The Basics:

The image below shows the the MEO1's in their entirety, fresh from the box. I mentioned previously that the cord seems to be taking a while to completely relax after being wound up in its packaging prior to arriving here, and this image shows a bit of what I am talking about. A few weeks of use has resulted in the bulk of the kinks and twists having completely relaxed to provide a nice flat cord, but one key kink persists. If you look just to the left of the thin black cylinder on the cable (this is the remote control), you will see the cords coming out for the two earbuds. The one cord with the distinct zig zag, lightning bolt kink in the cord is for the left ear and that pattern still exists in the cord today. As I said earlier this is not the end of the world, as the function is not affected, but aesthetics is one of Master & Dynamics calling cards, too.



What we can also see in the overview image above is that the machined aluminum earbuds are located at one end of the ample 1.2 meter (almost four feet) cord, that features a gold plated 3.5mm connector on the opposite end. In between you will find the remote control and microphone, and we will take a closer look at all of these features in the next few images.

In the below left image we see the audio connector with the M&D marking on it. It is a fairly typical 3.5mm plug, but as you can see it has four gold bands meaning it is for stereo audio and a microphone. This connector should work in just about any jack, whether the device supports a microphone connection or not. For example, your MP3 player will send the stereo signal out to the ME01 earphones just fine, but you will not be able to use the microphone or the remote control (as discussed previously).



The above right image shows the two earbuds, and the extra features found on each cord leading to them. The right earbud has the microphone inline, which is a small, semi-cylindrical module on the cord that has a mere pinhole in it to pick up your voice. The cord to the left earbud has an even smaller feature on it, a tiny hexagon of plastic with the M&D logo on it. I believe this item is purely aesthetic, and may help balance the weight of the left and right earbud cords.



The promotional image above shows a close up of the microphone, as well as the remote control. The controller is a slim, but longer cylinder attached to the main cord where the left and right cords split off. The concept is simple, with a button with a "+" for louder, a button with a "-" for quieter, and the blank button in the middle is for play/pause. The one oddity is with the labeling on the backside of the remote control. The ME01 earphones are subtly labeled with Master & Dynamic logos on just about every component, and here we have the most prominent labeling of all, and the string of letters and numbers means nothing to me and definitely doesn't help with branding.