Quarks Earphone Closed Anterior Cavity Micro Dynamic Driver IEM Earphone (with mic)

Pleasantly surprised by these little guys. None of IEMs would fit under my Shoei X-15 lid without tearing off my ears and straining cables. I was thinking of trying Chu IIs--but for motorcycling, glad I went with these instead since they're considerably smaller. A guy on Reddit recommended Quarks for motorcyclists, and the IEMs are so tiny that don't come into contact with the tight padding. My second concern after size was that these tiny drivers would sound anemic, but that's not the case. They're surprisingly full-sounding with punchy mid-bass and just enough sub-bass to warm up the tuning. I give them a little bass boost on my Apple Music app, or with my Qudelix EQ, and EDM/hip hop sounds fine. No sibilance or shoutiness. Quarks aren't going to be bass cannons, obviously, but they're punchy and deceptively outperform for their size. Good headroom, too. Also ideal for listening in bed. You decide on insertion depth and can control this with tip choice, but Qarks can be inserted very deep if you wear a helmet. With Comply foam tips, these things have THE best isolation of all my IEMs. Almost too good. My bike is loud, and I can barely hear anything. Nitpicks: I'd prefer a no-mic version, as well as a straight plug over a right-angle. Not a big deal. Bottom line, they offer surprisingly good sound quality, isolation, and convenience, and when you factor in the price, they're an easy 5 stars. Would recommend.

Summary: it is an extremely affordable earphone, that sounds great, very portable, feels sturdy, and has better sound quality than what you can get at the gas station or at your local retailers. What is it? This is what is referred to as an IEM or in-ear-monitor. It is different from an earbud in that it goes in your ear rather than hang on the ear. The advantage to this is that sound doesn't leak, you can listen to your content (ie. music, movies, phone calls, podcasts) without worrying if the person next to you will hear it too. Where is this product coming from? This product is sold by a reputable Chinese company who ships it to you at no extra cost. I have bought other products from this company with an overall positive experience. Although, tracking is no up to date through Amazon the tracking number provided can be searched on many websites such as 4PX or ParcelApps.com. It takes time for it to be shipped, but it has never taken more than a few weeks once it does; which considering from where it is coming from it's impressive. Who are they? Moondrop is a company that specializes in Chi-Fi (Chinese Fidelity), they are a company primarily focused on audio quality. For this same reason even though the Quarks feels light and plasticky, the cable feels smooth and everything about its design is deliberate. Why buy these? As mentioned, Moondrop, is a Chi-Fi company, even so it is shocking how well they sound for the price. They have no business sounding as good as they do. The bass is well controlled and won't rattle your head, the mids (instruments) sound clear and the highs (vocals) do not feel harsh on your ear drums. Because they are light they are easy to carrying around and do not irritate the ear like some of the larger earphones do. For their price they make for a great stocking stuffer, or even as back up earphones if you already have a good pair. I have praised them long enough, but they do deserve it. Moondrop knew what they were doing and their 2 years of research and development for this product shows. My only complaint is that due to their size they will fall of my ears, to be fair it is mostly the left side and I might need to change the size of ear tip. The build also feels cheap, again they cost $13 or $15 (with a mic), but they also feel durable even if you were to throw it around (please don't). I ordered a second pair with the microphone, when I ordered the first time that wasn't available, to use with my phone which still has a headphone jack. It is a good gift, for others or yourself, it is a great value for the sound quality at this price. Again, even as a backup earphone you will not regret buying it.

Right. With all the hype, and without a pair of earbuds. I decided these are the ones to try. Sound: Okay, your paying 13 dollars. These are not going to be insane or anything (you probably already know that), but for 13 dollars. These were very good. Okay moving on. Id like to talk about what makes these REALLY worth paying for, becuase obviously 13 dollars is only going to get you so far in the sound department. Upon unboxing, you will be pleasantly surprised at the packaging. Its small, simple and well thought out. The box is sturdy and small, you can keep it and use it to store them. Quite nice really. It even comes with a mini felt bag that contains 3 sets of ear tips. I couldn't believe it to be honest. This was a great surprise. Okay. Heres things I have not seen most people mention yet but are really a make it or break it when it comes to buds. The cables, they are long and relatively sturdy. All while being slippery enough to not get tangled. No complaints here. The aux port is also durable and the cable comes out the side of the unit rather then the back. This helps reduce torsion on the cable. I expect it to last a good while thankfully. This is probably one of my favorite things, I LOVE how small they are. These buds will not stick out of your ears at all. You could probably sleep with these without much discomfort. To sum this up. These are not the most amazing sounding thing in the world, but with a price tag of 13 dollars I was impressed and will gladly be picking up another pair to carry around with me. Lets just say 13 dollars has gotten me earbuds that sound so bad I threw them away the same day. If your buying only for sound, do yourself a favor and get some quality headphones. If you need a pair of buds to bring around and want the best for the least. BUY THEM NOW. Buy them, you will not be disappointed or in debt. lol

Okay, I am going to try my best not to overhype these like I see a lot of people do with any IEM that they like, but these are really good. Let's start with my IEM journey so far. Besides for a couple tws pairs, these are my first IEM. The main reason I bought them: low price and I figured it would be a good enough way to see if I could stand IEMs for daily use over headphones. When I first got these, I of course started to compare them with my main headphones at the time, the Yamaha HPH MT5 with brainwavz angled pads. The first thing I noticed coming from those headphones is that the quarks obviously are lacking in sheer resolution. But again, that is obvious. These are $13. MT5s are $100. Trying to ignore that, I started listening to some music. Initially, the quarks lacked any kind of bass for me simply because the bass is boosted on the MT5. But what I remember most from that initial day of testing is being mind blown that the tuning on the quarks overall sounded more "correct" to me than on my headphones. I didn't really know why at the time, but the tonality of the MT5 was just off. And I preferred the tuning on something that is $13. That alone was worth it. So with that, I researched other IEMs. Long story short, I landed on the Tripowin x HBB Mele and Moondrop Aria. Mele filters caused channel imbalance after 2 weeks, and the Arias broke in a day. I also got the TRN MT1 for a great price, so I tried them and they are okay for what they are. V shaped tuning, nothing special but I was surprised that I can even enjoy music on them for how cheap they are. So... after that bad luck with qc on the 2 most expensive pairs I tried... I went back to the quarks. I had used them for about a month or 2 as a daily driver before chirstmas because I wanted to get used to them. I don't believe in driver burn-in, but I believe in mental burn-in. Man, are these things great now that my brain has fully gotten used to the tuning. The sub bass is still pretty much non-existent to my ears, but I think that is because the driver is just too small to reproduce those frequencies. Something that did change since using them more is now I feel that there is an acceptable amount of mid bass/warmth in that area. Not a ton of punch, but enough to where I don't feel like there is absolutely nothing. The mids sound... fine? I don't really have a ton to say because I am not super experienced with audio stuff yet. I will say that obviously these are lacking in a bit of detail and separation, but it's still surprising what detail and separation exists. I still find myself getting surprised at picking up some smaller details in tracks that I listen to. I just never thought I would be able to hear what I can with these. They are certainly not the best, just shocking at the price. I will say that vocals can generally get a bit shouty to my ears though sometimes. Just something to keep in mind. The treble on these seems adequate enough. I sometimes notice things getting a tad harsh to my ears but I haven't noticed distortion or anything with cymbals. I think this kind of blends in with the “shout” I was talking about. Again, surprising for how dirt cheap they are. TL;DR - Better longevity than more expensive stuff I have tried, but I have had terrible luck. The bottom line is that these are very enjoyable to listen to, and in my opinion, a no brainer for how cheap they are. Just try them, give them a REAL chance, and if you don't like them you aren't out much money. Build quality, though not great, doesn't feel like they will fall apart. I still feel like I have understated how much I like the quarks, but I am trying to be as realistic as possible here.

I wasted probably an hour of my life trying in vain to get any of the plastic tips to fit. I read suggestions and patiently tried stretching the opening with a pencil, tried pinching the opening to wiggle the tips on, all to no avail. I was afraid to use too much force and end up breaking the darn things. Another set of tips from my usual ear buds slid on easily, but I don't want to have to switch them out each time I want to use the Quarks, which I bought as a possible backup to my usual JBLs. I now will have to hunt around and hope I have spare tips somewhere, or buy some if not. The company needs to coordinate specs better with its component subcontractors. The cord is not ideal, it doesn't tangle but is strangely stiff. My JBLs have a much easier cord to wear and wind up for storage. Otherwise, so far I like the sound quality but notice no difference between these and my JBLs, which probably cost a few buck more.

UPDATE update...The microphone stopped working. Purchased July 22, 2022 died August 28, 2022. Beyond return date to Amazon. Durability on this one was poor. Too bad, maybe you will get a better one? I enjoyed the sound and light weight, but they did not last, despite being handled properly. My original five star review stands for the sound, but this is about the durability one month and 6 days since purchase. So one star is fair. Unfortunately, they failed right after the return date and there does not appear to be any other warranty, or way to contact the manufacturer. You could take a chance and buy these and enjoy the sound, or you could end up with a dead pair. My wife asked to borrow a pair of my headphones. Let that sink in.... I had to act. I wanted a decent pair of earphones so my wife would not ask to borrow my nice earphones and break them. I say this with a wealth of experience in lending earphones to wife, and I know you don't want to do that either, so get her a pair of these Quarks and she won't know they are budget ear plugs. I heard good reviews on these and I decided for the price it was great, even if the reviews were hype. The reviews were real and I am very happy with these. The cables are nice and thick and look like they will last. The angled plug and good length for the cable is nice to avoid tangles. The phones are in clear plastic cases that are small and comfortable in the ears. You can lay down with these on and you will be pretty comfortable. They are light weight too. The sound is excellent. For the price or not, the tuning on these is pretty sophisticated, it is pretty flat and balanced. The treble is good, but not too bright and not irritating. The mid range sounds forward and very detailed. The bass is decent and satisfying, but will reach the lowest notes. The bass does sound clean and not boomy. Overall the sound is very balanced with a surprising amount of detail for a single dynamic driver at this price. These are good, inexpensive earphones with a small design that fits well in the ear. I like these for movies, talking and music. You will not regret buying these. The price and sound are awesome.

Hands-down the best earbuds at this price. Sound is well balanced. The highs might be too much for bassheads but the bass is impressive for in-ears this small. The clarity and detail are remarkable, and the soundstage is satisfactory. I have had one pair fail at the mic/controller. They are very comfortable for me and you can of course change the tips.

The earbud tips they have are too big for my ears, but that’s pretty normal. Once I swapped them out, they feel super comfortable. But most importantly, the sound quality is crazy good, especially for the price! And the mic seems pretty clear for phone calls