SoundMAGIC Earphones Gold (PL11 Gold)

Really does cancel out outside noises better than other earbuds I've tried. The different earpiece sizes were great since I have small ear canals. The first time I tried them, I was using them with my smartphone and the sounds were totally clear. I was in the DMV with lots of background noise. Then I tried on my computer and there was some white noise, but I'm pretty sure this is my computer's fault and not the headphones because it still is totally clear with my phone. I would recommend.

This is the 2nd pair of these I have bought - this one for my son. Love them!

Honestly, take a look at the price again. These headphones are £20, and I challenge anyone to find a better sounding pair at a price range anywhere near this. If you don't read the rest of this review, just know that buying these will not be a mistake and that you'll probably buy a few more for your friends and family as well.Firstly, the design. The PL11s come with a removable shirt-clip and medium-size ear buds installed with small and large sizes included in the package. Along with these is a faux-leather carry case, one which would probably be a little inconvenient to use on the go (for me personally) but for protection when in a luggage case, satchel or laptop bag is indispensable and adds a little extra value to an already high bang-for-buck product. The 3.5mm L-shaped connector on the end poses no problems at all and is easy to connect and unplug. The coloured metal rings add a classy touch to the earpieces, and there is no visible branding on the earphones with the exception of the shirt-clip (which functions...well, as a shirt-clip). The earphones are incredibly comfortable in my apparently medium-sized ears - by far the most comfortable in-ear headphones I've ever used - and the sound isolation is very good, dampening most low to mid-frequency external noises. The only downside is that if you have poor eyesight, good luck distinguishing between the left and right ear buds.Now for the low-down on how these sound. Mid to high-frequencies are incredibly clear, with warm mid tones and a far-from-tinny upper end. Now for the bass [PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE THING. SPOILER: These headphones are amazing.] The claim that these earphones produce "powerful bass without distorting the mid and high frequencies" is absolutely true, but unfortunately not the moment you take them out of the box. Whilst the bass is incredibly punchy, warm, and most certainly powerful, the mid and high-frequencies lose a moderate amount of 'oomph' when arriving at songs with a particularly prominent lower end, and while they don't necessarily lose clarity as such, there is definitely a noticeable loss of volume. But wait! Where as with most headphones hope would be lost, the PL11s are actually decent! With a few tweaks to the equaliser on your amplifier, PMP or software - I used iTunes, dropping the 125 Hz slider to around -2dB and curving the 64-500 Hz sliders to meet the remaining frequencies at 0dB (do NOT use 'Bass Reducer', as it pretty much does what it says on the tin) - you regain a HUGE amount of the higher frequencies that were once blanketed by the bass, which you leave as punchy and as full as ever. Anything from Coheed & Cambria and Chopin to Rusko and Red Hot Chili Peppers sounds fantastic. After all is said and done, and after toying with giving this product a 4-star review simply for not quite living up to its claims out of the box, with a price of just twenty English pounds these can hold their own with much more expensive cans, and I'd say it has bloody earned that fifth star.PROS: Cheap, amazing value, 'expensive' design, cheap, powerful bass, cheap, comfortable.CONS: Need a little tweaking to get best experience, L & R indicators were added by the Borrowers.

I brought the PL11 as a replacement to the MeElectronics M9 which broke, bass wise it is not as bassy as the M9 but the bass does not distort the other sound, so the bass is relatively good whilst still projecting the music quite well. Having said that, the PL11s is bassier than a lot of the other earphones around this price tag given you put the right ear buds as it affects the sound quality a lot.The PL11s does however crack a little when the music you are listening to is on the highs, so if that's what you listen to then the PL11s not for you. If you like bass but still want the clarity of the music, this is for you. Low - Med is good, Highs not good.As with a lot of chinese built products, durability is questionable, I can see why many stop working quickly as when you pull out the earphones it's easier to pull from the cable, I pull from the actual metal casing so let's see how long it lasts, but generally earphones these days have a lifespan of a year and a bit anyway.

I'm writing this review after a full year of using 1 pair of these earphones and they are in exactly the same condition as when I bought them for a staggeringly low £13 (approx.) This is despite an enormous amount of use in many different contexts (including in-ears for on-stage performance) and travelling in various bags wound up in a coil. My sister in this time has gone through about 7 pairs of Apple headphones which I believe cost a little more than these.Not only have these phones stayed in amazingly good condition despite all this use and the odd accidental pull and yank but they sound just as amazing as when I first bought them with just as rich bass and crisp highs. I can hardly believe that I paid so little for these. I bought them after only having VERY basic earphones before and needless to say that since using these my music has taken on a whole new flavour and is now a complete joy to listen to.I've found that if I'm using a music program with sound enchancer type software such as my phone then I am unable to drive some songs (particularly Florence and the Machine and the like) too hard through them I assume because with these headphones already doing an excellent job at bass frequencies and this means that the music becomes a bit muddy and sort of 'overdriven'.Unbeatable value for money. £13 for a year of quality music and film sound.

Nope, don't like them. I had a set of the SoundMagic PL11 In - Ear Super Bass Earphones for almost 4 years, and one side recently died (from cable abuse, mostly likely!). I was going to get the same ones, but thought a newer model with such great reviews would be a better buy. Keep in mind that these 'bad' points are all in comparison to my other SoundMagic earphones, which I'd been used to for 4 years.... I find that even with the largest buds, they still don't feel like they seal my ear as well. The sound is a little bit tinnier. The cord is stiffer and 'springier' and holds it's shape too much after being coiled up, which means it sticks out all over the place instead of lying flat. The clip can't slide up the cable high enough to be any use, in my opinion. They stick out of my ears further than the other ones, meaning I can't have them in while lying on my side (admittedly, I only do this occasionally, while listening to a sleep hypnosis track when the insomnia gets bad). They were very well packaged... I had to pretty much destroy the pack to get them out, so I can't send them back, doh. Having said all that, you'll see that people who know a lot about sound have given these little guys fantastic reviews, and most of my gripes are in regards to personal preferences. And I loved my other SoundMagic earphones, going to try to get the same model again. Unbeatable sound/comfort/durability for the price. They're the only brand I bothered to look at when looking to buy a new pair this time.

My search for the ideal earphones/headphones continues.I first came across these after Stuff Magazine waxed lyrical about the great audio quality and the low price. I bought a pair and I have to say, all aspects of sound quality are really good for the price. The bass and treble are nicely balanced and in terms of ergonomics, they are well-designed - not too intrusive in the ear (unlike Shures and their ilk).The cable clip is really handy. To this day, I don't understand why more earphones do not provide one. The cable is just the right length and the pack comes with a good enough range of changeable rubber buds, and carry pouch.Unfortunately, I have to report that I have purchased 5 pairs in the space of 2 years (I've stuck with them for so long because of the low price and decent sound quality). The 'phones always fail in the same way - the rubber cord base peels away from the metallic body. Although they can be glued, I find that once the earphones fail in this way, the corresponding left or right ear cable fails completely shortly after.Admittedly, my earphones are used for several hours each day; but even then, an average lifespan of 4/5 months for all the pairs I have owned is not really acceptable.I am currently on my last pair, after which I will revert to the Creative EP-830s - even cheaper on Amazon at the time of writing, more durable, and better sounding with my Creative MP3 player.