I’ve put at least 100 total hours of music playing through the EX10s, whether on my ears or by themselves. At no time did I notice any burn-in effects. My review is based on the foam filled hybrid tips provided in the packaging.

So far we’ve established that the packaging is pretty great, the build quality is solid, and that the comfort is above average, now it’s time to get to the important stuff. The sound of the EX10s and the style it’s presented reminds me of being in a smoky intimate jazz venue that has the bass up just a notch too much. To put that simply, the EX10s has a slight favoring towards the low frequencies presented in an intimate manner, they actually remind me a lot of the Sennheiser HD558 I used to own in overall sound style. The EX10s aren’t the type to impress right away with huge detail, or a very lively sound, but what the EX10s excel at is sounding good with almost everything I’ve listened to them on.

The bass is the prominent frequency of the overall sound of the EX10s and it’s the primary reason the EX10s remind me of the HD558. The bass is very clean with good extension rather deep down and good mid-bass slam for kick drums and toms. These aren’t bass monsters by any means and the sub-bass leaves a bit to be desired but these will certainly satisfy those of us who aren’t bassheads. The mid-bass has a small hump that emphasizes these frequencies, pushing things like bass guitars, to the spotlight, but the impressive thing is that despite this nuances in the background aren’t lost. An example of this is during an atmospheric drum and bass track by Duo Infernale called

Lost in the World

where I’m able to hear the slow panning electronic noises despite the heavy rumbling sub-bass that drives the track with the kick drums being worked overtime. The loss of nuances due to pushy bass is a problem most bass oriented IEMs I’ve heard in this price range suffer from, NVX does bass right here. Overall the bass is very satisfying, it favors bass guitars over kick drums and sub-bass, but the impact of toms and kick drums is above average as is the sub-bass in presence and quality.

The bass is a bit too prominent for me, but I can say that I am almost completely satisfied with the mids. Vocals have a great sound to them having a clean sound that’s placed well in the soundstage being center but not too forward. Guitars sound clean as well with every string able to be heard separately on albums that were recorded well, namely The Beatles

Abbey Road

, the EX10s aren’t miracle workers though and poorly recorded modern rock albums can sound a bit flat and dull in the mid section. As the famous saying goes, “Garbage in, garbage out.” The EX10s may not be very detailed, but they are detailed enough to expose poorly recorded guitars. Listening to Sufjan Steven’s

All of the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands

is a good example, while it’s one of my favorite songs off an excellent album, the album is still lo-fi and while it’s not painful, the banjo is obviously lacking some clarity and luster.

The highs aren’t the focus here and that is painfully apparent in some tracks where the high frequencies are the focus. The main offender I am talking about is Pink Floyd’s

Comfortably Numb

and am referencing the solos, which unfortunately sound as if they are turned a notch or two down below the bass. Trumpets do sound great though, a bit restrained but that can be a good thing for fatigue. The highs are rather clean, though I do notice the same dull characteristics the mids can sometimes carry.