Just recently one of my friends (Geoff in case you were wondering) bought a pair of Brainwavz M3 IEMs (In ear monitors) to my skepticism. When he first mentioned the brand, I was quick to dismiss it as some bass-heavy earphone that would generally squash anything that isn’t bass. In fact, I had never heard of the brand before, and thought the name was incredibly cheesy, and similar to another mainstream bass-heavy brand “Skullcandy”. As it turns out, “Brainwavz” is one of many Chinese brands, along with “SoundMagic” and “Fiio”, that are pushing into the market with what are being presented as cheap-high-quality audio solutions for the average consumer. So, I was curious to try them anyway, to see whether or not they are real competitors to the well established brands such as Sennheiser and Ultimate Ears.
:: Unboxing/Technical Details
The M3s are priced at $89.50 from MP4nation, and are packaged in a simple black box, with silver writing and the Brainwavz logo (which looks a lot like Engadget‘s) printed on it. Inside, you’ll find a decent set of accessories, your standard three pairs of silicon tips, one pair of Comply foam tips, a cable clip, over-the-ear guides, and a Nylon hard-carry case.
Specifications taken from the Brainwavz website:
Transducers/Drivers: Dynamic, 10.7mm CCAW Drive units
Rated Impedance: 20ohms ± 10% (Rated impedance)
Sensitivity: 115dB at 1KHz 1mW 20upa
Frequency range: 20 ~ 20000Hz
Distortion: <= 0.5% @ 94dB 20upa
Channel balance: =< 2dB (at 1000Hz)
Rated input power: 10mW
Maximum input power: 40mW
Plug: 3.5 mm 45-degree gold plated
Cable length: 1.3 meters Y cord (CU/Ag) PUR
Net Weight: 10g
:: Design/Comfort
The Brainwavz design I find is aesthetically quite nice, although I do question their ergonomics. I found that when I plugged them into my ears the conventional straight-in way, proved to be a little uncomfortable, as the rounded protruding end made the fit rather awkward for me, and found that I had to wear the pair over the ear in order to get a comfortable fit. The silicon sleeves are apparently easily torn (I had no issues, but Geoff has already torn one of them) and they were difficult to remove and replace, thus switching the tips proves to be a bit of a challenge. The cable is of interesting note, seemingly coated in a flexible plastic that seems rather durable. Like good pairs of in-ears, they don’t make noise in year ear every time you brush the cable when you have them plugged in your ears.
:: Sound and Conclusion
With all the skepticism in mind, I was very much surprised by the sound reproduced by these “cheap some-Chinese brand earphones”. Put simply, for around $90, these earphones produce quality sound that you’d expect from a much more expensive pair. General sound is nice and clear with vocals coming out crisp and almost true-to-life. As expected, the M3s lean more to the bassy side of things. At times they’ll give a generous boom in your ear that does seem to squash mids and highs on some occasions. Exploring through many different genres, the M3s are very pleasant to listen to so long as you’re not a discerning audiophile, as orchestral pieces (particularly strings) came out rather unlively and dull.
Honestly, these are the first pair of in-earphones in a long while that I’ve heard that sounded great straight out of the box. From my personal experience, they sound much better than the the Sennheiser CX series and the Klipsch Image S4s. The Ultimate Ears 700s I found however are somewhat comparatively opposites of the Brainwavz M3s, where lacking in bass, highs are amazingly crystal clear, and orchestral pieces sound amazing. Overall, the Brainwavz M3s have proven to be a real surprise to me, and are definitely worth recommending to anyone who is looking for an overall great sounding pair of earphones for under $100.
If you’re looking into doing more research about them, or looking to purchase a pair, they’re avaliable for $89.50 USD at MP4nation, and ship to many international countries for free.
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