Air! Not only good for you but makes for "quality" IEMs!

[lestatar]

Well...feast your eyes on these. Anyone come across this concept yet?

Some guys I just met in HK are starting to import these from China with the goal of selling them online. The hook? A reduction in electromagnetic RF waves as a health benefit for IEM users. The pair of blue tubes leading into the IEM housings are nothing but supple rubber tubes. I don't even know if they were 100% airtight [prolly not as I was able to cut out the sound by simply squeezing the tubes].

<huh? Yeah, I said the same thing...>

Price? Around 20USD.

Yes, I sampled them...for like 30 seconds. Which quite frankly was around 28.75 seconds too long.

I didn't have the heart to slam this "product" to those guys. They honestly believe in the concept and were truly impressed with the sound.

To my ears, all I heard was my music seeming to come from like 5 miles away from my head. This was beyond my reasonable understanding of "soundstage spaciousness", entering into Grand Canyon echo-chamber territory - I have never heard any headphones which sounded less realistic and which made music so distant to my listening perspective.

These same guys listened to my Panas and truly thought that they didn't sound as good as these air-thingamajiggies...

Build quality was eh, prolly on par for 20USD headphones. The box and packaging were actually OK though.

So...what say you all? Need me to help you place an order? I think I can hook you up!

dfkt, I would be delighted to send you a pair for review and possibly may be able to arrange an interview with the genius behind these things, the enigmatic Dr. Mercola...

Bring it on guys!








EDIT: Hey, I just noticed that there is an American address on these! Look closely at the box, lower right hand corner...

EDIT2: OMG... http://products.mercola.com/blue-tube-headset/
But I am now very confused after reading their site page. Are they selling me IEMs or trying to get me to ditch my cell phone?

Enquiring minds want to know...

[dfkt]

So Dr. Mengele's "crystal clear WIRELESS tubes" are basically stethoscopes sold with a bit of fear mongering? That's totally awesome. Someone should tell him that 'poisonous' RF is generated by the cellphone antenna, and not transmitted over the earpiece wires. If anything, speaker drivers generate a small low-frequency electromagnetic field, while cellphone RF is very high frequency.

Ultrasone's approach on that matter sounds a little more credible, while of course Beyerdynamic claim the complete opposite.

Originally Posted by Beyerdynamic

Can the powerful magnetic field lead to health problems?

Gebhardt: No. The strength of the magnetic field in a headphone system should not be confused with electromagnetic radiation. Inside the headphones, there is a static magnetic field, similar to the earth’s magnetic field, which is also concentrated upon a tightly limited area: the air gap with the voice coil.

And none of this magnetic field penetrates outside?

Gebhardt: Our Tesla systems are indeed optimised so that as little magnetic power as possible escapes from the system, because this would be a loss in efficiency. Naturally, audio signals in the voice coil generate a tiny degree of electromagnetic radiation, as is the case with all headphones. But this is lower than with conventional systems anyway, because the high degree of efficiency requires a very small level of power.

[lestatar]

^ Does this mean you want a set or three?

[WalkGood]

I could be wrong but I’m assuming that little tiny speakers (drivers/armatures) driven from a DAP don’t produce electromagnetic RF and if they do it’s negligible. So I see no need to have that air tube extension and IMO I’d pass on those iem’s, it’s probably just their marketing hype … On the other hand cellular phones use electromagnetic radiation in the microwave range, you can read about it here and from what I’ve read they also produce RF signals which are probably harmful to humans with excessive exposure.

[musichound]

At least they are not trying to rip off people, attempting to sell them for an exuberant amount of money for snake oil.

[lestatar]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

SNIPPED...it’s probably just their marketing hype … ...SNIPPED...

Abso-frickin-lutely...

Only good thing I have to say about these was the fact that the tips were actually kinda comfy.

[skip252]

What's the date where you're at? This reminds me of another audiophile revelation we had a few years ago right around this time of year. Except...I just looked it up and these things seem to really exist.

Of course there's no way for you to know just how these sound until you've spent some time with them. How 'bout taking one for the team and getting a set? 30 seconds just isn't time enough to truly make a informed decision. Put down those Panas and really give these a listen.

Looking forward to your in depth review.

[WalkGood]

lestatar, I used the same hose in my fish tank :P

[yuki]

Judging by the name I am sure Jews were used as test subject for said headphones :P.

[razorblader]

They have WIRELESS tubes!!! Finally! Thanks Dr. Ricola.

[lestatar]

Originally Posted by skip252

What's the date where you're at? This reminds me of another audiophile revelation we had a few years ago right around this time of year. Except...I just looked it up and these things seem to really exist.

Of course there's no way for you to know just how these sound until you've spent some time with them. How 'bout taking one for the team and getting a set? 30 seconds just isn't time enough to truly make a informed decision. Put down those Panas and really give these a listen.

Looking forward to your in depth review.

roflmao! I luv ya skip252, but some things cross the line.

This would be one of those.

So, gauging by that link I think we have discovered the real reason for the phrase "March Madness".

WG, yuki - lol!

I am gonna send all you guys a set for Xmas. They are sold as 3 packs for the low low price of 61.97USD, an incredible savings of 42.88USD from the list price!

Who can turn down that kinda deal?

[musichound]

Originally Posted by lestatar

I am gonna send all you guys a set for Xmas. They are sold as 3 packs for the low low price of 61.97USD, an incredible savings of 42.88USD from the list price!

Who can turn down that kinda deal?

So you're going to send us these, plus the Justin Bieber phones?

[lestatar]

^ lmao!

That depends on whether you have been naughty or nice in 2011

[pseudohippy]

I almost bought a set of customs that use airline tubing years and years ago. Its the same as when you see those FBI guys wearing the tiny headsets and they have the curly wire coming from them. Tech has been around forever. But that doesnt mean these are not the best sounding headphones ever. I say buy them and let us all know.

[lestatar]

^ If they came with that tres cool Secret Service curly tube, then I might consider it. But seriously, I did listen to them for an entire song - I simply couldn't listen beyond that. I was not overly hyperbolizing re: the distance of the audio to my ears.

Aside from that, these things just sounded awful to me. Even when I tried to listen past the echo-y thing, everything sounded dull, without any kind of crispness whatsoever.

I detest earbuds and even the cheapest earbuds I ever heard sounded better than these things. They really kinda sounded a bit like the music spillage you hear from outside of a club/venue - this is the best way I can describe the sound characteristics.

Aside from being potential, fairly cheap prank gifts, I can think of much better things to do with my 20USD.

NEXT!

[musichound]

Paired with a HiFiman, they should sound terrific.

[esanthosh]

This is way too much! Killing the next FOTM before it even begins

I already wrote a review even without listening to them. The last lines read "Compared to unique sounding Dr. Mercola's BlueTube headset, every other IEM sounds tubeless and in your face with a narrow sound stage". Everything depends on your perspective.

[cnhardwick]

Originally Posted by lestatar

<huh? Yeah, I said the same thing...>

That is exactly what I was saying. Then I saw the Mercola.com link when scrolled down to look at the photos and it made perfect sense--meaning it is a bunch of nonsense. When I took a required health class a few years back in college I had instructor that required me to write a handful of research papers using Mercola.com as a source. Each paper I wrote was more and more sarcastic. I guess my instructor did not know I was being sarcastic though and gave me mostly A's. Anyway, I would take anything Dr. Mercola says with a grain--or table spoon--of salt--just make sure it is not normal table salt as I am pretty sure he would not agree with eating table salt as it is probably deadly just like sugar is.

[lestatar]

Originally Posted by esanthosh

This is way too much! Killing the next FOTM before it even begins

I already wrote a review even without listening to them. The last lines read "Compared to unique sounding Dr. Mercola's BlueTube headset, every other IEM sounds tubeless and in your face with a narrow sound stage". Everything depends on your perspective.

Yup. That's me: Mr. Killjoy.

I like your review as well!

[DragonBottles]

Nothing quite like 2 cheap looking tubes hanging out of your face...