I purchased these IEM's and after reading lots of reviews I wanted to state the following: all earbuds with dynamic drivers need some break in time, please believe this. If you think that they will sound the same right out of the box, as opposed to after you listen to them for many hours, you are wrong in that assumption. I own several pairs and purchased these for their boost in bass response over the less expensive Shure model. I listened to them out of the box and then after every ten hours of break in. You can use white noise CD's or the like but here's what has worked for me breaking in 4 to 5 pairs in the past 6 months. Get yourself an adapter plug and plug your IEM's into your receiver or your boombox or your radio. Put them on and raise the sound level to where they are comfortable then take them off and crank it up to where you can hear them while you're holding them in your hand. Play talk radio for 10 hours, rock music for 10 hours, classical music for 10 hours and after every 10 hour session listen to the IEM's. The difference with the SE215's after 30 hours was striking, no sibilance, the midrange and the lows were so much clearer and deeper. After another 30 hours I can honestly say that for 100 bucks these buds are definitely worth it. Now having said that, I also have to state that a pair of Monster N-Lites that I paid 60 bucks for after 20 hours of break in sounded almost as good as the Shure SE215-K's I purchased. What's my point? There are a lot of really good earbuds in the 50 to 100 dollar range. the Shures are excellent and I use them at home for their superior bass and I use the N-Lites for the gym and running. I own and highly recommend the RHA-MA750's, the HiFiMan's for 99 bucks, the Klipsh Image S-4's and the Monster Turbos that I paid 100 bucks for. I am a bit of a fanatic when it comes to my music and just like speakers I find that headphones and IEM's all seem to have sonic signatures all their own. The SE215's are a superior product, with a 2 year warranty, replaceable cords and once broken in, sound quality above the purchase price. When I listen to my laptop through my Dragonfly DAC and the Shure SE215's I am one happy camper. Folks, I can be more technical and try to impress you with terms that make me sound like the audiophile I am but what's the point of that? These are for 100 dollars worth every cent.After break in I had to turn the volume down even lower and was amazed at how well these IEM's performed and gave that sense of being outside of my head. Audio is very subjective, what one person hears another may not, that's why I listen through differing pairs. That and the fact that I'm a bit maniacal about my music! When I am ready to spend more on IEM's the 315's or 415's will be the ones I buy from Shure and I must add, Amazon's service is beyond belief. I am extremely satisfied with my purchase and I reiterate, break them in for sonic bliss, a minimum of 40 hours before critical listening.