SoundMAGIC E11C earphones review
SoundMAGIC E11C earphones
£49.95Pros
- Premium look
- Neat carrying case
- Inline mic and controls
- Decent sound quality
- Good price
Cons
- More separation would be great
- Slight muddiness to bass on some tracks
The SoundMAGIC E11C recently became available. We took them on a test-run.
SoundMAGIC has released their E11 earphones and the E11C which comes with an inline mic. Not everyone is shunning wires and we happen to be in the same camp. To that end, we have been living with E11C. Here is what we think about these inexpensive ear-pleasers.
Back in September, we told you about the new earphones from SoundMAGIC. Recently we’ve been wandering the streets of London with a set of E11C keeping us entertained.
SoundMAGIC E11C design
The SoundMAGIC E11C earphones are housed inside a silver-finished aluminium housing. The buds feature the company logo on the left and the model number on the right. All very tastefully done.
From the earbuds runs 1.2m silver-plated copper cable wrapped in a TPE semi-opaque jacket. The cable terminates in a 60° angled 3.5mm gold-plated plug. At the other end, nearest to the earpieces, the cables have extra clear stress protection that also serves to enable you to bend the cable into a hook behind your ears.
Part-way down the cable you will find your inline remote that features volume buttons as well as a play/pause button.
These certainly look and feel many degrees above most budget buds.
The E11C is pretty compact and light which means they’re comfortable in your ears. Furthermore, it means they don’t protrude much either.
The new SoundMAGIC earphones look and feel pretty good and are comfortable to wear thanks to the range of bundled tips.
SoundMagic E11C sound quality
The earphones are equipped with single 10mm dynamic drivers and have a claimed sensitivity level of 100dB. Impedance is rated at 16 Ohms. The output is decent direct from a smartphone but, by adding the iFi xDSD or Chord Mojo, the additional pep really did help the E11C to come alive.
As for the sound quality, the new drivers are extremely impressive and lean towards more forward mids.
That slight mid bias really does help vocals cut through, which is a refreshing change after being aurally assaulted by bass-heavy ‘urban’ earphones. I found the SoundMAGIC E11C accurate and engaging.
Treble had a nice bit of sparkle, again good for vocals but it does bring strings and percussion, especially snare and cymbals, really alive.
It’s not all about the top and middle though. Bass frequencies are treated well, just not in an overblown excessive way. Even as a bass player, I’d rather have the instruments working their areas rather than having one end artificially inflated. The E11C is controlled and not boomy. However, don’t be expecting loads of sub here.
My only wish was that separation between the frequencies were a little clearer.
Making and taking calls via the inbuilt mic worked fine although I did have a couple of occasions when the person on the other end of the call said I sounded muffled.
SoundMagic E11C review conclusion
On the whole, the SoundMAGIC E11C is a great budget option for those looking for wired buds.
From their natty design to the overall sound quality, the SoundMAGIC do incredibly well for general listening. However, they are not quite up to what I’d class as audiophile levels but then, they aren’t asking audiophile money for them.
Price and availability
You can buy the SoundMAGIC E11C right now for £49.95.
