NuForce NE770X review: NuForce NE770X
The impressive sounding Nuforce NE-770 earphones offer a comfortable fit and rich sound for an affordable price.
Nuforce makes a variety of audio products, including a few different earphones that offer very good sound at affordable prices.
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
The company says the NE-770X, which comes in three different colors, features wide-range, non-metallic drivers that have been configured to produce a "natural, supremely musical sonic signature without sacrificing dynamic punch, soundstage dimension, holographic imaging, or wide-band frequency response."
That's the stuff you can't see, the stuff on the inside. The outside -- the shell, so to speak -- is what you'll react to first, and it may not be good. Here's why: the earphones' housing is made out of polycarbonate plastic, which makes them very lightweight (Nuforce describes the material as acoustically inert), but it also makes them look a little cheap.
Compare this with something like the $79.99
The earphones come with the usual three sizes of silicon eartips (small, medium, and large) as well as an inexpensive soft cloth pouch, which I appreciated. I also like how the right bud has a little red ring around the cord for quick reference, since it's very hard to distinguish the "L" and "R" markings.
I can't vouch for how well these will hold up over time, but it's worth noting that the cords are thin, so I wouldn't count on these withstanding too many tugs -- still, I haven't had any problems in the two weeks I've used them. It's also worth mentioning that the 770X has a straight plug, not an L-shaped plug that many people considerable more durable.
The other small strike against this model is that it doesn't have an integrated microphone and remote for making cell phone calls, and there's no step-up version of the same earphone that offers this feature (the $65
Conclusion
Missing microphone aside, these are a very solid value at $49. I tested them with a variety of music including The National, Usher, Foo Fighters, and Elvis Costello, as well as our CNET headphone test (an ensemble of lossless tracks put together by CNET contributor Steve Guttenberg). You're not going to get the incredible detail that you get from much more expensive earphones and headphones, but overall the NE-770X is pleasant and punchy, and the sound doesn't feel stuck inside your head (it sounds fairly open).
Bottom line: It's hard to expect too much more for $49. Recommended.