Performance

To test these ear buds, I tried them out with a large variety of sources both amped and unamped. After the initial 50 hours burn-in I started testing them for real. I hooked them up to my Octavart "The One" Amp & DAC and the earphones sounded quite good. A bit hissy because of the amps relatively high gain, but that is really not the ear buds fault. The results being powered just out of my normal Cowon D2 or iAudio i7 DAP were much more pleasing. The PureBuds are quite efficient with the impedance rating of only 16 Ohms. All normal portable media players will be able to drive these ear buds to their limit in terms of sound quality, of course you can gain some by adding an amp, but it does not help the sound quality all that much. I tried them with my RSA Tomahawk amp with the Cowon D2 as source and the sound quality did not improve noticeably.

The fit of these ear buds depends a lot on what type of tip you use. I just cannot get them to stay in place with the silicone ring on, it is simply too big for my ear's concha. Whether you are able to get a good fit with this tip depends on a lot of stuff like the form of your outer ear and the size of the main bowl in your ear. The neutral tip worked just fine for me because it helped to lock the ear bud in place. The sound was quite pleasing all though not quite on par with the similar priced Yuin OK3s.

With the bass tip on you will probably find it adequate even if you are a bass head. This tip pretty much destroys the sound stage, but in return you get a lot of bass, which is not the most textured I have heard, but not the worst either. Pretty much what you would expect for a $49 pair of ear buds with loads of it. The mids are a bit artificial sounding and suppressed with the bass tip on, and the highs are pretty much gone, no sparkle whatsoever. The neutral tip is by far the best of the tips in my opinion the others are just for fun, when you want a different flavor just for a change. With this tip on they come closer to the sound of some of the Yuin ear buds I have tried but it still lacks some transparency in the midrange, and highs before being able to compete with the Yuin OK3s. The fact that you can customize the PureBuds and alter their sound characteristics is definitely a nice touch, because you can tune the sound to your liking.

The PureBuds have enough bass even with the neutral tip on. Compared to the Yuin OK3s the these ear buds have a very warm midrange and an apparent lack of definition in the bass department, but it has more of it. There is no doubt about it the PureBuds deliver an entertaining performance with lots of bass. Definition wise they lack detail compared to the OK3s both in the mid and high range. The only aspect of the PureBuds that is appealing is the massive bass and pleasant warm mids. The highs of the PureBuds is no match for that of the Yuins, it is just way more detailed and sparkly. The sound stage of the PureBuds is also a bit inferior to that of the Yuin OK3s, but not by much in when used with the surround tips on. Instrument separation is also heaps better on the Yuins because of their more analytical nature.

Durability

The build quality of the PureBuds is very good and the design is well thought out in terms of withstanding abuse. The plastic body is rock solid and does not have any small flimsy details on that can break of easily. You really have to try hard in order to break these ear buds. The cable and jack assembly is very durable as well, the cable used is quite thick and the rubber stress relieves work really well.