SIVGA M260 Flat-Head Earbuds Review – Retro revival

We’re residing in a golden age of audio gear. Know-how is best, competitors is driving innovation, and the arrival of latest international producers is retaining pricing aggressive. SIVGA, based mostly in Dongguan, China, is one such firm, already setting out their stall with gadgets just like the eye-catching picket earpiece-toting Robin SV021. The flat-head SIVGA M260 are equally placing, with cool, retro styling and a common 3.5mm connection making them a great-sounding, near-universal companion in your audio consumption.

The SIVGA M260 arrive in a gray, fabric-covered onerous case, with a dependable zip retaining your earphones safely tucked away. It’s not outsized, and it’s pocketable, although you might find yourself with a reasonably hefty lump in your denims. Greatest to chuck it in your bag.

The retro styling extends from the metallic physique of every earpiece, to the clear plastic overlaying of the silver-plated wound cable. Every of the earpieces has a textured, grip-like metallic floor, lending them an industrial, pure-audio outlook, and as somebody who grew up in a home filled with outdated broadcasting gear, it completely emulates the appear and feel of 70s/80s audio, whereas retaining a contemporary contact, albeit with some distinctly old-school foam covers over the distinctive flat-head buds.

That modernity extends to the standard of the M260’s output. The 14.2mm dynamic drivers are able to producing a deeply pleasing and detailed listening expertise, whereas I discovered that the flathead design and lightweight weight remained comfy by means of lengthy listening classes.

Listening to ‘To Whom It My Concern’, the latest monitor from A Good Circle, you get an important impression of the soundstage, with a good sense of width and spatiality capturing the depths of Maynard James Keenan’s vocals, and lending the instrumentation a ‘reside’ really feel, that feels natural and open.

Transferring onto one thing a lot – a lot – heavier, the brand new album from Wage Warfare loses a few of its aggression, if solely as a result of the M260 isn’t as bass-heavy as a number of different earbuds and headphones nowadays, even with some EQ wrangling. These are a pair of well-balanced earbuds, and so they’ll definitely swimsuit a variety of musical types, with a stage of precision that ensures you hear each element that the artist meant.

Returning to a musical consolation meals, Alice in Chains MTV Unplugged was the proper companion for the M260’s prolonged soundstage and hotter tonality, delivering the reside recording completely, with Layne and Jerry’s vocals retaining all of their emotion and nuance by means of No Excuses, whereas I may virtually really feel the tone of the bands’ acoustic guitars.

After a few years of counting on lively noise cancellation, there’s a liberating sensation with the M260, although you’ll want to remember that it has just about no noise-blocking talents, letting in dialog, avenue noise and the tapping of my keys as I write this evaluation. I’ve additionally used them for just a few runs, and whereas they don’t match up with open-ear headphones, you’re undoubtedly nonetheless conscious of your environment.

I, as many are, have been attempting to step away from streaming platforms, and the SIVGA M260 slot in completely with my iPod Shuffle, each stylistically and audio-wise, letting me take music I really personal on the go, whereas additionally not having to consider charging my headphones (the iPod Shuffle is one other matter, after all).

I’ve additionally put the M260 by means of their paces with loads of gaming, particularly by way of the Nintendo Change 2, the place the three.5mm wired connection makes it a really perfect, battery-free companion. Right here I discovered that the element served my RPG gaming wants completely, delivering the Witcher 3 Remastered’s soundtrack and Geralt’s distinctive growl with all of the element and readability you could possibly probably need, whereas they simply stayed so comfy all through as to be virtually invisible.