in-ear headphones

Compared to the stock iPod mini earphones, these offer some improvements. Outside noise is reduced by its closed-type design and the 3 different earsize caps should fit most people pretty well. Sound quality is alright. Very crisp, but the bass is a little bit lacking. But it's on par if not better than the stock earphones. The cord, however, is insane. After the split, the code to the right ear is about 1 foot longer than the left ear. I have no idea why they did this except to make you look like a fool with extra cord hanging around the neck. Additionally, because of the uneven length, there's always a slightly heavier tug on the left ear.

i compared and notice a few things...they have to fit and be comfortable, the bass has to be solid (as far headphone like these are concerned), and the sound has to be crisp. fresh out the box these headphones are great looking then to make it even better they have 3 sizes of earplugs (lrg med and small i guess) so when you get them in your ears all thats left is the sound quality. from low to high volume the sound quality is mint on rap and rock but what makes it even better is my super bass that has 2 levels that i can now use and most "earphones" cant handle bass whatsoever, but the bass level hits hard on these little suckers they handle fullblast bass and volume like none other ive ever seen. they almost sound better thsan my stereo

These earphones do what they're supposed to do: mostly isolate outside noises and deliver good quality sound at a low cost. The base is very good for ear bud/phone style speakers which explains the popularity of the Sony EX51 & EX71s.

That said, I'm not that pleased with their fit. I've spent the better part of a week fiddling back & forth between the different cushions and finally decided that for my ears I have to use the small size. The catch is that the smalls don't fit *that* well but the next size up is too large to get a good insertion.

All in all I'm satisfied of their value but would recommend seeing if you can find a friend with either these or the EX71s to see what you think of having them in your ears before purchasing. After using these for a week I can see them being used on the bus/plane, but for everyday listening I'm going to keep on using the Apple iPod earphones or just use a much better sounding set of actual headphones for about the same money.