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Your favorite pair of jeans or that t-shirt that fits just right, those boots that are comfortable all day long, your favorite coffee mug . . .all these are welcome accoutrements in one's daily life. So too are a good set of headphones or earbuds for private personal listening to any number of sound devices.


I had a good set of earbuds at one time, a hand-me-down set from my daughter. They had a nice long cord, an inline slide volume control, comfortable ear cushions . . .but they 'died' ...of unknown cause(s).

These Sony MDR-EX36V/BLU Headphones are now my working 'headphones' of choice.


The positives...

• The sound is excellent. From 'talk radio' to 'jazz' to 'country twang' ...it all sounds great. I can crank it up louder than I can tolerate and the sound never 'breaks up'.

• The earbud cushions are comfortable. Featuring a small 9mm driver, the earpieces come with 'small', 'medium', and 'large' flexible cushions. They snap on and off the earpiece post easily, so you can experiment with each size to see which fits your 'holes' best. Of course, once you pick a favorite size you will probably never change them again.

They excel here over my old pair. Those featured larger, hard, fixed plastic discs. Definitely not as comfortable as the pliable material of these Sony earbuds.

• Comfortable for long periods of time. I regularly listen to a podcast of a radio talk show that is on during the day. These 'buds' are very comfortable for that 90-minute session.


The negatives...

• The cord is soooo dang short. A good foot shorter than my old pair, this cord claims to be 1.2m long ...basically four feet. That may be good for on-body use but I use mine at my computer, plugged into my speaker behind my monitor. The cord is just long enough (or short enough) to continually catch on the edge of my keyboard slide-out shelf or the corner of the keyboard itself.

Again, may not be a big deal for you, depending on how you plan to use your earbuds.

• Cord-shortener device. The length of the headphone line can be shortened by wrapping it around this device. Certainly not needed in my case..!!

• 'Wheel' in-line volume control. Perhaps I was just used to the 'linear' device on my old earbuds. But it certainly seemed easier and more 'precise' than finding and turning the tiny 'wheel' on this set in the correct direction (I usual go the wrong way) to turn the volume up or down. I rarely use it ...I instead use the volume control on the sound player or the computer itself.

• Length of individual ear lines going to each ear. These were way too long as provided, drooping all over the place. I used a plastic twisty tie to shorten the length of each by tying them together. Interesting that the length I finally settled on was about the same as my previous set of earbuds.

• Each earpiece is angled to the side, each fitting properly in one ear only. I grew so tired of grabbing them and trying to stick them in the wrong ear that I finally put a piece of tape on one ear line to identify it as going to my left ear. Problem solved.


The Bottom Line
Buying mine on sale at well below list price of $30 ...I have found these Sony MDR-EX36V/BLU Headphones to be a good product and a good value for me.

Their excellent sound and long-wear comfort make up for the inconvenience of the short (but seemingly industry standard) overall length.

There are newer models out there . . .if you need/demand 'state of the art' sound performance, those might be for you. But for a good quality 'knock-around' set of earbuds ...these will serve you well.



Certified 'lean-n-mean' review.
 

Recommended: Yes