COMFORT IN DESIGN
It didn’t take long to fi gure out how these ear buds were designed to fit within the ear, and seating them properly is easy to do. They don’t feel like they are constantly going to fall out and the over ear loop design of the cable ensures they won’t. You just need to ensure you fi nd the right sized silicone earpiece to best suit your inner-ear. When properly sized up, these are very comfortable and isolate stage noise from your monitor signal really well. The cable length is perfect and the detachable cable from the ear piece gives this unit extra design points. So, if you happen to break the cables in the moment on stage, they can be easily replaced.
VOLUME APLENTY
The IM01’s are capable of some seriously high SPLs with their balanced armature drivers, which will allow you to hear what you need to at crucial moments on a loud stage. I’d always recommend finding the right balance and making sure that you look after your volume control and thus your most important asset, your ear drums. Really crisp sounding highs with nice even mids and a good low bass response made these quite the little package.
IN SOUND SUMMARY
Having no expectations and being pleasantly surprised is always enjoyable when testing both headphones and in-ears. The ATH-IM01’s really brought the volume needed and isolation desired here and will no doubt find themselves at home in many musicians arsenal from entry level to pro. I see them fitting into all genres of music, especially where volume is paramount like heavier rock and a lot of instrumentation is in the mix. At an affordable price point, these are really well thought out and designed with all accessories and in-ear fi ttings needed. Top job Audio-Technica, my hat goes off to you while the IM01’s go in… my ears of course!
