Articles

INTRODUCTION

   We all know that MP3/4 players, tablets, cellular phones and basically pretty much every portable device that is capable of reproducing media files comes with earphones bundled in the same box (even tape/CD/MD players had one) which are just but basic/low-cost pairs. For good or bad to most people that specific pair will be more than just enough (especially since it comes at almost no cost) but audio enthusiasts and generally people who always want the best they can afford will certainly search the market for something better with the name of one of the well-known manufacturers in the field such as Sennheiser, Sony and others. Honestly that was also the path i used to take up to around 5-6 years ago but after having tested many earphones by quite a few of the lesser known manufacturers i no longer pay much attention on brand names but rather on the product itself. Thinksound is one such manufacturer and ever since i received and tested their TS02+Mic earset roughly two years ago i consider them to be amongst the very few manufacturers that actually hit the sweet spot between audio quality and price without sacrificing build quality, quite the opposite actually. So for the past month we've been testing their brand new MS01 8mm in-ear monitor with passive noise isolation to see if it walks on the same successful path as the TS02+Mic.

   Thinksound™ was founded by Aaron Fournier and Mike Tunney, who met while working for Tivoli Audio. At Tivoli Audio, Aaron was an audio engineer, and Mike was the creative director. The duo then collaborated on the launch of Sapphire Audio, where Aaron had the opportunity to work with industry legend Cary Christie (cofounder of Infinity and founder of Artison). Following that, Aaron was a Project Leader at Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports Magazine. His experience in reviewing and testing audio equipment is vital to the strict quality control process at thinksound. After serving as Director of Engineering and Chief Sound Engineer at V-MODA, where he voiced and helped design some of the best-selling headphones on the market, Aaron re-teamed with Mike and began developing what would eventually become the first two products offered by thinksound, rain and ts01 in-ear headphones. With the firm belief that our products should be designed and manufactured responsibly, without sacrificing quality or price, thinksound was launched. Clear sound with a clearer conscience is what we believe in.

   What makes the MS08 8mm in-ear monitor set unique compared to other similarly priced (and even more expensive) earsets is the use of wood for the main housing (most earsets are made by plastic and/or metal) taken from pear trees which in turn produces a more accurate, natural and warm sound. Aside the "green" nature of the product however the drivers of the MS01 in-ear monitor set although the same in size with the ones used with the TS02+Mic are further improved and so this time over Thinksound has given them a frequency response of 18Hz to 20kHz (compared to the 20Hz/20KHz of the TS02). Specifications however do not always reflect on the end product and although based on the improved frequency response the MS01 8mm in-ear monitor set should be better compared to its predecessor our job is to find out if that's the case or not after extensive testing and that's exactly what we did.