Review: Ministry of Sound Earbuds

A few weeks ago, I did Race for Life. (Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be yet another bloody post about how you should sponsor me – but, y’know, that page is still open for sponsorship…) I made my way to the start line, pulled out my iPhone, plugged in my earphones and…nothing. The next 90 minutes were far too quiet – without a good soundtrack*, I know I slow down.

Emily from Ministry of Sound got in contact with me after reading about my failure of a run, and offered me a new pair of earphones to try out. Ministry of Sound have recently brought out a new range and combined with their Running Trax album, it seems like the perfect combination for anyone who runs (I was going to say who enjoy running, but does anyone actually enjoy running? )

I chose the MOS003 pair, because I didn’t think that running in an overhead style would be very practical! The packaging is quite nice, they come in a Ministry of Sound branded box, and aren’t just sealed in impossible-to-open blister packs.

I can’t normally wear in-ear earphones usually, I obviously have very odd shaped ear canals (eugh, what a phrase) but with the right tips on, these are seriously comfortable. The only pair I’ve had with the removable tips before would keep falling out of my ears even when I was sitting on the bus, but these stay put.

I even went on a run to test these out. They performed great, only falling out when I caught the wire with my hand and yanked them out. The run on the other hand…well thats a story for another blog post.

The other big test of how well a pair of earphones work are “Do they block out the noise of the other people on the buses I have to catch every day?” Yes. Yes they do. In fact, they work so well, I have worn them to block out the bloke who was singing along to his iPod (to Glee songs…) and not even listened to any music. As far as I know, they don’t let any music leak out either, unlike the cheap ones that come with an iPod. (Seriously, why do people still use those?)

I’ve spoken about the style, fit and comfort – but not mentioned anything about the actual sound. Thankfully, these perform as well soundwise as they have done in my other criteria. The real test for me regarding sound was listening to Take That – Never Forget. You know that first BOOM at the start? If the earphones couldn’t make me get teary at that bit, I probably would have sent them back. They made me get teary. I was on a bus. It was a bit embarrassing. (I can’t be the only one who gets a bit weepy at Never Forget. I am? Oh.)

You’ve probably worked this out by now, but I love these earphones. Not only do they look good and work well, but they’re reasonably priced. The last pair I had which worked well, but not great, have an RRP of £80. (Like hell I paid that. Hi eBay.) These have an RRP of £30.

If you’d like your own pair, they’re available from the Ministry of Sound shop, or good old Amazon*

* I really like cheerleading music to run to. No idea why. Loud and bouncy, its awesome.