On a bass-heavy track like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the earbuds do an excellent job reproducing the sub-bass frequencies in the bass synth and kick drum. The bass is deep and powerful without overshadowing the lead synth or percussion. The high-frequency details are good, too—crisp and sharp.
The excellent bass response is also evident when listening to Kendrick Lamar’s track “Loyalty.” The track has a bass synth line that is often difficult to produce, but the earbuds effectively push out all but the lowest tones, and even then, they still deliver enough rumble to help round out the bass line. Lamar and Rihanna’s vocals on the track sound rich, and the percussion sounds nice and crisp.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)
Deep bass response isn’t as important on Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” but the earbuds still do a good job of producing the driving kick drum and bass guitar. More importantly, Callahan’s baritone vocal sounds deep and vibrant, and the guitar behind it is rich and natural. The high-end response on the acoustic guitar strings and cymbals is remarkable.
The earbuds do well on orchestral tracks, like the opening scene to John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary. The stereo separation is good enough that the instruments don’t sound like they are all on top of each other, and the bass response makes the lower strings sound resonant and deep, while the brass sounds bright.
The microphones do a fine job of capturing my voice for phone calls. My words are easy to hear, though my voice isn’t quite natural.
