Great performer in small package
Written: Apr 09 '03 (Updated Dec 28 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Rich and full sound
Cons: Bass is a bit too aggressive for some music and treble needs a little boost
The Bottom Line: Be warned – once you have learned to appreciate these earphones, there is no way back! (Replaced by the superior MDR-EX71)
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| mimoid's Full Review: Sony MDR-EX70LP Consumer Headphones |
After a long and painfully drawn-out debate between my appetite for great mobile sound and the size of my wallet, I finally decided that I would give the Sony EX70 a chance to show off together with my brand new Sony MZ-N710 Minidisc.
They were by far the most expensive earphones in the shop, and as I broke the seal on the package at home I couldn't but think that if the earphones wouldn't sound as good as I was hoping for or if they would just insist on falling out of my ears, I would pretty much be stuck with them as the shop wouldn't take them back for obvious hygienic reasons.
With great anticipation I plugged them into my ears, which by the way felt a bit strange - pretty much like inserting a pair of sound-blocker plugs. Then I put on Tubular Bells II on my player and... was greeted with a horrible, completely muffled booming sound, totally lacking any treble or midrange frequencies whatsoever. It sounded pretty much like putting my ears to the wall and listening to the neighbor's music! Ugh...!
Now, things can't be quite this bad, I thought and entered the equalizer menu on my player, which incidentally had been set for my previous earphone. I set everything to flat, but the music still sounded terribly boomy and muffled. Raising the midrange and the treble all the way up while lowering the bass finally did the trick and now I had a more acceptable soundscape, but still way far from what I had expected...
I didn't quite let disappointment take over completely as I still had a lot of faith in Sony and also I had read somewhere on the Internet that these phones should actually be played for some time before the sound quality was going to be any good, so I inserted the earphones into my CD-player and had it running in repeat mode during the entire evening, all night and all the next morning, on a fairly high volume.
The next day I tried the phones again and I was blown away by the difference in sound quality! Suddenly I had a much clearer and richer sound and I could even lower the equalizer to more decent levels, although admittedly I still needed a little higher midrange and treble boost. Well, that could of course be because of my slightly ageing ears, what do I know.
I am still not quite sure about the cause for this radical change in sound quality and clarity as I seriously doubt that just playing music through the earphones for like 20 hours could have this dramatic effect. I rather think that it must be caused by how the earbuds are inserted into the ears. I found out that they must be quite deep into the hearing channel because the sound quality is totally depending on tight fit. A loose fit will in the best case make the music sound like it is played through a telephone.
The earphones come with three different sized interchangeable silicone buds and you should use the one most suited for your own ears for optimal sound. For me the medium sized buds are perfect and I can use them for an entire day without really noticing them. The large ones create a slightly better sonic isolation but are a bit uncomfortable in the long run. The smaller ones are probably designed for children (with rich parents I presume) because they are really small! Some people have written that the buds collect grease and wax from your ears, but I haven't noticed anything like at all - or maybe my ears are more clean? ;o)
Another thing that I have noticed is that the ears (or more likely the brain) need some time to get adjusted to the sound of these phones, especially if they are used to the very treble-rich hissing sound, so common with cheaper earphones.
After having used the EX70 for some time, I switched back to my previous headphones just for comparison and was shocked with how bad those old earphones sounded - I can't understand how I could put up with that awful sizzling and hissing sound for as long as I have. You see, the EX70 is a completely different game. It's like if you are used to drink cheap wines, you can drink pretty much anything and be quite happy with it. But once you have learned to appreciate the taste and flavor of a truly magnificent wine, you can simply never turn back.
A player unit equipped with an equalizer is highly recommended for an optimal personalized sound. Since my MZ-N710 has a great 6-band digital equalizer section, I could easily tailor the sound to my liking.
Make no mistake, the EX70 delivers the clearest sound I have ever heard from an earphone. With the aid of a friendly equalizer it can sound almost as good as my Sony closed headphone, costing almost three times as much!
The upper midrange and treble spectrums are crystal clear but a slightly too weak for my taste, so some boosting in that area made a huge difference. I also found that the bass range needs to be lowered a little bit, as it tends to be a little too overpronounced and aggressive for some music types (like classical or ambient music).
Also be prepared to discover that some recordings may not be quite as good as you thought they were! I found that some MP3 files sound almost unbearable due to the crappy MP3-decoding and low bit-rate. While my previous headphones effectively masked these inaccuracies behind a sizzling hazy shimmer, the EX70 shows no mercy and brutally reveals every encoding flaw. For CD's and MiniDiscs this is of course not a problem, but for portable MP3-players this sonic clarity can actually become a nuisance, especially if you often listen to sub-CD-quality music files (128 bps and below).
Using the EX70 outdoors is an interesting experience because of the almost total privacy and isolation it offers. You can still hear sounds from the outside around you, but all those everyday noises from people, cell phones ringing and vehicles passing by are subdued to a mild background murmur, hardly noticeable. On my way to my office I walked past a construction site with howling impact drills echoing between the house walls, but my musical world was only mildly affected and my ears completely protected from the noise! Cool!
Without the music turned on, you will of course hear every breath you take and every little noise in your head, pretty much like you are under water, but as soon as you press the Play button on your DiscMan, you will find yourself completely submerged in your personal stereo soundscape.
Also if you have previously experienced that other earphones are more or less unusable in windy conditions (or for instance when skating or running) because of the wind-noise thundering in your earphones, you will most certainly appreciate the compact air-tight nature of the EX70. You don't have to crank up the volume to the max and risking to damage your hearing just to be able to listen to your music outdoors. You can actually play your music at very low volumes while still having a perfectly clear sound with a full and rich bass.
Eating or chewing while using the phones is of course not recommended because it will result in ridiculously loud chomping noises in your head. Also make sure to put the phone cords where they are not chafing against your clothes. Sony has designed the cord attachment to stick out a bit away from the ears, which may look a bit strange first but, as you will soon discover, has been done in order to avoid the cords chafing against your ears.
The buds are quite secure and won't fall out even if you run or shake your head, but during jogging they can of course become slightly dislodged with a lower sound quality as result. The cord is quite long on the EX70LP model (the SP model has a shorter cord), but it is very thin and flexible and seems a bit fragile to me, so make sure not to bend it in sharp angles while tucking your player in your pocket. The plug connection is gold plated, which, besides looking expensive, also helps eliminating corrosion problems.
Jogging with the phones in your ears may not a very pleasant experience because each step will create a weird, thumping, underwater-like reverberation in your head (put your fingers into your ears and jump around to hear what I mean). This is of course just a personal issue and may not be a problem for other people.
Walking works fine but you will probably find that you want to adjust your pace to the rhythm of the music to minimize the abovementioned "thumping" effect. Oh, and watch out if you are using the phones on the streets while jogging, biking, skating or walking, as you may not hear an approaching truck until you can read the tyre pressure recommendation inscriptions from below!
The oval shaped plastic thing you can see on the photo above is a flimsy plastic container you can use to put your earbuds in when you are not using them. Quite contrary to what other reviewers have written about this flimsy capsule, it is quite usable for shortening any excess length of cord by simply looping the cord around it and closing the capsule around the loop. I admit it looks extremely cheap (resembling those capsules containing a tiny plastic toy you can find in bubblegum vending machines) but honestly, who cares as long as it does what it should do?
Well, is the EX70 worth the hefty price tag? The answer is - oh yes, without doubt! Take some time to break them in and learn how to adjust them properly in your ears and you will discover where your money went!
Update - MDR-EX71
Alas - a few weeks ago my trusty old EX70LP died - in the middle of a transatlantic flight, the cable to the left earphone snapped off and I was left with nothing but a sound-muffling earplug. I salvaged the medium sized buds and binned the rest as I walked into a Sony shop for a replacement - the new EX71, the successor of the EX70.
The EX71 look a bit nicer than the EX70, with some neat chrome-colored details, but they otherwise they look identical and feel the same way in the ears and with the same comfort.
Now if the EX70 sounded great, the EX71 take the sound quality even a couple of notches higher - the difference is actually more pronounced than I first thought! Gone is the slightly too aggressive bass and the muffled treble - the EX71 only needs a very slightly boosted midrange for an impressingly clear and well-balanced sound. These earbuds are simply amazing! Well done Sony!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
mimoid
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Location: Sweden
Reviews written: 28
Trusted by: 3 members
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