It features a side-firing 16mm dynamic driver, which is pretty large for an IEM.

The form factor of this headphone is a bit peculiar, and they are very visible when worn (I find this a positive rather than a negative).

Despite this, they are by far the most comfortable IEMs Ive ever used.

Comfort has been a huge thing keeping me from pursuing in ears, and these are a huge winner in this regard.

They come with a plethora of high quality silicone tips to choose from, with 7 different hybrid sizes as well as 3 sizes of tips with additional foam under the silicone to increase isolation for noisy environments.

All tips are color-coded by size with the colored portion being the sleeve which goes over the nozzle, which I found clever.

Image courtesy of Headfonia.com as the original packaging was not included with the pair I have.

Build Quality: The cable on these is a bit soft, which has me worried as Im reminded of cables that lasted exactly 5 days before having to be replaced with a similar feel to them.

It has bendable cable leads at the earphone side, which makes them easy to customize to fit your ear.

The cable is also detachable and has a very nice proprietary plug that wont come off on accident.

Im just speculating on cable durability, but even if Im right the official cable is still readily available, as are DIY plugs that enable you to make your own.

The black portion of the housing is magnesium alloy, while the charcoal gray is a very stiff glossy plastic.

The cable detachments are a secure screw-on design and dont move even in the slightest when properly attached.

Ergonomics, Fit, and Isolation: It quickly became apparent to me that these are not a intended to be a deep-insertion IEM, after instinctually cramming them into my skull.

The deeper theyre inserted the less comfortable they are, and it seems to interfere with the bass as well as making the treble sound sharper.

Personally, I got the best combination of sound and comfort from the SS (extra small) silicone tips, inserted partially.

Once I did this, I was greeted with a shockingly comfortable fit that allowed the headphones to eventually disappear entirely.

That being said, these do not isolate on the level of a deep insertion IEM like the ER-4.

If you need super good isolation, these wont fit the bill, unfortunately.

Super coherent and tight sounding while being wonderfully balanced and neutral.

I found these to actually sound quite competent out of less-than-ideal source material such as my laptop, a little softpassive and smoothed over, but definitely more than tolerable.

Honestly, my laptop was the first source I used these with and my first thought was why do people think these are bright I had trouble noticing the reported sizzle to the lower trebleupper midrange during these tests.

All I really heard was fantastic treble extension and maybe the occasional plasticy timbre with the wrong song.

Now its slamming super hard with an enormous 3-Dimensional soundstage and tons of resolution everywhere.

Sony Ex800St Vs Ex1000