It’s been almost two years since the Audio-Technica IM03 arrived… I actually really like these buds. At first I thought they sounded muffled, but later, whether they got burned in or something else happened, they ended up being the most “balanced across all three frequency bands” earphones I own. Treble is clear, mids are dense, and while the bass is a bit light, I personally lean toward a cleaner sound anyway — if I want bass, I’ve got the IE80. So these became my first choice whenever I’m in a bad mood. The IM03 I bought was a Japanese-market unit, no warranty. I used to worry it might suddenly die like my late, lamented TF10 — and that day finally came, though it wasn’t within any so-called warranty period.

Back in high school, when I’d scraped together every last cent to buy a Sennheiser MX500 and plugged it into an iPAQ hx2412 to listen to Tony Daimoku with great relish, I’d already heard of Audio-Technica and was quite impressed by it. The reason wasn’t sound quality or anything like that — it was just that hearing the name made a triangle (the little steel percussion instrument I’d banged in elementary school music class) pop into my head. Later, as I sank deeper and deeper into the bottomless pit of audiophile mysticism, the idea that “Audio-Technica = female vocal poison” gradually dissolved into my brain. Honestly, I’d always wanted to try out just how poisonous the legendary Audio-Technica was for female vocals. Later I bought a CKM55 — no particular feeling on first listen, but after listening for a while, especially after switching to other buds later on, I realized what was good about it. That feeling of retaining both female vocals and bass at the same time was indeed nice. After that I kept wanting to get an Audio-Technica around the thousand-yuan mark, but Audio-Technica’s good stuff, including the CK100pro, can’t be had for a thousand yuan — too expensive, couldn’t afford it. Until one day my brain short-circuited and I bought Audio-Technica’s new product, the ATH-IM03, and my wish to “finally listen to a high-end Audio-Technica” was fulfilled.