Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony MDREX85LPW In-Ear Headphones

I bought these earphones having previously had good experience of Sony earphones in the past. When I read the reviews I decided to buy them, but after receiving them am left wishing that I never had. They're comfortable and have a decent level of volume, the problem is that the sound quality is really quite poor. In fact the sound quality was actually better on the generic ipod earphones and that's saying something. My advice is to give these earphones a miss.

I've just come from using a pair of Sennheiser CX 300 headphones. - After 3 years of using them, they finally caved in and I thought I would try out a new pair. I bought Sony's one in replacement as they seemed to get ok reviews here. So I purchased the pair from Elexave here on Amazon, paid for the 1-2 day delivery and to my disappointment, they arrived in 7 days. Not a great start. I travel a lot and wanted these for my trip away to Florence which rendered me headphoneless.

So what can I say about the headphones themselves? Well I took them out of the poor packaging by Sony and they come across very plastic-like and cheaply made. Immediately the silver section with the "Sony" branding fell off when I changed the rubber in ear part.

I am mostly disappointed by the sound though. The best way to put it I guess would be; like as though I feel like I am listening to music from a cardboard box or something made from MDF. The headphones have good clarity, but completely lack in treble and base. For example, piano music comes across as though the neighbour above you is playing it and you have to hear it through the roof of your apartment.

They can't re-produce the high end notes or low ones. They are just lifeless and make the music unexciting. Having said that, they are responsive just lack in the reproduction in sound and I do like that the jack plug is small and well made.

So my execution plan? - I've already placed a new order for the Sennheiser CX 300-II headphones. For the price/range value they shun these headphones out the water.

My musical systems background: I love music and have a very high end stack Hifi System and own also own a pair of headphones bought here which are simply put, amazing. But I needed something just for light traveling and going about the bus/tube what not.

Hope this helps everyone!

I purchased these to replace the pair that came with my Sony NWZ-S639FB 16GB MP3 player. That pair randomly broke after six months (the right ear stopped working).

This pair seems cheaper quality than my original pair of the same model - the silicone ear buds are thinner and the cord is broken up with an annoying jack.

The silicone bud that rests inside the ear is flimsy and often came off in my ear - it didn't matter which of the three sizes I chose, the silicone end is simply not firmly attached to the bud. The silicone is so light it took a while for me to realise the silicone end was detached and resting snuggly in my ear (it has a hole through the middle so it didn't affect my hearing).

One evening I was unaware the silicone end was stuck in my ear and put a earplug in, pushing the silicone deep into my ear canal. It got so far in I could not see it and had to seek medicial attention, where it took two doctors and a stroke of luck to remove it. The silicone is so flimsy and it was pushed so far in it took one doctor holding my ear open as far as she could pull it while another rooted around with a thin pair of pinchers trying to grip one side of the bud. It was awful.

I immediately switched to the largest size of the silicon buds but the entire end of the left bud has now broken and fallen off anyway. I bought this pair in August, so that's 3 months use.

Useless! I will not buy again and would not recommend this ordeal to anyone. I'm now trying to find an alternative pair that will work as an antenna for the player's radio.

Best earphone I have ever had for this price range. Superb build & sound quality. Although it does not have the noise cancellation, you can barely any noise once you put on those.

These headphones are fabulous IF you have aquired a genuine pair. The fit is good (though it can irritate inside the ear after extended use). Sound quality is excellent (much MUCH better quality than the standard ipod earphones for comparison).

Make sure that the ones you have purchased are not fake. The fake ones often come in a white box with a load of japanese writing on it!

Remember, if the price is too good to be true, it normally is. So if you've bought these for cheap, check that they're not fake, and if they are ask for a full refund.