The fit is not dissimilar to the Shure E2C's but without that rather un nerving sensation that the E2C's have of almost going internal and feeling very invasive, the advantage of this fit is that is provides an amount of sound isolation enhancing the sound of the Yahba's. The soft silicone earpieces are essential to keeping things clean and hygienic while also remaining surprisingly comfortable and they benefit the design by not needing a whole raft of sleeves and other fixtures to get the correct fit.

All in all the Yahba Opus earphones are very comfy while the silver details making them quite attractive and unusual in a world of bland designs. However all this is nothing if they sound pants.

The good news is they are actually very good, the firm seal and amount of isolation from the noise of daily life really benefits the audio quality. We performed most of our testing using Jose Gonzales new album Veneer, this is a fantastic new work that really asks some critical question of your listening equipment, using delicate harmonies intermixed with strong acoustic guitar riffs.

The Yahba units managed to separate these often contradictory signals with ease there wasn't even a hint of muddiness that we could have expected. Its fair to say the Opus earphones suit this style of music and we did test with some fairly full on bass rich R&B which found them ever so slightly out of their depth in high volume moments, but no more so (in fact much less so) when compared to the Apple Earbuds that so many people are looking to replace.

To their credit the boys at Yahba have gone a long way towards the kind of isolation provided by the Shure range but without that uncomfortable feeling that puts so many users off. Then they have managed to provide a sound that is warm and rich in bass while preserving the mid range and top end clarity demanded by acoustic tracks. Our only criticism is that there is a slight resonance on certain lower frequencies where something within the earphone construction tries to join in with the tune, you do have to be unlucky to encounter this but it did ruin one track for us.

Over the course of a week we found the Opus earphones to be incredibly comfortable and a worthy travelling companion hooked to our 3G iPod, plus the best news of all is the selling price of just £16. They are dare we say cheap but the user experience is anything but cheap, if you are looking to replace the terrible earbuds that come with your new MP3 player then you can't really go wrong with the Yahba Opus earphones.

Published - 30/04/2006

More Earphone Reviews-

[ Up ] [ Sennheiser PX100 Review ] [ Sennheiser HD497 Headphones ] [ Future Sonics EM3 ] [ Bluetake BT420EX Review ] [ Shure E3c ] [ Shure E2c ] [ Sennheiser HD 650 ] [ PX250 Sennheiser Headphones ] [ Westone UM2 Review ] [ Shure E500PTH Review ] [ Cresyn LMX-E630 ] [ Soundwise G3 Earphones ] [ Yahba Opus Review ] [ Jabra BT620s Review ] [ V-Moda Vibe Earphones ] [ Soundwise S1 Earphones ] [ EzEars SX50 Review ] [ Sony Fontopia Headphones ] [ Etymotic ER6i ]