I let the ms-01 burn in for 50 hours and put around 75 more hours of use through my iPod of through my home set-up. The review perspective will be written from the perspective of my home set-up. Through an iPod, unamped, the bass lacks some punch and feels a bit bloated on occasion compared to through my O2. I enjoy the ms-01 through my iPod but I feel it deserves an amp.

R TL

For those who want the quick low-down on the sound here you go. The ms-01 have punchy, clean and well-extended bass, though it can be somewhat too forward at times in the mid-bass and lacks the weight for rumbling in the lows. The mids are clean, full, and warm, but slightly recessed often putting them on the same level as the mid-bass. The highs have some grain, but overall good presence, reminiscent of the Brainwavz HM5. Detail is above-average for the price and while these are somewhat revealing they don’t make me completely cringe at bad recordings. Soundstage is the weak point here, a tad congested and lacking depth.

Lows

The first thing I listened to through the ms-01 was Carly Rae Jepsen’s pop hit

Call Me Maybe

. Now many of you may instantly scoff at this, but I actually quite like this song because it’s a great example of modern pop production with an thumping kick drum with a good amount of texture to it. It’s not the pinnacle of modern mastering, but it’s a fun track to listen to. The thing that impressed me immediately was how the ms-01 brought the song to life through the energy the kick drum. That was the recurring theme I noticed with the ms-01, the amount of energy carried through the mid-bass. The mid-bass is punchy, clean, and has a good tone to it sounding near realistic. These qualities allow the ms-01 to carry energy from the studio right into your ears, to put it simply, I’ve greatly enjoyed listening to the drums in many indie rock songs because of how good they sound. Despite the excellent qualities of the mid-bass I feel that at times it causes the mids to compete with space, the drums have a tendency of being a bit too forward, but I have never felt they have overshadowed the mids.

The sub-bass is no slouch either, my favorite sub-bass test song is James Blake’s

Limit to your Love

which has a very fast quavering sub-bass line as well as a strong sub-bass rumble at the end of the song meant to shake windows with a sub-woofer. The ms-01 handles the speed of the sub-bass rather well, though I wish there were a little more weight to it, the same holds true with the deeper rumbles later in the song. I can hear every note, clearly, with good presence, but it’s lacking some weight to it. I know I’m not going to get a sub-woofer type presence, but I feel this is leaving me wanting just a bit more weight to it. I’m being picky though, the ms-01 handle bass excellent with good clarity, speed, and presence throughout.

Mids

The mids are a mixed bag, on the whole they are clean with a full sound that leans slightly warm. On their own the mids are fantastic, I’m listening to Vince Guaraldi Trio’s

Django

right now where the primary focus of the song is the acoustic piano and acoustic guitar. Both sound splendid, clean and detailed, every position change the guitarist makes is heard through the scraping of the calloused fingers on the thick metal acoustic strings, and the piano sounds as if I’m in the room with it. Unfortunately the mids truly shine when by themselves. The mids have a slight recession until the upper-mids, which seem a touch bright, which puts the wailing vocals of Cedric Bixlar of The Mars Volta and his afro’d comrade Omar Rodriguez Lopez’s shredding guitar solos seem a touch laid-back. The recession isn’t too much to complain about, but in

The Widow

by The Mars Volta I’m used to the guitars and vocals over the solo being more forward and more energetic, then again I’m also coming from the Audio Technica Ad2000.

I’m really nitpicking though, the mids are clean and full and on the whole, they are balanced nicely with the overall sound of the ms-01. My only suggestion is to bring the mids up just a touch, give them a little more edge.

Highs

The highs are done very nicely here, I think that overall they have a good amount of detail throughout, only a slight grain, and no added sibilance. The highs are great here for the price, they have good presence giving hi-hats and cymbals enough presence while never getting fatiguing, the problem though is that I feel that the highs drop off a little too early. The highs actually remind me a lot of the highs in the Brainwavz HM5/NVX XPT100 for those who want a point of reference. The highs are represented well in comparison to the rest of the spectrum and they rarely leave me wanting more.

Soundstage