That lack of disappointment is shared in modern soul and R&B, such as in Justin Timberlake’s “What Goes Around”, which is clear and balanced as all parts of the song play: the slick soft vocals of Timberlake, the instruments that are at least some part semi-synth, and the syncopated rhythm making up the mids and lows of the track.
Classic soul keeps it going with Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish”, both of which normally feel a little restrained in the mids and highs, but which sound on par with each other in these cans. The percussion is tight, the guitar and bass is all working together, and the tracks are clear with only the focus on what you should be listening to: the song.
You can’t get lost in the balance of these earphones, but you can totally get lost in the sound.
Pop fares much the same, Maroon 5’s “Sugar” and Katy Perry’s “Roar” providing most of its strength in the highly engineered extra bass they tend to have, ever so slightly overpowering the mids and highs, which all take a backseat, but are hardly lost here.
Fortunately the more acoustic styles of music save the day, returning the M200 earphones to glory, with the blues jam of Jonny Lang’s “Bump In The Road” keeping the young but harsh vocal stylings of Lang and his combinations of guitar, bass, drums, organ, and choir working together with a soulful tonality, while the layering of bluegrass and folk in “Babel” from Mumford and Sons is clear enough and balanced to make you think you were in the recording studio with with the English rock and folk band.
Jazz proves this again, with Dave Brubeck’s “Maria” soft and smooth like a pleasant whiskey rolling off your tongue — not too much burn from the bass, which is more subtle in this track — and much the same result in Nat King Cole’s “It’s Only A Paper Moon” and Louis Armstrong’s “Cheek to Cheek”.
The instrumental tracks win out here for a clarity that is reminiscent of the big speakers KEF produces, with “All Blues” from the Miles Davis record “Kind of Blue” a little lower on volume, but when pushed up, the sound is warm, simple, detailed, and easy to follow.
Overall, the sound is definitely up there, and while the size of these earphones is certainly small, the sound is big, detailed, balanced, and impressive, producing a quality you’d expect with bag cans, though not necessarily earphones as small as these.
We need to address comfort, though, because that is something KEF hasn’t quite mastered yet.
It’s strange, because the M500 headphones we checked out were very nice to our ears, but the M200 are just a little too aggressive.
Interestingly, this isn’t an issue with the combined metal and plastic build, which makes sense and feels good to our ears. It’s not even an issue with the rubbery cabling, which is a little too thin for us, but survives all the same.
No, this is a problem with the large in-ear pieces KEF is using with these earphones, and they’re so large the typical foam tips we use can’t even attach. They’re just that large, that unusual, and like a 2.5mm jack being used in a 3.5mm cable to attach to headphones — again, something KEF has done in a pair of headphones — this is a little unorthodox.
That means you’re probably going to have a hard time getting extra ear tips for these later down the track, which could pose a problem for some.
It also means this uniquely large in-earphone means KEF has managed to fit in a 10mm low-frequency driver as well as a 5.5mm mid- and high-frequency driver in each ear, which together with a wide chamber results in spectacular sound, as demonstrated in our above review.
Unfortunately, it also hurts your ears.
The earpiece is just so big, and much wider than we’re used to throwing in our aural cavities, feeling like you’re forcing something in the spot that shouldn’t be as big as it is.
Over time, we found our ears were warming to the large shape, though you may find your inner ear becomes a little itchy due to it trying to adjust. Not all will, either, and while we like the sound, we found the discomfort didn’t exactly fade after half an hour, as our ears just weren’t big enough and tried to push the huge pieces out.
And when we freed them, our ears almost let out a sigh of relief, with the pressure they were bringing to our ears released, almost like a weight had been lifted off our shoulders, except with our ears.
Those of you reliant on the big earphone tips already will likely have a field day. “Finally!” you’ll say. “A pair of earphones made for my ears! These are awesome!”
The rest of us with average or small ear holes, however, will struggle, because while the KEF M200 sound amazing, they are just insanely uncomfortable for a great majority of us.
Conclusion
We said it to start the review, but we’re going to say it again: if there’s one thing KEF understands, it’s audio, and the M200 in-earphones certainly prove this, providing some of the most detailed and balanced audio we’ve ever come across, though it does come with a catch, because KEF may get audio, but it doesn’t know comfort.
Indeed, the M200 are some of the most uncomfortable earphones we’ve ever plunged into our ears, or tried to, with the large earpiece and driver size causing instant discomfort until your ears adapt, which takes time.
It’s a shame, too, because the M200 earphones are amazingly good, with a great design and build on top of that superb audio quality, but the comfort is just bizarrely hard to get used to. Once you do, you’ll be right, but a few weeks in, we’re only now just getting our ears into it, and they still breathe a sigh of relief when we take them out.
If you see yourself able to deal with this unusual comfort and large earpiece size — ideal if you’re used to using the big ear tips on earphones anyway — the KEF M200 are definitely worth looking at, but they do take some time to get used to, so you have been cautioned.
