Product Review: MEElectronics A161P In-Ear Headset

If you’re like me, then more and more you find yourself listening to music through headphones. So, the old adage that your stereo system is only as good as your speakers should now be amended to your sound system is only as good as your headphones. It seems like audio companies are finally starting to catch up and make this connection. Seven years ago when I first started reviewing music you could either buy a pair of really cheap things to stick in your ears or wrap around your head, or pay a fortune and buy the equivalent of what was being used in recording studios. Aside from the price, the drawbacks with the latter were their lack of portability and the fact you usually had to buy an adaptor so they could patch into a headphone jack.

Fast forward to present day and you’re faced with the dilemma of being spoiled for choices. You go into any electronics outlet store and you’ll find row upon row of headphones, ear pieces, earbuds and whatever other names manufactures have come up with for them. The bells and whistles alone are confusing enough. Is your device bluetooth or wireless? Do you need a microphone? Do you want something to fit inside your ear, around your ear, or over your head and over your ear? Does colour matter, ease of carrying when you’re not using them? It almost seems like sound quality is less a consideration then the extras.

Maybe the truth of the matter is within a certain price range there’s not much difference from one set of headphones to another when it comes to sound quality. Oh sure, some might offer ways of boosting either the bass or treble singles, but that doesn’t really have anything to do with its ability to transmit sound. For under a $100, the only differences you’re going to find from one company’s set to another are the extras, right? Well, that’s what I thought. Of course, I haven’t listened to all the sets on the market, but after sampling a fair range and not noticing any difference I had started to come to that conclusion. However, at the high end of that price range, listing at $99.99, the A161P In-Ear Headset from MEElectronics, showed me something different.

My requirements for a set of headphones are probably a lot simpler than those of most people. I don’t care if it’s bluetooth or wireless, I couldn’t care less about the built in microphone or any of the other hands-free technology employed for smart phones. I’m looking for two things: ease of use and sound quality. I hate having to fiddle around with fancy ear pieces that have to be slotted into my ear in a certain way or, even worse, have to be constantly adjusting the ear buds because they’re either hurting my ears or falling out. One of the first things you’ll notice about the A161P is that they don’t assume everyone’s ear canal is the same size. Each pair comes with six sets of differently shaped and sized easily interchangeable cones. It takes only a matter of seconds to find a pair to fit your ears.

You also have the option of slipping wire guides onto the cable that will allow you to hook the buds over your ears to help hold them in place. I’m not a big fan of the over-the-ear hooks. No matter what anybody says, when you wear glasses they feel awkward. Being able to choose whether I wanted to use them or not was a plus. I decided to give them a try, and discovered not only did they help secure the buds in my ear, they were far easier to use than any I had employed in the past and they didn’t interfere with my glasses. At least they didn’t make it feel like my glasses were about to fall off my head all the time.

When it comes to performance I want my earphones to provide crisp and clean sound which allows me to hear each instrument and the vocals as distinct elements. I don’t want my eardrums ruptured with mega bass or my eyes popping out of my head because the treble is too shrill. I want to hear the music as close to how it was recorded as possible. The first thing that happened when I started using the A161P headset was I had to turn the volume on my music player down. I was thrilled. Too many times in the past I’ve been forced to crank up the volume of whatever player I’ve been using simply to hear the music. The A161P have so little interference, I was able to turn the volume down by at least half and still hear the music clearly while wearing them while walking beside a busy street. I wasn’t even listening to loud music either.

After recovering from that pleasant surprise I began to notice what I was listening to. The sound was perfectly balanced. No matter what I listened to, jazz, folk, rock, or classical, there was a depth of field which allowed me to hear all the instruments in their proper proportions. In the past I’ve had headphones which may have had no trouble handling pop music, but the complexities of jazz and classical would defeat them. It was like they couldn’t handle the number of instruments employed and the sound around the edges would turn to mud. That wasn’t the case with A161P.

No matter where an instrument was in the mix, I could hear it. Even better was the fact each instrument was properly balanced so I heard them in the right proportions. I can’t begin to tell you the number of headphones and speakers I’ve had which grab every sound they hear and then flatten them all onto the same wavelength. Phil Spector would have loved the wall of sound they made. Thankfully that wasn’t the case with the A161P. Whatever technology they employ has the ability to recognize and differentiate between a sufficient variety of sound waves and recording levels. It sounds like you’re listening to a song straight out of a mixing board.

What I even appreciated more was they just didn’t simply boost the mid-ranges and turn down the highs and lows in an attempt to provide a balanced sound field. It didn’t seem to matter what range the lead instrument or lead vocalist played or sang in for them to be placed front and centre in the mix. So even if a vocalist was singing in the same pitch as the bass guitar, their voice would still stand out and the bass would still stay firmly in the background laying down the rhythm track. Now that may not sound like much to some of you, but when the same technology is applied across the entire sound spectrum, it makes for some the finest quality sound you’ve heard in a long time.

The MEElectronics A161P In-Ear Headset also comes with some very intelligent accessories which I’ve not seen included in other sets before. Aside from the variety of earbuds and the optional wire guides, they also come with an adaptor cable for smart phones. Some smart phones have different frequency out puts and this jack helps compensate for any sound distortion this might cause. The second adaptor is a splitter which allows you to plug the headset into both the headphone and microphone jacks on your equipment. It’s always driven me crazy that so many of these new headsets come with a “built-in microphone”, but you’re not given any way of utilizing it. Finally someone has had the brains to include the means for you to plug into your computer, or other device, with both inputs. They’ve also included a nice hard shell clam case for storing the headset in, although to be honest, once you’ve attached them to your player I don’t see you wanting to disconnect them any time soon.

Anyone whose gone shopping for headphones recently knows just how crowded the field is these days. For a non-wireless set under a hundred dollars I don’t think you’re going to find much to match the A161P in terms of sound quality, options, and ease of use. To say I was pleasantly surprised by how good the sound was would be putting it mildly. They may not have as many bells and whistles as some but if you care about what your music sounds like, what they deliver in terms of quality of sound reproduction more than makes up for anything else.