Phones for a phone

After being on the phone in a noisy KFC and barely hearing anything, I thought it was about time I got some cheaper earbuds exclusively for use with my phone.

Thing is, back when I got my NuForces, I had the option of getting the NE-7's instead of the NE-6's, which are the exact same phones except the 7's have a mic, while the 6's do not. At the time (last... October?), I thought I was just fine without an in-line mic, especially since I didn't have the phone I did now. The NE-6's were ten bucks cheaper with the same sound quality, so I got those. Finally I could walk around in public with earbuds in my ears instead of huge, full-sized $200 headphones on my head, something I'd only do in Japan where crime is like non-existant.

Now, my world has changed. I wanted a set of earbuds for my phone with a mic, and I wanted it to be relatively cheap. So, I ordered a pair of MEElectronics M9P's for $25 off Amazon (these are exactly the same as the M9's, except those don't come with a mic).

http://www.meelec.com/M9_Series_earphones_s/244.htm

They're a fairly bass-heavy set of canalphones. The mids I find are somewhat recessed. Highs were otherwise balanced fine, and there weren't any glaring sound quality problems there, making the sound signature look like a smily face... or an elongated fish hook, depending on how you look at it. It does shine in, predictably enough, techno and similar types of music, but the sound signature of these things make other types of music a bit uncontrolled. Listening to some K-On, it was like poor Yui Hirasawa was trying her best to sing over Mio's bass guitar and Ritsu's drums, with only mild success. I will note that male voices didn't really suffer (as much?) from this, though.

However, I'd really like to point out the type of bass you're getting with these things. I'm no basshead by a long shot, but these... these things let you know the bass is there - it kicks, it punches, it's powerful. But at the same time, it's not boomy or muddy - it's not like an earthquake is happening in your ear, and it still retains good clarity (relatively speaking). The bass is hit just so, and gives you punch without plowing through anything else going on in the music. Aside from the fact that I still would prefer the focus away from the bass, the presentation of the bass is great. If the balancing were better (at least, to my ears), these'd be awesome phones. Maybe I should experiment with the equalizer.

All in all, these are a good set of earbuds, and they're about as expensive as many sets you'll find on the shelves of some stores. Ordering them online, you might have to wait a bit to get them, but they're a pretty good pair to have around.