Musical Fidelity EB-50 Quick Review

Musical Fidelity EB-50 Quick Review

Thanks to Musical Fidelity for the sample.

Brief:  Musical Fidelity gets into IEM’s

Price:  £150

Specification:  Sensitivity: 100dB SPL/mW (1kHz) Impedance: 26 Ohms ±15%, Max input power: 11mW (rated power 5mW), Frequency range: 10Hz-20kHz, Distortion: <1%, Noise Isolation: better than 96%, Driver: 6mm balanced armature, Weight: 28g, Cable length: 1.2M, 3.5mm Gold plated Stereo jack plug, Microphone and answer button included

Accessories:  Lots.  I’m counting 10 pairs of tips, a cleaning cloth, an accessory case, a baggy, an aircraft adapter, an 6.25 to 3.5mm converter and I’d count too the built in cable tie.  Oh and the shirt clip and ear guides.

Build Quality:  Very, very nice.  The buds, Y splitter and chin slider are metal.  The jack feels sturdy as does the cable and the mic does too.  It all feels very well put together.

Isolation:  So so for a BA IEM.  Easily enough to get you run over if you’re not looking where you’re going with music on but not the one id want for a daily Tube commute.  Of course it’s still rather better than pretty much ever dynamic driver based IEM out there.

Comfort/Fit:  Very good for me.  I wore them up and was a case of shove in and done.  Despite their being rather big they sit shallow so were perfectly comfortable.  Worn down the mic did catch on my collar which got annoying though.

Aesthetics:  Not the most attractive IEM in the world but its certainly quite nice.  The brushed metal looks nice and I particularly like the red and blue accents (red for right.)  not only is it pretty its practically useful and I approve lots.

Sound:  Very Pleasant.  It isn’t an IEM of extremes; there are no miraculous, hyper detailed highs, no deep thunderous bass and no sumptuously enveloping mids.  It’s all in all a bit middling.  That’s not a bad thing though.  They do everything rather well even things BA IEM’s usually don’t.  Most BA IEM’s around this price are TWFK dual drivered ones and are known for being bright.  Sure they vary but all have low end issues and the driver in the EB-50 just does bass better.  It reminds me a lot of the “moving armature” of the e-Q7.  For a BA it has a remarkably full sound and deals with both the bass and highs in a rather dynamic like way.  The bass is more expansive and the highs have a smoothness and slight rounding to them.  It feels like it’s quite capturing a hint of both.  It’s not a thrill to listen to but its very pleasant.  Pleasant in a way you could listen to it all day, every day and be perfectly content with pretty much every type of musical style.  Its one of these IEM’s that really hasn’t got any faults, it’s the archetypal all rounder.  Balance wise it’s a very natural to the ears sound, natural in the way a speaker can sound natural.  It is very adaptable.  It’s really nice to listen to.  Its only problem is that it was very source fussy. Some sources sounded rather muddy, others rather bright and near shrill.  I think it was an impedance issue but whatever the case I found my phone worked very well with it.

Value:  Can be beaten in any any given area but it’s a top notch all rounder and the whole bundle is pretty nice.

Pro’s:   Very capable jack of all musical trades, great package.

Con’s:  No proper case, doesn’t excel in an given area.