Disclaimer: I was given the MEElectronics M9 Classic in return for a review. The opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own, and were not influenced by MEElectronics in any way.

Before I begin I'd like to thank Mike at MEElectronics for sending the M9 Classic out to me for review.

 

Packaging

Looking at this gorgeous brown cardboard box, you see the MEElec logo in a stunning shade of matte black...

Ok, so frustration free packaging may not be pretty, but it gets its job done: Being as cheap as possible, and holding the IEM's until you open the box. On a IEM so cheap, I'd rather have the money I spend be on the product rather than presentation anyways. Speaking of which...
 

As soon as I opened it, my eyes nearly popped out of my head. A metal bodied IEM with a fantastic cable that's decently relieved and comes with a shirt clip and 4 pairs of tips including a bi flange... Surely they must have sent me the wrong one!

 

Nope. It's the M9 Classic.
 

Examining this 10$ marvel of build quality further:
 

The cable is very flexible with very low memory and has next to no microphonics worn cable down, and none when using the included shirt clip and/or when worn around the ear. It also looks fantastic and is far more well relieved than you'd think to see at this price point. On the IEM's, you have a hard relief with notches cut out to give it a little flexibility, and on the jack the relief is semi-flexible. The only spot without relief is the Y-split, but again, I'm surprised that they even put as much strain relief on these as they did anyways. With the cable being as good as it is, I can see these lasting well over a year. Only time will tell though. If it ever does quit on me, I will update this review.

 

The metal used in the construction of the IEM seems to be of a decent quality, and has a driver port on the rear. They have a rather small profile, and the bi-flange tips that come with them are longer than the actual driver housing itself. (minus the nozzle)

 
 

Sound Quality

Popping them in my ear, I can instantly tell they didn't skimp on sound either.

(All of my findings on the sound is relative to the price unless stated otherwise)

Listening to "First Encounter With The Omnitican" by Omnitica, the moment the sub-bass kicked in, I was astounded. They remind me of the UE6000 in active mode, except more neutral and less detailed. (Note: Only active mode. Passive mode on the UE6000 sounds very different)

Overall signature is an exciting V-Shape with excellent bass extension and texture, decent treble extension with a small amount of grain, recessed mids, and a decent soundstage.

 

Bass: Very well extended and detailed, with a focus on sub-bass. Rather impactful and punchy with plenty of rumble. Very clean might I add. If I had to pick my favorite aspect of the sound, it would be the bass.

 

Mids: On "Midnight Motion" by Kenny G, the soprano saxophone can get a little hot on upper octaves, and I had to turn down my volume once. Not the smoothest midrange I've experienced, but it gave the sax a little bit of bite and excitement. Male and female vocals are recessed relative to bass, and sound a tad thin to my ears (vocals tested on "Rocket" by Def Leppard, "Never Say Goodbye" by Bon Jovi, and "Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac). My take is that the upper midrange has a bit of a spike somewhere that causes the glaring irregularity I heard with the saxophone, and the lower midrange is recessed a tad.

 

Treble: A bit grainy and smeared, but by far the best I've heard for the price. On "Rocket Queen" by Guns 'N Roses (Lossless WMA), cymbal brushes are fairly well distinguished from one to the next,  but lacks micro detail.

 
 

Comparisons

Panasonic RPHJE120K:

Build: Cheap plastic, hard strain relief, cheap feeling cable. Winner: M9

 

Bass: It has at least 20 db more bass than than M9, and not only is there a lot of it, its also boomy and slow. Sounds like a thick layer of mud thrown over the recording. The M9 wins again.

 

Mids: Shrouded by the thick layer of bass and has next to no detail. Sometimes entire instrument lines are inaudible under the bass. Its like the bass drowned all the other frequencies. Vocals sound like they're coming from the next room over. M9 wins by far.

 

Treble: No extension at all. Extreme rolloff. Some of the worst I've heard, just because of the lack of it. What is there isn't particularly good either. M9 absolutely destroys the Panasonics on every level.

 
 

Thinksound Rain 2:


Not really a fair comparison, as how the Rain2 is a 100$ IEM, but I'll just throw it out there anyways.

 

Build: The M9's cable is less microphonic, but the cable material quality seems to be about the same, maybe a little bit in favor of the M9. The strain relief of the Rain2 is superior by far however, and the wood and metal housings look and feel fantastic. Winner: Rain2

 

Bass: Faster and better controlled, and less midrange bleed. Winner: Rain2

 

Mids: The Rain2's mids are extremely natural with a pleasant warmth and gives vocals a fullness that the M9 doesn't have. Winner: Rain2

 

Treble: The Rain2 is smoother with more sparkle and detail up top, and is less fatiguing. Winner: Rain2

 

It was to be expected that the Rain2 would come out on top, but the difference between the M9 and the Rain2 is smaller than the difference between the M9 and the Panasonics. Pretty impressive.

 

 

Conclusion 

For what the M9 Classics cost, they are nothing short of amazing. They blow away the competition and punch above their price. For the audiophile on a budget, I can think of nothing better. Well done, MEElectronics; you have a winner here!
 
 
 

 

 

  

 

See The Whole Review With Pictures Here: http://db-headphones.blogspot.com ... Oh and ignore the sliders for the audio quality, value etc. I can't edit the slider scoring on mobile.


Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Audio Technica in any way (other than how I'm using their product). I was not paid for this review. These are 100% my opinions on this pair of headphones... If you haven't stopped reading yet from boredom, then congratulations. You don't have a short attention span.

So what I got here is the ATH-WS77 from Audio Technica. As part of their "Solid Bass" series, I wasn't expecting much in the way of refinement... I am happy to say my expectations were completely shattered. These are a very mature bass can.



Packaging

First off, the packaging... Superb. The front of the outer cardboard cover is white, shows you the brand "Audio Technica" and a picture of the WS77's. The sides are a copper color, and has an eye catching gleam. It reminds me of candy paint, but with a matte appearance rather than gloss. The back of the box is white again, features another picture of the WS77, specs, and says "Feel Closer to Your Music". Slide off the outer cover, and you have the box, which has the words "Solid Bass" emblazoned on the front in gold. The box has see-through plastic, and you can see the gorgeous circular aluminum sides these cans have. On the back, we have the specs again, and it points out the "Double Air Chamber System" and "Direct Driver Mounting". It states: "Internal double chamber design enhances air damping effect to provide defined, punchy bass" and "Mounting the high rigidity aluminum housing directly on the driver eliminates undesired vibrations. This contributes to high quality sound reproduction."

Sound good so far huh? Because it also says above that "Comprehensive system provides 'Overwhelming bass sound’".

Oh boy...overwhelming bass sound? No idea what to expect from the sound anymore.




Build and Design

Before the moment of truth when I describe the sound, I must say... The build is excellent. Feels solid, just like its namesake "Solid Bass". It is mainly high quality metals. Under the plastic headband frame, there is a sub-frame of steel that is of a decent thickness. The aluminum on the sides of the cans has a premium look and feel. The plastic arms connecting the cups to the headband, though thin, actually feel extremely sturdy. They don’t bend at all if I push on it, and don't move around. Also, no creaking noises moving them around on your head. Very tightly put together with no loose parts. The headband has a decent amount of padding, but the ear pads are somewhat troublesome... I found it to be very uncomfortable and couldn't wear them for more than 15 minutes before I had to take them off because my ears felt like pieces of cauliflower. My ears stick out more than most peoples do, and a section of my ear goes inside the pads and gets shoved up against the plastic driver cover. This has since then lessened since the pads broke in and flattened a little. They may not be as thick as they were when I got them, but now the pads are wider and stop my ears from completely touching the plastic. I’m sure most won't have this problem, as most ears don’t stick out as far as mine. There are a few replacement pads online if you have this problem too and can't tough it out until the pads flatten somewhat. Also, no accessories? Seriously? Not even a carrying pouch? Would have been a nice touch since this is marketed as a portable.

My only other gripe is the cable. It is double sided, has some memory to it, and it isn't the modern flat tangle free type cable that I would have liked. It is of decent thickness, and the strain relief is fantastic. The cable feels like it will last, but it just doesn't finish off the solid build quite right.





Sound

The first thing I noticed when I placed it on my head other than the plastic touching my ears was DAT BASS! Extended well past 50 Hz, very fast and punchy, and with above average texture. While not dark sounding, they are not bright either. They are somewhat v-shaped in response, and as such I hear a slightly hollow midrange with a little bass bleed, and some sibilance, but it isn't a deal breaker. They are still neutral enough for audiophiles like myself however, and are less bassy than a lot of other portables commonly used by Head-Fi’ers, including the V-Moda M100, so I don’t see it being a problem. In fact, when my sister put them on she noticed they had less bass than her skull candy IEM's (UGHH I told her not to buy them and to get something else... She didn't listen) and had fuller vocals.

The soundstage is above average, with fantastic positional cues. They surpass the UE6000 in this regard. The sound placement is almost as good as my AKG K240's, but not quite. These have more accurate vertical cues, but lack the width and depth of the K240. To be expected, as the K240 is semi open.

These handled all genres I threw at them decently, including orchestra due to it having an above average soundstage and positional cues, but excelled at electronic. The combination of speed, texture, and extension makes them better in my opinion for electronic than cans like the Logitech UE6000, and the B&W P5. It keeps up with the fast volley of bass notes laid out in "Onvang" by Spag Heddy, which is very impressive, and gives the bass synths on "Outnumbered" by Rekoil and Devour plenty of weight, and stops the quick synths, drums, and cymbals from being muddled. It does admirably when things get complicated in recordings. When listening to "Oye Como Va" by Santana, the percussion has a timbre that is more in line with what real percussion sounds like than the UE6000. It lags behind the K240 in this regard however.



Amping
These are very easy cans to drive, only needing about 20/30 volume on my Lumia 925 to reach listening levels. Additional amping widened the soundstage, and improved detail somewhat, so they do scale up if you feed them more power.








Summary

At around 120$ (Amazon pricing), these offer an impressive bang for your buck if you like a little more low end to your music and want it to look good. These really hit it home with electronic, and will not disappoint sonically. The cable and lack of accessories may disappoint some, but the sound makes up for it.

This has to be the worst speaker I have ever heard. My aunt has one, and was showing it off. I asked to play some music, and I played a song. It was boomier than beats by Dre original solo's and had so much bass I couldn't hear vocals or instruments. This speaker is bad. 40$ desktop speakers sound better. Sorry I can't change rating details on mobile, so I'll just say it. Value: 1/10 quality: 3/10 Design: 8.5/10 Audio quality: 0.75/10