The MylarOnes are a range of earphones manufactured by a Korean company called CrossRoads. They might not be very well known in the audio circles, which is a fact that can be attributed to their rather limited distribution channel. CrossRoads products are marketed by an audio store in Singapore named Jaben.
In this review I will basically be focusing on my recently acquired MylarOne X3i’s and attempting a small comparison of them with my existing MylarOne X3’s and a pair of the budget earphone kings, the Creative EP-630.
MylarOne earphones comprise of a series with the latest in the line-up being differentiated from the older ones by way of the ‘i’ at the end of the model name. There are two basic models which are offered as part of this range and they are
MylarOne X3i & MylarOne XBi.
The X3i is meant for the listener who prefers a more neutral sound while the Xbi’s are said to be for those who prefer the eXtra bass.
Disclaimer:
This is my first attempt at anything like this. I am not an audiophile. All opinions are mine and mine alone. I am permitted to express them and I expressly forbid you/your friends/your friend’s dogs or anyone else from challenging the same :bleh:.
[BREAK=Specs & Build]
Specs & Build
Verbatim from the product documentation, the specs of the MylarOne X3i are –
Type: Stereo In-ear earphone
Driver: 10mm Mylar Speaker
Sensitivity: 95 ± 4dB/mW
Impedance: 16 Ω
Frequency response: 20Hz – 22KHz
According to my low level of electrical knowledge I would assume that the 16 Ω impedance rating means that these MylarOnes can be driven by a low output source, meaning, they can run well of a portable player. The claimed frequency response ranges from 20 Hz all the way up to 22 KHz which is pretty much standard. It is another matter that not everyone has an auditory perception range which can match this. Generally people can hear the lower frequencies well enough while the higher frequencies start to get cut out around and above the 18-19 KHz range. Driver: 10mm Mylar Speaker
Sensitivity: 95 ± 4dB/mW
Impedance: 16 Ω
Frequency response: 20Hz – 22KHz
These phones get their name from the material used in making the speaker diaphragm. As you must have guessed, the said material is indeed Mylar. These ‘Mylar’ drivers are housed in a small ball shaped enclosure which can be very discreet inside big ears. The driver enclosures have small red & blue bands to help differentiate the Right from the Left. As an added attraction, these bands do their job while making the earphones look very good.
Views expressed by users on various forums have suggested that MylarOne products suffer from issues related to build quality with varying problems having been reported, ranging from the cable ‘disintegrating’ to the driver housing falling apart. In my 6 months of having used their products I for one can say that I have not faced any such issues despite the fact that I have two left hands which constantly feel the desire to swing the cable while the player is still attached to them (touch wood
). The cable as such is very thin. This was something which had made me very apprehensive about its strength initially, but, later I realized that it was more than strong enough to bear with my shenanigans. 
The connector which has been used in the X3i/XBi is your usual gold-plated 3.5mm plug. However what is unusual here is that the housing for the same is quite different from your normal 3.5mm plug. The X3i/XBi features a plug housing which is physically smaller than the standard housing. This has been done on purpose so that the plug fits into the very sadly designed iPhone which has a recessed jack.
[BREAK=Package Contents]
Package contents
The bundle for the X3i’s I received was quiet extensive (surprisingly for an pair of earphones) and is as listed below
Silicone Tips – 4 Nos
Airline Adaptor – 1 Nos
Cable Wrapper – 1 Nos
Shirt Clip – 1 Nos
Carry Case – 1 Nos
Airline Adaptor – 1 Nos
Cable Wrapper – 1 Nos
Shirt Clip – 1 Nos
Carry Case – 1 Nos
The silicon tips come in 2 varieties. The normal single flanged ones and bi-flanged. There are 3 normal tips in small, medium & large sizes. There is one pair of bi-flanged tips. From experience the bi-flanged variety do a slightly better job at isolation.
The airline adapter is provided for those who would like to use these earphones while using the in-flight entertainment system of an airline or elsewhere, where a dual-jack is provided for output. The cable wrapper to me is a very useful accessory since the cable is pretty lengthy. It helps me avoid situations where I might trip and fall on my own cable. A small downside of it would however be the fact that it is a wee bit heavy, implying that you cannot let it hang (hold It in my hand along with my player or thrust them into my pocket is what I do). The shirt-clip has been more of an issue for me. It is not removable from the cable (at least I cannot figure out a way to do it). And a small restrainer on the cable where it splits into ‘Left’ & ‘Right’ means that I cannot pull it up high enough to my liking.
The carry case provided is black in color and is very sturdy. It can comfortable hold the earphones and all accessories. In fact, it might even be able to fit in a small enough players such as the Creative Zen Stone.
Also inside the box was a 1 page User Guide/ warranty sheet. The warranty covers damages in workmanship and manufacturing defects over a period of 1 year.
[BREAK=Tell me how they sound!]
Tell me how they sound!
This section is the most subjective of the review and I would request the reader to take whatever is said with a pinch of salt, because no two pairs of ears are the same.
I primarily listen to Metal & Hardish Rock. For this review, the following tracks were converted into high quality VBR mp3 files using EAC+LAME from CD’s and played back on my Meizu miniplayer M6.
Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms
Iron Maiden – Fear Of The Dark
Iron Maiden – The Trooper
Judas Priest – Beyond The Realms Of Death
Led Zeppelin – Stairway To Heaven
The equalizer of my miniplayer was set to the ‘Rock’ pre-set and Bass Boost was set to 1 on a scale of 10 while Treble was set to 1 on a scale of 3. All the other EQ options were turned off. Iron Maiden – Fear Of The Dark
Iron Maiden – The Trooper
Judas Priest – Beyond The Realms Of Death
Led Zeppelin – Stairway To Heaven
The first thing that hits you about the X3i’s is the soundstage. From my limited experience of having hi-end headphones/earphones, I can safely claim that the soundstage in these is right up there along with the best. I was could very easily position in my mind the various artists as they might have been performing on a stage. The great part about the x3i’s being that the soundstage has depth. You can actually make out instruments that might have been deeper back and so on.
Reproduction of mid-range might not be the strong point of these earphones. They tend to have a laidback sound when it comes to the mids, being unable to push them out too well. One of the primary improvements that were supposed to have been carried out on the X3i’s in comparison to the X3’s was the Bass. The X3i’s are very true to this claim. There is no lack of Bass. I had to significantly tone down the bass boost in my player once I shifted from my X3’s to the X3i’s. Before the X3i’s have had a chance to settle in, the bass tends to be a bit overt boom-boom at times. However, a bit of burning in solves this issue and the X3i’s get very comfortable. Trebles are good, though someone with a discerning ear might find them to be a bit muddy and difficult to pick out details from.
The isolation provided by the X3i’s as such is excellent. Picking out notes and beats without any issues, while you’re stuck in traffic with a whole bunch of vehicles revving/honking right next to you, pure bliss
. I used the earphones while travelling from work to home by road and I could comfortably listen to.[BREAK=The Comparison]
Comparison
I managed to get hold of a pair of Creative EP-630’s from a friend of mine in order to perform a sort of three-way comparison between the X3i’s, the X3’s & the 630’s. Unfortunately I did not get too much time for an in-depth comparison and had to make do with a quick face off between them. The same settings as mentioned above were used and here is what I noted.
I plug in the Ep-630’s and the first thing I notice is that there is something which seems to have sucked out the life from my music. The brilliant depth which I had started to fall in love with was just plain gone. The 630’s are very dull and two dimensional in comparison to the X3’s and more so in comparison to the X3i’s. The X3’s did a great job and the X3i’s just took it a whole step higher. The EP-630’s tend to have a very harsh sound which emphasizes a bit too much on the trebles thereby pretty much drowning out the mid and lower ranges. This in my opinion is the biggest downer for the Creative’s in comparison to the CrossRoads products.
Clarity-wise it’s a close call between the X3i and the X3. The X3 puts up a strong fight here thanks to the fact that it’s not exactly very bass heavy. This enables tones such as trebles to come out much better.
The intro of ‘Brothers in Arms’ has these few seconds where you can hear ‘clouds’ rumbling in the background. The subtle bassy sound of those few seconds falls flat in varying degrees in both the X3’s and the 630’s as long as the bass boost is set to zero. Crank up the boost from high to wayyy high respectively though and you’ll start to notice them.
A thing I’d like to remind you off at this stage would be the fact that the X3 has been phased out and the X3i has replaced it. The X3i builds on the good qualities of the X3 like its imaging and adds a dimension where it was sorely lacking, the bass. Going by views on the Jaben forums, it seems to be suffering from build-quality issues. There have of late however been a few assurances made of improvements in the same.
[BREAK=Conclusion]
Conclusion
In relative terms, the X3i’s are a jackpot. In certain areas such as the SQ they are brilliant, while they seem to be coming up short in others such as build quality. They sound as good as stuff which costs twice as much and yet manage to fit into a sweet price bracket of 57USD inclusive of worldwide shipping. A person, who’s relatively discerning about sound quality, has used earphones such as the Creative Ep-630’s and maybe wants something a step higher should definitely invest in a pair of these. Combined with the great service that Jaben provides, it’s a really good package.
Praise is welcome while criticism is not :bleh:.
PS - Sorry for the sad pics
