Altec Lansing inMotion IM616 Earphone - IM616 - Sound and Silence in Perfect Harmony!
Altec Lansing High Definition Noise Free Headphone Etymotic Research Earbuds

I have these earbuds for about 6 months. The sound is extremely clear, and they distribute sound very nicely. You may be upset about the rather strange base. One way to gain a stronger base is moving the filter into the sponge piece rather than leaving it by the neck. Another improvement is replacing the rubber at the Etymotic Research site. The replacement rubbers feel more sturdy and less slippery. The sound becomes richer as soon as you replace these parts. These earphones have great sound, but you really need to get used to them to really appreciate how clear and pleasant the sound is. Rather than damaging your ears with a very strong base, you can enjoy and listen for hours without going deaf! Value and satisfaction is a 4 because I think they are too expensive and don't come with enough replacement parts and the setup they recommend does not solve the problems with the weak base. These headphones really need a base boost with replacement parts.
 
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This product is ridiculous.. Extremely uncomfortable, no bass whatsoever, yes I did have a good seal. I wish I could rate this junk in negative.
 
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Don't waste you money or time. Look elsewhere.
 
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Brought this ear phone a while back because of a sale and the name Etymotic Research. The earbud was ok for the price, performance was a 3/5, build quality is 2/5.....My other $5 Sennheiser ear phone sound better than this piece.......I have to jam the earbud all the way inside my ear canal to get decent bass. The silicon attachments don't fit and are very easy to get dirty. The silicone ear bud tends to stick to anything inside my pocket. And then the quality of the product is the standard "made in China". One of the ear piece was already gone silent, I am actually in the process of looking at buy.com and Altec Lansing for warranty policies to have it replaced. I would never ever buy another one from either Altec or Etymotic again....
 
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very nice carrying case. quality product. however, i must be expecting too much when i buy noise cancelling headphones. i have three different companies and types, and they all reduce the noise somewhat, but i still hear outside noise. i'm primarily trying to get rid of lawn mower noise! and it is still overwhelmingly present, regardless of what $100 or less product i've purchased. i guess i'll have to try the expensive bose set.
 
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The Altec Lansing High Definition Noise Free Headphone Etymotic Research Earbuds are an excellent value at $42...I listen to a lot of classic rock, Jazz as well as some bombastic classical. The bass is solid without being overpowering and the high end tones are true and crisp. The mid range was a little weak but for the money it was a great buy. I also own Koss, Sony and JVC , this product was better then the Koss and Jvc and slightly out preformed the Sony MDR-E828LP which I got for a $105...HOWEVER the earbuds stopped working after 60 days of light use(I rotate them)mostly at the gym and on a plane. When I put a wool cap over them both buds became muted and could barely be heard thus rendering them useless. The cap was not tight but both connections were broken and I am assuming shody workmanship in China(where else?) caused this defect. I hope Buy.com does the right thing and replaces them if they do I'll only use them on planes because they are definitely not very sturdy!!!!!!!!!!!!alos the wire is way too long unless of course your shaquile o neal and it gets in the way but the buds themselves are very comfortable!
 
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I bought the Altec Lansing Etymotic-IM616s because (1) my cheap on-ear noise-suppression headphones start getting downright painful after about an hour, (2) the description of the IM616s made them sound good, and (3) the price seemed right (based on the described performance). Having use them a couple of times on long flights, I have to say I'm a little disappointed. The good: These earbuds are very comfortable. I wore them on a cross-country flight and never felt like I needed to take them out for discomfort reasons. The not-so-good: Contrary to the description, they do not have a robust bass. I don't need brain-frying bass; but I would judge these earbuds as down-right tinny-sounding. And I've tried to follow to the letter the instructions on use. I'd go a different direction next time. Sorry, Altec Lansing.
 
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Over the years I have purchased several earbuds. Generally I have found that spending a modest amount usually provides a product that meets reasonable performace levels. The Altec Lansing IM616 is an exception. These earbuds are the worst perfornming earbuds I have purhased. After testing on multiple audio sources the bass response is nearly non-existent. Overall the frequency playback range is no-different than listening through two tin cans and a string. Altec L. customer service is just as bad. For the asking price, consider another name brand.. shure, ultimate ears, etc.
 
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At first, I connected it to a USB sound card and it sounded terrible. I then connected it to a better sound card, the sound improved significantly but was still not impressive at all. It did not meet my expectation.
 
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I bought these insert-type earphones as my previous disc-type earbuds hurt my ears after about an hour. These were more comfortable, and did a great job of blocking out noise on the airplane, where the earbuds would not (I used the rubber tip, not the foam). The sound, however, lacked bass and was disappointingly tinny-sounding for a "premium" earphone. Luckily, I can use the bass-boost on my mp3 player and they're not too bad (though not as good as my inexpensive earbuds). Seeing as there are earphones out there that cost 2-5 times more than these, they are overall a decent buy. Nice case too.
 
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Excellent clarity, tonal balance, and imaging. Best use would be for music that features silent passages and dynamic range. These do not deliver a bass "whump". Pass on these if your music is all about the bass.
 
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I bought two pair of these IM616 earbuds, one for me and one for the wife, to replace the earbuds that came with our iPods. I bought them to use while exercising, mainly brisk walking on a treadmill or outofdoors. I should have saved my money. These are in-ear canal earbuds and require some practice inserting correctly. Although the IM616's reduced outside noise, both my wife and I found the bass totally lacking in these earbuds. Compared with a pair of Sennheiser earbuds that I paid $13 for, the Sennheiser earbuds are more comfortable to wear, have deep bass totally lacking in the IM616s, and overall just plain sound better. We also found the IM616s uncomfortable to wear, although if the sound was better, we could probably get used to wearing them. Even the cheap earbuds that came with our iPods sounded better than the IM616s to both me and my wife. Most disturbing to me was the fact that the wires moving against clothing, face or anything else, transmit annoying sound into the ear canals. I would not recommend these earbuds to anyone.
 
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It's a great product for the price I paid ($40). Not a real noise-cancelling earplug, but it does block the noise well and never falls from my ear--which saves me a lot of frustration esp. in the winter of NY.
 
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To sum it up: These earbuds sound really good for the money. I bought them on sale and have been very satisfied. They do a commendable job reducing outside noise so you do not need to play your music very loud.
 
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The earbuds work fine in terms of noise cancellation as well as in terms of producing musical sounds. No complaints, only praise. Easy to use, but keep in mind that this is a device of personal use only, not to share with anybody, because earbuds go deaply inside your ear. You don't want to pick up somebody's germs or earwax, so be selfish.
 
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I purchased these to block the noisy cube neighbor. The idea of a noise free ear bud from Altec Lansing at ~$40 sales price was just too tempting so I went for it. What I got was a pair of ear buds that didn't even block the sound from my cube neighbor. I could still hear her and that blasted speaker phone across the wall almost as loud as the cheap ear phones that I currently use. <BR><BR> They are advertised "to provide a genuinely accurate music stream", Not with my normal EQ settings, I had to distort the EQ to make them sound right and the "awesome bass" is a joke. Had to turn the lows way down to stop the distorted thumping.
 
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you will be disappointed in them unless you push them all the way deep inside your ear canal. Once you do that, however, they sound great. I doubt most people will be able to wear them properly and get the full effect.
 
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I think because it's "in-ear" type... so when I use it I have to put it "in" my ear, which easily make it dirty (especially with its white buds) and also not so comfortable for my ear.
 
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doesn't reduce noise level hardly at all. has good volume, but somewhat uncomfortable jammed deep in ear canal (or fall off otherwise.)bangor
 
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I purchased these earphones to see how they compare to my Planetair active noise canceling over-the-ear headset and to have something much smaller to lug around with my overstuffed bags. I was pleasantly surprised as to how well they performed. They work by a multi-layered seal that is made against the ear canal. They can be very effective at blocking out noise almost as well as the active noise-canceling headset, but they have to be deeply seated in the ear. It took a while to get used to and some people may not like this. The headsets seem to have better base response (to be expected given speaker size). Considering that the price is less 1/5 of the Bose sets and they are much more compact, they are a reasonable choice.
 
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I was expecting these to have great clean sound and good bass response, but both my 6 year old $30 Sony ear buds and the somewhat similar units that come with an Ericsson W580i phone have better bass and overall response. I found the headsets that come with the phone for about $8 online and they blow these out of the water. The only thing these were better at is blocking outside noise. They do sound good, but I prefer all my other headsets over them and most of them cost much less. They are also not as comfortable as the headsets that came with my phone and fit in the ear similarly.
 
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They're a little uncomfortable to wear for a long time, and some of the alternate/backup parts fell out of the packaging and disappeared, but overall I'm pretty happy with them.
 
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Tried these and found that all you hear is the high end and midrange, there is no bass. Does not block outside noise. Have noise cancellation headphone by S**y that actually work, unlike these earbuds. Sorry, purchased on sale at half price, but would not buy again at any price. They do not function as advertised, even with constant adjustment.
 
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Perhaps I have very deep ear canals, although I've never experienced a similar issue before. It seemed I was unable to get sufficient bass energy from these earphones at first. The remedy for my dilemma turned out to be inserting the earphone with the wire pointed up instead of down. This allowed the buds to be inserted deeper into the ear canal where they were able to produce plenty of bass. With this modification in usage, they are well worth the money.
 
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I bought these a few months ago for $40, only b/c they were so cheap. At that price, I would say it's a good buy, but I see it's gone up quite a bit since my purchase, so I wouldn't recommend them at this time. It's not that I don't like em; they are very soundproof and sound great overall. However, for a pair of ear buds, which will most likely destroy your hearing in the coming years, $85 is not worth it. As far as performance, the sound is very clear and there is even a surround sound effect. But yet, another beef I have is that since there ear buds, they sometimes become uncomfortable and cause my inner ear to itch, so I find myself taking them out for relief fairly often. Overall these aren't horrible, but for $85, I would not recommend buying them. What you should do is spend the extra $200 and get yourself a pair of those sick Bose noise free headphones. My buddy has them; they are insane and are at the top of my X-Mas list. Happy shopping!
 
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very good noise isolation, bass not as good, design hurts ear when lie w/ head sideway on pillow, good material, price: ~30 somewhat ok, 80 too expensive
 
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The sound was terrible. Ear-buds go too deep into ear, and the sound quality is bad, bad, bad, bad, BAD!!!! I love loud music and demand avarage quality for something I paid $45 for. I bought this because it retailed over $80 and I though I was getting a good deal. If you consider buying these for ANY reason, DON'T. If you hate someone, and you want to give them a terrible present, THIS IS IT!!! you are better off spending $15 for a name brand, like Sony, or phillips. The ear buds that come with an Ipod are a milllion times better that these.
 
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Since these are based on the Etymotic Research headphones, I was anxious to give them a try. Even though they were on sale through Buy.com, I was pretty disappointed with headphones from a sound performance. Overall they fit well and were lighter than my Shure E2C's, but the sound was rather tin-ey without much depth or richness (probably easier to say there was no bass response). I would have returned them, but the Fiancee needed a new set, and she finds them to be fine for her needs. I am by no means an audiophile, but I guess my ear is more discerning than hers.
 
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These were a huge disappointment. They should be freebies with the purchase of an mp3 player or phone. Tiny sound, no mid or base.
 
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I looked at a lot of headphones and these fit the bill. Why pay $100 for an IPOD ear piece? I use them for my morning run and am very satisfied.
 
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While the sound quality doesn't compare to the ET6's, they're 1/3rd the price. I really like these ear buds and have used them a number of times on my motorcycle commute. I usually wear normal (-27db) ear plugs while riding, but if I want to hear the radio or listen to music, these buds are just the ticket.
 
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These are great sounding earphones, but like similar Etymotic Research models, they take a bid of fiddling to get into your ears. They're not for a person who wants to pop them in or out quickly for a bus ride, or doesn't want to look weird pulling on their ear to get them in far enough. Once in, they're comfortable and sound very good, though. The included case is also a nice touch, with fabric panels on the top and bottom, but it's very big. I bought them for less than $50 and consider them a bargain at that price. For the current $83.99 price, I'd have to think twice.
 
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I bought these a few months ago for $40, and I only bought them b/c they were so cheap. At that price, I would say it’s a good buy, but I see it’s gone up quite a bit since my purchase, so I wouldn’t recommend them at this time. It’s not that I don’t like them; they are very soundproof and sound great overall. However, for a pair of ear buds, which will most likely destroy your hearing, $85 is not worth it. As far as performance, the sound is very clear and there is even a surround sound effect. Another beef I have is that since there ear buds, they sometimes became uncomfortable and caused my inner ear to itch. I found myself taking them out for relief, but for the most part I've gotten used to it. Overall these aren’t horrible, but for $85, I would recommend splurging, spend the extra $200 and get yourself a pair of those sick Bose noise free headphones. My buddy has them; they are insane and are at the top of my X-Mas list. Merry Christmas and happy shopping everyone.
 
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I do not recommend purchase of these earbuds. I intended to use them for imporved sound quality on my iPod and was very disappointed. The sound was very thin, high pitched, and not as good as the Apple suplied earpiece. These were definately not a good choice for the sale price or any price for the matter.
 
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I am a little disappointed in the audio clarity and frequency response that these earbuds yield, especially compared to a Turtle Beach noise-cancelling earbud set I purchased some time ago. Adjusting multi-band equalization helps some. Insertion and removal during the course of a work day gets irritating after only a few cycles.
 
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I bought this cause it was very cheap compared to other earbuds and headphones. But they are not as comfortable as my Etymotic ER 6i earbuds, and do not provide the same noise cancellation as the Etymotic ER 6i. I do like the larger earbud which makes it easier to pull out of your ear, and the heavier wires used. But the Etymotic ER 6i have a smaller diameter so they fit much more comfortably and snuggly (which is what cancels out the noise). The Etymotic ER 6i are, in my opinion, much better for noise cancellation than my Bose headphones which I paid $300 for. But all in all the Altec Lansings do a very good job of sound reproduction and noise cancellation.
 
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The sound quality of this product is no where near where it should be for the price. Muted tones, no bass or highs, I would definitely recommend the Sony variety any day. Very dissatisfied.
 
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These headphones have very crisp highs but are completely lacking in the mid and bass. Do not purchase these headphones if you are looking for good or even decent bass. I would return them if I could.
 
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I have had the etymotic top of the line in-ear headsets and these are no where near the price, but not all that far off in overall sound quality. My business takes me on the road quite a bit and most of it is via the airlines. These are wonderful for blocking out most of the noise from the airplane, crying babies, loud passengers, and pa's. I only wish that I could put these on with my ipod when I get in my seat and leave them there until I am ready to get off. Unfortunately the airlines don't want you listening to anything but them below 10,000 feet. You need to get used to the earpieces being deep in your ears if you want the full benefit of the earphones, but I don't mind it for the benefit that it gives.
 
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I purchased these ear buds when they were on sale at buy.com, and thought I would give them a try. I love Altec Lansing...some of the best speakers I've ever owned, however these ear buds leave me wanting more. They do a good job of noise cancellation and have a very clear/clean sound, however there isn't the slightest amount of Bass (this is with the Bass turned all the way up on my ipod & iTunes). I know ear phones are not going to supply a lot of Bass however the ear phones that came with my ipod supply some Bass. I say save your money or spend it on better ear buds.
 
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Audio quality is superb, and earbud fit is so good that even without music ambient noise is hardly noticeable. The only problem I foresee is that most likely I will need to be replacing earbuds / filters frequently on these, but can't seem to find any on buy.com or the altec lansing store.
 
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I cannot, for the life of me, make these earbuds fit comfortably in me ears. I've used numerous other earbuds that go directly into your ear canal - Sony's, Sennheiser's, and Shure's. It's not that I have oddly shaped ear canals, it's that these things are just not comfortable. The carry case is huge and worthless. It broke the first time I tried to use it. I cannot imagine this carrying case EVER being convenient for anyone to use, under any circumstance. It is about the size of a hockey puck, if not bigger. Why would you take something as small as these earbuds, which you could easily wrap up and put in your pocket, and, instead, stick them inside of something that's cheap, huge, bulky, and worthless? The carrying case might as well not be included with these.
 
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Worst set of headphones I have ever purchased......and that is including the $10 sets available at Radio Shack. Within one hour the left side earphone went dead with no sound. You also have to purchase replacement earwax filters if you want to continue to use this product (assuming it lasts past the first hour). If (when) you headphones fail to work, YOU have to pay all the shipping to get them repaired/replaced. I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER ALTEC LANSING PRODUCT EVER. ABSOLUTE RUBBISH !! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
 
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These earbuds have clear midrange, but absolutely no bass. They are a big disappointment.
 
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These are, bar none, the worst sounding ear buds I have ever heard. I will be returning them.
 
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Honestly, for the money I thought they'd have more bass. The stock headphones I got w/my Zune sound better. The noise free part of the headphones worked well though.
 
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If you're an audophile, you will dissapointed with these. May be good for the airplane or for audio books? Really dissapointed.
 
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Incredible disappointment. I was expecting a much more robust, clear sound out of these high-priced headphones with Etymotic Research technology. The package says "High Definition, Enhanced Bass". This could not be further from the truth. I cannot stress how terrible and distorted these headphones sounded. Just awful.
 
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My standard Ipod earphones work 10X better than these. Absolutely crappy when it comes to reproducing bass tones. What an absolute waste of time and money.
 
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This set was on sale when I picked it up and it has great sound reproduction. The earpieces have a snug fit yet don't bother your ear after wearing them for a few hours. Due to the noise blocking aspect of the earphones you will hear a lot of your own echoes, like if you're chewing gum; kind of annoying.
 
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