Excellent earphones at any environment!
Written: Feb 02 '02
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Powerful bass, clean and clear treble.
Cons: Silicone earbuds require frequent cleaning due to cerumen build-up.
The Bottom Line: Superb performance despite the very small size. Super-light weight and delivers the same sound quality at practically any listening environment.
|
|
|
| minusflo's Full Review: Sony MDR-EX70LP Consumer Headphones |
The Good:
I learned of this model from Sony a year ago as their first closed-type canal earphones created to celebrate the 20th year anniversary of the Fontopia line headphones. Being intrigued with the configuration and the isolation it offers, I said to myself I have got to have one. I waited long until a friend from the U.S. was kind enough to purchase it for me. Like aging wine, my wait was rewarded with sheer pleasure the moment I lodged them into my ears and heard the music.
Before proceeding with my experience let me rundown the specifications and features as provided on the back of the packaging:
* Type: Closed dynamic, in-the-ear
* Driver Unit: 9 mm diameter
* Diaphragm: PET, long throw
* Magnet: 400 kJ/m3, high-power neodymium
* Cord: OFC, neck chain style, 4 feet
* Plug: Gold-plated, L-shaped stereo mini-plug
* Impedance: 16 ohms @ 1 kHz
* Sensitivity: 100 dB/mW SPL
* Frequency Response: 6 - 23,000 Hz
* Mass: approx. 4 g.
The moment I grab hold of my unit and feeling how soft and pliable the cord was, I knew immediately it was of high quality. The plug is gold-plated which meant higher resistance to corrosion, cleaner conductance of current. The neck-chain style cord meant I can run the right earphone to the back of my neck reducing risk of becoming entangled. If you look at the mass, these earphones are practically weightless which meant comfort to your ears even for extended periods of operation. The low impedance assured me I can use it interchangeably with my stereo component and portable CD/mini-disc players without fear of not hearing as loudly. Came with three sizes of silicone earbuds for the perfect fit. The frequency response told me to expect the lowest bass audible. I never saw any other earphones with the same low level frequency reachable.
Now getting to the fun part...Sound quality. As a practice which I read from some audio magazines years ago, I let my earphones/headphones run overnight in my stereo component at a volume level I am comfortable with (usually middle of the dial). Reasoning is similar to burning in your computer the first time you use it. The following day and with eager anticipation, I lodged the canal phones into my ear. My usual test audio CDs are the Corrs album and Depeche Mode. The Corrs because of the lush string arrangements and the vocal presence while Depeche because of the synthesizer and bass delivery. I am not a serious audiophile but I know better sounding headphones when I hear one. So far my standard is the Bose noise cancelling headphones. With this tiny Sony ear buds, I was blown away with the mighty sound it created. The lush string instruments and the angelic delivery of the voices in the Corrs album were recreated as if I was hearing live. Treble was clear and clean though the middle notes were a bit recessed because of the heavy bass. When I played my Depeche CD, I immediately selected Blasphemous Rumours. Boy was I treated to bottom bass. One that was not muddy and was a bit punchy. Tried it next in the bus using my Panasonic CD portable. The isolation created was at the least similar to my Bose noise cancelling phones. Problem was that it became almost impossible to hear voices outside unlike with Bose.
Overall, the superb performance made listening a sheer pleasure to experience.
The Bad:
On sound quality...none. The silicone earbuds, however, though very soft and comfortable are prone to cerumen build-up which makes frequent cleaning a must for sanitary purposes. Due to this, it would also be unlikely that you can share it with a friend while using.
The $43 dollars turned out to be well spent!
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
minusflo
|
|
Location: Illinois, USA
Reviews written: 24
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Works for a surfactant company. Enjoys reading reviews from various and diverse topics at Epinions.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.