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,
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for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Lift Audio Groove Series Noise-Isolating In-Ear Headphones (Black)
Customer Review: Overly Bassy w/ Muddy Low End, Distortion & Mediocre Treble
Summary: 2 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
First some background - I tested these earphones with my 3rd Generation iPod Touch 64 GB. I listened to some tracks I had encoded in iTunes using the Apple Lossless Codec to try & prevent any possible compression artifacts in the tracks from "coloring" my impressions. My "everyday" earphones for away-from-home listening are some Sony MDREX38iP/BLK EX earphones that I consider of good, but not excellent sound quality. My at-home headphones are an old pair of Grado SR60 over-the-ear, old-style headphones that I consider of excellent sound quality. Finally, I believe I am somewhat picky about sound quality, having gone through many, many pairs of earbuds, earphones & headphones over the years that I have used with my many different iPods (since my very first 10 GB iPod in 2002).
Now to these earphones. First of all, they are VERY efficient, getting EXTREMELY loud when I turned up my iPod. Very uncomfortably loud, in fact, and I like loud music. At that level, of course, the music was pretty badly distorted. At more comfortable listening levels (say at about 60 - 65%), these earphones sounded overly bassy to my ears, with a muddy low end, some distortion and a mediocre high end that could not stand up to the heavy bass. I really do not care for the sound of these earphones much at all for prolonged music listening.
What they are good for in my opinion, especially considering the low price, is for brief periods when I want to listen to a song sample or a short video on my laptop without disturbing my wife while she is watching TV. At these low volume levels when listening to a low to middle quality source, these fit the bill & are an affordable option.
Bottom line, even for the price, you can do better for listening to music for extended periods. And, for $14 more, check out the Sony's I mentioned above in my introduction to this review. They sound much, MUCH better.
On the other hand, these earphones do LOOK nice, for what that's worth...
Customer Review: The sound quality is amazing, esp for its deep bass!
Summary: 5 Stars
Despite my initial skepticism from its cheap price, shoddy packaging (the enclosed mini keychain bag was super cheap-looking!), and unknown brand name, I was immediately won over by the sound quality of this headphone. I can't compare this to comparably-priced and popular Skull Candy headphones but this set handily beats out my higher-priced Sony MDR-EX51LP Fontopia Headphones and Panasonic RP-HJE300 Portable Earbud Headphones with Carrying Pouch (Black). The bass of this headphone was off the hook amazing. I can't comment on the longevity of this product as I just received the item. I can't imagine it being worse than the Sony one, which was notorious for its bad cable casing. Mine was exposed after two years of use and had to be replaced.
The biggest flaw I find is that the earbuds are heavier than my other two headphones. The buds protrude from my ear a little more than the others. Thus, it's easier to be ripped from the ear canal. It does fit pretty securely in most cases though It doesn't move no matter how hard you shake your head. To rebut D Mark's review that you can't move with the headphones, the "rubbing" noise happens with ALL earbud headphones due to the tight fit. Do not buy any earbud headphones if you may be bothered by it. I personally find the noise-isolating nature of earbuds more appealing than the occasional "rubbing" noise.
The overall design is pretty slick. It's slightly bulkier than I imagined from the pictures (hence the hefty weight). Missing L and R labels contributes to its minimalistic design. It may bother some users but I'm fine with it for casual use.
Sound Quality: Lift Audio > Sony > Panasonic
Build: Panasonic > Sony/Lift Audio
Overall, I am very satisfied with the purchase. I consider it a huge audio upgrade from my Sony and Panasonic earphones. Do not hesitate to buy it even if you are not familiar with brand. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a set of earbud headphone. It's a fantastic product with a even better price ($10)!!
Customer Review: Priced right
Summary: 2 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Audio is sometimes difficult to evalauate without the ability to do direct comparisons on the spot. Luckily I have a few pairs of headphones kicking around of various price points allowing me to do just that.
Having compared these to stock Apple buds, Sony entry level in ear phones (MDR-EX51, similar fit to these), and a pair of Ultimate Ears 700 (just for kicks) I can safely say these are the pros and cons of these phones.
Pros:
* Decent fit. I love the comfort of in ear phones (canal phones) and these are decent. They are a tad larger than some limiting one's ability to sleep with them but since they are light the length is unnoticeable.
* Prodigious bass. Lots and lots of bass for you inner basshead.
* Price. Tough to beat a pair of phones for around $10.
* Carrying case. Functional and nicer than what was included with my $40 Sonys.
* Sound reducing. (But then again almost all in ear buds are)
Cons:
* Horrible mid and upper range. These sound really muddy - guitars can easily lose their attack with these phones. Stock iPod buds sound light years better in my back to back comparison.
* Lightweight and cheap feel to the buds.
* No left or right markings on the buds???
Debatable:
* Rubberized versus smooth cable. Some people might prefer the tackier cable here as opposed to a smoother cable offered on other phones. Personal preference for this one in my opinion.
* Slightly shorter cable than the Sonys but still plenty long enough to fit in your pocket.
* Straight jack as opposed to an l-shaped or right angle jack. I prefer the right angle jack but it seems ever since the first iPhone all you can get anymore are the straight jacks.
In summary, I can't really recommend these phones for anyone other than bassheads who hate the fit of their stock buds and are on a very tight budget. Two stars for the decent fit and value pricing.
Customer Review: I was once told there are no good in ear sets for < $100/pr
Summary: 2 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I think I was given good advice.
This product, at 1/10 the price of a name brand set, has some issues.
First - its meant to come with 3 sets of earpieces (S,M,L). Normally I would be a M but those fell out so I went to switch to L and discovered they only shipped ONE L piece, so if they can't get the parts count correct we've already got a problem with the product missing parts.
I tried the L in both ears (there is no L/R Marking) and sound quality varried with angle of insertion, seal, and a tiny hole in the back of the unit.
Poor seal lowers bass significantly. Like someone sitting at my mixing console twisting dials down, and fast, all bass can vanish or come back based on the seal, which is intermittant.
As for seal, which bass depends on, I've had those noise reduction foam inserts that you squeeze down and stick in stay better than any of the 5 custom tips offered.
I also heard alot of static which finally was traced down to the 3.5mm connector being undersized. It rolled around in the professional adapter to 1/4" on my earphone amp. The shield was .004" under with the tip being .010 undersized. So much for mfg tolerance.
Once electrically connected (I cut the connector and soldered on a professional one in 1/4" trs to eliminate any adapters) and I purchased some generic ear cups with sealant, the sound improved substantially, which allowed me to evaluate the sound characteristics.
With good sealing, the bass was neutral - rolling off fast below 100 hz however, midrange was not overpowering, and highs cut at about 13 khz with a fast rolloff to zero.
I'm not impressed with the product mecanically, acoustically, nor manufacturing quality. The industrial design does not stay in my ears. It was a nice try and now I may shop around in the higher end market for a good quality set of earmolds and earbuds.
Customer Review: UPDATED - Not Happy
Summary: 2 Stars
I got these a few days ago and have used them multiple times since then. The quality on music and handheld games is just as good, if not better, than some larger headphones I have. Overall, I have no complaints with the quality or comfort of these headphones.
I do have a couple of small problems that I feel warrant mentioning, though. I needed to switch out the medium earpieces (which come pre-installed) for the small ones. Pulling the medium pieces off was no trouble at all, but getting the small ones on was a real pain. It must have taken me 20 minutes to get the small earpieces to fit snugly onto the speakers, and I found one of them to be slightly loose after my first usage, which was a bit frightening; no one wants these earpieces to actually come out in their ear canals! Fortunately, I've used them several times since then and they've stayed 100% snug.
The other complaint I have is that the cable, at least initially, is not split far enough. As these headphones plug directly into the ear canals, every single movement of the wire can be heard. This is because the two cables merge too high up. Peeling the cables apart a little further down the line gave the cables more breathing room and greatly alleviated the sound of the cables knocking around.
One star knocked off for the scare and minor annoyances. Overall, though, I'm very pleased with these and am considering reserving another pair or two.
UPDATE - February 18, 2010
After about 2.5 months of light use, the speaker covering on one of the headphones just came off. I don't mean the rubber covers, I mean the little piece of thin cloth on the headphones themselves. I was not hard on these. The carrying case fell apart, as well; the keyring just snapped right off. These headphones have good sound quality, but exceptionally poor build quality - they break quickly and don't even have L/R markings. Splitting the wire also did not help my interference problem as much as I initially thought, but this is apparently an annoyance with all canalphones so I won't knock them for that. I am not nearly as happy with these as I previously was.