The Basics (continued):

The two earbuds are shown up close and personal in the images below. The craftsmanship is very impressive, as the tiny pieces are all finely detailed and assembled with precision tolerances. What you can not see in these images is that each earbud is slightly embossed with "ME01" in the plastic band just before the connection to the silicone ear tips, and there is a subtle marking to indicated L or R (left or right) where the cable meets the body.



For an even better appreciation of the fine detail, check out the machining of the aluminum portion of the housing in the image below. The finely machined lines in the end and side are low key but very attractive, as is the exposed aluminum that is visible where the black anodizing has been machined away. I can only imagine machining something so small, and then assembling a 8mm driver and wiring inside.



In Use:

In use, I have to say I was extremely impressed by the Master & Dynamic ME01 earphones... The fit and function was beyond what I thought earphones were capable of. I have used them for many hours on end while working at my desk, or working in the yard, and in many ways they remind me of over the ear headphones. I say this because they sound is so full and also because they are surprisingly capable of blocking out outside noises. They are actually better than most over the ear headphones I have used, as the sound is well produced throughout the whole range. The highs are crisp, the mids are clear and warm, and the bass is reproduced well, especially for an 8mm driver.

Many headphones leave me feeling like the sound is being muddied, and that the mid range sounds aren't as dynamic as they should be, but the ME01s reproduce everything in a very realistic manner. While I am a fan of rock and other louder genres of music, putting on a some tracks that emphasize the vocalists efforts is very enjoyable. For example, I am back listening to some Norah Jones for the first time in a while, and I have shifted to the more subdued Alice in Chains recordings, just because Layne Staley's voice sounds so good on the earphones.

One issue I tend to have with earphones is that I get tired of them being in my ear after a while. I can not say this is eliminated by the ME01s, but I can adapt them for continued use... They can sit at a variety of depths in my ears, and moving them a bit helps bring relief. And, with the variety of ear tip sizes included, going down one size helps, as well. But, with the pre-installed tips in place, I am very impressed at just how well these stay in place. I am always adjusting other earbuds just to keep them in while I run, work, etc... But the ME01s fit so well that I can just forget about them in that respect.

As mentioned a few times already, these earphones are made for Apple products. The images below show them in use with an iPhone 7 Plus, as well as an iPhone 5C. They worked flawlessly with both, but as you can see you need Apple's supplied adapter since they no longer offer a 3.5mm jack on their phones. The play/pause button on the remote control worked perfectly, and when using the inline volume control, the iPhone responded immediately, and the screens indicated the changes you were making as if it was on the phones volume controls.



I tried these out on other devices, and it is confirmed that the remote is far less useful outside of the Apple universe. I tried it on two different Android 6 devices, and was surprised that the remote worked differently on the two. On one, it did absolutely nothing, while on the other device the play/pause button was functional. No volume control available on either device. For kicks I tried them on a Windows PC, and was amused to find that the only button that did something was play/pause, and what I found was that when you held that button down it made the volume louder, and when you let go it went back to normal volume.