Arctic Sound E352 review - Introduction

Arctic Cooling Arctic Sound E352 Earbuds

Aaah -- who does not recognize this... you purchased a new MP3/MP4 player and, especially with the Apple iPhone and iPod headphones, your stomach starts to turn around when you hear the music on your first listen of the device. I mean let's face it, these standard Apple ear buds are just fairly craptacular when it comes to sound.

The same happened to me, last year I purchased an iTouch, pumped some music on there and once I started listening to the very first song my pants nearly dropped down. Now granted, I am a bit of an audiophile with a soft spot for heavy and deep bass -- so the requirements I seek in good ear buds definitely are a little more critical opposed to the ones the average Joe will find more than sufficient. The same goes with the Apple buds, many of you will have just thought, 'hey but mine sound great'. Well in that case my friend, you never tried out a quality headset.

A day after my Apple dilemma I immediately ordered some Sennheiser CX 380 in-ear earbuds offering very good sound quality and ease of wear, it surprised me though how many brands and flavors of buds are out on the market, and how agonizing the price range is. A decent set with good sound starts at roughly 30 EUR these days, with high-end ones in the 90 EUR range. Topping things off are these Dr. Dre buds at what 250 EUR?

And that's where we land at Arctic Cooling. And of course half of you are going like 'HUH?' right now. Yes, AC from the CPU and GPU coolers? Ehm yeah... the global market made them look into other directions as well, and thus apparently headphones fit their profile. Typically not the kit we review often, but the lineup that they created is pretty extensive and I was simply interested to see how well an entry a cooling company can make in the earbud segment.

The E352 in-ear buds tested today are advertised to offer sound quality, noise isolation and bass advantages over other offerings from the competition. As such they promise a higher quality than what is provided by your typical pair of earbuds. Let's have a look at the product and lend it an ear or two.