Soundmagic
E10, intras to listen to in peace
Aprox. 29€ - see price -
This is certainly not a novelty that we offer you today, but a product which, due to its great popularity, was sorely lacking in our comparison of in-ear headphones. The famous SoundMagic E10 promise a sound that is both bass and detailed (a V-shaped signature, what), solid construction, comfortable wearing, all packed in an unbeatable price - in short, the recipe for success. But there is no coinage that fits on our test bench: what are the E10 really worth?
Our review
Ergonomics
The E10 are in-ear headphones reduced to their simplest expression: two chassis, a Y cable, a mini-jack. If the absence of remote control raised heated questions within our dear audio section (can we consider this absence as disabling, these days?), We finally decided not to sanction the product, but to warn the reader straight off.
So be warned: impossible to pause or play music, adjust the volume, navigate between tracks, and therefore ... no hands-free kit! It is therefore necessary to drop your portable music player / smartphone at each desired change, and obviously during a call. Note that for a few extra euros, you can get the E10C, identical model equipped with a remote control.
The chassis is made of metal, a very rare material in this price range where plastic is usually found. The cable sheath, on the other hand, is made of plastic, and recalls the texture of the Scoubidous - by the way, did you know that they were baptized after a song by Sacha Distel? Robust during the first uses and anti-tangles, we can not swear the durability of this sheath. Finally, the mini Jack is very well made, but, being not bent, also makes us fear poor resistance over time - particularly at the joint.
To protect them, do not hesitate to put them back in the small case provided for this purpose. Next to it, there are no less than 7 pairs of silicone eartips, including a biflange. Unfortunately there are no Comply tips, an absence which, given the cost, remains completely understandable.
Wearing the E10 is at first sight very comfortable, the intras sliding without any harm in our ears. After half an hour, on the other hand, it is another story: certain body types are tortured by a pressure point which does not inconvenience others in the least. Indeed, depending on the shape of your shell, the outer edge of the metal frame can start to press painfully against your cartilage. It is even possible that only one of your two ears is affected (this is the case for your servant). To find out, there is only one solution: try them!
Audio
In a calm environment (and without walking), the E10 offer a correct sound performance. The bass is deep, the midrange is intelligible and the treble, slightly behind, still enjoys a level of detail quite acceptable.
The distortion is excellent throughout the spectrum, outside of the classic peak around 1 kHz. We would then tend, in view of these two curves, to say that the E10s are balanced and clean ... Error, that's without taking into account the low reactivity of the membranes! They struggle to master the first half of the spectrum, generating bass which, despite a fairly precise attack, lingers. Symmetrically, this lack of precision considerably colors the mids and creates in the high mids a confusion which, when the musical content is frequently rich, blurs everything that is not mixed in the foreground (tablecloths, choruses, etc.).
In noisy and moving environment, the silicone tips unfortunately do not offer the support that we hope. The approximate blockage of the ear canals causes a real loss of bass and general sound level. We are then tempted to push the level, and patatras: the membranes panic and deliver a pinched sound, sometimes even garish. We then have two choices: reposition its intras every five minutes ... or buy memory foam tips!
Conclusion
If used seated and in a quiet environment, the Soundmagic E10s are very good value for money. On the other hand, on the roads, the absence of remote control and the silicone tips can constitute a real handicap. You can then turn to the E10Cs by adding a pair of shape memory tips.
Reviews
Great for the price!
Great headphones. I had the Sennheiser CX300-II buds prior to these as well as Sennheiser cans (HD 449) so I swore by Sennheiser. When my third pair of Sennheiser buds stopped working (the cans however, are still great after consistent use for 4 years), I decided to venture into another brand that was of a similar sound quality but more sturdy. Some brief research brought me to these, which I thought were a decent price and looked good. After a week of use, I am very impressed. The sound quality is superior to the Sennheisers, and these seem sturdier too with a very strong cable with a hard casing. The bass is rich, the mids are clear and the highs are pretty good too. These headphones are pretty well balanced; they aren't too bright and the low end isn't too thick either. For the price, the clarity is outstanding. Assuming they don't have any further issues, I am very impressed with this product.
Excellent
Excellent, great frequency response, but perhaps just around 12000 hz a bit bright. The bass is clean and faithfully represented, if your looking for "boom" look elsewhere. It does not take alot to drive them as they are efficient. I listen to classical quite a bit and find them very good for that purpose. A very good value.
They seem well-built but the sound quality is awful!
After reading the hype all over the place about these, I was at least expecting them to sound half-decent for 30 bucks. Well, they don't. Far from it, actually. I have an old pair of $ 15 Creative Labs earbuds here that completely destroy these in every possible way! As far as the more expensive sets I own, they don't even enter into the equation. Note that my comments were made after I played music through these for several days - I kept hoping that the sound would improve at least a bit after some burn-in but nope, they sound exactly the same.
First of all, you can try every tip they give you and I even tried some Comply tips but no matter what you do, these buds never feel like they're in your ears far enough, which gives everything a hollow sound. The bass is weak and completely unrefined with all bass notes sounding like they have the same pitch and the treble (especially cymbals) honestly sounds like kazoos on these things! And if you like to listen at loud volumes, forget it - these buds have absolutely NO sense of slam or power even when the volume is cranked and if you feed these a good 24-bit source, it's simply alarming just how awful they really sound .
Like I said, you can get IEM's for under 20 bucks that completely blow these out of the water so if sound quality is even of minor importance to you, avoid these !!!
Warm & Bassy. But Muddled without amp. Good design
Overall:
Upper-mid tier construction, disappointingly mid-tier sound.
Good:
Good construction
Wires are in a stiff and slick sort of plastic, makes it very hard to tangle.
Carrying Case is not bad.
Earbuds are marked Red / Blue for easy Right / Left
Silicone ear inserts fit well and isolate sound well, multiple sizes are included, too.
Bad:
"eh" audio quality. Better than terrible cheap headphones, but not "oh, that's nice" that I would have expected for this price.
I personally feel the bass and lows are strong, but make the overall sound muddled and very warm. Sort of like your stereotypical "hearing things underwater" effect, but much more subtle. The highs and mids are present, but not crystal clear. I listen to EDM, Drums and Bass, and Acapella / Acoustic vocal-heavy things, and I enjoy crisp mids and highs more than heavy bass.
I enjoy the following headphones and use them as a point of comparison
Logitech Ultimate Ears 500vi- a bit warmer / bassy, but not muddled, not terribly expensive. 600vi is very scratchy and not recommended.
ZERO AUDIO ZH-DX200-CT - cooler, less bassy, but it has oh-such-clear mid / highs, for only a few dollars more than this (2018)
AudioTechnica ATH-M50x - unfortunately full-sized headphones, but is my standard for quality sound.
Unknown:
I have not used them long enough to comment on durability.
January 2020 Edit:
I discovered there is a HUGE Improvement in sound quality when using an amp with these earphones. When using my Fiio Alpen 2 amp, the difference is night and day, unlike most comparisons with and without amp. With the amp, the mids gain some clarity, and the bass gains great depth and softness. However, even with the amp, the highs, though a bit crisper, are still obscured missing details ... perhaps they are lost to the bass boosting. After all, I need to crank the Bass to +10 to get nearly as warm a sound on my M50X's
And by "missing detail" I mean You can't hear as much detail in the, say, raspyness, or breathiness of vocals ... Or some of the smaller "sounds" the layered nature of EDM.
Great Sound Quality...Poor Construction Quality!
If you are looking for a pair of high volume, ear blasting ear drum splitting headphones, look elsewhere ...
If you are looking for a very musical sounding pair of headphones, these are exceptional for the price! Beautiful harmonies on vocals, flat smooth deep bass extension, great on orchestral works and a powerful soundstage.
Unfortunately I cannot recommend them as one ear went out about 3 months after I purchased them. And the thing is, I read the reviews back when I bought them in 2015 and decided to baby them knowing there were issues. I only listened at home and carefully stored them in a protective pouch.
I came back here to see if things had been fixed since I purchased them last, hoping they had been so I could purchase them again after things had been ironed out. Unfortunately it appears it has not, as many reviewers are complaining about this issue still. Therefore I cannot recommend them, and as much as I'd like to get another pair, I cannot purchase headphones at this price with only a 3 month shelf life.