Pros: Bright, non-offensive highs, great horns, deep bass, handles plenty of power.
Cons: Some might balk at the price, but i'd buy them at 2x the price.
The Bottom Line: Buy these earbuds. They have by far the best sound quality I have ever heard in a set of earbuds, or even full headphones for that matter.
kweckstrom's Full Review: Bang & Olufsen A8 Consumer Headphones
Once in a while, a product I purchase far exceeds my expectations. It doesn't happen often, but when it does it's something I really, truly enjoy. This is one of those products.
I'm an audiophile. I have a rather extensive collection of CD's (over 600 at last count), I'm really diverse in my music tastes. I listen to a lot of "Progressive" rock (Rush, Dream Theater, etc), some Alternative stuff (Live, Pearl Jam), a lot of Electronica (Sasha/Digweed, Chicane, etc), and all sorts of other stuff. About the only 2 genres of music I can't stand are country and rap. Rap especially bothers me. In fact, I consider rap being to music what etch-a-sketch is to fine art, but I digress.
The headphones are solidly constructed. There's a curved earpiece that resembles those found on eyeglasses that fits neatly behind your ears, and can be moved in any direction for comfort. The earbuds themselves tilt and swivel and are meant to go straight into your ear, covering the entire opening of your ear canal. With the way the headphone earpieces are constructed, it's very easy to get them on you comfortably, though it's a bit confusing at first.
My first shot of music, something with some fine nuances: Chicane's "Behind the sun" on my portable MP3 player (Creative Nomad II MG LE). The first track has some very ambient sounding bass, and some tiny high-end nuances perfectly recreated on these phones. I was shocked and amazed. I have never worn a set of headphones (much less earbuds) that put such a smile on my face.
Next up was Steve Vai's Fire Garden suite. Plenty of guitars both acoustic and electric, piano, sitar, a musical potpourri at its best. If you ask me, this is some of his most inventive work, and it really pays off. Of course, it's best heard at near-full volume (full volume hurts!). Again, every note comes through. At the low end during the final 3rd of the suite, there's NO bass breakup. Amazing. Truly amazing.
Now for some more aggressive techno. Madagascar's Art of Trance from Dave Ralph's Tranceport compilation. Strong, punchy bass, sound coming from what seemed like everywhere. I gotta tell you, these phones just don't quit.
I took 'em into the house and hooked them up to my PC. This is a bit of a cleaner source than a portable MP3 player, though not by much. I did notice some deeper bass notes and some additional punchyness, but the mids and highs were much the same when playing them off my Soundblaster Audigy (Note: I used the front connection for headphones off the Livedrive - I required a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter available at any radio shack).
Next up, my Denon AVR-5800 beast of a receiver ($2600 piece of equipment, though I don't know how much of that is dedicated to the headphone jack). This was by far the most impressive show for this set of buds. I tried it with all sorts of sources, but the most impressive was the DVD-Audio version of Stone Temple Pilots "Wicked Garden".
I have never seen a more portable AND versatile set of headphones. If you look at Bang & Olufsen's website, the frequency range for these buds is 50-20khz, respectable but not the best on the block. But I can tell you this: All the other earbud manufacturers who say their earbuds are doing 20-20khz are flat-out LYING. There is no other way to describe it. If these buds are only going down to 50hz on the low end, then those other earbuds are calling it quits at 120hz, that's how much deeper the bass is on these.
I've also read a few epinions on these earbuds in this thread criticizing the lack of bass. Well, I can only say this much: They're either lying, have a really poor source of audio or are using a set of knock-offs made in hong-kong, because it simply cannot be true. I have tried multiple sources with these earbuds, and they are bassy, boomy, and even downright PAINFUL if the bass is cranked up too loud. The guys complaining about lack of bass from these buds better return 'em to wherever they bought 'em from because they're likely defective or even worse, fake.
To summarize, if you are looking for the best sounding earbuds you've ever heard, do not hesitate to buy these. I purchased them at an ebay auction for $115 shipped (brand new), and will most definitely buy another pair for home for when my wife wants my PC to shut up. I find these earphones to be 100% justified at their price, and would not hesitate to buy them at TWO TIMES that price. That's how much I like the sound quality.
And this is coming from a guy who has a $15,000 home theater setup.
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