M6 PRO (Clear)

6-month EDIT: Still great sound quality and durability. Due to personal issues with fit, and other minor details, I'd alter my rating to *4.5*.I've grown to really like the sound from these. I'm happy to use them for casual mixing (with caveats) when I don't want to use headphones, and I'm impressed with the build and ruggedness. They make me want to listen to music for the fun of it, and that's something. The isolation is hilariously good if you get a good fit, almost as good as putting in foam earplugs, even though you don't stuff these into the ear canal.Sonically, even with a 5mm driver the sound is impressive, with good detail up top and with the low bass tending towards "fun" rather than accurate. Personally I like that for the price, it makes audio exciting, makes this more of an all-rounder. That bass doesn't muddy the low mids - it's just a bit of supplementation to support the rest of the sound. The high mids are good for music but a little too prominent for speech, leading sometimes to more sibilance than I'd like around 6kHz. But that's the only thing I'd want changing, sound-wise, and it doesn't actually bother me on music. If you don't like the bass here, it's pretty easy to EQ it down on most smartphones by about 2dB, without artefacts.Not at all a super wide soundstage like you get with a Campfire Audio earphones, but they would cost 20 times the price of this. I like the immediacy of this set. If I want soundstage, I'll go for listening with open-back headphones.Build is solid with plenty of accessories; good carry case, two cables (one with mic), plenty of silicone tips (inc. large and small triple flanges) and one set of foam earphones as well. That second cable with a mic is great in case one cable breaks (seems unlikely), and it doesn't affect the sound quality at all. However, the mic quality is poor, very muffled, so I'd save it for short calls when you're not in noisy environment. I keep that cable on purely for the play/pause button - or assistant if you wish. Cables are really nice and strong, but there's a fair bit of cable noise. Strangely though you get used to this, and there's an included clip which might help.Comfort-wise, they took a bit of getting used to. The cables are detachable - though they aid the noise isolation by creating the seal, so keep them attached for best isolation. The memory wire works with a metal wire encased with the cabling for about 8cm from the earphone. Because of this, the wire's profile is larger and slightly stretched, and can get in the way of larger glasses' stalks. It takes some days of getting used to but it's worth the experimentation. They also help to relieve stress on the earphone if they get yanked out accidentally, and when running, they do keep the earphones on the ear rather than falling to the ground.But the fit is still really incumbent on the main module fitting well, and with my small ears, I've found that even when walking, they come loose sooner than I want, regardless of tips used (maybe I should get some custom ones). If I put on a sprint, they'll be loose very quickly, and you lose all the bass if the fit is off. But that's just my ears, you might honestly find them perfect running partners. When I'm not moving around they stay in place well. Not headphone-well, but enough that it doesn't bother me.For sure though, they're not the best for side-sleepers listening at night. They're a fair bit larger than, say, Apple's old earphones, which for all their faults are probably my pick for that use case, with their very flat profile.A few misconceptions:1. These are noise isolating, but not noise cancelling. Don't expect the sudden eerie quiet you get from a Bose QuietComfort or Sony WH-1000 series when you turn those on. However, the isolation is so good that I have trouble understanding the person speaking next to me even indoors, especially with the Comply foam tips used. From reading tech reviews, these apparently isolate nearly as well as Shure earphones, which have the best isolation around. No reason to doubt this.2. These aren't for high-level mixing. Reference sound quality is never this inexpensive. They would work well for monitoring audio on location, because they isolate so well, and the bass boost will compensate for the bass frequencies from the environment which are impossible to isolate out. I've also used these on stage but I don't recommend that. The isolation is just too good you can't make out anything else properly. I ended up taking them off on that occasion.Overall then, for earphones with wires going over the ear, these are probably the best value around. I got the clear pair for £35. Expect a solid build and good sound quality, and be prepared to spend some time getting the right fit for your ears. If you want something better, you'll probably need to spend more. I've enjoyed having these beside my AKG K702, Bose QC25, SoundMAGIC E30, and Earpods. All very different, all useful. The M6 PRO 2nd are the best all-rounders of them all!

Noise cancellation -Great fit and feel. Highly recommend the memory foam ear tips they come with as they offer the highest range of noise cancellation.Sound quality -Probably will be the main bulk of this review. These are fantastic IEMs. The quality is rich, the bass is pronounced and well rounded, not boomy or loud.Mids are pronounced and rich. They are a little peaky towards the higher mids and required pulling back, could have been just my pair but after the one small tweak they have been perfectTop end -I did have to round mine off for my personal preference but the top end and brilliance is incredible. They are so clear and crisp so if your ear is lacking in top end, these can certainly make up for it.Comfort-These are so Comfortable with little to no ear fatigue. I wear them 6-7 hours a day at my desk for both work and gaming and then for another 1.5 hours at the gym.Inside the gym they do not move from ear and offer a solid grip and feel. The isolation is fantastic with no external bleed to upset anyone near by but also don't let any external noise in.Overall -These earphones offer quality and value for money. They are a great starting point if you want to get into IEMs but also a brilliant point of quality for price. No one should hesitate buying these.

Caveat: I’m used to listening over Sennheiser headphones that cost more than 10 times the price of these, so I’m spoiled as hell.External sound isolation is good! I’m listening to music over them at the moment and I can’t hear myself snapping my fingers literally inches from my ears. The initial questionnaire for this review asked for my rating on noise cancellation, these aren’t noise cancelling units, that’s a technology that people often get mixed up with sound isolation but they’re aren’t one and the same.These aren’t a hifi product. The sound of these units is definitely scooped, with, what I consider, an overly assertive presence (upper mid/lower treble) region. Bass response is nothing short of impressive for such small diaphragms and I’ll be using these as IEMs for gigs on bass guitar, so that’s just as well. I wouldn’t describe the sound as smooth or refined in any way, but neither is it so nasty as to fatigue my ears in the few hours I’ve been using them. They’ll almost certainly burn in and improve over time, however. I guess the bottom line is that they’ll give a better monitoring experience than most floor wedges, if used correctly.They’re well accessorised and look well built, but only time will tell.I can’t gush about these IEMs, but I can say that they’re totally useable for my purposes and I would imagine they would be for many other individuals. If I take on a lot more work where IEMs are needed I’ll almost certainly graduate to something better. However, for the few gigs I’ve currently got in the book that demand IEMs, these will be fine. At sub £40 they’re almost disposable, so, in reality, I’m very pleased with my purchase. If I was judging them purely on sound quality, I’d probably give them 2.5 or 3 out of 5 stars at best, but given the price point I’ll happily go higher. These were a personal recommendation from a fellow working musician and that recommendation is deserved. If you need spare IEMs, need IEMs for occasional use (like me), or are looking to try the idea out without spending silly amounts of money, you need look no further.

They sound fine and are comfortable to wear but the left earbud has stopped working after just 2 months of having them. Tried different cables but it still doesn't work. I always keep them in the provided case too 😕