Got mine this afternoon (yes, I was surprised to get it overnight).
Here's a quickie review I sent a friend of mine:
They sound pretty good, and are comfortable. I played with the EQ a bit, and came up with some low freq boost, suppressed mid a tad, and a tad up on the two highs (guess I could send a screen shot, but it's on the Mac...). "Electronic", "Jazz", "Rock", and one other are close to this, though not quite as subtle.
I didn't A/B them with the previous type, but I could easily say they're richer (with both set to "Flat" or "None"). If I had to guess at a frequency curve, I would say there would be multiple and sharper peaks. For most things, I think people will be happy with them - especially for a stock (or $29) set. With some EQ to actually flatten some of those unwanted peaks (leaving some low end boost), they're nice.
Obviously, they're not going to be up to high-end in-ear type (though not everyone likes in-ear - myself included). They should easily get better reviews than the previous generation. Though not a comment on their audio quality, David Pogue tweeted: The new EarPods earbuds, which come with the new iPhone/iPods, STAY IN! (My ears lack the antitragus, the flap that holds earbuds in!)
For the times where I don't feel like having the Bose on (especially when I'm hot), these will see more use than the old ones.
I got a pair for my wife, too, and she really likes them. She's been using the previous earbuds almost daily while writing music. So far, she says they are more comfortable and do sound better - agrees they sound richer (she's not using any EQ). She's going to do an A/B test over the weekend (old vs. new). I'll try and post back.
Also. I might do a casual sweep test to get some characterization data (I say "casual" as I don't have any calibrated mic equipment. But, I can at least get some relative data.).
