AirDrives Earphones
This is my very first review of a ‘higher end’ product, but don’t be expecting too many of these, I plan on keeping this a value centered blog. That’s not to say that I wont mix it up every now and then.
The intention of these wonderful little pieces of engineering is to protect your ears, and allow you to have the ability to hear things that are happening around you. Some audiophiles might think of that as a bad thing; but it really has it’s place. Outdoor exercisers need to be able to hear noises that would be of some importance to them, such as; cars, sirens, mad barking dogs, a pervert whistling at you, etc. Should you be fortunate enough to have an employer that allows you to listen to music on the job, AirDrives will still allow you to hear things like your phone ringing, or a fire alarm. Can you see where I’m going with this? Noise canceling/isolating earphones completely block your hearing, making you miss many sounds that could possibly help you avoid danger. They also make it harder to hear the gossip taking place in the cubical next to yours.
Those great qualities are of no consequence if the audio quality isn’t any good, so how do AirDrives sound? Music that consists mostly of mids and highs will sound excellent; easily as good or better than anything I’ve heard. This is quite an accomplishment, considering the AirDrives sit completely outside your ear. The music just magically flows into your canals, crisp and clear as you could ask for.
Base? Considering they make no seal whatsoever (they just sit on your outer cartilage!), they do a very good job. In fact, this is the area with which I am most impressed; due to the design I didn’t think they’d be able to produce any base at all. Truthfully, AirDrives don’t quite compare to noise canceling earphones in the ‘thump’ category, but what they did achieve was astonishing. Only hardcore base heads will offer any complaints.
As far as comfort and fit go, AirDrives are, again, amazing. Completely customizable, they slip right over your ears, feel as light as air, yet remain in place and feel very secure. Again, amazing is the only way to describe the way they feel.
Gold plated jack (formed at a very convenient 70 degees), in-line volume control (great for backpacking, no need to touch your player to adjust volume), sweat resistant material, far safer for your ears over the long term, AirDrives have it all. Wonderful technology; something can produce this much quality sound, and be separated from my ear canal by a wall of cartilage. Wow!
I could keep going on about the positive features, but I’m pretty sure you get the idea that I’m quite impressed. I wish the price was a bit lower, $69-$99 is a nice chunk of change, but you’re paying for a product of very high quality. Recommended without hesitation if you can come up with the coin.
–Jeremy Hobbs
airdrives, air drives, headphones, earphones, music
January 5th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
A comparable product is available from Acousticlobe at MyLobie.com. Lobies offer interchangeability with existing earbuds and feature comparable functionality at a fraction of the cost for Airdrives.
February 2nd, 2008 at 1:30 pm
[...] and I’ll testify that they are well worth it. If you remember, I gave a positive review to AirDrives, and I hold Lobies in just as high of regard. Lower tech? Yeah. But also a much lower price, with [...]