I'm a self confessed sound snob, I like my music crisp, clear and with absolute clarity. My previous headphones were Bose in ear and as you'd expect they had excellent sound quality, and whilst not the most practical of designs I was happy with them until they broke after less than 2 years. For the price that was not impressive, so I decided to change brand. These were highly recommended, so I gave them a go. If you're sitting still and using them for laptop work or other lazy pursuits they're excellent, but how many people want in ear earphones for that purpose? I certainly don't, I have a good pair of overheads for that. The problems come with these when you move around. The oval cups go from very small to enormous and none of them will stay in my ears whilst moving because of the weight of the extended speaker. The christmas tree shaped buds are better but there are only two sizes ranging from teeny to enormous again. To clarify I'm not talking about incredibly active activity, just simple walking will dislodge them and you do not get good sound quality if the earbuds don't fit well. Personally I think the design is dreadful if you intend to move (at all), so the excellent sound quality potential is completely negated. Hope this is helpful for those of you thinking of parting with your hard earned.