Arctic Sound E352
By 
This is one of a series of reviews for the Arctic Cooling brand of products. For more information about the company or its products, go to Arctic-Cooling.com
At $69.95. the Arctic Sound E352 is the most expensive of Arctic Cooling’s "300" line of high-end earbuds. It even rivals the $79.99 cost of the Apple in-ear buds available at the Apple Store. Even worse, unlike the E351 or the E361, this pair doesn’t even come with a microphone or computer adapter. Plus, it only comes in one color. So why buy it?
Simply put, for this particular set of earphones, sound quality is everything. If you are a music aficiando and spend your day listening to music on your iPod touch or iPhone where you can hear every subtle rhythm, beat and hum of the music, then Apple pre-packaged set of earbuds may be inadequate.
What likely drives up the price of this set is the use of wooden paneling at the back of the ear buds. This allows for the sound to have a unique reverberation within the ear.
As an example of this, when I tested them against music with a complicated score (such as classical music which contains woods, strings, percussion, etc), I found that I was able to hear certain aspects of the song that didn’t come across when I used the standard Apple headphones, either a hidden bit of percussion or a background harmony. Music definitely sounds better with these headphones.
As with other earbuds in the line, the E352 comes with three sets of ear caps sized small, medium and large. I had to use the large earcaps but when I lent them to my significant other, she was able to use the small ones. An documented bonus of the Arctic Cooling earbud line is that they’re good for sharing.
They also come with the same attractive and compact carrying case that every other high-end headphone set in the Arctic Sound line comes with. Simply place the ear buds in the center and wrap the cord around the perimeter.
If sound quality is king in terms of how you judge your earphones, then the E352 is the best choice for you. While it doesn’t come with extras such as a microphone or volume control on the unit, it is better designed and possesses far superior sound quality than the Apple in-ear buds and is just slightly more affordable.
