For those of you that stalk us (we know that there are tons of you out there…), you know that this is actually our second review of Woodees. (You also would know that 32Reviews32Days should have been done over a week ago, but that’s another story and one that is coming to an end.) The short story: we wrote an entire review of the first generation model of the Woodees thinking that they were the second rendition. iConnects quickly realized that we reviewed the first generation and then sent us the second one ASAP. So… onto review numero dos, i.e. the right one.

Out of the Box

In case you didn’t get to see the first review in the couple hours it was up: the IESW100Bs are wooden IEMs with a microphone that features the ability to play/pause and change songs. Our recollection of the packaging seems to point to no changes. Since you don’t know what was in the first review, we’ll tell you we got the earphones, four different size tips and a carrying case. You can watch us unbox the other generation, it’s really the same idea.

Design

Much of this is a lot different the second time around, but the earphones didn’t get any smaller. The most noticeable feature is still the wood, followed closely by the size. Inside is the same 10mm driver found on the Gen 1, but the casing is completely different. First, the second generation is much more natural looking and feeling. Unlike the prior generation, the logos didn’t fade at all and the silver plastic was replaced by metal. In addition to a stronger cable, the tip receives metal housing and gold plating, as opposed to the silver on the first generation. The back still features a left/right identifier and the right side still features a microphone the same mic about three inches down.

Second Impressions?

It’s not really a first impression this time around. Given the general confusion our first review left, we decided to spend twice the amount of time with the new earphones and attempt to give a more conclusive review. While the externals changed, the story on the internals is that they are the same and therefore the sound should be the same. Rather then attempting to amend what was written before, we started with a clean slate and we think we have our thoughts a little bit better this time around.

Comfort & Isolation

iConnects includes four tips, which means comfort shouldn’t be a struggle. In terms of isolation we’d say they do a good job. It’s definitely not the best seal we have gotten, but it does block out most outside noise. These earphones are a featherweight as far as we are concerned and that means a couple of times we forgot we were wearing them. However, the overall size means most the time we were pretty aware that they were in our ears. After long use, they became uncomfortable, but that’s not to be unexpected. Even using tips that we would find a tad bit larger then normal for our ears, we noticed that they slide around quite a bit. This means that there were numerous times in which they ended up resting at some fairly interesting angles, but isolation remained pretty consistent.

Mic

The microphone sits about three inches off the right ear. It’s small and rectangular, similar to Apple’s. We haven’t used a whole lot, but the call quality is as good as we can tell. The isolation from the earphones creates an odd experience at first, but after a while you get used to it. The mic allows for play/pause, skipping as well as answer/hang-up. It doesn’t have the volume controls that some models do, but it does allow for play/pause and skipping on current Macs.

Sound

Before you read the next three paragraphs, remember three simple facts. First, these are incredibly accurate at the price range and perhaps the most accurate with a mic. Second, the detail isn’t something to complain about either, rather a feature to embrace, particularly in the mids. Finally, these are a different animal for the price range. As opposed to being bass-heavy, these are about as balanced as you are going to find at this price. Put all that together? You get the idea. Now for the not so fluffy stuff…

Highs

After using these for thirteen straight days, taking a one day break and then using them again for another day while writing this review we think we have a fairly good grasp on these earphones – they are harsh. We understand this is a complete contradiction to the prior review, but that’s the truth. It took us a bit of time, but reality became clear. When vocals began to move higher and higher are face began to cringe more and more. The detail in the vocals is definitely there, just with a side of over-extension. It’s unfortunate because in the extremes of trebles, it’s oddly not as harsh as some of the lower highs, but unfortunately quite a few songs fell victim at points to the highs.

Mids

We previously proclaimed U2′s “40″ to begin absolutely beautifully via the Woodees and they do, until the harsh vocals emerge. It’s not to say that the harshness isn’t absent in the mid-range, because there is some, but it’s more contained. We feel the mids could use a greater presence, but overall this is fairly good. Our favorite part of the mid-range is the immense detail that blows away competitors at the price range. We wouldn’t call the harshness subtle, but it’s not even close to the effect on the highs. The dead center of the mid range is about as perfect as it gets, so props iConnects.

Lows

The mids and the lows are about as perfect in tandem as you are going to find. While we enjoy a tad bit warmer bass, purists will rejoice at the concept of balance. As the bass pumped out at the beginning of “Empire State of Mind”, the real reason why we had to take the earphones out was the highs. The detail isn’t as good as the mids, but it’s still quite amazing. For anyone looking to give up Skull Candy’s, but fearing the lack of low-end; fear not my friends. There is definitely a difference between the performance of the punchy bass versus and the humming lows. The latter definitely struggle more. There is a tad bit of a lag through much of the humming-style bass, where as the punchy bass is incredibly accurate in terms of response with distortion only coming at the heaviest of songs.

So In Review

The culprit is the highs. After spending a lot of time figuring out the soundstage, we came to the conclusion that we were under the influence when we wrote the first review. The soundstage is fine: not spectacular, but not in disarray as we had once proclaimed. As for the richness, purists might moan, but it would make these a who lot better to enjoy. Still, after all our moaning, these are good. We can deal with some harsh highs in exchange for accuracy and quality; and we’ll take that trade any day of the week. As for burn-in, it’s definitely worth it. After 100 hours, the sound is significantly smoother, although much of the flaws cannot be overcome. In addition, the low-end warmed a tad bit and the mids seems to settle down.

And In Conclusion

We’ll quote ourselves from earlier:

The reality is: as sound quality increases, unless you make a brilliant headphone, we are going to nitpick at problems. If you make a bad headphone, we are going to try to justify the sound.

When you look back on it: isolation, wood, mic and sound quality – you’d be crazy to not drop $50 on a pair of Woodees earphones. Sure, we’d do some tuning to make them a tad bit more enjoyable, but accuracy wise – there’s nothing. There are a lot of things you can waste money on and $49.99 on a pair of Woodees from Amazon is not one of them.