Last week, we spent three days in Taichung, Taiwan. It's on the west coast about halfway down the island. It used to be known for its clean air, universities, and yummy food, but now its air quality is crappy. Something like 1/3 to 1/2 of the air pollution that inundates Taichung rolls across the Taiwan Strait from China. What a nice gift! To put that into perspective - Taichung is roughly 200 miles from Xiamen, China. The air pollution drifts over the ocean to be deposited on Taiwan's west coast.
Anyway, I cleverly forgot to take my earbuds with us, so I walked into a store first chance I got. This was in a very small town in Douliu, Taiwan. [I know. That means nothing to you. My wife has relatives who live there.] I bought the most expensive pair of earbuds the store had for sale - $179 NTD. That works out to $6 USD. After I had bought them and walked back to the family reunion, I popped them in my ears and plugged them into my iPhone.
HOLY SH!T! They sound amazing.......
ly bad. I'll guess they play as low as 100Hz and no higher than 3000Hz. The soundstage is 2D. It was difficult to listen to them, but I soldiered on anyway. They're made in China. The specs are listed on the back of the box:
10mm driver; impedance 8 Ohm +/-10%; sensitivity: 100dB/mW; Frequency response: 10 - 25,000Hz (Bull crap!)
Well, I nearly threw them in the trash now that we're back home, but I may donate them instead. There are plenty of kids who would be delighted to have these to play their video games and listen to mp3. I'll see my nephew in two days.
BTW, Happy Lunar New Year! It's the year of the Pig. My wife lovingly (usually) calls me her Pig Head, so this is my year!
