Performance

The earphones were left alone to burn in for well over 150 hours to ensure that they were performing their absolute best. The M2 in-ears feature a warm and bassy sound. The M2s are definitely one of the best bassy earphones in the sub $100 price tier I have heard recently. Their sound is not nearly as bloated as that of the Sennheiser CX300s and they seem better built, except for the strain reliefs which will be discussed later in the durability section.


The earphones were tested on the following rigs: Cowon D2, HiFiMAN HM-801 (standard amplifier module and GAME Module) and via line out to FiiO E1/E5 and RSA Tomahawk, and last but not least on the iPhone 4. The high efficiency of the driver meant that we were able to power them to good results on all the test rigs. Most headphones out will be able to power them beautifully, however, hiss from the player might be audible if it has a higher than average gain.

Compared to the Beta Brainwavz we reviewed these new in-ears are simply incomparable. The Betas suffered from different types of unwanted distortion, the M2s are so much more natural to listen to. Interestingly enough the price of the M2s is only $59.99, I say only because you are getting a set of in-ears that not only have a good amount of bass, but also good precision throughout the entire spectrum.

The midrange is warm and slightly forward. It is clear that the M2s' focus is on the low end and midrange. The treble is not on par with that of the Head-Direct RE0s detail wise, however, the treble sounds well balanced compared to the midrange. The midrange is well detailed, not quite up there with the RE0s either but it gives the Sunrise SW-Xcape in-ears a run for their money. The Brainwavz M2 have a much heftier bass with better slam and extension which makes them ideally suited for genres such as hip-hop, R&B, electronic music. The sub-bass is also elevated to a level that makes it clearly audible, this should be great for all the bassheads out there. You will feel the rumble with these in-ears even though the bass is not blown completely out of proportions. The Brainwavz M2 easily beat the V-MODA Vibes all aspects considered. The V-MODAs also have a gutsy low-end however, their midrange is not even in the same league as that of the Brainwavz.

Fit wise the M2s do a brilliant job. The slightly odd shape simply fits and the assortment of tips makes it possible to get a good fit no matter what size your ear canals are. Due to the design you can both run the cable straight down or over your ear.

Durability

The Brainwavz M2s are incredibly well built. Their aluminum housing and extraordinarily beefy cable makes them feel incredibly well built. There was an issue with our pre-production sample that meant that the strain reliefs would come off relatively quick. We have been in contact with MP4Nation about this issue and they assured us that they had fixed it for the release model by using a stronger adhesive.