Musical Fidelity is a British brand well-known in hi-fi circles for its uncompromisingly high-quality (and uncompromisingly high-priced) amplifiers, CD players and audio streamers.It doesn't do headphones, which is why it's a surprise to see the EB-50s, and true to form, they're refreshingly different.
Design
They're earbuds, but they're built like mini hi-fi speaker cabinets, with 6mm balanced armature drivers with neodymium magnets for greater sound definition held within an aluminium case made from "military-spec" (MF has good contacts with the military -- it's where it sources the rare valves for many of their specialist amplifiers).
The 1.2m cable includes a quality metal splitter designed to separate the stereo signal to the two earpieces while the 3.5mm jack plug is gold-plated. Nice to see that each of the speakers is colour-coded, so you always know which one goes in which ear.
Performance
They look interesting, but the sound more than makes up for any aesthetic reservations and the audio performance is impressive. With an eerily flat frequency response, they sound a little dry and clinical at first, certainly in comparison with most low to midrange ear buds. But as you get used to them, you realise that they're just very accurate, with virtually no coloration. If you like your music clean and unadulterated, then the EB-50s deliver.
They work well across the spectrum too. Speech is sharp and clear, acoustic jazz offers a breadth of tonality that seems to give the music additional height and room for the frequencies to stretch out. But hard rock and heavy dance beats sound punchy and tight, with plenty of distortion-free oomph, even when the volume's cranked up to ear-bleed levels.
Specifications
Based on conversions, This device is priced at about N30,545 but it is not yet available in Nigeria.
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