MEEaudio M6 Review
First
Impressions: Usually the first impressions means the first moments I
have with a product, but oldies may recall that the M6 has been around a
while. Not just that but waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day I reviewed
them. If memory serves they were a little more expensive back then, I’m
sure they were about US$50 but aside from my mentioning that when I
first reviewed them, I have no evidence. However whatever they were,
they are now available for the grand sum of US$20, delivered. UK peeps
can get them for just £16 delivered from the Rainforest place. So these
are about as cheap as cheap gets for earphones.
Casting
my eyes on them, god damn they still look as good as they ever did.
Having been playing with the spookily similar looking XF-200 these with
their silvered woven cable with a transparent sheath, they were about
the best looking earphones ever and that’s still true. Just look at the
little buggers!!!
In
the ears, ahh there’s that bass, gosh were they always this bassy? Is
it that I’ve cheated and slapped Comply’s on them? Oh my word they are
bassy little beasts aren’t they? Jesus they shift some air, my sinuses
may not love this. Anyway lets send them to the burn in machine.
Source: FiiO E7/E9 combo, Hisoundaudio Studio V 3rd Anv., HiFiMAN HM-650, 1G Ipod Shuffle, Nexus 5, Lumia 735 and a Graham Slee Solo Ultra Linear.
Lows:
Holy crap there is a lot of it. Oh my god it’s a big air mover, was it
always like this granted to Comply’s give more a firm seal but maybe
it’s just that there has been a relative shift over the years. I mean
they were always bassy but their siblings were even more so, so they may
had comparatively seemed less so? Maybe they have been retuned and
tweaked over the years? Anyway, loads of bass. Loads and loads of it.
Compared with the XF-200 these are big woolly beasts. A rather similar
tonality, their sound signatures both being bass dominant with thicker
mids. Treble taking a back seat. Curiously though these do trail away a
bit early, which is unexpected. I mean I’m glad because if they stayed
so epically vast all the way down I suspect they’d be making me
queasy.
These
are bass beasts, beastly thumping power, great big air shifters that is
moderately firm given their volume. If you want to slap on bassy pop
and let it go rip roaring, exploding all over the place you’ll love
‘em. Mental stuff but gosh, for me, it’s too wow!!!
Mids:
Creamy, thick and weighty. Oh Jesus, that bass it does like to get in
your face and show off. Mids are reasonable and pretty clear, certainly
easily decent enough for chart topping pop. There are made for
mainstream charty stuff. Wow, go wild party beasts. Bass punching you
in the sinuses then crabbing you by the collar and hurling you all over
the place.
Vocals, well their okay. A little too thick and accordingly not big on detail retrieval.
Highs:
Lol they do what they valiantly can to fight there way through the
melee, they do all that they can to put on a good showing but make no
mistake they are not, nor will they ever be the star of the show. Even
in highly treble heavy songs they never take centre stage. What’s there
is clean, gently edged and really quite refined and polite. It’s
always in the back but it’s really quite pleasing tonally. Details not
terrible either.
Quantitatively
they are forward slash shaped. Though the treble and mids aren’t very
far off each other, the bass is easily more considerably scaled than the
mids and treble.
Soundstage:
Placement and such is so so. they do however begin to shine in terms
of voluminous scale. That bass is epic and expansive. Big heart,
dominating and full ed with power. The mids are pretty much back in the
midle and the highs just beside them. It’s the bass that easily
dominates though.
Fit:
Perfect for my ears. I also rather like the amount of effort MEE have
put into trying to teach people how to wear them. Not just do they have
a little booklet that’s highly detailed but they made a video too, I’d
suspect long term Head-Fi’ers won’t need such advice but we were all
there once. Encountering an earphone than you had to wear up rather
than down, how perplexing and curious it was the first few times.
Though I should note I got a bit of driver flex, it wasn’t bad or a
problem but with a silicone tip creating a tight seal it could get
annoying if you’re pulling them out every two minutes.
Comfort: Perfect, couldn’t be better if my ears had been their model to base them on.
Aesthetics:
Oh just look at them. Look at them, I still freekin’ love that cable
with its silver weave coated in a transparent sheath. Just look at
it!!! They looked great when they first came out, they still look
amazeballs good. Oh and if for some reason you don’t fancy the clear
ones you can get them in heap of difference colours.
Phone
Use: Okay I don’t have the mic’d set but an extra US$5 gets you a mic
and a universal volume control that will work with everything as it’s
basically a variable resistor.
Isolation:
Very good, right at the absolute best a dynamic can give you they.
They sound sealed to my ears and besides the SE215 I don’t think I’ve
encountered a dynamic that can isolate so much. Easily good enough for
out and about, on a bus, normal stuff. Flight and a Tube commute you
could get away with too. Oh and even without music going you’ll never
hear that bus behind you, seriously people use your eyes or get a donor
card.
Microphonics: None. There’s a chin slider if you “need” it but you won’t for microphonic reasons.
Cable:
Squeee!!!! Look at how pretty it is, and then it’s super soft and
flexible too. It’s a great cable by any measure not just for something
so cheap but period. The jack and Y splitter are great too, there is
just nothing you can fault here.
Accessories:
You get 6 pairs of tips, a shirt clip and a little case. Basically
everything you could want for them. One thing to note that’s weird, the
bits you get are “colour matched” so if you get the orange ones, your
case comes with orange accents, blue, pink etc etc. tips are coloured
too.
Amped/Unamped:
They when amped get more forcefully vigorous. Its most noticeable in
the bass, it’s highly potent anyway and it just firms up to punch you
even harder in the face. Though at their price they aren’t likely to
see a big amp and thusly they really don’t need one. They are pretty
easy to drive.
Value:
Super-duper value. I’ve said it before for other things but that they
can even be delivered worldwide for the price tag, I don’t know how they
do it.
Conclusion:
Okay, right off I want to say these are not for me. Oh my oh my, the
bass they spit out is just too much of a tour de force for my delicate
little ears. These are beasts, powerful monstrous beasts that want to
power out a bass line that’s like a force of nature. Ploughing through
any obstacle in their path, gym inspiring monsters that will grab you
and haul you through your session. That it is what they are meant for,
it’s what they are designed for. It’s how you should use them.
You
see, I’m much more happy with something delicate and polite, they are
bass monsters. They want to just power on through and while I may find
it fun in tiny doses, I can feel it beating the hell out of my sinuses.
Oh god it’s actually making me slightly dizzy when I crank the volume.
It’s just insane, seriously mad stuff. I can see many uses loving it
like mad and no doubt bass heads will love it but gosh, it’s all a bit
much for me.
So
should you get one? Well it’s a stunning looker, its “sweat proof”
(IPX5 rated,) it’s got a great fit that’s super secure for jumping about
and it’s got a gym loving sound signature. No wonder MEE are pushing
it as an “In-Ear Sports Headphone.” It fits that bill perfectly so if
that is what you are after, then it’s perfect for you. If you want a
purist, polite monitor then, lol, no it’s not what you’re looking for.
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