Usage
I used the MEElectronics M9 earphones as my primary non-workout earphones throughout January and February. MEElectronics was very forward in highlighting that their earphones don’t reach the best sound until they’ve had audio going through them for more than 100 hours.
The thing which stands out the most to me, especially in comparison to my previous in-ear listening devices, is the amount of bass kick these earphones have. “Bass kick” itself is not a concept I’ve ever really associated with earphones. Sure enough, these do have a kick. While the music I listen to is not bass-heavy, the songs which do have lots of bass sound better, simply put.
My listening suite includes these few songs, plus a few others randomly selected: And the Rest Will Follow by …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (orchestral rock with a wide range of low and high tones), Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley (80s pop, lots of high end tones with a strong bass line), Wooden Ships by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young (classic rock recorded long ago, but remastered), and the theme song from Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s Chemical Zone (electronic/techno). I usually throw in a little Electric Six for six-part band variety and New Radicals for 90s rock.
I found the M9 set to be very pleasing and quite desirable for on-plane or on-train listening. They did get a little uncomfortable after about three hours, but I can’t pinpoint whether that was a general uncomfortable feeling of having something in my ear for that long or something else. I do know this: that was the longest I’ve ever been able to stand earphones!
My most familiar device, for comparison, is the Jaybird JB-200 Bluetooth headset I’ve used for all purposes since 2008. The only reason I prefer the Jaybirds to the the M9 for workouts is the simple lack of wires. Other than that, the M9 beats the Jaybirds in audio quality. This is somewhat expected, though, given the age of the Jaybirds.
Anecdote
I wandered around the North Hall on the last day of CES this year, a meandering tradition I have formulated through my years at CES. Most of the companies ThinkComputers covers are found in Central Hall or one of the two floors of South Hall. However, every now and then, there’s a gem which sticks out in the North Hall. MEElectronics was one of them.
As I was walking by the MEElectronics booth, Joe Daileda, VP of Sales and Marketing for the California-based company, attracted my attention with an offer to try his earphones and tell me how much I thought they cost. I listened to some music from the MP3 player Joe had, but then he insisted that I try in my own device. I fired up the Android music player on my Nexus One and listened for a few minutes to clips from several songs from across many genres.
“$80”, I said, estimating the cost of the MEElectronics M9 earphones in my ears. “They’re certainly clearer than my Jaybirds and have more bass kick to boot. They’re certainly better than Apple earphones, and probably up there with Plantonics, Scosche, Sennheiser, and the like.”
“Try $20”, said Joe.
