The biggest complaint we hear about headphones is the lack of bass. And it makes sense. Asking tiny speakers that go in your ears to recreate the boom of 12-inch woofers is a tall order. Now that Apple’s iPhone comes in a 32GB version, more users can forgo the iPod/cell phone combo in favor of a single device that can make calls, run apps, and hold a sizable chunk of your music collection. And bass-heads take note: The Atomic Bass Earphones are as apt a name as we can think of, although there are some drawbacks.

Yes, the Atomic Bass Earphones--available in black, silver, red, or pink--can produce some thumping bass. In fact, Radius has packed some of the deepest bumps we’ve ever heard into these diminutive earbuds. They’re in-ear earphones, so they offer a decent amount of passive noise reduction when you insert them into your ear canal. If you’re not used to in-ear monitors, these might be a good place to start. They’re easy and comfortable to insert, and they don’t go as deeply into your ear as some others.

Like atomic energy, the Atomic Bass Earphones have a dark side.

Call clarity was good, and callers didn’t complain of buzzing or excessive ambient noise when we used the inline mic. The remote button worked to answer and end calls, although we found that it occasionally missed clicks, which could be frustrating when trying to pick up a call before it was sent to voicemail. On a call, the sound quality was decent, although with certain deep-voiced callers on the line, the sound tended to distort--keep that in mind if Barry White is on your Favorites list.

When we switched over to our iTunes library, the Atomic Bass ’phones weaknesses became clearer. While the booming bass worked well for most voice calls, we found that the midrange and treble were severely lacking when listening to music. Admittedly, the Radius earphones added much-needed punch to older recordings (The Jackson 5, Rick James, and Metallica’s …And Justice for All, for example), but more balanced recordings became muddy, thudding messes with the added boom. In either case, we still missed the crisp highs, and the midrange was buried. The remote’s problem of occasionally missing button-clicks also made navigating tracks way more challenging than it needed to be.