In a conversation here on Hubski a few weeks ago, I mentioned I was going to purchase a pair of Even earbuds, and would report back here after getting and using them. (Callout to kleinbl00 who I made the promise to.)

So. I got them, like, 2 days after that post. And now it's something like 2 weeks later.

The Good: They do exactly what they promise: You do a little setup thing with them where they play music in one ear, and then in the other, and you react to the sound using the remote, and it "tunes" each earbud to your specific hearing in each ear.

The result is that the sound going into each ear is tailored for that ear's specific characteristics.

And it totally works. You get richer, more detailed sound. You lower the overall volume because you aren't compensating for bad sound with more volume.

It's really nice for music, of course, but I have found conversational content - podcasts, specifically - to be MUCH better. Not everyone you interview has great microphone skills, and some people back too far off the mic, or whatever, and the Even earbuds make all the difference in being able to hear each speaker well. (Of course it can't compensate for shitty production quality, but it really does help a lot.)

So yeah. They do exactly what they say, and they do it very well.

The Cons: Unfortunately, this is V1 of the product, and there are some real issues with this version.

The first and most important thing for me, is that the cords have a woven fabric covering instead of that rubbery stuff that Apple earbuds' cords are wrapped in. The problem is that this slightly "abrasive" fabric surface, when it comes into contact with another fabric surface (like your shirt), creates noise that transmits into your ears. It's a noise like when you drag your thumbnail down a guitar string. And that noise happens every single time you move your head because the cords rub on your collar or shirt as you do ANYTHING.

This is basically a show-stopper for me. The fantastic sound of the Evens is just destroyed by having to keep my head entirely still while listening to them. I usually listen in the car during my commute, so I am constantly turning my head slightly to check my mirrors, look over my shoulder before changing lanes, reaching for my coffee cup, etc. And every single movement is accompanied by this "grinding" sound, transmitted into the bones of my head via the tightly-fit earbuds.

The second issue is the battery.

Yes, these are battery powered. They come with a little USB cord, and you plug them in and charge them up. No problem.

The problem is that the battery doesn't store power for very long.

I had initially decided to do the initial setup and testing while I was out of town for a weekend. So one evening I sat down to go through the set up process, tried to turn them on, and... nothing. No power.

"Dang," i thought, "they don't shipped fully charged." So I put them back in my bag and didn't get to use them that weekend. When I got home I plugged them into power, the little green light came on, and I charged them up.

Later that week I finally had some time to sit down with them again, tried to turn them on, and - again! - no power. "Hang on," I'm thinking, "are these even working?"

So I plug them into power again. I have now had to recharge them twice without ever having gotten to use them!

Several days later I get some time to mess with them again, and pull them off power, and check out the instructions. I go through the steps to activate the Setup Mode and... nothing. No power.

I press the buttons again. Nothing.

At this point I'm like, "Fuck these. I'm sending these back," when I hear something.

I put the earbuds back in, and the setup lady is talking to me!

Sooooo... what's going on here? A very long initial boot sequence, maybe? Not sure.

Woohoo! They work! So I go through the setup - very easy, about 3 minutes long - and begin listening to them.

They are, as I said before, AMAZING sounding. Perfect.

But... now I'm gunshy.

If they are fully charged, and

If I don't move my head too much when listening to them, and

If I don't mind how heavy the little controller is (it has a battery in it, after all), and

If I remembered to unplug them from power and bring them with me,

then they sound great.

tl:dr: Wait for the next version.