When we were at CES all the way back in January, we go to hear a lot of headphones. Some were from companies that you know make headphones like Sennheiser, and some were from companies even we hadn’t heard of before. Wicked Audio is one of the latter. Wicked is part of Empire Brands Inc., who also produces Pure, EarHugger and PowerUp. At CES we had the opportunity to briefly sample a couple of the many headphones they offer and today we write about the baby in the family, the Wicked Little Buds.
Out of the Box
We are pretty big fans of Wicked’s packaging, but that’s not why you came here. There a couple of nice touches in the words that they use on the box, but none are better than the words, “Lifetime Warranty.” Inside the box are the headphones and two other sizes of tips, making a total of three. As with all headphones we gave these over eighty hours before we started to write anything. The lows definitely gained some crispness (not our favorite word) after five hours. We think these are pretty good to go out of the box, but most users are likely going to have spend an hour or so of figuring out which one of the three included tips they prefer most. (More on that below)
Design
They are small. Wicked sent us their purple version of the earphone, we probably could have gone for the black, blue or silver – but purple and orange are our favorite colors. As the name indicates: they are little. The earphones are made up entirely of hard plastic with a semi-glossy finish. The only markings featured on the earphones are tiny Wicked logos on the ends of each bud. The cord measures the standard 1.2 meters from the bud to the gold tip. Unlike most cords, Wicked gave the Little Buds a fiber-like cord that we like over most of the rubber ones that are found on most headphones.
Isolation
The myth of isolation is that you have to pay a lot to get decent isolation. Isolation is all about the seal and to be under some impression that price = isolation is just insane. The reality is that all that matters for isolation is your ear and some plastic tips that probably cost no more then twenty cents. Need some empirical proof? The Shure SE110 ($90 retail) and the Shure SE530 ($450 retail) come with essentially the same tips. More importantly, you can buy the tips we like for $10 in a three pack off Amazon. We have a theory of our own when it comes to isolation: good isolation can transform a headphone’s sound. The Little Buds come with three different size tips and fit to our ear quite spectacularly. Custom molds cannot be challenged by universal tips, but the Little Buds provide isolation that is on par with some of the most expensive and biggest names of the IEM world.
Comfort
With every IEM this category is completely hit or miss and completely subjective. We found these to be incredibly comfortable, it should be noted that while Wicked only includes three tips, the end (part that tip goes on) is one of (if not) the most common used – so finding a replacement tip shouldn’t be that hard. If Wicked Audio named their headphones by weight, these would be called the “Non-Existent Buds.” The earphones themselves weigh under two ounces which is quite incredible in of itself. We found these to be as comfortable as earphones come and the featherweight nature made us forget they were even on at some points.
With that being said, everyone has different preferences. If you have never tried IEMs before chances are they aren’t going to be comfortable for the first couple of hours. You have to allow your ear to get used to wearing them, which will be a process that for most people doesn’t take more then a couple of hours. We recommend that you wear them for at least ten hours before making any definitive decisions and that you try all the tips. We hear time and time again that people return buds without trying all of the tips the manufacturer includes in the box – that’s just illogical.
Sound
We wrote the three paragraphs that followed this one before we wrote this one (this was actually the last one of the article that was written), so while this paragraph comes first – this is a reflection on what you are about to read. We were critics for the most part, when the reality is we appreciated these earphones more then we did most. It’s not that it is hard to find decent sound under $30, it’s just that there are so many choices to go wrong. The following was largely what we didn’t like – yet in the end, we were more than impressed. There were times in which the Little Buds struggled, but more times when they shined. To sum it up best – this doesn’t sound like a $20 headphone.
The Highs
Simply put: we need louder highs. There was never a time that they were muddy or screeching and most of the time they managed to get by – but there were some times were they got lost. The Little Buds oddly produced big sound when it came to hip-hop, but when it came to alternative rock they struggled. Coldplay and the Little Buds were just not friends, particularly because the vocals and highs just got lost behind everything else. This headphone could be greatly improved by simply just allowing the highs to take a greater presence when it comes to produce sound, but the probably was more two-fold.
The Mids
The low-volume highs produced a secondary problem, most songs where we wanted a greater presence from the highs it was to cover up the mids. We compliment Wicked Audio for not going overboard when trying to create an overpowering mid, a common problem with cheaper headphones. The mids have their moments, but when paired against some of the higher quality IEMs the muddiness becomes easily identified. While there is a hint of muddiness with most the spectrum, we found it to be most noticeable in the lower-mid range. Without a doubt if we had to tweak one part of the sound that the Little Buds produced it would be the mids, but quite honestly you are splitting hairs – especially for the price. The overall clarity is definitely acceptable in the sub-$100 price range and while their were certain songs that exposed the flaws in the mids, for the most part the Little Buds performed good.
The Lows
Without a doubt the greatest part of these headphones is the low-end. While it is definitely tuned up, the bass is not overpowering for our tastes and has moments of both being warm and punchy depending on the what exactly you are playing. There were times in which the Little Buds got flustered on the low-end, but for the majority of the time they performed brilliantly – especially for an IEM. When it comes hip-hop, the Little Buds shine. The bass is tight, yet powerful and for a decent amount of songs, we’d give it a “dynamic” label. The superior isolation allows the tiny 5.8mm driver to deliver booming lows that would leave full size headphones with drivers six times their size envious.
Most IEMs struggle when it comes to sound spectrum and while it wasn’t the Little Buds’ greatest feature – it occasionally surprised us with some brilliance. By far the two largest differences between the sub-$50 IEMs and the higher-end (Etymotic ER-4P, Shure SE530, UE TripleFi 10, Westone 3) are sound stage and clarity. These two areas the Little Buds easily get swept up by the big boys of the IEM industry, but then again so do headphones ten times their price.
Overall
We can’t complain a whole lot, but we can try. The one quick change that we think is actually necessary for these earphones would be some identification of the left and right bud. We say this a lot, but you have to put everything into perspective. When you do – well, you can’t complain. These headphones cost $20 and can be acquired for even less that. The isolation they provide is good enough to be featured on headphones twenty times their price and the sound is pretty spectacular for some headphones that are three or four times the price. Whenever we try to think of a flaw that might exist in the Little Buds, we are reminded of the Apple Ear Buds (which cost $10 more) and then quickly seize our complaints. But, this isn’t an instance in which the price makes up the quality – the headphone speaks for itself. This is without a doubt our recommended earbud under $30. You can purchase Wicked’s Little Buds directly from Empire Brands Inc. for $29.99 or from a variety of other retailers.
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