Cambridge Audio SE1 In-Ear Headphones - Microphone, Remote Control, 8MM Beryllium Drivers, 3 Sets of Comply Foam Tips, 4 Sets of Silicone Ear Tips

The SE1 has been in my wish list for very long. I was hesitated to buy it because of What hi-fi 3 stars review. But now its price dropped to £20! What could I possibly lose! Without further thinking, bought it, and I am very impressed and happy!The first impression when I received the package is great, the box itself is actually not metal although it looks it was. Inside is exactly what shows in the pictures, a pair of SE1 with medium silicon tip pre-installed, then 3 pairs of comply foam tips and 3 pairs of silicon tips in small, medium, and large size. You also got a leather like poach to carry your SE1 (I’m not sure whether it is genuine leather or not) which is very nice.The IEM itself was packed as shown in the photo which I have minor concerns, I will talk about it at the end.The SE1 is very light weighted but sturdy, I am using the pre-installed medium silicon tips and I can wear it for hours and do not feel any fatigue.Okay, enough intro/unboxing, let’s talk about sound.I have been plugging it with my Samsung phone for four days, listening to it on my commutes and at work. I must say I am deeply impressed by it’s sounds. It is well balanced with sufficient bass. The bass is not punching heavy but very solid and deep. The mid I would say is a little reserved, not as forward as most IEM or headphones would provide but at the same time it is very clean and sweet. The high is the part that I love most for long hearing, it is accurate but not sharp. It is like Audioquest Nighthawk series. I am sure whether Cambridge Audio was doing it on purpose like Audioquest, but it is definitely for long hearing because it won’t cause fatigue or uncomfortable in long hearing session.After four days of routine listening, now, in a Saturday morning, I can finally sitting comfortably with my laptop, plugging it with the Cambridge Audio DACmagic xs and listening to my favourite music. Now, it shines!My source of music is Amazon Music HD. I first start with my two recent favourite albums: Across the stars by Anne Sophie Mutter and John Williams and Sound of silence by Milos Karadaglic.The sound stage is excellent, I do have the feel that I am listening in a hall. It is board and open and the positions of instruments are just brilliant. You can listen to many details of the orchestra / assemble. The guitar sounds of Milos are amazing, although I wouldn’t say I can listen the vibration of the guitar strings, it is not a reference / studio IEM after all. The sounds is neutral with a bit in the warm side.Then I listened to Adele and Sia. Listening to Adele with SE1 is a joy, Adele sounds amazingly with SE1 and the soundstage is truly amazing. Listening to Sia is also good, but if the bass can be a little bit punchy, it would be perfect. It may not the fault of SE1 though, when I listen to Ed Shereen’s own it, the bass is deep and strong and it have the punchy bass (of course not Beat’s punchy bass level).Isolation is good, I am only using silicon tips because I am using SE1 as daily earphone, I don’t like using foam is my on the go. It can isolate a lot of sounds while I could still able to hear a little bit of background (say the delay announcement in a train… urgh…). And now I am sitting in my kitchen with the washing machine on, I can hardly hear the noise when music is playing, that is very impressed (I didn’t put on high volume).Is there any thing that I don’t like? Yes, but very minor:1. volume buttons please!2. The mic is weirdly not located on either side of the cable but on the splitting joint so I have to hold it close to my mouth when having phone calls.3. I much prefer an L sharped or angled plug rather than straight with my daily earphones/headphones. The reason is in my experience, it will break much easier than those are angled.4. That comes to my final point and the packaging point I raised in the intro. The SE1 was packed with the circular container and the cable was swirled tightly and it came out as bended. I thought it was broken! (and after days of usage, the bended area are still bended!)For £20, it is an absolute steal, even for full price it is still well worth. Get it while the sale is still on.

After having recently bought some Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 ear buds (and been immensely impressed by their amazing sound quality) I was interested to see these wired earphones, from the same company, for an incredibly low price of £20. I thought that they would be worth a try as a pair of wired back-ups but I was also interested to see how the sound compared to the Melomanias. Well, with the large size comply foam tips (supplied along with a good selection of other tips)) in place, they sound every bit as good as the Melomanias with a very full sound and good bass as well as really clear mid and top range. I am surprised that they are being sold at such a low price - presumably because they now have the wireless Melomanias on sale which supersede these. A real bargain I believe!

At £20 these are excellent value. They originally cost a lot more and I can see why, although a lot of the cost is in the case and presentation. This oozes quality. Sadly the sound quality doesn’t match up and even at £20 you’d be better off spending a bit more on a pair of soundmagic E11. These sound good but they’re a little ‘closed in’ and aren’t as open and spacious sounding as other earphones I’ve used. Still for a £20 I thought I’d give them a punt and I can’t complain too much at the price. Had I paid the original £70 asking price I’d have been disappointed.

I bought these on impulse, I had ordered some bluetooth earbuds which never arrived and decided to treat myself to some nice wired ones instead. There is something about the packaging which made me think quality, on opening the box the earbuds are tightly packaged and secure, there are three silicone tips and three memory foam tips. I found my preferred size tips and then left the buds playing off my player overnight. I have now worn them for everything from dog walking, the gym and just when reading and relaxing - really pleased with my purchase. Clarity is great, sibilance is controlled with clear treble, vocals are great, bass is really nice, strong without overpowering the music, I listen to everything from Duran Duran to Thunder, Royal Blood to Keith Urban, Imagine Dragons to Kelsea Ballerini and Marin Morris. My particular go to is the bass playing in Duran Duran, these earbuds are by far my favourite in ears for listening (I do have some open back overears which I prefer, but they need a decent amp and cost four times as much!)Negative, the cable is so tightly packed that mine is pinched and doesn't seem to be straightening out, which is annoying, and the cable seems light, but I have suffered little sound transference when walking).All in all - highly recommended.