Just The Wei I Am

Been wanting/needing to get a pair of in-ear earphones for some time, to listen to music, and also for video editing. It's essential that they are the in-ear type in order to obtain the sound quality. But then that's about all I knew. I also knew that 1) earphones come in many different quality levels 2) you get what you pay for generally.

Saw a nice-looking Philips on Sunday and was almost going to buy it. Thank God I didn't! I did the proper thing (that I usually do before buying things) - online research! This research led me to the Crossroads MylarOne X3 sold at Jaben Network, which is on the 4th floor of Adelphi which as you know, is the mecca of singapore audiophiles.. (I was commenting to KC, 'hey let's go and look at stuff we'll never be able to buy!', and 'I don't think we'll find Sony sold around here')

It's a guy thing, I guess, but the sight of all those gorgeous vacuum tubes does stirs something primal inside. You know what, maybe I'll try using my Pod XT Live to amp music playback... I think it might just work. I mean, guitar tube amps are tube amps. Everything is tube amp tube amp. And Line6's amp modelling is good right? So I can play music through my Pod instead of those $10,000 amplifiers and in theory, it should be pretty good too... heehee

Anyway, back to the earphones.. Yup I bought the Mylar X3. The owner Uncle Wilson is very nice, threw in another earphone (cheap but very good Sennheiser) as a gift. The Mylar is also cheap but very good, but in a higher league altogether.. It's been compared to 'branded' earphones priced more than 2x its price. Don't you love internet forums? Unbiased reviews from ordinary people like you and me..

I'm no audiophile, but I can tell these are better than anything I've used, headphones or earphones. It's funny because with the Mylar X3 I'm hearing things on my music tracks that I've never noticed before. It makes studio recordings sound less perfect, in a good way.

For example, listen to acoustic guitar playing, I can hear more fret noise, even some buzzing during fast passages. i.e. buzzing caused by the guitarist. It's all recorded but you can't hear these details if your phones aren't clear enough! Listening to a sax melody, I could notice the breathing dynamics. And I'm really happy with the bass end of the spectrum. Can hear bass runs clearly with distinct notes. The thing about bass is, it's not just about whether the phone/speaker in question can thump. It's about whether they can thump clearly!

The Mylar X3 really makes it sound like the musicians are nearby. Maybe I exaggerate or maybe it's placebo effect, but all in all, they sound good!