I Hit The Rock & Roll Mother Load With The Sony MDR’s!
Written: Apr 21 '03
Product Rating:
Pros: Great replacement headphones, inexpensive, durable, adjustable, all plastic.
Cons: Some crackling when played at a high volume.
The Bottom Line: Overall a very good set of headphones, the low price makes it great if you are hard or rough on them since they can easily be replaced.
Freak369's Full Review: Sony MDR-W08L Vertical in-the-ear Headphone Headse...
It seems like every six months or so I need to replace my headphone for my portable CD player. Usually it’s the connection at the jack that gives out first. When I started looking for a replacement for the Philips HS800 headphones that lasted a bit longer than I expected I wanted something that was simple, would give me good sound and wouldn’t fall apart after a few weeks of being used at the gym. Since there are usually only two types of headphones available – the in ear and ear bud versions – I opted to go for the in ear model so I could used them when running on the treadmill without having to worry about them falling out every few minutes or sweat ruining them. I chose the Sony MDR W08 because it was inexpensive, came with a limited warranty and was a no frills product.
The Basics
These are ‘in ear’ headphones that are connected to an adjustable plastic headband. No matter how large or small your head is, these will adjust by sliding the two side sections up or down. Unless you are Charlie Brown you shouldn’t have any trouble getting the band to adjust to a size that will keep it in place when you are using the headphones. There aren’t any foam covers for the earpieces, for me this was a real blessing. Nothing worse than having them get soaked with sweat and potentially ruining the earpieces. The smaller ear buds usually have the thin foam covers and I was always losing them or having to replace them when they would rip. I used to love the ear bud style headphone but after ramming them in my ears for years I got tired of having to hunt down the foam replacement pods and them falling out when I was in the middle of a workout.
I really like the fact that these are made of plastic rather than having the metal headband. If it gets twisted you don’t have to worry about the overall shape of it being kinked or ruined. The plastic headband is a real plus for being out in the sun, you won’t have to worry about the metal getting hot. I’ve yet to have a problem with these getting hot but summer isn’t official here yet so I’ll be sure to update this if there are any problems. The color of the plastic is black with dark gray on the earpieces. Since the colors are sort of neutral, this means that you won’t have to worry about matching them to the color of your portable CD player or radio. Yeah, that might sound a little vain but it looks a little funny when you have a yellow sport style CD player and red or green headphones.
Sound
These are suitable for all types of music including rock, metal, classical and general run of the mill sounds. I tend to listen to a lot of alternative and metal when I am at the gym so the headphones really take a beating in that respect. I have had these for a little over a month and the sound is great. The only issue I have had is with a little bit of crackling when I would listen to something with a lot of bass but this was when I had the volume up and the bass booster on so I can’t really complain, these headphones aren’t the ones that came with my CD player so I can really expect them to handle the extra bass that the unit is sending out.
These allow a small amount of outside sound into the ear canal so these are suitable for those that walk, ride a bike or do any type of outdoor exercise. The amount of outside sound that they allow in is enough to hear a car horn, railroad crossing signal or other street related noise but if you have the volume up extremely high there is a good chance that the music will drown out the other sounds. Please wear reflective or light clothing if running or walking at night and be aware of your surrounds. Its also helpful to know your portable unit well so you can instantly turn down the volume rather than fumbling with dials, buttons or controls.
Things To Know
Usually headphones have the cord coming out of the bottom of the ear piece which is something that I really disliked, these have the cord coming out at the base of the headband to it reduces the chance of you getting it caught in your hair or bending them when the headphones are not in use [the number one culprit in headphone cord death]. These don’t fold up so I suggest putting them inside a plastic zipper style bag to protect the cord form getting tangled or bent. I have a small nylon case for my CD player and these slide in right behind the unit, you can pick these up at places like Best Buy for about $6.00, just make sure it is large enough for your CD player and has a little left over room for the headphones.
The overall sound you will get from these will also depend on how you are using them [music, audio books, computer games etc] and what type of unit is supplying the sound [cassette player, CD player, computer etc]. I use these most of the time with my Philips CD player that has a bass booster [Dynamic Bass] and the sound is relatively good when you consider that these cost me about $7.99. From time to time I use these with the computer when I want to listen to a CD or MP3 and again, the sound is pretty darn good.
The cord length is 38 inches, which makes it the perfect size if you are using this during a workout and want to tuck your CD or cassette player in your pocket. The tip of the headphone jack isn’t gold plated so if this is something that you look for when purchasing headphones, look elsewhere. The “Y” split of the cord is about sixteen inches from the base of the headphone – this means you won’t have to deal with the cord tangling up or feeling like it is choking you. With a few other models I had to actually pull the “Y” connection apart [which I am sure wasn’t good for the cord] so I could have some extra room around my neck. One pair landed in the garbage after a few days because it would kink up and end up under my chin – not something you want from your headphones, trust me.
The Bottom Line
If you are looking for a light weight, no frills set of headphones then I highly suggest checking out the Sony MDR’s. These are great if you just need to have a pair of headphones or have a CD or cassette player than needs a headphone replacement. For under ten dollars you can have a dependable set that will deliver a good quality of sound regardless of the type of music you are listening to. So far these have worked great at the gym and have put up with a lot of use [on average ten hours per week] and have help up to the sound level, sweat, transportation and general abuse very well.
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