M-Audio IE10 Reference Earphones

Web Item #MDOIE10

This product can only be ordered by phone. Please call us at 866-SHIP-SDM (744-7736).

Overall User Ratings

Overall:: 9.4 out of 10
Quality:: 10 out of 10
The Wow Factor:: 10 out of 10
Ease of Use:: 10 out of 10

Features:: 8 out of 10
Value:: 10 out of 10
Sound:: 8 out of 10
Manufacturer Support:: 10 out of 10

User Reviews for M-Audio IE10 Reference Earphones

Overall:: 9 out of 10
Features:: 8 out of 10
Quality:: 10 out of 10
Value:: 10 out of 10
The Wow Factor:: 10 out of 10
Sound:: 8 out of 10
Ease of Use:: 10 out of 10
Manufacturer Support:: 10 out of 10

100% of users found this reviews helpful (2 votes).

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By a customer from lycos.co.uk

Submitted: 2/16/2007

Style of Music: Rocky-Funky-Heavy stuff

Experience: Active Musician and Music/Theatre Sound Techie

"Ultimate Ears monitors, ultimate beginners price"

Sound:

As these monitors are made by Ultimate Ears (providers of custom IEMs for Metallica and Joss Stone amongest many others) you can imagine I had really high expectations for such a cheap product. After 2 months of use I can say WOW!, now my ears don't ring from either my drums, or having to put my monitors at full volume to out-blast the drums. OK, so they are a little lacking in the bass area due to the single driver, but I figured (correctly) that I could just bump my bass EQ and save money from buying the more expensive IE models. Also, I have finally found monitors that I can wear during recording that don't let the click track spill into the overhead mic's during quiet parts of songs!

Feature:

As my ears are a 'medium' I didn't need to change the tips, but there are every size and style you'd want (unless you fancy do-it-yourself custom moulds!). The cleaning tool is useful, but unlike the higher-end models, you don't get a bomb-proof case or the adapters (although mine did have the adapters inside, so you may get lucky too!) which sucks a little when you remember you have spent around $100 for them.

Ease of Use:

They come with a manual that is clear and easy to understand, but a quick trip to the Ultimate Ears website (under UE Videos) will show you pictures and instructions of how to make them less 'obvious' in your ears (not many pro's would go on stage with two rectangles sticking out of their ears!). A nice feature to also report is that as a very tall person, the cable is long enough to reach from my ears to my waist comfortably! Two bits of advice - 1) They don't need to be shoved into your ears as far as you'd think and 2) Equalising the pressure in your ears (hold your nose, close your mouth and 'blow') once they are in helps make them sound better (especially if you are wearing them whilst travelling)

Quality:

They seem really robust, the cable and connectors are nice and chunky for a replaceable item. If you buy the clear ones, you get the added bonus of seeing how really freaking cool the wire in the middle of the cable looks. What is more, 2-year guarantee (at time of writing, except for the funky cable, but that is user replaceable)

Manufacturer Support:

The web registration is really simple to set up, and the user guide contains contact numbers for all of the locations that any decerning touring artist will be!

Value:

Small, comfortable, sound great, don't fall out, 2-year warrenty, all for $100 (with change!). You'd be silly not to!

The Wow Factor:

I have the clear ones, which win on the overall 'sexiness' stakes compared to white (snore!) and black (zzzzzzzzzzz). As a product, once you find the alternate method of wearing them (see 'Ease of Use') people would think you were wearing really expensive monitors (cheap normally means 'large things sticking out of the ears' right?) and heck, you'll be thinking it with the sound quality! I guess, as someone who has always wanted 'pro' gear on a budget, these are my dream gadget.

Overall:

So yeah, you might not get all the add-ons of the IE-30's or 20 XB's, and you may have to make allowences with the EQ for the single driver, but apart from that it is really difficult to fault these. They offer all the features you want at a price that is difficult to match. I LOVE them (I have started to use them as mp3 player headphones for long journeys on public transport) and will probably never upgrade them for the more expensive models (until I can afford the custom Ultimate Ears ones!)