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Product Review – Munitio Billets
Manufacturer: Munitio / MSRP: $89.99 / Release Date: October 23
I’ve struggled with two big issues throughout my audio listening career: convenience and comfort. Since owning my first iPod, I’ve spent a long time with ear-buds. They’re either too big, bulky, or just sound like crap. Personally, I’ve always been a fan of headphones — you know, the ones that go over your ears instead of making unwanted love to your vestibule.
Since the dawn of the iPhone there has been a growing number of Apple ready audio headgear; somewhat bridging the gap between convenience and comfort. Sadly though these, in my experience, have usually come in two flavors: expensive, or they disintegrate if you so much as look at them.
Having to lug around giant headphones is a pain, so like most people, I’ve defaulted to whatever spare white ear-buds I have lying around… until this week when we received a happy medium, the Munitio “Billets.” Usually doing product reviews isn’t my thing, but for this particular instance, I felt my opinion might actually mean something.
DESIGN
The ear-buds are designed to look like empty 9mm casings made of aluminum. Keep in mind, these are aimed at the Call of Duty crowd. That thought aside, I actually found the design to be aesthetically pleasing. At first glance you can’t tell you have bullets in your head, granting Munitio a couple extra points for subtlety for the design. And, since you can adjust the tip (go ahead, laugh it up), I was able to find a good balance between comfort and stability.
SOUND
I did something really stupid Friday night… something I don’t recommend you do, ever. I’m among the few in Los Angeles who don’t drive a car, at least not on a regular basis. I ride my bike daily from home to work with a trip on the Red Link in between. I usually listen to music or play my 3DS on the subway, but never when I ride; I have a strange fear of getting hit by a silent Toyota Prius or angry relative.
On the ride home at 9:30PM I thought I would give the new Billets a try since the streets of North Hollywood were rather empty. As I made my way home playing Kavinsky on Pandora, I could barely make out the sound of cars whizzing by be or even the giant bus that almost nicked me. It was neither the safest noise-cancellation test, nor the smartest, but I can safely proclaim that the dance party from my phone stayed inside my head while nothing else from the outside world could.
After I got home and escaped certain death, I realized something: the bass in Billets was really damn good. Keep in mind I was blasting electronicia all night where the “wub wub wub” was a bit more pronounced than your typical Enya track. But the recent bike ride of death led me to believe that I could squeeze in some game time with the same earphones.
Before jumping on my PC, I consulted the press release one more time, noticing the fine print, “Not Intended for Console Use”. Well peanut butter wasn’t intended to pleasure ones self with his or her favorite pet, but we do it anyway. After a couple minutes of deliberation, I started a couple games of the BF3 beta (the irony, amirite?). The game sounded great and the noise cancellation worked just as well at home. At one point my fiancée walked behind me, said something and walked away… or didn’t. I’m actually not sure since I couldn’t hear anything coming out of her mouth. *Man Five!*
BOTTOM LINE
As a traveler of the world constantly looking for things that go in and around my ears, I would have to rank the Munitio Billets pretty high. At about $90, they fall somewhere in the middle of my “cheap or expensive” list . If you’re like me and you’re in the market for some new military themed earphones or just want some slick sounding bullets in your head, I highly recommend giving the Munitio Billets a go.
Manufactures Homepage | Munitio’s Twitter
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I really hate in-ears, they’re never comfy but they have the best sound and make the least noise so other people don’t have to hear your junk. These do not look comfy either.
I gave up on ear buds. My last set were a set of skull candys and they were uncomfortable as all hell. I keep them around for those moments when I want to listen to music in public. Otherwise I just prefer my turtle beaches or (RIP) Razer Carcharias. Better sound and comfort when you have full size headphones.
As much as I like the bullet design, it works well visually with the shape of in-ear headphones, the majority of earbuds hurt the interior of my ears during prolonged use. I’m either stuck between them falling out because of the smaller insert, or my ears feeling like they’ve been raped. However, the Bose in ear headphones have a different design that hooks on the interior of the ear, comfortably. The small tube that goes into the ear doesn’t rely on the interior of the eardrum to stay in, rather the cartilage above it, so the user never suffers any discomfort. They feel like they’re always going to fall out, but they never do. If anyone has complaints about in-ear headphones hurting their ears, check out the Bose. They’re $100, so just $10 more than these Munitos. They also have other designs made to fit with smartphones (Built in microphone and call button), and a special Apple friendly model that has volume control, mic, and itunes integration. They are $120 and $130 respectively. So yes, very pricey. They have more than excellent sound quality with medium bass, which is to expected with in earbuds. A major problem is that they provide practically NO sound cancellation, which is a surprise, them coming from Bose. So if anyone is looking to spend a little extra on earbuds without the discomfort of usual in ear headphones, and doesn’t mind about sound cancellation, get the Bose In Ear headhones.
due to the fact of me being super cheap unless its something amazing and that i cant resist. I am going to have to say no to these headphones. The sound canceling and all sounds great. But at that price i would probably go buy some over-ear headphones. I’ll stick to my shitty little apple headphones for now.
In my opinion (and my wallet), these seem a little too pricey for my taste. Although every pair of earbuds I’ve bought have gone out within a VERY short time. I don’t know.
It’s pretty cool to have, but a little too expensive . :O
i think $90.00 is too much for headphones
i pefer headphones just for these reasons sound quality and comfort. if it feels like a dick is in my ear then i will call mastur cheif to kill it. If it sounds like a duck getting its wings sewd on to a living person and that living person was sowed to some ones ass while eating little curds of shit then its a no go for me.
I don’t really understand all the Apple bashing people do when it comes to earphones, maybe my ears are just perfectly shaped and my hearing amazing but I have never had an issue with the Apple iPod earphones nor have I wanted to go elsewhere, especially when I am getting exactly what I want for €30. They fit, are comfy and are often unnoticeable and with enough volume block everything else out and the clarity and volume have always been better than any other earphones I’ve tried. I do know what “good headphones” are like, I’ve got a pair of Trittons (had, they actually just broke in the most ridiculous way possible which indicates I probably won’t be buying from them again.) that I use for my PC as a headset and occasionally for console gaming and as much as I do like them and their comfort etc I often find them too loud, like to the point where I can’t concentrate on anything and I get a headache.
When I think of shit earphones I think of the ones that come with cheap radio tuners, mobile phones or like those crap white ones that came with the original PSP. (God were they terrible.)
Maybe I’m right and my ears are just some untainted messiah of the hearing world but on a closing note, I’ve never been a fan of in-ears but I do like the aesthetic design of these and I wouldn’t put myself in the same crowd as any of the people who worship the Call of Duty franchise and think shooting guns is the best thing since sliced bread although I do play them occasionally online with friends.
I always prefer headphones, but walking around with them on makes anyone look a bit douchey, in my opinion. And buds like the ones reviewed never seem to stay in my ear. I’ve found only one pair that is mildly comfortable and those are getting pretty worn. A lot of buds are expensive (30+) so I can’t really just test them out. But maybe one day there will be ear buds that will softly slip into my ear holes and provide me with musical pleasure. Dick jokes.
Yeouch! $90 Is Way too much for Headphones. The design is nice And
ive heard great things about em but i’m going to have to stick to my
White Default headphones.
while this review was insightful and interesting i will have to say if i am paying $90 for earbuds i might as well get over-ear beats because those are simply the best headphones that have ever been laid on my ears. they have amazing bass, they are extremely comfortable, have excellent noise cancellation and to be honest i don’t enjoy walking around with huge head phones on my head but beats are the ones i will because despite the embarrassment they are worth it.
i realize ear buds are more convenient but can be easily lost or broken no matter how much you pay for them.
I think you should try and do more product reviews especially on things like this that seem like they’re going to be cheep tat but aren’t. my question is how much of the $90 price tag is for the MW3 stamp?
Loved the review. I can’t by anything without a review on it first and this was well said haha. Might stick to my big headphones though as the earphones usually piss me off and leave my ear feeling like ive been violated… in the ear hole…
Anyway, what im trying to say is thanks :D
You wan’t good IEMs (in-ear monitors)? First thing you should do is realize that there is an audiphile market out there for mobile listening. There are many recognized companies out there like Ultimate Ears, Sony, Westone, Monster (Beats is the worst headphones and earphones ever made… I’m talking about Turbine Pros and Miles Davis Tribute only), Grado, JVC, Sennheiser and many other.
They say life’s too short to listen to bad headphones. It is true. Every Munitio product is considered extremely overpriced in the audiophile world. Some people may think 80 bucks for a earphone is expensive… My Miles Davis were 400 dollars and my q-Jays 250 dollars. When you listen to a true audiophile full-size headphone/in-ear monitors, lossless enconded songs and a decent audio source, with a good DAC, for the first time, your mind will blow. You’re gonna listen to music like it’s meant to be.
And remember, marketing and advertising is out there, making people purchase bad products for high prices every day!
Check head-fi.org and anythingbutipod.com… read the reviews and articles. You won’t regret when you listen to a good audio gear for the first time.
check out my blog, i talk about various gaming products and whethter or not you should buy them. check it out!
I have these earphones and they are a beast, sure they’re a bit pricy but the bass sound awesome
I just bought a pair of the 9mm and im.giving.them a test drive as i write this.
Theyre not the call of duty limited and only cost $69.
Although nothing compares to a good pair of over ears i have to say i cant complain about.these yet. I have 30 days to.take.them.back.if i.dont like.em.and.they come.with.a.2 yr warranty to boot.
Ive gone.through.so.many.in ear headphones and.i have yet to find a pair that.blows my mind. Hopefully after these are broken in ill.be able.to.say more.
But.i.do.have to say that apple headphones have always been good to me and ill never turndown a pair! The bass response and.sound were always.good in my.opinion.
Apple should get into the headphone market…