Customer Reviews

Ultimate Ears MetroFi 220 Noise Isolating Earphones

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

These are quality and attractive earbuds. They have extremely clear sound. The passive noise isolation does work; with these on I either cannot hear other people talking or at most they are extremely muffled. In such a small device, there are many little touches which indicate the amount of thought which went into every detail: The cord is neither too long nor too short and have a thoughtful adjustment slider to keep the Y of the wires from getting tangled. The heft of the individual wires are such that they are neither stiff nor floppy. The mini-jack connector has very little added material around it making it likely it will be useable with any device, probably including the original iPhone with its notoriously small jack. I say probably having not tried this.

The sound is full and rich. I would say it is superior to standard issue iPod earbuds in the bass end. As I type this, I'm listening to a percussion section on Paul Simon's Graceland album, and I can feel the low frequency pounding of drums expanding in my ears: an interesting and immersive sensation.

I would not get these earbuds for use with an iPhone or second generation iPod touch, as those devices demand a microphone, the same company makes a sister product (MetroFi 220vi) which does have a microphone and a clicker.

My major problem is with fit. I am using the medium sized of the included pads and they are rubbing the inside of my ear in an annoying way causing irritation over long sessions, and I can hear the pads move inside my ears when I am walking. For someone who happens to get a better match to one of the pads this might be a non-issue.

In summary, a solid product which people with fortunately sized ear canals might find great.

I've had these guys for about a month now and I am using them as my primary headphones. I'd like to think I'm an audiophile, but I definitely don't understand sound like some of the others here on Amazon writing reviews. I do know however, what great sound quality sounds like. I also own a pair of Shure SE430s ($400) as my use-at-home phones, as well as the older E4Cs ($300) which were stolen. I can't say that these are on the same level as the Shures, but I can say that they are about 70% of the quality at about 15% of the price; GREAT value. I also own the Apple In-Ear headphones (the new ones), and can honestly say that these blow the Apple phones out of the water.

These earphones' bass is exceptional. Lows come out of these things smoothly and cleanly. There is never any distortion of the bass. I love listening to songs like "Boom Boom Pow", "Get Buck In Here", any Kanye song, and even a song like "Sway" sounds exceptional with the warm bass that come out of these things. I would even go out on the limb to say that the bass on the Ultimate Ears MetroFi 220s sounds better and cleaner than my Shures ever did.

Mids are also really great. Vocals come out clean and crisp. John Mayer and Tom Petty songs sound wonderful.

I think the only place that the 220's could use a little work is on the highs. While the highs don't sound bad, they're not as clean and smooth as the lows and mids. The highs sometime sound bright and sometimes just *ever so slightly* distorted. You really can't hear the distortion unless you are *really* looking for it.

I use these earphones a lot at work. Another thing I really like about them is that they don't completely isolate the ambient noise. This is great because I can hear my co-workers when they are talking to me. Also, when they are in my ears, people around me can't hear me even when my iPhone/iPod are turned up all the way.

Overall, for me to compare these to my Shures really says something. These phones are a great value and I really enjoy them as my "commuter headphones". If these had a microphone, I think they would be in my ears from morning to evening!!! I highly recommend them for anyone looking for headphones in this price range.

Do you like your music from your iPod to sound sharp and clear with plenty of distinction between the treble, bass and midtones? I think these earphones do an excellent job. The bass comes through nice and strong and the treble has good clarity. I've tried a lot of different earbuds over the years, Sennheiser, JBuds, Sony and Cresyn. I would rate these above those for the richness of their sound and the feeling that they give you of being right there in the studio with the singer or in a symphony hall for classical music.

Music is important to me. I love all different kinds from hip hop to classical and I want it to sound good. The invention of mp3 players with the ability to take your music everywhere was huge for me. My iPod sounded pretty good to me even with the earphones that came with it - until I tried a better set. Since then I've always been looking for something better, something that makes the sound more realistic. I like to be able to close my eyes and feel like I'm there, where the music is being played. So I've gone through a few sets of earphones over the past few years.

The first thing that I found was important is to have noise isolating earphones. Otherwise I hear too many other sounds from the outside and they interfere more with my listening than I would have imagined. I could definitely hear the difference when going between noise isolating and non-noise isolating. The other thing that's really important is to have earbuds that are comfortable. In the past, some have made my ears feel itchy after wearing them all evening or afternoon, especially if I'm walking or moving around a lot. I would say that these silicone ear tips are the most comfortable and the best for noise isolating that I've used. I often forget that I'm wearing them. The earphones come with a hard little carrying case which is handy. The wires are delicate so you have to be careful when closing it, but it's a nice size and easy to carry along when not using them.

The only earphones that I've found that are superior to these are also made by Ultimate Ears, the Ultimate Ears 700 Noise Isolating Earphones but these are almost double the price and close to professional quality earphones. For most of my listening these MetroFi 220's are an excellent choice. For me, Ultimate Ears is the "go to" brand for quality earphones.

To say that I have a few sets of headphones would be an understatement. I have tried a few sets of ultimate ears headphones, and think that they sounds really nice. A very full sound. Typically, you will get above average highs, mids and lows from them. These were no different straight out of the box. As I used them for a while, They did sound better.

My problem with these headphones is the fit in my ear. Depending on which tips I used, they were either too big or too small, or just wouldn't stay in, regardless, I could never get a really good fit. As such, I never found them to be truly comfortable. Yet, the important thing about this, is while this did both me, they may fit someone else perfectly.

It really was a shame, becouse other then how they fit, I thought they were excellent headphones in this price class.

Note:
IF YOU NEED THEM TO WORK WITH A PHONE / IPHONE, LOOK FOR A SET OF HEADPHONES WITH A MIC AND END BUTTON.

As a student, I always have headphones in my ears. I can't study without music. I want my music to be clear across a wide range (bass & treble); I don't want to have to turn it up too high to block out outside noise; and I want a comfortable fit. Ultimate Ears turns out to be an excellent choice for all of those purposes. The included case is very nice, letting me slip them in my backpack and avoid getting them tangled up while protecting the earphones.

Let me review them by comparing them to other headphones I have:

Apple iPod headphones: No comparison. The MetroFi fit more comfortably in my ears and do a better job of blocking out outside noise, thereby letting me keep the volume lower. The sound is noticeably better on the MetroFi as well, especially in the high- and low-pitch ranges.

Bose® around-ear headphones: I prefer listening to music with the Bose simple around-ear headphones. They are more comfortable to wear long term (no ear canal irritation) and the sound seems slightly better, but it is honestly difficult to discern (noticeably more powerful bass on the Bose). I would say that they are equally as effective at knocking out background noise, based on the volume at which I listen to my music while studying. So for at-home studying, the Bose win. But for portability and convenience the much smaller, in-ear nature of the MetroFi 220 win out.

Sony Noise Canceling Headphone): Until now Sony's active noise-cancelling headphone were my portable, noise-blocking headphone of choice. They are definitely more effective than the MetroFi at keeping noise out due to the battery-powered active noise cancellation, instead of MetroFi's noise isolation. The metroFi seem more effective than the Sony at simple noise isolation (i.e. when active noise cancellation is off). If you use your headphones on a bus or on a plane, you will definitely want active noise cancellation, not just noise isolation. But I have found that active noise cancellation gives me a headache over time, and it can almost overdo the job for most purposes (over-isolating me from the outside world). The treble range is superior on the MetroFi, and the bass range is superior in Sony.

I hope this comparison review with some other headphones in a similar price class is helpful in your shopping decision making.

I've tried several sets of ear phones since graduating from the ones Apple ships with its iPods. I've tried the Shure E2c, the Lenntek Sonix and Cerulean XLR just to name three. They are all pretty good. But, when I plugged in my Ultimate Ears MetroFi 220 Noise Isolating Earphones, I realized immediately that none of them compare to these from Ultimate Ears.

The Ultimate Ears MetroFi 220s are pretty well constructed. The cord is a step above the Ceruleans (which has started to split). My other sets have thicker cords (seem more sturdy) and some with braided cords that just seem a little more upscale. So, my only issue with them is I do kind of wonder about the durability of these. I love the metallic look of the earbuds. They come with three different size ear cushions. The medium ones come installed. Don't be afraid to switch them out for the larger ones if you need to. I've found it helps to push them in snugly to get a really good seal. I don't think I have large ear canals. But, I did find that switching the ear cushions out for the larger ones allowed me to get a better seal in my ears and really improved the bass response of the ear phones tremendously. Honestly, at first, they sounded a little "boomy" to me (something I had never experienced with ear phones). So I made an adjustment to my equalizer setting on my iPhone to compensate. The highs are crisp and clear also. I found the ear cushions to be comfortable.

The Ultimate Ears MetroFi 220s come with a hard carrying case also. That's nice because I usually don't use earphones with my iPhone. So, I can throw these in my pocket without worrying about the cord getting caught on other stuff. I also like the fact that the right side is color coded with red inside so that it's easy to see. Some ear phones I've used make it almost impossible to determine which is the right and which is left.

After getting noise isolating ear phones, I find any that don't seal into the ear canals to be something I just won't use. By having the noise isolating ear phones, you can listen at lower volumes (maybe saving your hearing?) and the sound quality is much better. These don't cut off so much outside noise that you can't tell what's going on around you. But, they cut out just enough to give you great sound quality and block low level sounds around you. If you haven't tried noise isolating ear phones, I'd say these are a good place to start. Skip over all the other ones I have tried.

Honestly, none of the ear phones I've tried to date sound like true audiophile equipment. But, then most of the time I'm listening to an iPod, I'm either just passing the time in a waiting room or I'm working out. I figured all in- ear eaphones would all be pretty limited because of their size anyway. I had been told some of the other ear phones I had (the Shure E2c) were about as good as it gets. But, while the MetroFi are not near the top of the line of the Ultimate Ears lineup, they are the best I've owned yet easily outshining the others in terms of sound quality. I was torn between giving them 4 and five stars. For sound quality, I'd probably give them 4 stars. I don't know what the limits of in-ear ear phones are. But, while I've gotten deals on on the others I've tried, their list price has been at or above the price of the MetroFi 220s. Considering the value, that raises these up to a five star recommendation. If you're looking at ear phones in this price range for casual listening, grab these. Maybe I'll try some of Ultimate Ears' pricier ear phones in the future. But, meanwhile, these have become my ear phones of choice.

Let me start by saying the sound quality can't be beat in this price range.
I have tried many earphones at many price ranges and these are top notch.
Outside of a studio environment you probably won't be able to notice a difference between these and models costing much more.

I did have a couple issues with the product though.
I like wearing buds with the cord over the ear method.
The cord on these is very springy and when the cord is over my ear it works to pop the ear buds out.

This model also doesn't have the neck loop design so if they pop out they hit the floor.

Out of the box the cord had been crimped a bit and not a smooth wrap, so now I have bends in the cord that won't go away. Perhaps a hot day in the sun will work it out.

Right = Red makes it easy to see which ear is which at a glance.
Good idea but...
Take a look at the images, sure you can tell which is black and which is red. But I challenge you to do it at a glance, especially if there is a light source above you - sun, ceiling lights, etc. as the shiny surface makes it difficult to discriminate at a glance.

Finally this pair is missing the flanged set of cushions included in some other Ultimate Ears sets. If you only need a small med or large cushion this isn't an issue, but I find the flanged set works best for me.

Bottom line this is a great set with awesome sound, comfortable fit, and a nice little plastic storage case to boot.

The overall quality of these is very good but it becomes annoying when you move around and the wires touch your clothing. You ear a taping like someone is testing a microphone. It's very annoying. So I don't recommend these unless you sit still while listening to music. I also find the wire short. It's about 3.5 feet long so if you connect these earphones to your desktop, you will probably need an extension.

These are nothing special, just another pair of in-the-ear buds. No extraordinary sound, no special fit or comfort, nothing out of the ordinary. I would not purchase these again.

I realized that a lot of the audiophiles on here dislike these headphones because of their fit discomfort and lack of bass. I found myself purchasing these headphones when I stumbled into Bestbuy after my Sony MDRE-X56LP/BLK finally gave up on me after 2 years of use:-( I bought these on sale for $40 and instantly fell in love with its clarity and incredible lows to mids. The fit is indeed a little uncomfortable after prolonged usage, but what I found to be extremely helpful is to replace the UE earbuds with my Sony ones. The sony earbuds are a comfortable snug-fit. Plus what I started to notice is that the bass sounds 2Xbetter with the sony earbuds!!! I know this sounds unbelieveable, but after few sessions of swap and compare I concluded that these earphones tends to amplify and sructure the sound as it passes through the different earbuds based on their shape and material. A more narrow shaped earbuds tends to extract more base out of these headphones. I don't really understand the physics behind it, but I did notice a slight increase in bass response. Of course...this is soley based on my own intuition>_< I might just be delutionalXD but you be the judge...

I am very satisfied with these headphones. Had I not swapped the earbuds with my Sony ones I might of complained about the fit and discomfort issue, but for now I will be using these earbuds for quite a while.