Disclaimer:  I received these earbuds from Fiio in exchange for a fair review which I intend on giving.    Introduction: I have to admit, until not too long ago, I despised earbuds.  Why?  Whenever I heard earbuds, they were the kind that were packaged with an inexpensive electronic item of some sort.  I seemed to find them at the bottom of drawers around the house and, every so often, I would try them.  I really had little respect for earbuds and did not like the way they seemed to just loosely lay inside your ear.    What changed?  Well...

Initial Thoughts/Observations on Grado SR60e:   I just received the loaner SR60e's on Thursday (Todd from Todd The Vinyl Junkie (TTVJ) and haven't listened for very long yet.  I wanted to post a few initial thoughts and observations on them.     First of all, I really love mids--guitars and vocals are what I really enjoy hearing.  The SR60i was my first journey into better listening and I still enjoy the SR60i but I've moved on.  The problem is, for the price, you get a lot of great sound.  At the same time, you get a hunger to find out what else...

TDK IE800 VS. BA200   IE800 $40-90 (Discontinued by manufacturer) BA200  $55-120 (Discontinued by manufacturer) (on Head-fi, Ebay, and Amazon)  Some have even found these at Ross and TJ Maxx for $10-20.   Packaging: Pretty much the same packaging for both IEM’s.  If both packages were side-by-side, you’d probably have to read the labels pretty carefully to tell the difference.  The packaging is black with gold accents in a small, cardboard box with every language known to man on the box.  The box is busy, in my opinion, and the only thing...

TDK IE800 VS. BA200   IE800 $40-90 (Discontinued by manufacturer) BA200  $55-120 (Discontinued by manufacturer) (on Head-fi, Ebay, and Amazon)  Some have even found these at Ross and TJ Maxx for $10-20.   Packaging: Pretty much the same packaging for both IEM’s.  If both packages were side-by-side, you’d probably have to read the labels pretty carefully to tell the difference.  The packaging is black with gold accents in a small, cardboard box with every language known to man on the box.  The box is busy, in my opinion, and the only thing...