily go into the $300 plus range, and this company had entry level headphones getting the same great reviews at a fraction of the price! Nobody was claiming these were the best ever made, but almost everyone was really happy happy with the sound. I started checking the specs on their different models, and found the Matrix2 was perfect for me. Hi-tech bluetooth, came with a hard case, and had NFC, aptX, they had a built in microphone, if you were to use them with an iPhone, or Android phone, and get this - 22 HOURS OF PLAYBACK!!! (i found, in my search, headphones that were rated great for sound, but only had 3 or 4 hours of playback). On top of all the cutting edge tech, these Matrix2 were rated as extremely comfortable, and the had a carbon fiber finish! For a quick, but important analogy, when all of the "three-in-one printers," first came out (and now they have been perfected - you can get color laser 3-in-1 printers with multiple trays, doc feeders, and collators!) they original required a pretty big trade off some quality, for convenience. Now, these Matrix2 models had everything I wanted, plus more, for a third of the price of the top of the line headphones! But as I said before, these are so jam packed with features, I was ready for a little trade off, and didn't care if I traded off a little quality. As I said, they were so reasonable, I could just get another pair, if the sacrifice was too much. Plus, I would find a use for these, no matter what. I honestly had trouble believing that these could sound as good as everyone was saying, and have the ability to take a call and work with my phone WITH the added convenience of bluetooth too! I don't want to be repetitive, but they seemed too good to be true, and even if they were priced a lot higher, I still would have expected some level of trade off. Well, they arrived, the setup was quick and easy, I connected the USB charger to top off the charge, and then proceeded to pair them in under 10 second. The real test was here. I put them on, picked a track, and was blown away. The sound was absolutely amazing! I would not hesitate to buy any of this company's stuff, and probably will add more of it. Now if you really like style, the less expensive (half the price!) Air Fi Runaway are "on the ear," not "over the ear," but arguably are a little more stylish, but have a few less features. I like both types for different reasons, but I am thrilled with the Matrix2 model I purchased first. One important test, especially with bluetooth, is either a silent part of a recording, or a part that has a clean solo track, or even something with acoustic instruments. it passed this test easily. Next, you want to see if you get the promised audio range - clear & clean bass, midrange and highs. Again, awesome range. Not pounding base, but crystal clear. Then the most important test (IMHO) is distortion, but remember, you have distorting coming from you source recording, and your equipment. It is actually amazing the quality you can get from a compressed file, like an mp3. And the quality you can get out of a laptop, or a smartphone, is pretty amazing. People spend over $100,000 (and can spend a lot more then that) for a turntable and high end amp (with extremely low distortion, called THD, or "third harmonic distortion," which is one of the most critical specs) you can have a 200 watt/channel amp/receiver with high distortion, and it will get smoked by a 20 watt/channel unit with low distortion). My only point is when you test any sound reproduction system, like speakers, ear-buds, and headphones, you have to take into consideration what you are driving it with. Many audiophiles think that CD's ruin well mastered Vinyl. There is a difference in warmth, but we are all accustomed to it. If you search the web you can find High Definition Music tracks, some free as to demo the lossless files ( a big step up from mp3). You will be seeing HiDef Music being sold online very shortly. This is not my guesswork, it is already being made ready. One of the big guys is already about to add the HiDef tracks to their online store, for about $1 more. Amazon has to be on it to, and may beat them to the punch. Will it be worth the extra money? We will see, but for now, you can test you new headphones, or current speakers, earbuds, or whatever, right now, by finding sample Hi Def tracks for free. If you could go back in time just 30 years ago, and tell someone that their big clunky phone, that sat on their table, would, in the future, fit in their pocket, thinner then a pack of cigarettes, with a TV screen for movies, and their favorite shows, a full Stereo system w/5,000 tracks, and a tiny computer (which just a few year before required an entire extra huge room, so large it would only be at a business, because it wouldn't fit in a house, or apartment, and did less then today's laptops) they would have thought you were nuts. Which leads to what the heck will we have 30 years from now? Back to the headphones. They are crystal clear, their range is as good as I have ever heard, and it is incredible to see a company making a great product, and selling it for a fair price. Today, most businesses "price test" the market, which is basically seeing what their competitors are selling of equal quality, and seeing how far they can push the pricing. These guys just make a damn good product, and sell it for an unusually great price. And they are by no means cheaply made. The fit, and finish, is as good as any other headphones I have seen. Maybe some $300 plus ones are made better? Maybe, but these guys didn't cut any corners, and I don't think they would have any problem if I dropped them. I am not trying any drop testing - I like them too much! Good Luck!