Ultimate Earbuds
Written: Aug 03 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very comfortable, excellent frequency range, 3 sizes of earbuds, long cord.
Cons: Silly case, expensive, and, er, nothing?
The Bottom Line: If you are looking for a balance of comfort & and excellent sound, and the oppressive price doesn't bother you, these are your new earbuds.
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| cortexbomb's Full Review: Sony MDR-EX70LP Consumer Headphones |
I dislike earbud headphones, for one very simple reason: comfort. Or, more specifically, discomfort.
Perhaps I have non-standard-issue ear canals, but until I picked up these, I had no luck finding earbuds that I could wear comfortably for more than a few minutes. An older pair of Sony Fontopia's were borderline bearable, but after 30 minutes, same problem.
Sony adopted a whole new strategy for these earbuds, and it worked out wonderfully, much better than the myriad of supposedly-ergonomic designs that earbuds typically sport. The speakers themselves fit into a post-like housing about 5mm across; the part that you stick into your ear is a detachable, supple funnel of rubber that folds over on itself, forming a sphere. This means several things:
- it deforms to make a perfect fit
- rubber, so it doesn't 'slip' out
- virtually makes a seal
- detachable: clean them with water, without risk of damaging the electronics
Great, so they are comfortable. But all that comfort would have gone to waste if the sound was subtastic. The frequency response is, according to Sony, 6~23,000Hz. The signal suffers very little distortion across this range, offering excellent deep bass, clear though the mids, to vibrant, crisp treble, and is consistent at most volumes. I pair these with my Apple iPod, and the only time I can hear something noticeably wrong with the sound is if the MP3 is encoded at a lower bitrate, such as 128Kbps. Incredible.
The cord is an ample 1.2m in length, and, like many others, the right earbud has a slightly longer cord so it can sit along the back of your neck, reducing the amount of pull from the droopy cord. Although the cord is the thinnest I have seen, it is suprisingly durable .. so far. I am notorious for accidentally ripping the cord from the earpieces within days of use, but these have held up great with the standard regiment of abuse. One thing remains to be seen: how the cord changes in reaction to extreme cold. Living in Canada, headphone cords tend to get very stiff. I only bought them in April, so I'll get back to you on this one.
The pair also comes with a "case", which I promptly lost. The earpieces fit into either side of the case, which then snaps closed. Sony's suggestion is to wrap excess cord length through & around the case when using them. But what makes this such a bad case is that it doesn't accommodate the cord itself when in "storage mode", which is easily the most vulnerable part the package. I guess they felt they had to throw in an accessory to justify the $50US price tag.
Last but not least: Sony provides 3 pairs of the rubber earpieces: S, M & L. I wear the medium ones, but if I were to lose one or both, I could easily adapt to using one of the smaller or larger "spares". Or they would adapt to me, rather.
To sum up this longer-than-expected rant about something as simple as earphones: get them. You will be getting what you pay for.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
cortexbomb
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Location: Toronto Canada
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
I am a terminal impulse buyer, and I pay dearly. However, I am quite critical.
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