How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-10-03 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
• SoundMAGIC E10C — biggest strength: Full aluminium housing with a twisted-pair cable and an inline mic/volume remote. It's built as a grab-and-go everyday earphone.
• SoundMAGIC E10C — biggest trade-off: The cable is fixed, so there's no replacing it if it fails, and the frequency range tops out at 16 kHz versus 20 kHz on the MX1.
• MEE audio Professional MX1 — biggest strength: Modular design with two detachable cables, sweat-resistant construction and memory-wire earhooks that hold the fit in place.
• MEE audio Professional MX1 — biggest trade-off: Plastic housings, no inline volume control, and the custom-fit eartips that unlock its best isolation are an optional extra you order separately.
• Pick the E10C if you want a simple, durable everyday earphone with call controls.
• Pick the MX1 if you want a musician-oriented monitor you can repair, reconfigure and eventually upgrade.
The E10C is the classic "one pair in your bag" earphone. The housing is machined aluminium, which is the standout detail here — metal shells tend to shrug off the knocks and pocket-abuse that plastic buds eventually crack under. The 3.5 mm gold-plated plug and the twisted-pair cable reinforce that same everyday-durability idea, and the twisted construction is specifically there to cut tangling and reject RF interference while carrying the signal cleanly.
On the spec sheet you get a 16 ohm impedance, 100 dB sensitivity, a 20 Hz–16 kHz range and a single dynamic driver. Low impedance plus high sensitivity is a genuinely useful combination for phone and laptop headphone jacks: it means the E10C doesn't need much power to reach a comfortable volume, which matters if you're plugging straight into a handset rather than a dedicated player. In my opinion, that's the real story of this earphone — it's tuned to be easy to drive and lively rather than flat and analytical.
The in-ear design with a rounded-tip earpiece is the noise-isolating part. Isolation here is passive: the tips seal your ear canal so outside sound stays out and your music stays in. Nothing in the spec sheet claims active noise cancellation, and that's fine — a good seal is what actually blocks the drone of a bus engine or an open-plan office. You also get three pairs of silicone dome tips, three pairs of flat silicone tips, a pair of double-flange tips, a Skype/VoIP adapter, a smartphone adapter, a cable clamp and a semi-rigid hard case. That's a genuinely complete kit for finding your seal.
It also has a built-in HD microphone and remote with volume control, so calls and track skipping happen on the cord. The catch: the cable is not detachable. If the wire is the part that fails — and on wired earphones it usually is — you replace the whole earphone. And 16 kHz is a narrower ceiling than the MX1's 20 kHz, which mostly tells you the E10C is aimed at everyday listening rather than critical monitoring. Skip it if you want a repairable, upgradeable monitor or if you need sweat-resistant gear for hard training.
The MX1 PRO is designed around a different question: how do you make one in-ear monitor fit many different ears and survive many different jobs? The answer is modularity. Every part — cables, tips, accessories — is interchangeable across the MX PRO series, and there are two detachable, replaceable cables in the box: an audio-only cable and a spare headset cable with a built-in mic and remote. A cable failure stops being a death sentence; you swap the cable, not the earphone.
The second answer is the fit system. Flexible memory-wire earhooks bend to the shape of your ear and hold there, so the monitors stay put without constant re-adjusting. That's the difference between an earphone you fiddle with on a commute and one you can wear through a two-hour rehearsal. You also get Comply memory foam tips plus four pairs of silicone tips, which gives you more chances to find a deep, isolating seal than a single-tip package does.
Sweat-resistant construction and a single full-range dynamic driver tuned for balanced output — balanced bass, clarity, crisp detail — point at stage and studio use rather than bass-forward casual listening. It's worth being honest about the trade-offs. The housings are plastic, not metal, and the weight is listed at 22.68 g versus 15 g for the E10C, so it's the heavier of the two. There's no inline volume control — just call control via the remote. And impedance is 18 ohm with a 20 Hz–20,000 Hz range, so it's still easy enough to drive from a phone, but it's clearly built to be fed by whatever a musician plugs into.
The optional part is genuinely interesting: you can order custom-fit eartips, 3D-printed to the shape of your ears, for a better seal and improved isolation, and personalize the earphones with engraved metal faceplates. That turns a universal-fit monitor into something close to a custom one, over time, on your own schedule. Skip the MX1 if you want the simplest possible setup, or if you'd rather not think about tips and cables at all.
• Best for passive noise isolation out of the box → MEE audio Professional MX1, thanks to Comply memory foam tips, five sets of eartips and memory-wire earhooks that hold a deep seal.
• Best for grab-and-go simplicity → SoundMAGIC E10C. Fixed cable, inline mic and volume control, nothing to configure.
• Best for durability of the housing → SoundMAGIC E10C. Full aluminium construction versus plastic on the MX1.
• Best for long-term repairability → MEE audio Professional MX1. Detachable, replaceable cables and parts shared across the MX PRO line.
• Best for calls and volume control on the cord → SoundMAGIC E10C. The MX1 remote handles call control but not volume.
• Best for musicians, monitoring and sweaty use → MEE audio Professional MX1. Sweat-resistant build, balanced tuning, secure earhooks.
• Best for the widest frequency range → MEE audio Professional MX1 at 20 Hz–20,000 Hz versus 20 Hz–16 kHz.
• Best for a lighter, less noticeable fit → SoundMAGIC E10C at 15 g against 22.68 g.
If I were buying for myself and my use was commuting, working and taking calls from a phone, I'd take the SoundMAGIC E10C. The aluminium body, twisted tangle-resistant cable and inline volume remote are exactly the things I'd use every single day, and the 16 ohm / 100 dB pairing means it plays loud and clean straight from a handset. I'd only switch to the MEE audio Professional MX1 if I needed a monitor I could repair, reconfigure and eventually upgrade with custom-fit tips — that modularity is a real long-term advantage, but it asks more of you upfront. For most people reading this, the E10C is the easier, more forgiving everyday pick.
how to noise cancelling headphones work
Active noise cancelling headphones use microphones to sample outside sound and then play an inverted signal to cancel it out. Neither of these two products does that — the E10C and the MX1 both rely on passive sound isolation, sealing the ear canal with eartips so less outside noise reaches your ear in the first place.
With an active pair you'd switch noise cancelling on and let the electronics do the work. With the E10C and MX1 the technique is physical: choose the eartip size that seals your ear canal properly, and on the MX1 bend the memory wire so the monitor sits deep and stays put. A good seal is what gives you the isolation.
how to test noise cancelling headphones
Play something at a normal volume in a steady background noise, like a fan or traffic, and notice how much of that noise remains. With passive isolation, try each included eartip size in turn — the E10C ships with dome, flat and double-flange tips, and the MX1 adds Comply memory foam — and keep the set that muffles the outside world most.
which one isolates outside noise better, the E10C or the MX1?
Both use sound isolation rather than active cancellation, so it comes down to fit. In my opinion the MX1 has the edge because it includes Comply memory foam tips, four pairs of silicone tips and memory-wire earhooks that keep a deep seal in place, and it can be upgraded with custom-fit eartips. The E10C's double-flange tips are a solid alternative if you prefer a simpler setup.
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