Lift Audio Groove Series Noise-Isolating In-Ear Headphones (Black)
by Lift Audio
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Lift Audio Groove Series Noise-Isolating In-Ear Headphones (Black)
Customer Review: DANGER! Do not buy....updated review
Summary: 1 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Updated 8/6/2010:
I am leaving my original review, however, this is a dangerous product and should be recalled! Today, I had a little time on my hands and thought I may have been a little harsh in my review and tried them again. Well, when I realized I was right, I went to remove them and BOTH ear buds pulled apart and stayed in my ears! They actually came apart as a unit, and luckily the wires did not break (I was very careful to not put a lot of pressure) and I was able to get them out safely. There was NO glue at all holding the pieces together, and as far as I can tell it was twisted into place, as a slight twist made it stay together (but any kind of pressure seperated the pieces again). This is a dangererous product! Stay away!!!
That is just about the only nice thing I can say about these. Unfortunately, looks can, and in this case are, deceiving. First let me say that I have several different ear buds, and my Etymotics are certainly my favorites. I compare everything to them, so here goes:
The cord is a little short, I would have liked it a bit longer. The bag it comes with is fine, and also has different sizes. Pick your size carefully with ANY ear buds you buy, as this will make a HUGE difference in noise cancellation and sound quality. The unfortunate part of this is that the sound just is not there. If you have never used any headphones or ear buds, then you might find this okay, however, I will tell you that the sound quality from the headphones I got from JetBlue for $2 a month ago was/is better than these....so, not much value here for me. As for noise cancellation, it probably does a great job if you crank up the volume, however, just as with very cheap speakers, the hiss, and lack of tonal quality is readily apparent. My Etymotics do an amazing job with the volume turned down to a very comfortable level, and a moderate level I don't think I would hear a fire alarm.
With studies now linking hearing problems with loud music, etc., I suggest really being careful, and picking a good quality headphone/ear bud that can be played at low to moderate levels and still provides the richness and quality of a good speaker system. These just do not do it for me, and I do not see myself using these even if I couldn't find anything else. I believe there are better choices out there, the worst of which being JetBlue's headset!
Customer Review: Why are these even being sold??
Summary: 1 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I thought I had 'lucked out' and gotten a nice, free item to review for Amazon Vines.... noise-isolating earphones! I was excited until I read the reviews here, but thought, maybe they've gotten their act together and these will be decent earphones for a cheap price. I am somewhat of an audiophile, and listen to Beyerdynamic headphones and +$300 Ultimate Ears earphones. So I do know something about good sound.
First off, as others have mentioned, there are no markings for Left and Right. This really matters, and those of you who think not should probably stop reading this review. Also, no where can you find the name of the company on the earphones.... no logo or anything, anywhere.
I took off the small silicone ear plugs and put on the medium ones. I was able to get a secure, somewhat comfortable fit. And yes, these earplugs will isolate external sounds well.
I decided to try them out while doing some yard work, and plugged them in to my iPod. I tried some pop, then classical music to see what they can do. Overall, the effect is like putting heavy bath towels over your stereo speakers. The sound is muffled, muddy bass, little imaging and just plain awful! If you have an iPod, Apple's earbuds are MUCH better!
The worst was yet to happen.... after listening for less than 10 minutes, I noticed that I could not hear the vocalist and was listening to just 'ambient' sound in the recording. I think I know what was happening, but it's too technical for this review (and not worth my time or your's). A minute later, the sound stopped completely. I jiggled the cord and could get a momentary signal, but then it quit again. "Lord, this is just like the bad reviews I read on Amazon", I thought.
My advice: You spend your good money on an iPod (or other MP3 player) and tunes. Why squander your investment by dishing out a measly ten bucks for junk? Look at the reviews of other earphones (from other companies), and find a pair that fits your budget. Spend at least $30-50 and you should be satisfied. You'll be amazed at the detail and sound in your music, if you take the time to do some research. Treat your ears well and you'll be rewarded.
One last comment.... the Lift Audio Company should be ashamed of themselves for marketing such a piece of trash, which is where my phones are now.
Customer Review: Looking for bass on a budget? Welcome home.
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
My go-to earphones are usually Shure e2c's at home, and Sennheiser CX300's at work, so I went in to this thinking that the Audio Groove earphones were probably not going to be very good.
Initially, my preconceptions were right. Everything was in small zippered baggies contained within one of the cheapest coin purse type of cases I've seen. The earphones seemed to be of okay quality, but there's no Left / Right marking on each earbud, which I found a bit annoying. The silicone tips were pretty well crushed, but regained their proper form within a few minutes of being removed from their baggies.
Marketing these as "noise-isolating" is kind of ridiculous, in my opinion. Using their explanation, just about any earbud is "noise isolating", and the experience with these was no different than any other earbuds with floppy silicone tips.
Plugging in to my MacBook Pro, I noticed that the bass definitely seemed punchier than my regular earphones. But after a few minutes of listening, I really began to notice just how muddy the midrange was, and how absent almost anything high was. I'd switch between the three, and the Groove earphones consistently produced excellent bass, but very disappointing overall range.
Then, I started tinkering with the equalizer. Initially, I had everything set to flat. After spending a few minutes adjusting the equalizer, the Groove earphones really started to shine. Delving a bit further with the EQ, I have to say, I was really impressed with how hard I could get the bass hitting on these at higher volumes. That said, if you're using iTunes or an iPod, using the Treble Boost preset will make these sound pretty decent without messing around with the EQ.
Speaking of iPod, the jack on these earphones is slim and straight, so it should work fine with any iPhone / iPod accessories you may have.
Are they as good as the e2c's or CX-300's? No. But they're definitely as good or better than what you'd find at three times the the price, IF you can adjust your sound settings on the device you're going to use them with.
Customer Review: You get what you pay for: not much
Summary: 1 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
These earphones have a tough time in my house because they are up against a pair of ~$100 competitors: Vibe Moda and Etymotic ER6i. But even for $10 they are not worth the money.
The Lift product claims to be "noise isolating." In order to achieve that, it would have to actually fit my ears, which it does not. I tried all three pairs of tips (and had quite the wrestling match trying to get them on/off) and none worked very well. Compared to my Etymotics, which damp down outside noise as thoroughly as foam safety earplugs rated at 32 db suppression, they are not doing anything. My Vibes, which have very similar tips but make no claims to noise suppression, still do manage to keep out much more ambient noise than the Lifts.
But even if that aspect is not important to you, bass probably is. I don't mean head-rattling, over-boosted bass; I mean normal response you'd expect even from fairly modest earphones used with an iPhone and an iPod Touch. The Lift earphones may theoretically be capable of that, but with such poor fit, for me they never achieved the seal necessary to reproduce bass properly at all.
Because fit is so individual, I made sure to try the three tip sets several times. What I discovered pretty much says these earphones are not up to the job. The smallest tips fall out of my ears and do not seal at all, in part because they are too big to go all the way in where buds like the Etymotics fit and really block outside noise.
The largest Lift tips stay put nicely in a position farther outside my inner ear, similar to how my Vibes fit with similar-looking tips. But they produce inferior bass and do not seal very well. The middle size actually offers the best bass, but is too loose in every other way, falling out with only slight movement.
If either the smallest or biggest tips were showing the best test results, I'd conclude my ears are weird [grin], but with the middle being the closest to acceptable, I blame the earphone design.
Oh, and if anybody bothers to find out which is left and which is right, be sure to mark them, because the manufacturer didn't.
I'd save my money and put it toward higher quality earphones with a larger selection of tip styles and sizes.
Customer Review: So-and-So
Summary: 3 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This In-Ear Headphone sounds reasonably good for the price and Lift Audio has attempted to put subtle touches here and there to stand out in the market of In-Ear Headphones, But IMHO, The actual headphones are still visually indistinguishable from plethora of In-Ear Headphones that are available on the market in the same price range.
I do appreciate Lift Audio company in one aspect, there are no blister packs to deal with and I welcome the effort done by the company to have less impact on the environment by making the packaging simple and in a recyclable box and is free of plastic "clamshells" throw away parts.
The overall sound quality is not that bad but definitely not for Audiophiles, The Low frequency bass response is good but not overwhelmingly kick ass quality like Koss "The Plug" Portable Headphones, The medium frequency responses are there and audible without having to crank up the volume but not that great as they sounded slightly muffled so are high frequencies the treble which also sounded slightly attenuated.
The In-Ear Headphone did a good job in noise isolation with the 3 different types of soft silicone fittings, there is at least one pair of snugly fitting silicone fittings for everyone and they are included for free!, Appreciate the Key-Chain Soft case that they have thrown in for free! But looks more useable for storing SD memory cards with inside pockets rather than a earphone with tangled wires!
PROS
[+] Reasonably priced for the sound quality
[+] 3 Different types of silicone fittings to match the ears
[+] Good Sound Isolation
[+] Environment friendly packaging
CONS
[-] Less Durable
[-] Left and Right earphones are not labeled
[-] Somewhat flimsy cord
Please bear in mind that these are cheaply priced In-Ear Headphones and do not keep your hopes too high on these pair of In-Ear headphones when it comes to durability as these are somewhat on the flimsy side especially when it comes to the cord.
All-in-all "okay" sounding In-Ear Headphones for the price you pay.