While essentially Sennheiser MX300 clones, and cheap pack-ins, the above earphones were the world's first mass-market balanced earphones. They came with the Sharp MD-DR7, which works great as a cheap-ass 16-bit DAC for AK100/120/240 devices and which I remember at Headfonia. Best of all, these phones used the standard 3,5mm plug wired for TRRS.

Sadly, no upgrade options existed in 2002. Today they do, but, as I explain, today we battle against myriad competing headphone jacks/plugs and company locked-down formats. It's more the Wild West than ever it was.

Read the entire article at Headfonia: Back To The Future Friday: The World’s First Balanced Earphones