Massdrop x NuForce EDC In-Ear Monitors Reviews | Drop

Free Standard Shipping in the US on orders over $99

Showing 1 of 586 reviews about:

Massdrop x NuForce EDC In-Ear Monitors

Mar 24, 2018

Verified Buyer

i like these earbuds a lot as secondary buds that live in my bag so i have them wherever i go. they don't quite compare to my over-ear 'phones but that's to be expected.
tl;dr: i have a couple of UX issues that make using these earbuds need babysitting and finagling, and that's removed a star from my rating. but the earbuds themselves are fine. everything i have issues with are the modular parts, so it's eminently fixable down the line even for someone who already has them, like me.
one issue i have is that the smallest earbuds (foam or silicone) aren't quite small enough for one of my ears. it stays in just fine in my left ear, and i get the quite deep bass (not overemphasised, but it can go deeper than a lot) and balanced sound and everything... and in my right ear it keeps popping out every few minutes and doesn't sound very good. these use a different mounting stem for the buds than a lot of others, so i'm not really sure what i can do about this.
another issue i have is that the button on the mic doesn't move very far, or provide much tactility. i'm often not sure if i pressed it or not, especially since my phone can be a little laggy sometimes, i often end up pressing it a few times thinking it's not clicked the first time.
i would also like some better way to keep the mic closer to my face. in windy glasgow, my voice gets overpowered by the wind with the mic so low down. sometimes i can hook it around something on my coat or jacket to keep it closer, but it's not the most optimal solution. headphones which keep the mic+controls on just one ear's cable keep it much closer to the mouth. i don't know if the detachable nature of these cables are why the mic is kept below the point the cables split or not.
lastly, the weight of the cables are a little light. the only way to properly wear these buds is hooked over the ear, but i find the cable keeps getting pulled over and above my ear by the tension of the earbuds in my ears, and then they start trying to pull themselves out. this is potentially exacerbated by the fact that i wear glasses, but i've had earbuds use a similar form factor without this issue before.
but when everything works correctly, i got exactly what i expected. very good quality for the price (though the import tax brought it a little closer to some of its competitors). it's just a shame that these few niggles make me have to fumble and fiddle with these earbuds far more often than the pair they're replacing. they're wonderful buds for being out and about, except for the part where i have to adjust things at least every half an hour.

Was this helpful?

Vote

onoduras

Mar 30, 2018

dolljointsHey man, get a set (small, medium, large) of Comply 100 foam tips. I prefer the Comfort line but Isolation is just as good. The expanding foam works WAY better in fitting to your body's unique shapes. With the three size kit you should be able to use a larger foam tip for the ear that has a differently sized canal, if needed. I have a similar issue with my right ear where the canal curves very sharply and silicon tips wrinkle and fall out if I move my jaw. I also make a ton of wax so I get the tips with the wax guard feature and that helps reduce the amount of scraping I need to do to keep buildup out of the IEM.
Hopefully this helps!

Mar 30, 2018

Vote

dolljoints

155

Mar 30, 2018

onodurasi did not expect leaving a review to just leave a regular comment as well, completely devoid of the actual review-y bits. massdrop should have made that clearer.
i'm using the foam tips with these buds anyway. i was just making it clear in the review (in case someone was like "did you try the silicone too?") that the silicone buds, which seem to be smaller than the foam buds in the smallest option, still didn't cut it.
anyway i've used comply in the past and the foam always stopped expanding after a couple of weeks, idk why. i gave up on them after the third time. so unless they've gotten better in the last 5 years, i doubt i'll be trying them again. also i was under the impression that comply didn't fit these buds because the stem was smaller? have you used comply on the EDC specifically?

Mar 30, 2018

Vote

onoduras

Mar 30, 2018

dolljointsOh, your comment is listed under the Reviews. No worries there. I just thought I might have a solution for you. :P
The foam tips that come with the EDCs are similar to the Isolation line from Comply, but are a little softer than the Comply material. Not sure about the lack of resiliency you had issues with. Do you live in a colder climate? You're right the tips are expensive and they do wear out (or in my case get super gross from wax) but for my hard-to-fit ear canals and improved comfort I find Comply to be essential. I have Comply tips for all my IEMs but for the EDCs I am just using the medium foam tips that came with them. Comply offers their tips in five different tube sizes and should be able to fit just about any IEM out there.
I have not bought Comply tips yet for my EDCs as I don't really listen to them, preferring the Pinnacle PX - but that said I have never had Comply's size selector tool steer me wrong. I use Comply on my Sony earbuds, as well as Fiio F9 SE and the aformentioned Pinnacle PX.
Sorry Comply doesn't work for you; perhaps try SpinFit? I didn't find that they were significantly better than the default silicon tips for myself. Hopefully you find a solution to your issue!

Mar 30, 2018

Vote

dolljoints

155

Mar 30, 2018

onodurasi do live in a colder country, yeah. i did notice i had to hold it in the squished mode longer than other people talked about. maybe i'm just still not doing it quite enough. mine arrived just as the winter started so if that is what's exacerbating this issue, i'll try to notice what happens when summer hits. it's spring for a lot of the world but we keep getting cold fronts causing snowfall this year.
when i clicked the link to the thread i didn't see any of the review trimmings so i had assumed it was in the "discussion" part instead, so i appreciate your clarification.

Mar 30, 2018

Vote

See More Reviews