Marshall Mode in-Ear Headphones, Black & White

I spent 70-something moneys on a new pair of IEM’s recently. It was this pair actually. That’s why I’m reviewing it right now. Logic.I got myself into a lot of trouble when I ordered these. “YOU ALREADY HAVE NICE EARPHONES. WHY DO YOU NEED MORE?” said the angry significant other. I didn’t really have a good reason, so I told her how pretty she is. Didn’t work this time. So I promised that if these marshall’s didn’t blow me away, I would return them and pretend like this never happened.Soooooooooooooooo….I’m a little disappointed that I like these as much as I do. Because it means I’m going to remain in the doghouse. I heard about these from thewirecutter. If you haven’t heard of this site, I recommend checking it out. They basically just review tons of consumer electronics and try to recommend the best bang for your buck. This is the second time that I’ve purchased a product based on a thewirecutter recommendation. I guess I’m trying to say that I wouldn’t have ever given these a look if not for that website.If you’re the type of person that gets pleasure out of abusing headphones, you won’t like these. I understand the idea that more expensive IEM’s should be more durable, therefore I can light them on fire and then extinguish that fire with battery acid and still be able to use them everyday. I get it, 60-70 something moneys is a lot to spend on earphones. But the money here pays for performance, not durability. I’m sorry. These are fragile. Will they die after one bad snag on the corner of your desk? No. But I don’t think they should be used at the gym or carelessly tossed in your bag and sat on or lit on fire.I treat my earphones like a small puppy that fits in my pocket…… which is why I’ve only had one pair break since I was in high school.The remote is pretty minimalistic. It’s one button. Which is good because I think 2 buttons would be overstimulating for me and I’d get scared. It can be used to answer and hang up calls, play/pause your music, or skip to the next or previous track. There is no volume control. If that’s a deal breaker for you then….I’m sorry you had to read this far into my review. I wish I could give you back the time you just wasted. The mic is neat. It’s located a little higher than the remote so it’s closer to your mouth. I’ve gotten zero complaints about my voice quality when talking into the mic.Accessories. Pretty much none. You get the earphones and 4 tip sizes to choose from ranging from small to extra large. I use the large tips and I get a nice tight seal in both ears. But the lack of a carrying case bothers me. I have multiple carrying cases from other pairs of IEMs, so I’m personally doing ok. But if this is going to be your first pair of upgraded earphones, I’m scared for you. It’s like Marshall is encouraging you to carelessly toss these into the bottom of your bag or pocket. Then they’ll break. And you’ll be upset. And I don’t want anybody to be upset. Because it’ll make me upset and everything is about me. ANYway, if you don’t have a case, I’m not going to recommend that you get one. That would be a little excessive. I just encourage that you take care of them.Audio is completely subjective. So I don’t really know how to approach this section. The isolation from outside noise is more than adequate as long as you have a good seal with the included tips. Once I got that seal, they fit really snug in my ears and stayed put. These have a higher impedance than cheaper IEMs which translates to: they won’t play as loud at the same volume/input power. That said, I use them with my Nexus 6p which has underwhelming audio-out power. But because of the decent isolation, I’m still able to drive these to satisfying levels with volume to spare. Heck, I used them on my business flights and had no issues.I really like how these are voiced. I tend to be sensitive to high frequencies. If earphones have too much in the high end, my ears get tired and I get grumpy. These have a nice smooth high end, with no lack of detail. I can listen for hours and feel good afterwards. The midrange is really strong on these. I listen to mostly rock, and electric guitars come through really strong and have a grittiness to them that sounds awesome to me. Voices are clean and clear, but they take a backseat to guitars and the rest of the music that makes music sound powerful and engaging. I think the bass is exceptional, and there’s a boost at the lower sub bass is delightful on electronic and rap but doesn’t get in the way for rock and more acoustic music.The last nine sentences should really be taken with a grain of salt. I don’t know what you like or how your ears hear. But overall, I think these are pretty well-rounded and will be unoffensive for most people to listen to. Surely, they’re an upgrade from stock earphones.

The sound is amazing. You won’t be disappointed.

I had been searching for a pair of “on ear” or “in ear” headphones to use instead of the “over-ear” headphones that I use for recording on my DAW. Sound quality was my main selection criteria.Although the sound of a good pair of “over-ear” monitor headphones is tough to beat, they get hot and uncomfortable the longer they are worn. So I needed something smaller, but something that could still provide a good sound profile for composing and recording music. I sampled a fair number of on-ear and in-ear headphones – none of which provided consistency across the frequency spectrum (some too muffled, some too bright, etc). Then I came across the Marshall Mode in-ear headphones, and my search has ended.The Marshall Mode in-ear headphones are balanced across the entire frequency spectrum, and are thus good for listening to a wide range of music. They come with a number of different sleeve sizes, and once you find a set that fits your ear canal, they provide good sound isolation (although they do not claim to be noise-cancelling).I have only used the Marshall Modes for about a day, so I cannot attest to their durability, but if you are looking for a set of in-ear headphones that provide excellent sound (good bass, balanced highs, good presence), these should be your choice. I would definitely buy them again! BTW, I’ve read some of the reviews that mention poor sound quality, but this was not my experience. I understand that there are knockoffs on the market, so I guess buyer beware. I bought these from the Marshall Store on Amazon, so I knew I would be getting the real deal, and I was not disappointed.

I prefer wired earbuds for the motorcycle so I don’t have to worry about power and, when I take off my helmet, they don’t blast to the a** end of the parking lot.These are super low profile and taper in toward the top. They stay snugly in the ear when I slide on the helmet and want to stay put while I turn my head for shoulder checks.The noise isolation is stellar and I’m able to keep volume pretty low instead of battling wind noise with high volume music.Sound quality is great for the price, leaving me able to pick up sound from music that I’m otherwise not able to hear from other earbuds.One warning, the noise isolation is kind of a little too good and I sometimes struggle with road awareness behind and around me.Favorite alternative without noise dampening is a pair of basic wired earpods…do a pretty good job of staying in.

I saw a review for these on The Wirecutter whose reviews I’ve really grown to trust. I wasn’t expecting too much for $40, but the sound quality of these Marshall headphones is surprisingly fantastic. I’ve been using a pair of Beats urBeats in-ear headphones that I got for free with a phone purchase. Sound quality on those is pretty mediocre, but I didn’t expect much from the Beats brand. I also had a pair of Ultimate Ears 700 headphones purchased for about $250 that I thought were pretty good. I lost those so these were a replacement. I have to say that I was amazed to find that this pair of $40 Marshall headphones sound better than the $250 Ultimate Ears that I had.Strengths are: Midrange clarity, Natural balance (no overemphasis of the treble or bass notes). The only downsides might be that the cables are not super-armored. These don’t come with a case so I would highly suggest getting a hard protective case.