I just bought these Quad drivers from 1More based on the quite exceptional reviews (Please Google “1More Quad driver earphones reviews”) for these earbuds. At $149 they are right up there in price with the Sennheiser, Beats, Bowers & Wilkins and Bose that lead the market. I had researched the 1More “Triples” and the “Quads” quite thoroughly before going with a brand that I was not familiar with. The “Triples” are, by all accounts, less expensive and just as good in their price bracket and I almost bought them based on PCMags recommendation this year. Since I was not phased at $149 for the Quads I decided to go with their flagship device. So here’s the impression after just a day of use.
Quality – wow – from the packaging to the look and feel of the components, everything oozes “first class”. Think Apple packaging and design. The metal buds are machined to tight tolerances and the dark-bronze metal parts all look and feel like they will last. The whole ensemble is a little weightier than the typical plastic parts you’ll find from other well-known brands, but not disturbing once in your ear. The heft makes them feel somehow more worthy and tangibly well-made. These are built to a substantial design and manufacturing quality standard. The right-angle connector for the phone end is also metal and includes a strain relief on the first 1/2″ of cable that runs towards the buds. There’s nothing plasticky about these except the nice non-sticky cable itself with the metal in-built remote on the right side, and the foam cushions.
The earphones arrived in a very high-end looking (and feeling) hard case. Inside the box was an machined metal and logo’d airline adaptor for those twin-pin entertainment ports in armrests as well a a full size 6.3mm amplifier connector (1/4″) that snaps cleanly into the standard 3.5mm connector. Also included was a pocket sized hard-shell carrying case for the earphones and an array of small to XL sized silicon and foam rubber cushions to optimize ear seal from 14mm down to 10mm. Although I have quite large ears, I found that the small 10mm foam seals allowed me to secure the L/R ear speakers snugly and with maximum seal. Not having the buds securely placed will leak the bass range out. Having them sit properly provides the precise opposite. Pick your favorite track and be prepared to inhale at any volume. These things can drive. At normal listening volumes thus placed there is little sound leakage. At about 85db, the upper limit for me on earbuds, there is the likelihood of other people’s awareness of music leaking out at about 6′, but it’s faint to the people around me I asked and not disturbing. At more subdued levels, there is little evidence of the music you are playin to the outside world. I will try them in the gym tomorrow but already feel these are secure enough for my routine of cross-trainer and weights.
I have only made a couple of calls on them so far, but the sound quality is clean and clear with good sound isolation. The remote hangs up cleanly and when playing music controls volume (but not as I expected fwd/reverse on tracks). On the phone calls I asked if the other party could hear cleanly and without distortion and two reports out of two said the received audio quality was excellent. My end of the line was perfect. So much for the right-side in line mic. No complaint there.
Playing music! These plug into my iPhone XS with the official white Apple dongle/DAC to start (the usual “lightning to 3.5mm jack adaptor). Then I played music with two different portable DAC set ups- a Dragonfly Red and my iFi Nano Black before adding the 6.3mm connector to try on my home amp (Peachtree Audio Nova 300 with its own very sophisticated internal DAC). And while it might not be a totally fair comparison to match these 1More earbuds at $149 to my 4x to 5x more expensive headphones (Sennheiser HD700 open back and Oppo-PM-3 planar magnetic closed back), the 1More earbuds stayed with it – I would say effortlessly – across a variety of my favorite listening tracks.
I played Talking Heads “Speaking in Tongues” to kick off. Then Muddy Waters “Folk Singer” and Miles Davis “Kind of Blue” all in FLAC/MQA format (hi-res audio files). Frankly, with the Dragonfly Red in line and a high quality source, these earbuds are about the best sounding in-ear speakers I have ever owned. But even playing Apple Music at 256kbs, the sound was brighter, more detailed and warmer than any other buds that I have tried in this price bracket. I have Rebecca Pidgeon’s version of “Spanish Harlem” in FLAC and in iTunes and listened to both. Should I confess that the Apple version was pretty darned good and Im not sure I would be able separate it from the hi-res edition in a blind test? Bear in mind, I used an external DAC with my phone to listen to all the tracks. The DragonFly Red does a great job presenting even relatively lo-res files in this set up but even with the Apple Dongle (about $10 from Apple) things were very very good.
The bass is an area that won’t disappoint. I doubt this is a flat EQ tuned set up, but if you like to feel the pace and punch off a good kick-drum, these bring it on in spades. I’m not a metal fan but listening to some simple old reggae (Burning Spear, “Marcus Garvey” and “Dry & Heavy”) bass is swinging, tight and punchy with no boom or muddiness. Voices across the mids stand out with a real sound-stage of their own – even without the BS2B filter I use on headphones (this is an EQ setting within the music app (like Vox) that cleverly meshes the sound output with some fancy filters/algorithms to compensate for overly Left-Right channel separation that is more evident in headphones listening to music mixed by the sound-engineers to play on speakers). This is where the company’s bragged about sound-engineer consulting looks like it has paid off. Muddy Waters remastered “Folk Singer” album jumps out, sliding on a 6-string, hand slapping the wood and the singer’s breaths and grunts clearly evident with the full range of string vibration spanning highs to lows without any stress. Talking Heads classic remastered album (from 1984 originally, bought then on CD now playing MQA) driving and swinging with synth drum and regular electric bass and David Byrne’s crazy vocals as real and cuckoo as we love him to be. Miles’ trumpet, even the high notes, never shrill or piercing. Nice roll-off at the upper reaches testifying to an excellent frequency response well beyond my ears all the while letting snare and upright bass occupy their own distinct place in the sound-stage. The overall impression is neither 3D nor plain L-R …maybe above the head or a little forward…no mean feat when listening to music that may have been recorded on a four track or an eight track.
I cannot think of any real downside to these earbuds, especially at this price. For this sound quality in regular headphones you might expect to pay at least twice a much. I’ve paid much more for much less. So these are going everywhere with me and when I can’t be bothered to hook up the big cans will not be subjected to the torture that cheap earbuds inflict on music, especially the 256 kbs variety. These earbuds WILL show up poor quality recordings or lossy files. If that’s a beef, stick with lo-resolution cans. (Just joking, who wants that?). If you like detail, taught low-end bass, detailed and warm-forward mids and treble then buy these with confidence. I gave my old Beats (similar price) to my daughter before buying these and have owned the Bose and Sennheiser earbuds prior to these. 1More is the new king. And is not even that close at this price point. I am not a paid reviewer and not connected to the company – or any audio firm – , just a serious music lover with audiophile tastes in equipment – even if I can’t afford it. I rarely post reviews of this length and am doing this one because these guys have earned the accolades. Cheap sound is like bad wine. Why bother at all? This is a set of earphones you will enjoy without reservation.
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