[General Accessories] vectron:
This is a Review of AuGlamour AG-R1 in-ear headphones. http://penonaudio.com/AuGlamour-AG-R1

Lately I covered a lot of great budget in-ear headphones and hopefully was able to convince you that you don't have to spend a fortune in search for a good quality IEMs. But as you start moving down in pricing, especially below $50 mark, you will start noticing that every manufacturer has to cut some corners. When you get down to $25 level, it will not be as easy to find something that sounds great, looks great, and has a great build quality. Some looks could be deceiving underneath of cheap plastic shell. In case of AG-R1, a newcomer from AuGlamour, they were able to get very close to satisfying all these requirements. Here is what I found.

The packaging AG-R1 arrived in was very impressive considering $25 price tag. I feel like every new budget headphone release is trying to outdo their competition by raising a bar higher to make their product standout. Here you have a black hard carton box with a logo across entire top cover and a ribbon with a bear sticker (?) in the back. Once you remove the top cover, you see a ribbon going around the bottom part of the box, holding down headphones inside of the foam cutout insert. After removing this ribbon and taking everything out, beside headphones itself I found a nice soft draw-string storage pouch, a pair of earhooks for over-ear fitment, S/M/L pairs of hybrid eartips with a medium bore opening, and another pair of red foam eartips. For its price, this was not a bad selection of accessories.

The biggest surprise is when you get these in your hands and feel their weight - you will quickly appreciate their all metal quality shell. With a round flat design resembling a scaled down shape of CKR9 IEMs, these have a very high build quality. Also, the shape is comfortable enough to put your head on a pillow without them pocking you. The fitment is similar to Ostrys, but it's smaller and more comfortable; there is an air port at the bottom of the nozzle, and the back has a cool round logo. Cable is twisted and comes out from the side, supported by a decent strain relief. Due to a twisted/braided nature of the cable there is no cable cinch which could come handy during over the ear fitment since I personally don't like earhooks, but you can also use it to your advantage by twisting both of the earpiece cables to bring them closer together. Still, I preferred wired down fitment. Y-splitter is a small metal capsule without much of strain relief, but braided nature of the cable prevents it from sharp angle bending. 3.5mm straight gold plated plug has a very slim housing and also a good strain relief. Overall, cable microphonics wasn't bad at all, and with a good eartip seal you can get an above average isolation, but not enough for a total isolation during subway/bus commute.

Now, the sound quality. AuGlamour describes these headphones as "mainly for vocals", and they are absolutely correct. AG-R1 has a very clear and detailed mid-centric sound signature, but unlike most of the other IEMs in this category you also get a taste of bass. Starting with low frequencies, unfortunately you won't get as much sub-bass extension and the focus is more on a mid-bass with a faster attack. It works great for the rhythm of the music but makes it sound a bit thinner without sub-bass support. Mid-bass is well controlled without spilling into lower mids, but after 20-30hrs of burn in peaked a bit causing a mild hollow thumping effect. Nevertheless, I still found it balanced rather well with mid range - the star of AG-R1. Mids are clear and detailed without getting peaky or harsh. They definitely have a good balance between brightness and smoothness to make vocals shine, but at the same time sound a bit thinner and colder due to a leaner lower mids. Treble is clear and crisp, doesn't extend too far, but just enough to appreciate details without causing fatigue during extended listening. Staging is definitely above average with a decent width and depth; great stereo separation!

For a quick comparison, I put AG-R1 against a few of my other IEMs and found the following. My recently reviewed EP100 have more sub-bass, with mids pushed more back, and staging a bit narrower. VSD3 have more sub-bass, with mids being smoother and thicker and at the same time more recessed, and overall sound being a bit less detailed. KC06A also has a bit more sub-bass, but mids are grainy and splashy in comparison, while staging is more narrow and shallow. With T1E you get more sub-bass, and mids are way more recessed and less detailed. Furthermore, AG-R1 was very easy to drive out of any source, and I actually found it to be not as picky about source quality.

Another thing I would like to add, for an additional $4.90, Penonaudio offers a set of 5 eartips, including double flange and new hybrid "turbine" wide bore tips. I guess as part of cutting some corners you don't get as many stock tips, and if you don't have spares - you can buy these. Also for those who want a better protection for your headphones, beside an included draw string pouch, Penon has a new aluminum cases (http://penonaudio.com/Earphone-Aluminum-Box) for about $10 plus change. Those are very sturdy with a tight seal, great for traveling.

Overall, I really enjoyed AG-R1 and found not only their sound sig to be refreshing but also really liked their build quality and look/fitment. Perhaps if you are craving more bass or more rumbling extension down to sub-bass layer, these will not satisfy your appetite and will sound a bit too thin for your taste. But that's the whole beauty of these IEMs - being more mid-centric with a clear and detailed mids to deliver great vocal performance and a great non-fatigue sound adequate for an extended listening. But don't worry, these can still handle all your Top40 hits and will be able to keep up with a pumping rhythm. For $25 it's a great value.

Here are the pictures.

Extra eartips

Hard Case