SoundMAGIC E10, E30 and PL50 Earphones (Playback 58)

High Value Spoken Here

SoundMAGIC has been generating quite a buzz in the budget-priced earphone stakes recently, so I decided to check out three different models to see what all the fuss is about: the E10 ($35), the E-30 ($40), and the PL50 ($55). While some brands tend to stick with a single design approach for all their earphones, the various SoundMAGIC models offer a little something for everyone. With prices running from around $35 to $55, the three models I checked out are pretty close to being impulse purchases for someone looking to upgrade from the earbuds that came with their music player

What follow is in essence three product reviews in one, where I will draw lines of distinction between these three similarly priced SoundMAGIC earphones to help you determine which, if any, might best fit your needs.

FEATURES

SoundMAGIC E10 ($35)

• 10mm neodymium dynamic driver
• Accessories: Four sizes of soft silicon ear tips, travel pouch
• Colors: Black/Red, Black/Gold, Purple/Black, Silver/Black
• Signal cable, 47-inch length, with straight 3.5mm connector.

SoundMAGIC E30 ($40)

• 9mm neodymium dynamic driver
• Accessories: Four sizes of soft silicon ear tips, travel pouch, ear hooks
• Colors: White, Pink, Black, Blue
• Signal cable, 47-inch length, with straight 3.5mm connector.

SoundMAGIC PL50 ($55)

• 6mm balanced armature driver
• Accessories: Four sizes of soft silicon ear tips, three sizes of foam ear tips, travel pouch, ear hooks
• Color: Blue
• Signal cable, 47-inch length, with angled 3.5mm connector.

EASE OF USE, COMFORT AND FIT

SoundMAGIC E10

Despite their modest price, the E10s with their barrel-shaped metal bodies are impressively solid and well finished. The cable exits from the side towards the end of the body, and in my ears it didn’t get in the way of any sensitive ear flesh. The cord has a rubbery covering that makes it fairly tangle prone, but the removable shirt clip helps to keep things in their place. The skinny, straight 3.5mm plug should work with just about any combination of music player and aftermarket case, and an iPhone friendly version with microphone and remote is available for an extra $10.

As with all in-ear headphones, getting a good seal in your ear canal is critical, and to help with this SoundMAGIC provides four ear tip options. Three are soft round silicone rubber tips in different sizes, while the final option is a pair of bi-flange silicone rubber tips. These provided the best fit in my ears, and with careful positioning I could get a good seal even though they still weren’t seated particularly deeply. Noise isolation was not a strong point, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your listening environment.

SoundMAGIC E30

Priced just five dollars higher than the E10, SoundMAGIC’s E30s are really just different rather than a clear step up from their lower cost siblings. Using a slightly smaller dynamic driver than the E10s, the E30’s published specification shows significantly lower sensitivity, but in use I noticed little difference in the volume settings needed to get the same approximate sound level.

The E30’s body is made of plastic in a sort of snail-like shape, and they are designed to be used with the cables pointed up and dressed over the back of your ears. A pair of rubber ear hooks can be added to keep the cables in place, but I found things were more comfortable without them. My E30s came with the same three sizes of round silicone ball tips as the E10s along with three sizes of foam tips. However recent production changes have ditched the foam tips, replacing them with the same silicone bi-flanges that come with the E10s. That’s a good change, because with my ears the bi-flanges were the only workable solution with the E30s. Because their snail shaped bodies are somewhat wider across than the barrel shaped E10s, I found it was tricky getting the E30s deep enough into my ear canals to ensure a good seal. Once I did get them seated, parts of the earphone’s plastic body would be pressing against delicate fleshy parts of my ear, making them pretty uncomfortable for extended use. My ear canals are set deeper than most (you should see my custom ear molds), so I expect this won’t be a problem for most users. Sound isolation is not particularly impressive, but this could in part be due to my inability to insert the E30s very deeply into my ears.