Macsimum News - Freshly Squeezed Reviews: Bye, buds

Freshly Squeezed Reviews: Bye, buds

Posted by Frank Petrie Apple ico May 9, 2007 at 6:56am

They pop out repeatedly. You quickly turn your head and they fly out. They’re a hassle and they’re not even good enough sounding to be worth the hassle. Earbuds.

So, you move up to canal phones, which, as the name implies, fit right into your ear canal. But you spent a pretty penny on that iPod or portable video player. And you want hear every cent that you paid for.

“The Future Sonics Atrio Series earphones produce a full, rich sound quality, even tonal balance and incredible vocal warmth—a live sound quality that feels as if the performers are standing right in front on you! Realize new depth and feel from your audio. Upgrade any exsiting system by replacing the speakers as you would improve the last link in any audio chain.”

Well, lots of bands on tour use them. Sting uses them, the CBS Orchestra uses them. There must be something to them, right? Let’s listen.

The Juice

Future Sonics, the creators of the Atrio series have been around for a couple of decades, serving the professional community. (If you were ever a roady for a local band, from a monitor standpoint, these are a dream come true).

First, I tried them with my nano. I listened to “Love” by The Beatles and the original Broadway soundtrack of “Les Miserables.” I’ve listened to these recordings so many times that I know each note and sound by heart. Or so I thought.

I don’t claim to be an audiophile but I have been involved in performing and recording all of my life. So, I’ve heard a lot of rigs in my time, including high end recording studio gear.

On The Beatles’ recording, I was able to hear every timbre of every instrument with “in the room” clarity. You could “feel” the pop of the bass drum. The mixdown effects were pure. In fact, I heard a few forced cuts that I hadn’t noticed before.

Then I moved on to “Les Miserables.” Same experience. The brass was crisp and you could distinctly hear the bowing of the string instruments. You could even hear the wood (ask a musician).

OK, so they deliver on crispness and the high notes. But what of the bottom end? Quick, to the QuickTime movie trailers. Let’s find explosions and any sounds that could cause the Atrios to break-up.

Again, a sheer delight. I watched Spider-Man 3, the next Fantastic Four sequel and 28 Weeks Later. So, I had a great collection of sounds to test with. Particularly surprising was the passages that went from dead silence to a burst of sound. No problemo. And all the time the separation of the music, sound effects and vocal track never bled together!

Another really amazing thing was the sound was full and rich, even at low volumes. The bass was still full, while the reproduction was true. No hearing damage necessary. Can’t be bad.

The Pits

Nada.

The Rind

Nada.

The Pulp

‘But Frank, at this price (US$199), they better blow me away!’ You’re right. And they do. You can even up your experience another notch by customizing your pair with customized ear clip ons for an added price. No external sounds will ever come in. Not even the sound of that baby in the next aisle over.

The Atrios m5 canalphones also come with several sizes of expandable foam rubber sleeves and two sizes of the ‘flanges’ so you can still customize your fit.

Are these for people who want aural wallpaper? Of course not. These are for your advanced consumer an up.

But if you want quality, or even require it for your work. you can stop looking.

Macsimum rating: 10 out of 10

Bill Henderson Says:

I have a pair of Xtrememac’s FS1 earphones made by Futuresonics. These look just like them. Are they worth the upgrade from FS1’s? Since the FS1s are still made ($150), I would like to see a direct comparison.
Thanks,
Bill

Posted on May 09, 2007

Marianna Says:

I have the FS1s, too. The new ones are more expensive and seem to be better looking. A saw a review of them on About.com that says these are even better. I cannot imagine, but I can’t afford to make the change right now. Did this site review the FS1? Can you compare them?

Posted on May 09, 2007

Matt N Says:

Check out the new Bose Ear Buds…

Posted on May 09, 2007

Eric Says:

A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of trying out about 10 different pairs of in-canal earphones, from as low as $100 to as high as $200 and included the Future Sonics Atrio. All of the earphones I tested were far and away better than the stock Apple Ear Buds (both original and revised). To be sure, none I tested were not excellent performance and well worth the money, but a couple did stand out above the rest (naturally, they also fell at the top of the price range)…

The Future Sonics were very good, but despite the claims of deep bass response and derogitory remarks made on their website about “enhanced” and “boosted” bass (the latter of which, boosted, I have to say usually does not work out too well) of competing products, I still found them lacking in this regard, which is logically enough the weakest part of any earphones due to their very small size. However, the overall tonal qualities were clear and sharp, and bright. The Future Sonic Atrios are definitely better than most of the earphones I tested. Their price was $159, which put them in the middle of the price pack, and that is perfectly fitting for their middle of the road overall sound quality.

The overall, best of the best, cream of the crop, were unquestionably the Ultimate Ears super.fi 5EB. The bass response is VERY full, very natural, and very filling. They have dual drivers… one high freq, and one for bass, where the bass driver is quite large (for earphones), and while it does make them look a little odd, if you have long hair, like I do, they can’t normally be seen (not that it should matter). Also, it should be noted that thre is no amplification circuit for the bass driver, so it is not “boosted” which as I mentioned, does tend to sound less than natural. All the boosted bass speakers I have ever heard had a “mushy” sound to the bass, kind of like comparing Dolby Digital to DTS. DTS has bright and clear surround and sub, while Dolby Digital (in comparison) has muddied surround and over-enhanced sub where it should not be enhanced.

@MattN: I also tested the bose Earbuds. They were the lowest priced pair I tested, and also came out at the bottom. However, they are not bad, and if you are on a budget, for the price, they are well worth it (though keep in mind that I did NOT test anything below $100, of which maybe a couple might be better than the Bose. Worth checking out.

By the way, I tested these all out at a professional audio dealer (only deals with professionals, not the general public, so I will not mention his name here - We bought all our audio equipment in use in our screening room and editing studio for professional film editing from him). He does not sell anything he cannot have the customer try out and compare first, and has a huge collection of all the in-ear adapters for each earphone I tested. However, he does not sell all brands since some manufacturers refuse to provide him with replacement in-ear adapters so his clients always have a clean adapter when testing them. He throws them out after the testing is completed and the client has made a decision.

Oh and yes, I decided on the UE super.fi 5EBs for $199. I was only testing them for personal use when traveling, which I do far too often (I fly across the US at least twice a week, and to Europe and Japan at least once a month, so having some nice in-canal headphones to listen music and movies in general silence on my iPod is worth every single penny spent.

Posted on May 10, 2007

Albert J. Says:

The fact that I read blogs and forums that seem to have people who preach sounds like they work for UE or even some other company. If you have the money to buy all of these, you really should have what you like. My bands soundman got us the Atrios and they were so much more realistic than the UE 5 and UE IEM customs my drummer has. He was actually really pissed since the customs were $$$$. I mean I set my car radio to the sound that I like and I think that people have to find what sound setting they like but maybe its different. I’m a Mac guy and a music guy. Maybe you have a bad set? Maybe you didn’t try them correctly? Did you call the company? Dual drivers are a waste but I didn’t know until I got my Atrios. That’s what I like. Listen to them all and find what you like.

Posted on May 10, 2007

FSI Online Says:

It is interesting to ready all of the commentary and we appreciate hearing from everyone who’s both posted here to Macsimum News, as well as those who’ve called and emailed our offices.

First, audio is subjective and it really is about what your own preferences are. Your ears will tell you.

Second, and I hope this is helpful, Future Sonics does offer a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. If you don’t like them, send them back. We do have a 15% restocking fee since we cannot reuse nor resell the return items, but I am very pleased to say that we see very few returns for sound quality. In ten years, it remains in the single digits for my own experience.

Finally, what we do is different from other companies out there. We are a pro-audio company and we are thrilled that so many advanced consumers are discovering our products. That said, we do not offer traditional dynamic drivers or any two or three way armature drivers. We did develop those products years ago—and they sounded really good until we A/B’d them to our own design of single dynamic miniature loudspeaker.

There are some great products out there. Listen to them all. We recommend EQ OFF (not “flat") and no “soundcheck” for use with iPods and iTunes, but you tell us. We don’t mind the other companies and, in fact, we encourage them.

Thank you for listening! Feel free to reach us directly at or http://www.EarMonitors.com is our website.

Posted on May 10, 2007

Avi Says:

I do a lot of audio work and I have been saving up to get a pair of Sure E5’s (they retail at about $350 I think). Could this be a cheaper alternative?

Posted on May 14, 2007

shigzeo Says:

it has been my experience with sure e500, westone um2 and etymotic er4s that the miniature armature is a great design for ultra detailed performance for those times when you just want to hear the dj make mistakes on his mix of ‘southern sun’. however, i have never enjoyed music more than with the type of drivers that futuresonic produces - at least for iems. for large phones, i use separate amplifiers and beyerdynamic dt880.

for a large headphone, they are considered incredibly detailed and non-lush - to some fatiguing and dry. others, myself in cluded, consider them opposite. they are wonderful for speed but not overpowering in the upper end - not attacking like grado phones. they hit bass, but not too much that i miss out on disk swaps and electric riffs. i love dynamics.

when i got into iem use, i first used the um2 which for an iem is warm, has good soundstage and comfortable. it was however missing something i thought - it was too sensitive and hissed with any source. the shure e500 too was very hissy and even more detailed, leaving me wish for large headphones. the er4s was my favourite other than the terrible ergonomics of the phones - dry, fast and let you hear get the feeling of the place of recording.

but all were desperately bold, somewhat lifeless required too much attention. the future sonics m5 only have i demoed but it reminds me of a full size phone. it has more bass than my dt880 sure but it is still quick and soft to the music - i can relax and listen to enjoy, not listen to write essays on the constructs of the music. truly, these phones are my favourites in the iem business as i can enjoy more than the superb isolation - mine are on order from road dog online. cheers

Posted on May 22, 2007

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