Still, the Xtreme does a great job of being a solid speaker all around. No long term report yet, but my other Keens have outlasted previous sketchers work and wolverine work shoes by more than two times, so I have high hopes. Recheck these after an hour or so on the first use, and bring the tools needed to adjust hardware as this loses a star for requiring wrenches where knobs should have been enough. He really liked his and used them for running, so I decided to get my own pair. Some broken, some colors not as many beads as others, but would still order again. quite sad to see the condition like this. I shopped around like crazy and this was easily the final decision at the end of the day. I stopped noticing an odor a long time ago. Used it, had a rough time getting antifreeze through. I was leaning toward the m40x which is described as the more "flat" sounding option.