thinksound ms01 in-Ear Monitor with Passive Noise Isolation (Gunmetal Chocolate)

I had purchased some expensive mainstream earbuds prior to purchasing these. I was so impressed by Thinksound, that I decided I had to try these out. As it turns out, these beat the twice as expensive mainstream brand by a long shot for most of my musical tastes. I burned these in for about 80 hours prior to judging sound quality.These come in very economical packaging, with an obvious sustainable image in mind here. Included is a nice little canvas earbud pouch with the thinksound logo, as well as a variety of tips and some ear clips. These earbuds are beautiful little pieces of craftsmanship, with the wood/metal construction really appearing striking. The cord seems thick and sturdy, and it doesn't tangle nearly as easily as a cheaper cord would. Several earpiece sizes are available, and they fit comfortably in the ear, but do not stick well enough by themselves for running (hence, the included clips). Achieving a good fit is easy with the included tips, making for quick and easy insertion of the buds. Microphonics are about what one would expect from earbuds of this price; any vibration on the cord produces noticeable noise.The sound is outstanding for most of my music collection, but it suffers with a few genres. Acoustic pieces are extremely clear, and the sound is fairly well balanced throughout the entire range of frequencies, with a little more emphasis on mids and highs. Interestingly enough, the low end extension of these is actually quite impressive with use of test tones only, but not quite as strong in music. In other words, these things will blast sub-30hz just fine, but they've not been tuned to be peaky in the 40-60 hz region like many others. The sound is warm without hint of sibilance, and vocals are very strong. These don't perform as well for rock and rap or other music - and movies - with a variety of instruments and vocals, where separation becomes a noticeable issue. So, vocals are good, and acoustics are good, but combining too much of either muddies the sound stage. I've found this to be less of an issue with IEMs that utilize multiple sound drivers (e.g. dual or triple armature IEMs); however, those come at a much higher cost typically. Driver sensitivity is good, allowing for very reasonable volume levels from most devices without additional amplification.The ms01s are an absolute bargain if you enjoy acoustic music and music with emphasis on vocals. Customer service is also top notch should you ever need it.Update: With continued use (30+ hrs), these continue to sound better - most notably with improved separation.

Edited review:As happened last time I had a problem with a product from thinksound, CEO Aaron Fournier personally responded and sent me another pair of headphones and a prepaid shipping label to return the faulty pair. I received an email where he said that there was nothing wrong with the pair I sent him. Given that he has been so quick to respond and he confirmed issues with a pair of ts02's that I sent in a few months ago, I have little reason to believe he is lying. I cleaned out the headphones with alcohol before sending them back just to make sure that ear wax or something wasn't the problem, but it didn't help. Aaron suggested pocket lint trapped in the vent hole in the back of the headphones - I'm not sure, but whatever happened, I have a nice pair of headphones now that work and sound incredible. I have to take him at his word, but if there really is nothing wrong with the headphones I returned, then I feel obliged to revise my previous rating to 4 stars. He cared enough about the reputation of his company to email me about the fairness of my initial one-star rating, which was somewhat perverse (I mean, I paid the $100 for these things!), but also respectable as evidence for how much he puts into the company.Anyway, I figure I should add a bit about the headphones themselves. The cord is laughably tangle-prone, but there's nothing else I can complain about in the industrial design department. There's a lot to like: a sleek, wooden back end to the aluminum driver housing, reinforced cable cinch points, and a pair of behind-the-ear cable guides for working out with headphones in. Speaking of the guides, they do eventually begin to induce some pressure aches on the cartilage of the ear, but shifting them slightly once in a while helps.The sound is somewhat brighter and much fuller than the ts02's, although I suspect that the driver components themselves are not all too different from them. I think the tuning is just much more 'engineered,' and less done 'by ear.' In other words, although the sound is still smooth, it's definitely more on the analytical side than in the ts02's (a characteristic I happen to like). The lower-end response range is apparently lower by 2 Hz (18 Hz - 20 KHz), so that might explain the much more complete-sounding bottom end. The higher end verges on sibilant in some recordings, which is why I suggest playing around with equalizer settings for the 2 KHz - 8 KHz range to rectify that. I appreciate the choice, since the ts02's seemed mid-bass and mid-high heavy, but didn't respond well to equalizer setting changes. Moreover, I've noticed that low lows and high highs together caused a bit of noticeable distortion to the sound in the ts02's (think hip-hop with sub-bass), while I have yet to encounter that problem with the ms01's.Overall, the headstage is very intimate, but there seems to be much more accuracy in the separation of tones that you'd expect to 'bleed together' or distort one another on cheaper headphones. With the ms01's, I feel like I'm listening up close to a concert at a large, professionally-arranged venue, while the ts02's sounded like I was listening up close in a small room with sound insulation paneling on all the walls.Bottom line: excellent customer service, excellent sound, and durable (assuming your initial pair wasn't a dud). NuForce 770x's do give these a run for their money (literally - they're half the price, and customer service is almost as amazing), but I've never had them last for more than 6 months.Original review:I've had these headphones for less than a week, and already the drivers are giving out. I am by no means a basshead, nor do I use high-wattage audio sources, but the bass on both sides has suddenly stopped delivering. I have a pair of ts02's that I've had to have replaced for similar problems within the first week of use, so suffice it to say that I am done with purchasing headphones from this company. For all their wonderful marketing and customer support, they're really no different than most other 'premium headphone' companies in that they produce them overseas, and might have a hard time assuring the quality of their products due to their small company size (and base here in the States). Reminds me of my experience with Nuforce, inc., except that at least their headphones cost half this much.Incredible sound, particularly after playing around with equalizer settings, but definitely not worth the money. Parting with a Benjamin for something that is in principle the same as what comes for free with many MP3 players should provide some sort of comfort in at least having a reasonably durable product, but alas...

Great value! Perfectly balanced with great detail. I've tried and owned an extensive amount of in-ear headphones. (Monster Turbine, Klipsch x10, B&W C5, Grado GR8, Hifiman RE400, Shure Se215, etc.) Many of these are fairly high end and a couple of them are well regarded low budget ear phones.The Thinksound MS01 offer superb balance and great detail. If you're a basshead, these aren't for you, but there is still a very good amount of bass. If you want to hear music the way it was recorded these are the ear-phones you're looking for. I've never been more pleased with a purchase. For the price, I doubt there is anything better out there and, take it from me, even at prices that are 3 times as much, these can't be beat.

I commute about over an hour every day in the city riding public transportation, and these headphones are absolutely phenomenal. I've always been big on music quality and before this pair of headphones I had a pair of HiFi-Man RE400s that I loved, but they sadly broke after half a year. I decided to try out the thinksound ms01 after reading some reviews online and was thoroughly satisfied. Sound is amazing and very isolating, making them perfect for when im in the bus or subway. They fit very nicely and look great. Sadly the left ear stopped working after about 7 months, most likely due to the heavy use they experienced and constantly being pulled in and out of my jacket. The thinksound support team was super helpful, telling me exactly what was broken, how to prevent it in the future and sending me a new pair free of charge. Fantastic product made by a fantastic company!

Qualità sonora soddisfacente, e dinamica all'altezza selle mie aspettative. Basso buono e musicalmente molto dettagliate. Ottimi i materiali di costruzione.

En moins de 3 mois d'utilisation, à raison de 5 heures par semaine, le reste du temps protéger dans une boite en plastique, un écouteur est HS.Le design et le son était bon mais le produit se révèle au final de piètre qualité sur le long terme.Je ne recommande donc pas ce produit.

I bought these headphones as a replacement for a pair of Soundmagic PL50s I'd had previously for use with my iPod. These were an upgrade and I am not disappointed in the slightest. The noise quality is excellent, the wood looks great, and I am very happy with the them. The downside is that the things that go over your ears are almost entirely useless, I have normal sized ears, but find them totally unusable. I would also add a little thing that you slide up the wires to bring the earpieces together when not in use. I do like the use of recycled materials in the packaging, and have recycled them myself.