The perfect iPod earbuds!
Written: Oct 08 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good treble, powerful bass, great style
Cons: bass just might be too strong!
The Bottom Line: Reasonable price, a total dream for bass junkies, effective at minimizing ambient noise, nice sound.
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| technolicious's Full Review: Sony MDR-EX70LP Consumer Headphones |
I recently purchased an Apple iPod, which is really fabulous. One of my only complaints about the iPod was that the included headphones are merely "good", instead of "totally great" like the iPod. After reading the reviews on these Sony earbuds, I ordered a pair online.
In the USA, the headphones are only available in black, but in Japan they are also available in white. I ordered a white pair from a fellow in Tokyo; he sells them on eBay regularly. The white earbuds have grey earpieces on them, whereas the black models are all black.
I listen to Grado SR225 headphones at home, so I have pretty high standards for headphones. Listening to these new earbuds, I could immediately hear that the bass is overly boomy, while the treble is fairly good. I turned up the treble on the iPod, which helped to round out the sound, even if the mid-range response is a bit weak. Alternatively, I tried setting the bass lower, but the overall sound is more fun with the treble increased. (The iPod only allows you to adjust the sound one way or the other.)
After doing some comparing of the sound quality between these Sony EX70LPs, the Grado SR225s, and the included iPod earbuds, I've concluded the following:
Starting with the iPod earbuds, the sound is pretty good. The bass is not too bad, the treble sounds okay, and great recordings sound nice.
Put on the Grado SR225s, and you realize that you were missing out on tons of detail in the sound; it's like going from cassette tape to CD, on some recordings! The bass is much stronger, yet still refined. The Grados are smooth as silk, with lots of detail and no lack of bass.
Now, stick in the Sony EX70LPs, and the bass is even stronger. The detail is back to the level of the iPod earbuds, or perhaps slightly better. Because the Sony earbuds are muffling out ambient sounds, they do have an advantage in terms of audible detail. On my iPod, I turn set the equalizer to "treble boost", and the detail is up there closer to the Grados, while the bass remains stronger than the Grados. Since the bass is so strong, it can be overbearing in some recordings, while sounding really exciting in others.
The sound isolation is a nice benefit, although it can be weird when riding a bike! I tried it, and the sounds on the road were at the levels you would hear from inside of a car, or wearing a motorcycle helmet.
I tried using the smaller earpieces, and when I put the earbuds in, I was shocked to hear the bass totally gone! It sounded about as bassy as a telephone speaker! Apparently, these earbuds are designed to seal off your ear canal, which they then use as a sort of reverberating subwoofer. Breach the seal, and the bass literally leaks out. Weird, but it does provide totally unprecedented bass response for an earbud-style headphone.
Overall, the sound is really big and juicy, and the bass may even sound a bit too boomy for some people's taste. Since everyone is always demanding more bass out of earbuds, I'm guessing that Sony decided to address those demands once and for all!
[By the way, I have had no problem with the earbuds getting stuff on them from my ears. Either the grey color hides it better than black, or I just have clean ears...]
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
technolicious
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Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 1 member
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