The m100 earbuds are good for music. We like the m250 over-ear clip-ons for games.

Music producers routinely sit around and bemoan the fact that as a result of the 44.1kHz sampling rate of CDs—and the rise of iPods and earbuds—a producer's efforts are wasted on sonically inept listeners. While this is not nearly as true as they'd like to believe, there are complicating factors: The places where we listen, and how and what we listen to, change almost from song to song, leaving manufacturers scrambling to be as many things to as many people as possible. Which brings us to the Pro|Tone m100 earbuds and the Pro|Tone m250 headphones, Razer's two lower-end offerings.

The m100 earbuds are a stylish addition to any in-pocket music player. And "in-pocket" it's going to have to be, since the likelihood of you being able to use the m100s with an audio source that sits more than an arm's length away from you is nil. But if the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, listening to these tiny dealies was a pretty solid experience. Even though there are lots of street claims about near-canalphones like these having a flat low-frequency response, we listened to lots of different types of music comfortably and without the eventual fatigue that creeps in with too-loud tunes too close to the ear. And price-performance for the $40 m100s is right on the money. For gaming, however, we recommend the m250s, which also come in a brushed chrome finish.

Razer's tattoo-like logo etched onto the outside surface of the m250s screams gaming on the go. At $49.99, and with a higher frequency response than the m100s, these 'phones are solid, even if they did sound a little high-endy and hyped at times. (Translation: It sounds as though the drivers are working really hard to push out the sound, which ends up sounding too heavy on the treble side.) The m250s worked well with an iPod during a workout at the gym, some quiet-time music listening, and a heart-wrenching 30 minutes of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

The bottom line. While nothing's going to approach the sheer in-ear luxury of listening that comes with high-end buds, these two offerings are much more than pleasing - as long as you sit very close to your sound source.

COMPANY: Razer
CONTACT: www.razerpro.com
PRICE: $39.99 (m100), $49.99 (m250)
REQUIREMENTS: Headphone jack
They fit. They really fit.
Short cords.