I respect those folks who are willing to spend $200 or more for earbuds or earphones, but they're not me. I wear earbuds in the gym, often when walking. What I'm looking for is 1) decent sound even if not audiophile level, 2) durability, particularly of the wires, which are the usual failure point, 3) comfort and staying in my ears, 4) reasonable price.
These earbuds seem to meet all my criteria so far, in my having used them for a week. I'm using them to replace some by a brand that one sees a lot, begins with S and has a C further on in the name. 1) The sound is definitely better, I'm hearing things in music I didn't before. 2) The wires have a rubberized coating that makes me think they're going to be durable, 3) They fit my ears fine right out of the package, but there is a good variety of other pads if one needs a different fit, and 4) I consider this price reasonable. If they wear out or I lose them in a couple of years, I'll be sad but not bankrupt.
The wood is an interesting feature. It may just be for appearance, but maybe it's somehow connected with the sound being pretty balanced and even. Neither treble nor bass seems either weak or exaggerated. I listen to rock, other times to classical, and I'm not hearing distortion. I also don't notice "microphonics"--when the wires rub my shirt, I don't hear it in the buds.
This comes with a cute little bag. I find I can wrap these up on a couple of fingers and put them in the bag, later extricate them with essentially no tangling.
Overall Tl;Dr clever design leads to descent sound quality rivaling name brands. Solid bang for the buck. It's worth it, especially considering the responsibility claims people have made. If your ears are super sensitive, move on.
Well where to start, how about the build quality?
The build quality feels solid, the rubber is of a higher grade then standard wire insulation, which is a standard practice used to help extend durability for thouse who care about such a thing.
The wood far as I can tell is eitheir a birch or a bamboo, their shapped and carved by machienes based by the uniformity.
Wood helps add warmth to a sound signature and helps extend bass frequency. A good choice of build material for sound chamber quality, also not very expensive, it has a descent unitormic stain.
Which leads me to believe it might've been dipped and air brushed to remove excess.
The metal band that reinforce the housing into a uniformic design to a point the angle is off center so it extends at roughly a 45 degrees angle coming from the ear, which leads to wireto lead down the jawline.
Due to how this design (in ear plugs) can brush against a beard if you have one which can resonate to your ears without music or the noise from you typing on your phone.
The terminal where the wires meet into the back of the rear chamber have a thick gauge plastic sheathing around it into a metal terminal that's at the halfway point of the rear chamber of the earplug which in it's helps mitigate wire fraying froming being pulled out improperly. I'm pulling them out by the wire itself.
The very end of the Chambers have a open back which helps extend the sound stage a bit and gives the bass breathing room.
Overall the build is extremely well though out the price. Color me impressed, also I can be a little rough on headphones
So far so good, but it's only been a day. So take that what it's worth
Sound quality is descent, bass (lows) are clear rather then focousing on umph or sheer drops, it's enough to suit most needs adaquetely enough. The highs srr clear enough due to the open back not turning them back into the drivers themselfs. Mids are so so, their not terrible but for things like vocals or etc you may want to turn elsewhere to iems spefically if your keen on vocal clarity. It's passible, but on the lower end of passible. This is probably more of a charteristic of the wood rather then the speaker/driver itself. It makes it ever so slightly ringy, but only truly noticeable if your listening to someone talk rather then sing. It may even be down to the wire thickness, I'm not willing to tear mine apart to figure that out though.
Durability
I think these things will be fairly tough based on the material as long as the glue hold. Now at first the metal band holding the Chambers together charged my ears a hair, pasicfically the area that comes up from above my earlobe, it eases away in time though.
overall
I'd feel comfortable recommending this to people for the price, solid engineering. Clever tackling of the most common issues and respectable customer service. This is a way to establish a brand and I think these folks got it
2nd UPDATE:
Was contacted by the Symphonized company but the message went to spam, just saw it today, but they did respond promptly to my initial request. They are shipping a replacement. Great customer service and great headphones!
UPDATE:
I've had these earbuds for 3 months and the microphone/volume control attachment has stopped working altogether, without cause or warning. I e-mailed customer service for a replacement (I also purchased the warranty, so it shouldn't be an issue). I'll update my review upon completion of an exchange.
OLD REVIEW:
I have sensitive ears or something because anything earplug-like tends to hurt my ears. These are no different. However! They are the only earbuds I've found over years of trial and error that don't constantly fall out of my ears. Five stars on that alone. Plus they sound great. They come with a bunch of different rubbery covers so I'm still trying to figure out which ones won't aggravate my ears, but I won't dock stars for that. I'm glad I got these.
I was a bit weary at first considering I had been using the urBeats by Dre for almost two years. When I originally bought the urBeats I had purchased the two year warranty with them so when one of the buds quit working a few months ago I put in to get a replacement. I ended up getting a one hundred dollar check to replace them. This got me thinking though, "Do I really want to spend $100 on another pair of headphones?" So before I purchased the urbeats again I started looking around to see if there was anything comparable on Amazon and I came across these. I read quite a few reviews on them and I decided to go for it. For the price of these headphones, they are absolutely great. The sound quality is fantastic, although I did notice a little bit of a difference between them and the urBeats, but of course they're two different brands of headphones and will not sound the exact same. The sound is still very rich in these and they really do help cancel out a lot of noise. When I'm studying in a louder area I will put these in and turn on white noise (it really helps) to a low volume and I can't hear a thing. As for the wire tapping that a few people complain about its really not that bad. The headphones do include a clip that will help keep the cord more stationary but as I said, it's really not bad at all. Great product for the price!
I have owned these earbuds for over a year now, and overall they have served me well. I love the sound and the bass, and I've never gotten any complaints about the microphone. They have always felt weird and heavy in my ears, but maybe that's just me. Within the past month, the sound has started to cut out intermittently while I listen, only for a millisecond at a time, but it gets annoying when listening to music or an audiobook. Adjusting the connection and wiggling the cord around helps minimize this a little. The rubber around the cord, especially around the connection to the earbuds has started to break down. I'll be honest, I haven't been overly careful with them. I often throw them into the bottom of my purse or backpack and haphazardly wrap them up when I'm finished. But I was hoping to get at least another year of use out of them, but I don't know how much longer I can stand the cutting out. I'm already shopping around for a new pair.
Feature Product
- HANDCRAFTED FROM ALL-NATURAL GENUINE WOOD: Our earphones produce crisp, powerful acoustics and deep bass, tapping into the natural acoustical qualities found in wood. Receive studio tuned, premium sound with crystal clear clarity- an experience exclusively delivered by Symphonized
- UNIQUE COMFORT FIT IN EAR DESIGN: Custom silicone ear tips available in three sizes (S/M/L) create noise isolation to reduce ambient noise for an incomparable audio experience; ensure the perfect fit for maximum noise isolation and comfort during long term wear
- USER-FRIENDLY! EASY TO USE: Deluxe features including volume control, pause/play capabilities, answer/end call function, Voice Control, and a smart inline microphone give you complete control over your listening experience, all while ensuring you never have to fumble around for your device.
- STYLE FOR EVERYONE: These ear buds offer something for everyone, available in 6 different color options with a sleek, fashionable dual toned tangle-free TPE cable; The NRG 3.0 is where durability, practicality, necessity, convenience and style meet
- COMPATABILITY: With luxury design and top notch sound quality, Symphonized earbuds are compatible with the latest generations of your favorite devices: iPod, iPhone, iPad, Android, tablets, mp3 players and others with a standard 3.5mm audio jack
Description
With its unique acoustical properties, wood provides the best sound reproduction there is, which is why most high-end speakers and many musical instruments are made of wood, not to mention the interiors of concert halls. And that's where you'll feel you are when you listen to your favorite audio devices with Symphonized natural wood headphones, with neodymium magnets providing enough power to bring out top-quality acoustics, surrounding you with energizing, high- fidelity sound as if you're right there at a live show. With their superior strength and durability, excellent noise isolation, distortion-free volume levels and deep base, Symphonized headphones are perfect for iPhones, iPods and iPads, mp3 players, CD players and more. Choose Symphonized natural wood headphones for your listening pleasure, and we're sure you'll never go back to plastic.
I was skeptical about "real wood" earbuds at such a price. I thought it'd be just a cheap gimmick, and that the drivers would be absolutely horrible to offset the cost of said gimmick.
However I was extremely wrong. Not the loudest little earbuds, but they can hit a great majority of sound ranges, and while they are a little bass-driven to begin with, you can easily tune it out on your phone/computer to make the experience much better. Also, it's been quite a while (in earbud time) and I haven't managed to break the cord yet... not for lack of trying though mind you; I've ran over it with my chair a couple dozen times by now.
Overall, very satisfied, and would recommend to anyone at the price, or on sale.
I'm hard on headphones, plain and simple. I'm used to purchasing a new pair every 6 months for one reason or another. One reason is simply, they don't perform the way I want, sound wise. I ride public transit and use my earbuds daily for extened times during my commute on buses and trains. So after reading a lot of reviews, I decided on this set of ear buds. I wasn't sure of what to expect.
When I received them I was discouraged. The wires were thin (thinner than the earbuds that came with my phone) and I was a little sceptical about how they would perform. Other than that the build was solid. Then I tested them and was pleasantly surprised by how good they sounded. My only thought was that I was in the quiet of my home. So how will these perform on a normal day of commuting.
Monday comes and it's time to test them out. I was blown away. These ear buds completely blocked out all ambient noise when music plays and leaves you with clear, crisp sound. With some fine tuning on my equalizer, you would think you were using something that costs 3 to 4 times a much, and that they were over the ear. Every range in my music is captured and produced through these ear buds, including the low bass tones. It's absolutely incredible.
I am writing this review on my commute during the noisiest part of being on BART and all I hear is Jay-Z "Bam" and the heavy 808s and hi-hats that resonate through the track.
Throughly impressed! Great fit (lots of choices to find the right fit; 6 sets), sound, and price. Will be brand loyal from here on!
Amazing sound! this is my 5th Earbuds in 4 years. That's the only brand I buy now. I just bought their bluetooth Noise consolation earbuds and it's on the way. I will wright a review about them once I get them.
I do use the heck out of them. I wear in under my motorcycle hemet! They fit great under the helmet, they reduce the noise when they are off, and they sound great when they are on.
This is an update to my original review, which was negative.
I received an email from Symphonized's customer service asking me how I liked them. I responded honestly that I did not like them at all because they sounded tinny. Their response was that they were probably a defective pair and would send me out a replacement, which they promptly did. I have now received that replacement and yes, they sound so much better! I cannot call myself an audiophile, but things are sounding good, especially for the price of these earbuds. I would buy another pair--my only hesitation would be fear of getting another defective pair and having to wait to get a replacement.
So, I am taking off a star because not only my experience, but in the reviews here I see that others have complained about poor quality of the earbuds they have received. There must be something going on with their quality control. But it is good to know that they work to correct the problem.
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ORIGINAL 2 star review: I am very disappointed in these earbuds. I was expecting a lot better sound than what I got. It is extremely thin sounding. I can see using them for podcasts but not for listening to music. A waste of my money.
I am extremely impressed with the durability of the product, the superb sound and microphone quality as well as this being the most comfortable earbud I've ever owned. I've definitely put these through some punishment in the gym and at home over the 3 months that I've owned them and I've managed to break free a plastic sleeve on the left side that supports the wire going into the earbud - I snagged it on a piece of equipment in the gym but audio quality has not been affected. I occasionally use these when using video messaging apps and whomever I am talking to on the other end has never had an issue with the sound quality they receive from my end. I'll definitely be replacing these with another of the same when that time comes.....if it comes at all.
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