Audio-Technica ATH-CLR100iSBK SonicFuel In-Ear Headphones

Got these to use with my laptop when I didn’t have my blutooth earbuds. Sound is nice and fairly balanced to me. Bass is good but not overwhelming. Wish it had volume controls instead of just play/pause but for $20 I can’t complain.

Comprei há uns 2 anos atrás o mesmo modelo. Sua qualidade de áudio é ótima sem exagerar nos graves mas ainda sim dá pra senti-los muito bem principalmente em volumes mais altos. Ele não abafa totalmente o som externo mas vejo isso como um pró, não um contra. Vem com 3 borrachinhas pra trocar dependendo do tamanho da circunferencia do seu ouvido. O meu primeiro provavelmente quebrou por mau uso, dobrando o fio perto da sua ponta. Tem um botão para passar/pausar ou atender ligações e microfone. O som do mic já me disseram nao ser muito alto mas é bem claro e imagino que possa ser ajustado apenas colocando mais perto da boca.

Originally I got these in 2019 exclusively for use with my laptop. I was hesitant because of the many reviews that said they break easily or had one side go out for no reason. I am now buying a replacement pair 2 YEARS LATER because I got too enthusiastic while cleaning them (PSA: don’t get baked and clean fragile things) and punched a hole through the fabric covering the speaker–they still work, I just don’t expect them to last now that the speaker is so exposed. I assume most mechanical failures are based on use: if you tend to not break your earbuds, these ones will be fine; if your earbuds mysteriously break on you a lot, maybe don’t keep buying earbuds.

Sound-wise, these are really good for the price. I’m not too picky, especially with cheap headphones I intend to be portable, and most of my cheap headphones are Skullcandy. I listen to a lot of EBM and goth and industrial and aggrotech, plus watching videos and movies, and these are good for all of that.

If you’re looking for durable earbuds with immaculate sound quality at a budget price, let me know when you find those, yeah? But if you want earbuds with decent sound quality that you can throw in a bag and not worry about losing or breaking them because they’re cheap as heck, these are the ones.

Sound is very rich. Extra long cable is very useful when you are using it on a desktop computer or when you have it connected to your cellphone on a random pocket. Cable thickness seems to thin, hopefully it withstands a fair amount of abuse. Earbuds are comfortable too and do not fall easily and answer button/mic are very responsive. Would recommend, great item for the price (Prime rate).

Compré estos auriculares para hacer llamadas y funcionaron muy bien. Los materiales se notan resistentes y la calidad del audio es muy buena. Puedo escuchar claramente a la otra persona y yo me escucho bien. Para la música no son los mejores puesto que si lo que buscas son unos graves de calidad. Suenan algo opacos. Pero cumple muy bien a la hora de hacer llamadas.

I have never considered writing an earbud review until now. And ironically, a highly favorable review, only after they broke!

For the past several years I’ve tried more than my fair share of buds, and more recently I’ve made my selections only after reading sufficiently favorable reviews here – too often being somewhat disappointed by fit and performance. So much that my conclusion has been that earbud listening seems to be a highly subjective experience, with one person’s favorite buds being another’s “meh” buds. So bear in mind that my own experience may differ – slightly or completely – from yours.

On fit – a simple criterion to apply, and seemingly simply unachievable. I wanted earbuds that would, first and foremost, stay put while working out in the gym. I don’t jog, and i have almost exclusively come to rely on strain relieving shirt clips to minimize the wires tugging on the buds from normal light jostling. Something about the shape of my ears – and ear sweating! – prevents all of them from sealing properly and staying put – at least for very long. Aftermarket special bud covers, ear clips, you name it, nothing seems to help that much. These have managed to stay put a little longer than any others. I credit their slightly angled shape for achieving this, but for those of you cursed with similarly uncooperative ears, adding a shirt clip goes a long way to stabilizing things. It’s a shame very few bud manufacturers include these, so when I get hold of one (usually spotting one left on the gym floor) it’s like gold to me.

On Performance – nearly equally important, and this cheapskate wanted lower-priced buds that still sounded quite good. At one point I found some first generation Skullcandys that seemed very good, but then they broke (inevitably too soon with all buds!), and I then discovered that the “new and improved” versions actually sounded worse! I read some rave reviews about Sonys and Panasonics, but sure enough my impressions were MEH. Either too much/not enough bass, garbled or attenuated highs, lackluster midranges, in various combinations.I was beginning to suspect that my ear’s natural frequency sensitivity range needed to match the buds’ output for satisfaction. Fair enough, but did that mean I was going to be left to hunt and peck forever until I could randomly make that match? I still believed a flat-ish and wide frequency profile (again, at a cheap enough price :-)) would be the best approximation. I truly like hearing sounds from the entire range and and bothered by any portion being muffled. I listen to lots of trance with its enormous variation in synthesized sounds, with and without vocals. Some light and heavy rock, occasional new age stuff. I’m fine with missing the sounds of fingers sliding along guitar strings and such. I accept that synthesized instruments lose lots of finer tonal subtlety right out of the shute.

And so…YES, these come closest to a decent overall sound so far! Not perfect, mind you, as I still hear the occasion tinkle that I suspect was meant to be a more complimentary instrumental. The bass doesn’t punch at my eardrums, but I am satisfied with its poking. AND CHEAP!!!

But then they BROKE!!!! Given they lasted nearly a year, I wasn’t overly bothered. It was only then that I went back, tried some of my MEH backups and realized, yet again, how much better these were than the others in my pile. So I got to work, getting ready to buy replacements, but determined to diagnose the suddenly erratic connection and try my hand at a fix. I found, in this particular case, that the control button’s teensy little circuit board lost its solder connection to an even teensier wire. Luckily I have a variable heat range soldering iron with a sharp tip, a somewhat steady hand, and a cheapskate’s determination — and FIXED IT! So happy now. I didn’t know earbuds could uncover an emotional range in me as welli.

I REALLY LIKE these buds. I’ve decided to buy spares regardless, and even buy the slightly more expensive model to see if Audio Technica’s sound still works for me up through its product range, with more satisfaction for more coin.

If anyone would like more details on the other buds I’ve tried, just comment back. Happy bud hunting!