I’ve been using these headphones mainly for PC and PS3 games. For those of you with intention of using these with an xbox 360, be warned you will need to purchase a specific xbox360 adapter for the optical audio (I would have tested MW2 already if I had the xbox360 connection). The PS3 has and most newer PC motherboards even have the optical audio connection. If you’re really serious about having amazing PC audio, you might consider an aftermarket sound card … but then again, if you ARE really serious, you’d be buying an ACTUAL 5.1 system and not just headphones.

These aren’t meant for stereo sound and only do a mediocre job at best when just listening to music, unless you connect the 5.1 analog adapter and use the orange (center and sub channel), then it sounds better. I haven’t compared these to any other gaming headset, but I have no complaints on the sound quality. You do have the ability to adjust the volume of the front, center, rear and sub channels which is very handy for getting the sound just right. You can go further and adjust other settings, but I haven’t tinkered with that.

These headphones are also very comfortable. Most of the weight is on top of your head and not on or over your ears which greatly reduces ear fatigue. I have used them for 3+ hours with little discomfort!

Take note that these are in no way noise canceling headphones. If you have the volume down low, you will be able to hear what’s going on around you, and those around you might hear what you are listening to if you’ve got the volume up very high. That’s not a big problem though.

I’ve used the mic over Skype and in games such as SC2 and have had people comment on the good quality of the sound of my voice. It’s nice that the mic is detachable, but honestly, it’s never really in the way and I never detach it.

The headphones themselves glow green, quite brightly. This is a nice feature if you’re trying to impress people with cool hardware, but it’s annoying to have them sitting beside my bed on my desk at night when I’m trying to sleep — an acceptable annoyance.

The mess of cables isn’t really an issue considering I already have a mess of cables on my desk where I have a PC, PS3 and Xbox360. If you are worried about the mess of cables, you might consider purchasing a longer optical cable as the supplied one is quite short (approx 2 feet). This way you can have the adapter and all the cables hidden somewhere. The cable from the headphone is very long, so don’t worry about that.

One last note, this purchase was a shot in the dark. I had never heard of Sharkoon before and am quite pleased. I was debating over this and the TRITTON AXPRO and chose these. I don’t regret my decision!

I bought these ear buds after the battery door on my Sennheiser set broke. They still worked, but it was a real pain with the battery falling out all the time (and the Sannheisers were bulkie5 and over the ear type, like the old fashioned Head Phones, and the noise cancelling was no where near as good). Consumer Reports gave these Panasonic buds a very good review, so I thought I’d give them a try. After owning them for over a year now, I can say without a doubt that these are the best value on the market. But, being the best value isn’t always the best thing, but aside from the value, these are an EXCELLENT product. I make at least 4 very long trips to Asia every year, and many more trips beside those, and I never leave for the airport without these ear phones… My trips to China and Taiwan usually involve a 14 hour flight from Dallas to Tokyo, then a 4 hour wait in Tokyo, then another 3 hours or so to either China or Taiwan (longer depending on where I’m going in China). And I can tell you that for almost that entire time, these ear buds are in almost constant use! Yes, by the end of 20 hours or so of continuous use, they can become a little uncomfortable, but far less so than the over the ear type.

It’s important to size the ear bud correctly for your ear canal, because a good fit is essential for both comfort and noise cancelling. If I remember correctly, these come with three sizes, and once you get the right one, you are set to go. They are light, don’t press your ears agains6 your head like “over the ear” models, such as the Bose models (you really don’t’ want that for 14 or so hours, very painful!!!), and because they fill the ear canal, the noise reduction is accompanies by great noise attenuation (it’s blocked). Besides this, I noticed that because the Panasonic’s have an internal amplifier and volume control, you will not suffer from the “too quite” sound track on some DVDs when played on a Lap Top. I don’t know why this should be, but some DVDs are almost inaudible on a Lap Top. But these units fix that problem nicely.

So, you have comfort (even on a 14 hour flight!), reasonable sound, VERY long battery life (I can easily make it from Dallas to China AND BACK on one rechargeable battery using the unit the whole way!), excellent noise reduction, light weight and compact (really important when you want to travel light), and they work great even at home. I don’t want to sound like a commercial for these, but given the price, functionality, and reliability, you just really can’t go wrong! And I won’t travel without them!

Happy Travels!

BrianB.

The Philips have a crisp sound at all volumes and the treble is clear and the deep bass thumps (doesn’t drown out other parts of music). This sony pair has a deep muffle that robs the buds from crisp sound. Furthermore the comfort isn’t impressive due to sharp ridges along the edges that is very irritating and painful (in my ears at least). Also the sound pitch changes based on the angle that the earbuds are in your ears. One second it can be deep and muffled and turn them just a hair and you’ll hear more treble and much less bass. This isn’t bad except for the time it takes to adjust them every time you put them in.

A few nice things about them is the cord is the perfect length to run to my pocket (I’m six foot four inches) and should work for most people. The pair doesn’t blok out much background noise (good and bad) which helps when you’re around traffic (as I walk around campus) or somewhere you need to hear people (hallways etc). They also stay in the ear pretty well but are very relieving to take out. Overall I’d say invest in a nicer pair (there are better pairs for the same money).

First, the sound emitted from these tiny buds is simply outstanding and refreshing as it delivers clear highs, balanced mids, and crisp lows. I immediately noticed a steep improvement over my less superior Sony’s through its voice clarity and a resounding oomph in the bass response. The bass is very important to me in headphones becayse in my very eclectic taste in music, I love listening to plenty of Rock, Techno, Rap, and even Classical/Orchestral music–all genres that I believe should be enriched with a quality bass response. The Sennheiser CX 300II met my expectations as the bass had a nice “thump” to it that wasn’t over exaggerated. I thought my Sony’s produced good bass, but Sennheiser has since set a new standard for me.

The ergonomic and comfort aspect of this style earphones is also a true winner. I seem to be one of the few advocates of the asymmetrical design in cord length becayse it not only helps reduce wire clutter in front of your chest, it also reduces unwanted noise caused by rubbing against the wire becayse the cord is already laying on you. In contrast, Y-shaped cords have a tendency of bouncing against your chest as you walk and are always in the way of things like your zipper. I’m a daily train commuter who truly utilizes the advantage of the asymmetry of the CX-300II’s design as I take my coat on or off or even while I read a book. The comfort doesn’t end there becayse the simple ear bud design provides a two-fold advantage for the listener on-the-go: 1) a great seal which is key for noise isolation which gives you the sound quality and especially bass recognition, and 2) a strong hold in your ear that doesn’t even give way with slight tugs on the wire. This last characteristic might sound trivial at first, but let me tell you there’s nothing more frustrating than having to fix your ear buds with every turn of the head like other ear buds have a tendency to do. (I returned the Sennheiser CX-380’s for this reason since the design of those buds never wanted to stay in my ears). I easily wear these CX-300IIs for up to 5 hours a day with never any discomfort. This model has a total cord length of almost 4′ and a gold-plated right angled plug which are two great aspects in its design to consider as well.

I haven’t found any noteworthy complaints about this product yet and with such a bargain price offered on Amazon here, I highly recommend this product.

P.S. I listen to all of my music with the EQ off on my iPOD touch 3G which, by the way, has a stark improvement in sound reproduction by its amplifier over older iPOD models I have owned. Something to consider when you, the smart shopper, is reading this review and others like it becayse you should wonder if the reviewer is using the earphones on the same type of device you use and if your current device produces the highest quality sound.

Stick with, InEar Earphones, A Lot of them sound great, look great, comfortable, worth the price paid, and the most important “MUCH” more healthy for you’re ears. I highly recommend Shure se110, se210l se310, se420, and se530, Ultimate Ears Metro Fi, Super fi, and Triple fi, and Altec Lansing UHP 306, UHP336 for In Ear Earphones. (i own the Shure se530-1000000% for amazingness and the Altec Lansing UHP336- These are not as comfortable as the Shure se530, but the sound quality is pretty good for the price paid-9/10)

“Unfortunately we don’t offer warranty replacements from Z Electria due

to the fact they are buying second hand units and reselling them on

Amazon. They are an unauthorized dealer and we are currently

investigating if they are knock off products. If you see any SA6’s

priced below $199 they are either stolen or we are not sure where they

came from. We apologize for the inconvenience and will match the $199

price offered by our authorized dealers if you would like to purchase a

new pair.”

My advice: Buy these elsewhere!!! I went to B&H and paid $195. These are fragile, high end earphones with small parts that are easily lost or damaged. You NEED to have a warranty!!!

Concept A+

Options for various tonal qualities via included interchangeable tips. Compact and thus highly portable. If wire becomes damaged, buy replacement cord instead of whole product, and just snap the monitors off the old one and onto the new. Wireless sound option if you pay extra. Various ear flange sizes included. Product likely uses a lot less battery power from portable devices than much larger drivers in over-the-ear headphones. All three components of the wireless option are low profile, instead of big and bulky. Wireless option uses Kleer Audio, which is almost surely the best & clearest wireless format available (there may never be a better format).

Comfort: A

Comfortable for long term use. In-ear monitors may tickle occasionally inside the ear compared to over the ear type. But they do not have the bulk on your head, and do not cause the head sweat of over-the-ear types when exercising, or when ambient temperature is warm or hot. Wireless option (extra) is very lightweight and battery hangs via very short wires under your chin or behind your head; very comfortable.

Wired Sound:

A (compared to other in-ear monitors)

A- (compared to quality over-the-ear headphones)

High quality over-the-ear types have more actual, physical, bass boom feel, but that physical bass likely sucks down the battery of portable devices much much faster than in-ear monitors. Bass is good; but the treble, mid-range, and overall tonal balance are all excellent. One can moderately compensate by using an equalizer to boost bass with in-ear monitors, and thus make bass very good.

Flanges seal out ambient sound well.

Wireless Sound: B+ (compared to other wired IEMs)

Manufacturer included yet another set of tips for extra-high frequency to compensate for possible slight high-end loss with the wireless option, so I use these tips exclusively, along with the maximum bass tips.

Wireless sound is wonderful if you are listening to mid and high tempo music. But I give it below an A because of a slight fuzz sound that can be heard on slow, mellow music. This may or may not depend on how much electronic interference is in your area. If you rarely listen to mellow music, you’ll love the freedom and sound of the wireless function.

In order to charge, turn on, or turn off (in order to conserve battery) wireless function, must op3n small hatch in each of the receiver and transmitter, use tip of earbud jack (as most peoples’ fingers too big) to move tiny switch on each to on/off position, press a button on each of them to sync them on, unsnap the monitors from the wires, then snap them onto the wirelesss receiver. Not overly time-consuming if you really like the wireless function, but I wonder if they can come up with way that reduces a bit the time needed to use the wireless function, and still keep the battery from draining as fast as if it were left switched on? And from too many experiences, I am sceptical about the long-term durability of tiny plastic switches and other plastic parts.

Battery life is good, and very good considering its lightweight comfortable size.

Customer Service: A-

After several attempts at getting e-mail responses from Sleek Audio, a few responses were not forthcoming, so had to try again and was then successful.

They sent me replacement parts on two occasions free of charge under warranty (clear ear flanges and listening wire).

Durability: B

The number and size of small parts is not a negative for me as for other reviewers; I view this as an asset to model the sound as I wish.

Semi-clear ear flanges repeatedly come off ear bud too easily. One may either be left in your ear occasionally (not a big deal) when you are done listening. Or will fall off onto the ground; sometimes in dark situations, to be found when there is light, or never. Or fall into some unreachable crevice. Ear flanges are lost this way, and only one set per size are included–annoying.

On the plus size, this looseness may sometimes keep the cord from being damaged when stretched at its length. But maybe just a slightly snugger fit? Or how about a durable auto-retractable mini-spool or springy cord dropped into a long cylindrical carrying case when done? Or two style of cords included, with an explanation why?

Sound cable covering started coming off the wire above the Y-split, so I taped it while waiting for Sleek to send me a different style replacement. New style a few inches longer, which I like, and has a permanent-on moveable pre-splitter, to take pressure of the splitter–nice touch. New one they sent me is thinner and so even more flexible. If they are going to continue to ship with the stereo cable that came with mine, they need to reinforce the Y-split and add the moveable pre-splitter to take pressure off the Y-split. And maybe make the original cord a bit longer.

BUT–new style they sent me has a straight-out jack, instead of 90 degree angle as the original, so this makes it much more likely to be destroyed. And the new wire is not reinforced at the jack with hard molded material as the original is, making it even more likely to be destroyed. Worse than annoying–PO’d.

Don’t know which style of stereo cord current orders ship with.

Substantial percentage of the monitors covered by childish “Oh look–shiny object!” chrome plate finish, which likely means chipping, maybe flaking, and/or rub-fade. Like when you are in a hurry and neglect to put it into its bag and your keys rub up against the chrome plate. Maybe save the shiny chrome plate for cheap teenager earbuds?

For this much money, you would think that the wireless bundle would come with a very hard protector case to throw in your backpack–wrong. It doesn’t even come with one of those hard plastic cases that eventually crack under pressure from other objects in your bag or when dropped (or pops op3n and everything comes flying out). Not only that, it doesn’t even come with a stiff bag to protect everything inside. Not only that, it doesn’t even come with a closeable bag. Not only that, it doesn’t even come with a bag big enough to hold all the wireless components one uses every day: wireless receiver, wireless transmitter, wireless charger, monitors, and stereo wire. So that means my charger is separated from its sibling components, maybe being left behind or lost.

Instead, it comes with a soft, op3n-ended bag, with no flap to keep things in. Though in fairness to them, compression has only once allowed anything to fall out of the bag, AND it is fast to put away and pull out.

When I brought these things up to Sleek, they just said that the hard plastic case (which doesn’t even hold everything used daily in the wireless set) only comes with the wired set, but I could pay extra for one if I want. For this kind of money, I consider this just utterly pathetic; get real.

Despite Sleek Audio’s apathy or denial about some details, I love this product. And if and when they decide to improve the details listed here, especially a more durable stereo cord (not an uncommon issue among IEMs) and a more capable storage/carry case (also not entirely uncommon–but who wants common for this much $$$ ?) they will have a world-class elitist product.

Before buying these (on a whim, more about that later), I had been using 3 different headsets. A Bose TriPort In-Ear Headphones – Headphones ( ear-bud ) – black (most accurate sound reproduction imho, but zero noise suppresion, Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3 Studio Earphones (Clear) (lack of bass and yes I stuck it deep in my ear) for those times when I was on a plane, and Apples standard ear buds with Griffin Technology 4039-EJAM EarJam Earbud Sound Enhancing Covers when I worked out.

As I mentioned I bought the D33’s on a whim during a blck Friday sale. They also make a short cord version that I wanted to try while working out when I am not as discerning about sound reproduction. I had just been wearing my Ultimate Ears (UE) set and the first thing that I noticed that the comfort level was night and day. I have tried for hours to get the UE’s to fit right, not fall out of my ear after 10 minutes, etc. I then hooked it up to my Nano. Yow! I wasn’t expecting that from a pair of $20 headphones. Very good, not great bass, but the music had great presence (I listen to a wide variety of music, Jazz, Classical, Opera, Rock, Alt). Maybe just a few hairs short of the Bose, but then a week earlier the Bose had self destructed (early version for which Bose publicly apologized for).

Another note: my wife who has very difficult ears to fit has been looking for 5 years for a pair of headphones that are not a pain in the ear for her. Last night I gave her my D33’s and immediately she said, OMG, the quest is finally over.

So overall:

Very good, but not booming bass (for those who are into boom de da boom, look at SkullCandy, but you will suffer in accurate repro).

Great presence.

Most comfortable headphones I’ve had

A $20 set that meets or beats those in the 3 figure range.

Update:

After using the Ear Pollutions for a couple of weeks, I still enjoy the sound, but the biggest deficiency is the thin wires used. It does (as the other reviewer says) create noise when you wear them. This can be mitigated quite a bit by having the cord hang behind, not in front of you. The wires being so thin, also tend to tangle easily (much more so than say Apple’s standard earbuds). Overall I would knock it down to 3.5 -4 stars because of this. I have also tried the JBuds J2 Premium Hi-FI Noise Isolating Earbuds (Onyx blck) which have a comparable sound quality/dimension/presence and the wires are sturdier (the Ear Pollutions already look like they are already a good candidate for premature failure). The JBuds are also only marginally less comfortable and don’t seem to have quite the same amount of sound isolation, which can be good and bad, as I have found that the more sound isolation there is, the more you are subject to hearing things like your own movements and body functions (breathing and swallowing that is).

My previous Earbuds:

Skull Candy Smokin buds. $30. Thought they sounded good when I got them. Broke in little under a year. Cable split.

Vmoda Vibes $50. These were even better than the skull candy’s. Oh they made me happy. One problem. The cord at the plug in broke in 6 months. Sent them in under warranty. Got them back (pretty good customer service). No way were they what I had sent to them. What I got back was utter crap. I was done with them.

Then I got these. Oh how I love my Klipsch earbuds. $75. The best headphones I have ever listened to. And quite durable. About a year of being at college. Cord being yanked, Shoved into pockets. wrapped around various things. They dont die. Sure they look used, but they work like new. Super comfortable, I can wear them longer than any other earbud I have had. If you are a little weary of the price but are still considering these, get them. I went with CNet when I was looking at earbuds. I liked their review. So I took the splurge. So glad I did. These have amazing bass isolation. The highs are super clear, and the mids are still quite present. They aren’t lacking at all. Give em a try. I am a big fan of Klipsch now!