Initial Use: A Little Odd, But Purposeful

When I put the m8 earphones into my own ears, they felt a little odd at first, but then soon after, I hardly noticed they were there. Any new pair of headphones or earphones I've experienced the same, so it's not surprising in this case. The shape of the Atrio m8 and m5 (black color) earphones are a purposeful design, not an aesthetic design.

The problem with headphones covering the ears entirely, is that they try to compensate for too much space. Ever notice when you press your headphones against your ears...it sounds better? You get a more "fuller sound"? What's going on, is pressure, building within your ear, every time you press the headphones against your ears. But this is a rather futile effort to get a full sound (some people have even went so far as to use a strap around the headphones so they are tight against the ears). What could be easier? Well, if an earphone was placed just inside the beginning of the ear canal, there would be a very effective seal, thereby keeping air pressure at a constant, which would then allow for uncontaminated sound being output from the audio source, free from environmental distraction. Low lows and high highs would still be present, and no signal loss would occur. If anything, the music would sound better. Probably like you've never heard before.

And this is what Future Sonics has done with the rather affordable Atrio Series Professional Earphones.

Rich, Deep, Encompassing

Because of the earphones being made to specifically rest inside the ear canal, and providing a seal from the outside environment, the result is something you have to hear to believe. Amazingly deep bass can be heard. And I do mean deep. When I used my Denon AVR-5700 and cranked up the bass, I reached for my ears to adjust the heavy headphones, but then realized...I wasn't listening with headphones. The low frequencies were nothing short of exciting.

Less High Frequency Than Typical Headphones Or Earphones

I heard fewer high frequencies when listening to the m8 Professional Earphones, but this is actually a good thing, and I will tell you why. But first, I've read a few reviews commenting that lacking an immediately noticeable high frequency, is something bad. It's not. These earphones were designed this way. It is unfortunate a review gives a product like this bad marks because a person cannot hear the high frequencies immediately, but gives another competing product high marks for high frequencies being instantaneously. This has to do with not recognizing and observing the characteristics of audio signals, and I have to say, just not being familiar with how audio works.

The Atrio m8 Professional Earphones certainly do have high frequencies. I heard them. Oh yes, I did!

Future Sonics is well aware of how individuals perceive audio signals. If you had a set of earphones which were tuned to the high frequencies so that you could hear those frequencies immediately, your hearing would be fatigued over time. Possibly after only 15 minutes. The reason, is because since these earphones seal off the outside environmental from the music source, it will take a few minutes for your brain and ears to compensate and realize what it's listening to.

I Can Sometimes Hear Myself Breathing!

Since the Atrio m8 Professional Earphones are designed to cut outside ambient noise, and instead, concentrate all sounds coming into the ear canal, you will in fact hear your own breathing if there is complete silence--and if you tap the sides or top of your head, you will hear a "thump". This is much akin to a doctor or nurse using their stethoscope. The ends of a stethoscope act the same way as the Atrio m8's because the ends are placed just inside the ear canal. The reason for a stethoscope's shape and function, is the ear canal is where all the sounds centralize and eventually pass to the inner ear.