Design and features:0
Sound quality: We found the TAA5205 delivers sound quality that falls in the very good range - it reproduces music and voice very well although it does have some noticeable sonic quirks. The bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes fairly deep, but depending on the fit ranges from a bit to somewhat prominent and boomy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is fairly even, but is a bit grainy, and a touch hazy, etched (a bit more sharply outlined then it should be). The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is extended but is a bit sizzly and dry, and a bit prominent. The sound also has a good sense of liveliness and is somewhat open--sound-wise it almost seems like you don't have anything plugging up your ears and does a decent job of recovering room ambience. Mixed character - warmish bass with neutral midrange and coolish treble. The overall sound can be summarized as a bit bassy and grainy.
Comfort: As typical of in-ear models they produce a sense of pressure in the ear canal opening might be uncomfortable for some, and when the removeable ear hooks are used some users may find it takes some fumbling to get the earpieces in place. Users with small earbowls might find that the earphone body feels bulky in their earbowl and that they stick out too far and feel like they may lever out of place and are mostly held in place by the section of the earphone that is inserted in the ear canal, but that they will stay in place during casual use; when the removeable ear hooks are used they do provide additional securement and the earphones are stable during fairly vigorous head movement. Users with medium sized ear bowls will probably find that this model stays in place with no problems for casual use, and some may find that they are stable even during vigorous head movement when they are used with the removeable earhooks. Users with large sized ear bowls will probably find that with or without the earbowl supports this model stays in place with no problems for casual use, when the removeable ear hooks are used they are very stable even during vigorous head movement. Some users might find pressing the various earphone controls drives the earphones farther into the ear canal and may cause ear discomfort. Although it's not mentioned in the product literature, the model seems to have an auto pause function that stops playback when the earphones are removed from the ears and restarts playback when at least one earphone is placed back in the ear. This feature operated erratically - sometimes it paused and/or resumed playback, sometimes it didn't.
