Sony MDR-EX71SL Fontopia In-The-Ear Headphones (Black)
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Super-light in-the-ear design New, super-small 9 mm drivers Soft, silicon earbuds Two sizes of earbuds accommodate a full range of ears 400 kJ/ma ultra-high-power Neodymium magnet Hard carrying case and earbud holder supplied FONTOPIA(R) Headphones in-the-ear design : fits snugly, yet comfortably inside the ear; eliminates the headband so you can enjoy music while exercising, skating or dancing Sony’s first closed-type Fontopia design : reduces outside noise for high-intensity listening; helps generate powerful, resonant bass response New, super-small 9 mm drivers : are a key enabling technology; ultra-compact drivers produce powerful sound with space left over for the sonic isolation of Sony’s newly-designed silicon earbuds Soft, silicon earbuds : reduce outside noise, provide long-lasting comfort, hour after hour; the earbuds are washable, removable and replaceable Two sizes of earbuds : accommodate a full range of ears Long-throw PET DIAPHRAGM : or deep, extended bass down to an incredible 6 Hz; low mass for extended high FREQUENCY RESPONSE all the way out to 23,000 Hz 400 kJ/mã Neodymium magnet : for maximum energy in minimum size; ounce for ounce, this high-power Neodymium is far more powerful than conventional Samarium Cobalt or Aluminum magnets; even with the small, 9 mm drivers, Neodymium achieves 100 dB of sound pressure output from a modest 1 mW input power. Oxygen-Free Copper (OFC) cord : for high signal transmission, low noise Stylish, Neck-Chain Cord Gold-plated mini-plug : for exceptional corrosion RESISTANCE, superb conductivity, low noise Streamlined, compact case : neatly stores the ear-buds and headphone cord when not in use; vivid purple styling; high-impact case is ideal for carrying in a pocket or backpack New case design : minimizes
Features
- Earbud headphones are closed type to reduce outside noise
- Neodymium magnets for high power and low weight
- Soft, silicon earbuds are washable, removable and replaceable; two sizes of earbuds included
- 9 mm driver units for powerful sound
- PET diaphragm extends bass and frequency range
- Dimensions (W x H x L): 4 x 1 x 9 inches
- Weight: 0 pounds
Excellent Product, Even Better Now…
I am on my third pair of these (the previous two have not failed, I just wanted more for various applications).
The sound quality is EXCELLENT, and they are all-day comfortable. They also go in and out of your ears very quickly and easily. People complain about the short cord, but it is ideal if you use a device in a shirt pocket or on an armband, a very clean setup without a bunch of cords running around to snag on things. They used to come with a plain extension cord, and that was a problem because the extra weight would pull the left earbud out. NOW they come with an extension that will function with a phone, including an “answer” button and, best of all, a spring clip to attach to your clothing. PERFECT! no more tugging on the left ear. It is awesome to be able to listen to mp3s on my phone, with super high quality, and then just press a button to answer a call. Only one fault with this, the answer button could be larger and more tactile, sometimes it’s a little hard to know if you pressed it all the way.
I play drums in a band, these buds do not have the isolation necessary for that. I use Shure E2C’s in that application, their isolation is definitely far superior to the Sonys, but the Sonys have considerably better sound quality. The Shures are more efficient, giving longer battery life, but I only use them for drumming or motorcycling or running a mower. Other than that, it is the Sonys all the way!
I have not experienced any durability issues, in fact I find them to be VERY durable. I have abused mine, and they have not failed. Meanwhile, the cable on the Shures rots in about a year’s time (I have owned three sets). Yes, on the Sonys, one earbud will stop working occasionally, it has always been due to wax buildup, very easy to fix with a toothpick. In three or four year’s use, with three pairs of these earbuds, I have never experienced an electrical failure.
I HIGHLY recommend these earbuds.
Love ‘em
These headphones are really nice, and has one side shorter than the other, my favorite style. They sound nice and come with a bunch of adapters so you can use it with your phone or as a mic/remote with your iPod/iPhone
A terribly designed product
All headphones and earphones fail, its a fact of life. And they usually fail due to stress at the connection points. So you can imagine my horror when I opened up these after getting them in the post to find out they consisted of three different sections all to be connected together to get the required length. There was the earphone bit, with a short lead and a 3.5mm jack, the next bit was an sufficiently long extension bit that ended in a 2.5mm jack so wouldn’t fit any normal mp3 player so a small adapter was required.
And just to prove how badly they were designed I only got sound out of one ear. Through a bit of testing I worked out that it was actually the last bit that failed as I could get sound from both ears using just the first bit, but then I would need some sort of neck strap to carry my mp3 player.
I expected better from Sony.
Comes with 2.5mm plug not standard 3.5mm
The items I received came in a Verizon package designed to be used with a 2.5mm Verizon phone jack phone. This is an uncommon size and unless you can get by with the standard short cord it comes with you’ll need an adapter or an extension cord to make the cord long enough for normal use. I bought a 2.5mm female to 3.5mm male adapter from the Shack, but it only works with one of the two sets I bought.
Other than that they appear to be standard Sony ear buds, a bit lacking in bass but fairly comfortable and somewhat noise-canceling due to the fact that they cover the ear canal like an ear plug. Still a good price even with the $5 cost of an adapter thrown in.
My 3rd pair of similar Sony Earplugs.
I love these since I cannot stand iPod/iPhone headphones. Who in the world thinks those are comfortable? My only negative for this line of Sony earplugs is that they make a short and long side at the connection. Sometimes it does feel as though one ear carries more weight than the other, particularly when performing physical activities, such as yardwork. I recommend this to anyone who is still wearing the horrible Apple headphones.
Good value
Took them for a test drive with some Townes VanZandt this AM and was very satisfied in every respect regarding performance. I have one concern, they are very fragile, almost dainty which on one hand is an attribute but they will require careful handling and should always find their way back into the cloth carrying bag after use.
Better than stock ear buds
Sound Quality/Fit-As mentioned many times before, if you can get a good fit, the sound quality improves a lot. I haven’t found the different sized buds to make a difference for me, but the sound quality is clear and the isolation will be great on my next plane ride or exercise trip. However, I bought mine from a discount website claiming they were “bulk/oem” and shipped with all the accessories but without the retail packaging. Not sure if that matters, but, some users report great bass from these, and I do not hear that. I love the clarity, crisp highs, and nice vocal projection, but I am not getting anything worth noting no matter the song or mp3 quality. I use lossless wma (or 193kbps mp3 at the least) and even with abass testing cd, I am not getting much bass. Luckily, I’m no longer a basshead like I used to be and it is not a deal breaker, but more would be nice. These once appeared on the Sony website with an msrp of $50. I would imagine more bass for a $50 pair of sony premium buds. I have heard the rubbing “stethoscope” problem with other headphones, but when the music is playing I don’t hear it. When the music stops I can hear myself breathing and every movement of the wire. I think this would be true for any sound isolating style ear plug headphone, not necessarily a problem. The sound quality is clearer than other headphones at the current discount price these are going for in the fall of 2010 and I would recommend these to bargain shoppers who want clear sound for under $20, but be sure you understand the short wire aspect before buying.
Accessories-I have seen the retail packaging and knew all the little goodies I would be getting myself into. I liked the older/cheaper models of sony buds that have the plastic winding case. It is quick to roll up and neat. It saves the wires from tangles and keeps it organized instead of just the draw string bag these come with. There is also a plastic winding mechanism that can be used to shorten the wire so it doesn’t dangle down to the ground. Problem is that the main section of wire is only about a foot long, so there isn’t much wire to bundle up anyway unless you use the extension cord, but usually you would have the space to use the extension cord, like at home. Bundling the extension cord seems counterproductive. The wire to the right ear does seem excessively long, as it is longer than the section between the joint and the 3.5mm plug. I’m not sure who has a head that wide, but at least they are thinking of everyone in design.
The short wire is ment for active listeners, like at the gym or running and you have some small sansa clip or ipod shuffle type of device. I have found that is ok, except that the wire is too short to use even for my laptop, because I have to keep my face about a foot away from the screen. I can’t lean back and type without the extension cord. I have a Palm Centro phone (I know, I know it’s old) with a 2.5mm plug, and as some reviewers have noted, not all 2.5mm headphone headphones work. They were right. I have to use a special palm adapter as the 2.5mm adapter does not work with my phone. Not a problem with the headphones, but I am noting it if anyone has a Centro and thinks they can use these without the adapter, only the right side has sound.
Great for the money if you can live with the quirks these have by design. Sony had something in mind when they made these and it’s not a fault, just for a specific audience. I will try to hook up these headphones to a number of different sources to see if I can get better sound quality than a CD in my computer drive with an Audigy 2 sound card, but again, I’m not getting much bass response but not everyone wants thumping sound in their head. I did purchase two of these, one for someone else and it has identical sound quality. Maybe they take longer than 15 hours to break in? I’ll update if anything changes.
Just a small flaw
These headphones are great except for the ridiculous extension cords. Once upon a time I bought a pair of these retail. What came with the headphone then was just a simple long extension cord ending with a male 3.5 mm jack. The short cord is meant for an mp3 player on an arm band. Pretty good planning. However, I suppose due to the OEM packaging or what not, the cord has now changed to an insanely long 2.5 mm extension and a 2.5 mm to 3.5 mm adapter. BUT it is now 12 dollars instead of 40 so I suppose I can live with the weird extension.
The sound quality is suppose to be great. You’ll actually find that the sound quality is really good with the short cord but the quality suffers a bit if you use the extensions. I think if you find a regular 3.5 mm extnsion with decent wire material then you’ll end up with really nice sound. I still have the original extension from my retail pair so I am just using that. Let them warm up a bit and you’ll find the bass deep and trebles clear. Pretty comfortable in the ear although the noise isolation is just ok.
Overall, even with the weird wires, this is a great value. If you want a pretty design, you can go pay 4 times the amount. These headphones however will get the job done if you can live with the design.
Item shipped is not item in picture
I’ve ordered this twice, and both times, i received the top portion of these headphones with an absurdly chunky and obtrusive mini jack extension cable. I love these headphones to death, but to ship this monstrosity instead of the displayed item is just a cruel joke
Fantastic…before they break
I’ve owned two pairs of these delightful little buds from Sony. I absolutely love them, until they break. A few months into using them, both sets have cut out on me. I’m not hanging from them, using them as a jump rope, or flossing with them; I’m just using them whilst at the gym and when riding the bus. They are super comfortable, have a surprising amount of bass, and have great sound quality, but they just don’t seem to last. If you can baby them and treat them like a faberge egg, I’m sure you’ll love them.
Terrible Durability
Good sound but after very little use, the left ear bud stopped working. I used them seldom and only on airplanes but after just about 20 hours of use, the left ear bud is no longer working. I took excellent care of these, never left them in a hot car, always kept them in the protective carrying case, and they still broke. Even the hinge on the protective carrying case broke so I had to scotch tape it. Terrible durability!
love the phones not the cord
Beware – this vendor does NOT include the original Sony extension cord. His has the much smaller male plug, (guess that’s the 2.5mm label, as if I knew what that meant) along with a control that does nothing.
No Bass Whatsoever
These are THE WORST sounding headphones I’ve ever put in my ears.I do not like booming bass AT ALL,don’t listen to Rap or Hip Hop and usually adjust the equalizer to hear the high notes more clearly,esp.because I love Guitar Gods and their soaring leads like Steve Vai,Uli Roth,Marty Friedman etc. – The 2k and 4k are almost always up.But I like at least SOME low-end,SOME warmth.I used practically every EQ preset on my Ipod classic 80g-including of course bass booster and all it did was make it sound muffled-like someone was holding their hand over the singer’s mouth.Granted the Ipod presets are almost all pretty bad-there’s just not enough variance through the frequencies,but even using my EQ settings there was still no bass-only muffled sound.These are useless,just a total waste of money,even with my ear more keen on treble,these just sound incredibly thin,and I continue my search to find headphones like my Phillips,in ear headphones that are broken, have no lable on them to identify them,nor do I remember where I bought them,since I’ve had them a good 3-5 years.These are SO BAD I wanted to just throw them in the garbage,but I hate to waste ANYTHING so I’ll probably give them to GOODWILL.
Great Earbuds
The best ear buds I have ever used/owned. I bought a pair of these in 2005 and loved them. They still work great, but the cord was gettin a little rough so I bought another set.
Sony headphones Rock!
For an inexpensive headphone – I alway go Sony. Great sound and comfortable. They really stay in your ears.
Too expensive now
I purchased these back in 2006 when it was 29.99 and I’ve gotten some for less before as well. The sound quality and comfort is great. However, the plastics started wearing out now.
But now what the heck is up with the huge price increase now? $41+? No thanks. Note: Avoid he white one, the plastics are different from the black one and will wear out MUCH faster. I’ve owned 2 whites and 2 black ones before.
I love the sound, not the best for working out though
So, don’t want to say what already others have said about the sound. In short, I like it a lot, but I’m not a sound expert, so judge for yourself.
I just wanted to write this up so others know: I’m kind of split on the ‘extension’ cord. Having a short cord is sometimes great. I plug it into my iphone and just attach my phone to my backpack strap when walking. Nice.
But, when working out I am usually in one of two modes: listen to music on the phone or listen to the TV on treadmill or bike.
When listening to musing on the phone it’s not half bad, but when connecting to a device that is not on you at all time it gets really bad. Here is why: the connector between the buds and the extension cord ends up right in the middle of the ‘cord’. When running, that thing dangles because of it’s weight and eventually rips the buds out of your ears. So in short, not good for running on the treadmill and listening to the TV.
Other than this, awesome.
excellent earphones
Excellent noise reduction after fitting the earpiece correctly, and very good bass response. Wire is a little bit short, and with the extension they give you, it becomes too bulky. I would rather they not give an extension cord and just make the main wire longer.
Not great sound
Fit well but did not sound great. Cheap/generic headphones sound better but if your looking for fit vs. sound quality – they were okay.
Would not recommend these.
second set
second set of these bought. Really like the short cord and extension when you need it. When running there is less cord flapping around to bother you. The case is way too big and bulky. Preferred the previous version.