*Edit*: After comparing to several other (significantly cheaper too) headphones, I ended up returning these as the incredibly poor sound dampening ended up being a deal-breaker for me. I was amazed how they sound, very good sound. I just move up to the next higher resistance and, however they are all broken now. 5 narrow). Not happy prob return. They?re much better than the standard Q-tips. The bass is smooth but just not solid like the WS-1000is. Frist time wearing them in Cancun,Hubby and I walked 53 mins to the sign(Cancun). There was a time when "Isotoner" meant quality, but that time is gone. the product is really nice.