MEElectronics M9 Hi-Fi Sound Isolating Headphones

I bought these to replace a pair of Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 3 in-ear 'phones, which, despite sounding great, barely lasted a year before their second set of cables gave up the ghost. These are smaller, lighter and have a less rigid cable which seems less likely to die on me; they are comfortable - perhaps more so than thte Ultimate Ears, which protruded rather too far for my liking - and I can happily wear them for extended periods. The disappointment must, however, lie with the sound, which is greatly inferior. It is very bass heavy and the treble sounds flat and recessed, a real problem with vocal music as voices get lost behind great stodgy lumps of low-end sound, even after running-in for at least 24 hours. As a result, I listen to them much less than the Ultimate Ears.

These are simply excellent value. The build quality is impressive (much better than flimsy CX300-ii) and the sound is also great. Plenty of supplied tips, very happy with this purchase.

Also looked at CX300-ii and PL21, I made the right decision on these.
I choose deliberately to listen to these right out of the box in the interest of testing the initial SQ. Like a couple other negative reviews I too thought I had a stereo balance problem with one earphone being louder than the other. However this problem disappeared within 2 hours. Another 30+ hours on and off burn-in now reflect in this 5 star review.

The difference the Meelec M9 has between my old Sennheiser CX500 and MDR-EX71SL is night and day. At £17.99 they are the best value I.e.m you can buy today.

You only get three cons with the M9 depending on how you look at them. The first is that they are far more fit dependant than my older CX500 and EX71. Because of the better sound dynamics you can only hear when sitting in a quiet room and paying attention to the sound, will the fit be an issue. Otherwise, out and about, you can't tell the difference. I have small ears and so I've always had to use the smallest tips on every I.e.m I've ever owned. The M9 are the biggest I.e.m I've ever had in that respect and the increased bulk did take some getting used too, yet I can still sleep on them with careful placement so SQ isn't nulled.

2nd con, the M9's are not high volume earphones. Raising the volume above 80% on your MP3 device will distort "busy" tracks (classical music, not so much) to the point where it's painful to listen too, as well as damaging your hearing anyway. So keep volumes at normal levels to the benefit of better SQ and your ears.

Last con, (or pro?) there is a instrumental favoured bias and mids aren't as pronounced by default. --_ The mids can be solved easily with a small EQ boost

Overall opinion - slightly above average sound quality & good value.
I ordered these through the M WHAT? promotion, so it was a lucky dip really as to the model I received. I have several pairs of in ear headphones like these, and do prefer Sennheisers - lately been using CX300II with my COWON s9. Unlike other reviews I found the M9's sound just didn't have the same crisp presence and balance, and particularly bass driven dynamics that the Sennheisers do. Tinkered about a bit with the Cowon's wide ranging eq and BBE settings, but it was still not quite the same. However, in terms of value for a pair of 'phones with a mic and a nice long cord to use with a mobile they are worth the money. Nice feature is the cable noise-reducing material and clip, which eliminates that annoying brushing sound you get when the wires rub on clothes.

Purchased a pair of these from advanced mp3, and I've got to say they're great.

I've tried many headphones; Shure, Ultimate ears and Dr Dre Beats. But I have to say these measure up favourably to all these. Compared to the Sennheiser CX300, which are at the same price point, I've got to say I rather these mainly due to superior build and base response.

All in all very happy. 4/5