Customer Reviews

Sony MDR-E829V Fontopia Earbuds with In-line Volume Control

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

When I bought these earbuds, I didn't expect much, but these surprised me with their full-bodied, wonderfully rich sound. They have very-noticeable, deep bass which won't drown out your awesome mids and highs. The tremble is unbeatable at this price. This is probably because of their frequency range, 12 to 22,000 Hz. Most earbuds around this price don't have that good of frequency response. If you're wondering what frequency response is, well it's the sound they capture and put into your ears. The lower Hz means the bass. The higher Hz means the highs. They also have a neodymium magnet, one of the best you can buy. What a magnet does is they determine how good the overall sound quality is. These earbuds also have a silent cap, a cap with no outside holes, just the holes you hear sound out of. This means you won't have to turn up the volume on your player so much, and that you don't hear much outside sound either. I think this is great for mowing or any other noisy activity. They also come with a nice twist-up, compact case. I can slip these headphones easily into my pocket or anywhere else. These earbuds don't have the best comfort but, they're very comfortable when it comes to earbuds when I use the earpads. On top of it all, the quality is the best thing about these earbuds. I think they will last a long time. I hope this review was helpful to you, thanks for reading.

Last month I lost my loyal Aiwa earphones, and started looking for a replacement. Nowadays all the stores are selling ugly clip-on phones, which I hate. Finally, I found the Sony MDR-E829V at a local store. I was attracted by the classic ear-bud design and the inline volume control, so I bought it.

What a great buy. This is the best pair of earphones I've ever owned, even besting my previous Aiwa ones (which were 50% cheaper, though). Earlier this year I bought a different Sony ear-bud set and hated it, but this one is so much better. Sound from my MP3 player is crisp and clear, with lots of good-quality bass. The best feature is the inline volume control. I have some audiobook MP3s which used to sound soft on the Aiwa and my Koss audiophile headphones, but I had to actually turn down the volume on these Sony earphones! I reall love the MDR-E829V and highly, highly recommend it to anyone looking for ear-bud phones.

In fact I'm buying two more pairs as back-ups.

I read the Amazon reviews for these Sony ear-buds and decided to buy them after my daughter stole the ear-buds that came with my Rio Cali MP3 player. Those ear-buds, which hooked on to your ear with a special clip, sounded OK. After receiving my Sony MDR-E829V ear-buds which I bought on sale at Amazon for $12.62 I was more than skeptical about their quality especially since they are cheap.

To say that I was stunned after trying them out is a gross understatement. They sound SPECTACULAR! I am far from a newcomer to quality audio and I own some first-rate equipment but you have to wonder why anyone would pay hundreds of dollars for a pair of top audio headphones when a $12 pair of ear-buds will blow your socks off. They provide deep solid bass (surprise!) and a full clean range of frequency. Aside from a built in volume control Sony provides a cheap but quite convenient plastic case that allows you to quickly roll the whole thing up and pack it away neatly. The unit also comes with foam covers for the ear-piece which makes it easier to lock them into your ear.

The Sony MDR-E829V Fontopia ear-bud headphones are a superb buy but be forewarned that in the ear buds take a bit of getting used to. Once you find the best way to place them in your ear they are quite comfortable and you will truly marvel at the sound they put out. Indeed, this may be the best buy to be had in the audio world today (no joke!).

These are great headphones. I've owned at least five sets. All of them comfortable, all of them sounded great. And the inline volume control is incredibly convenient. Unfortunately, I need to advise you NOT TO BUY THESE HEADPHONES.

Why? Well, there's a problem with the construction that whenever the cord snags on something, more often than not the left headphone stops working, never to live again. The first few times, I just thought I was a klutz, so the third time it happened, I ordered two sets to replace it. Well, it just snagged again after a month's use, and again, the left headphone died.

It's finally occurred to me (slow learner, here) that MOST people will probably snag their headphones at least as often as I do, so most people will not get more than a few months use out of these. So I regretfully have to advise you to avoid these otherwise wonderful earphones. And I'm looking for something comparably cheap and good with an in-line volume control.

First, a disclaimer: I'm far from an audiophile. When listening to live rock concerts, I can barely decipher the instruments. However, I do like to hear good quality music, and not at outrageous prices (read: less than $20). I enjoy using earbuds, because way back when I got my first CD player I bought a pair of Sony earbuds to replace those standard foam headphones, and was astounded by the much better bass and overall sound quality by sticking those speakers directly in your ear. I've been an earbuds-phile ever since. They're much easier to carry around too!

Over the years I moved from CD player to mp3 players and what not, and my last two pairs of earbuds have been Sennheiser MX-500's, which have also gotten good reviews and costs < $20. Those buds are known for very true to the sound (or so I read). I enjoyed them, but always thought they were weak on the bass. I don't really like using my music player's equalizer functions, since I think they made the sound seem more artificial.

My last pair of Sennheisers started dying while I was skiing in sub zero weather. The wire-covering near the volume control gave out in the cold, and the wires were exposed. I lived with occasional electric shock in my left bud for the past month, before the whole bud died. Anyway, time to get to get a new pair of earbuds.

I was almost going to get the same Sennheisers again when I saw these, which were less expensive (the Sennheiser prices increased since I last bought them). I received my Sony's today, tried them on -- and immediately liked the much nicer bass!! I tried a techno track and was astounded. It's likely that the higher frequencies sounds are more muddled on the Sony's than the Sennheisers, but if so, the deeper bass makes up for it and more.

Plus, the wire covering on the Sony's appear to be of much higher quality than the old Sennheiser's (soft rubber feel instead of harder plastic feel), so hopefully next time I go skiing my earbuds won't die.

Also, if it makes a difference, the size of the Sony buds seem to be bigger, so it fits more nicely in my ear. My ear isn't that big or anything, but sometimes the Sennheiser's would slip out. With the foam inserts on this Sony, those buds definitely aren't budging a millimeter.

Bottom line: pack away those free buds/headphones that came with your music player, and click "Add to Shopping Cart" now!

if you look beyond what everyone else says and look at the specifications, it'll tell you a lot about the speaker. They have a 108dB effeciency rating, higher than just about all others. That coupled with a fairly low power handling give these headphones a great volume range on weaker power sources like most portable devices have. It's hard to find headpnones that put out more sound for the power than these. I've been buying these headphones for nearly 5 years now and have never been disappointed. I usually get anywhere from 3-6 months out of a pair if used fairly heavily, but I'm really hard on them.

A couple things I've found out with these is that if you plug the hole on the back side it will sound different. I think they sound better plugged with superglue or marine epoxy, but they will blow up easier due to the extra movement of the speaker. The other thing is to allow the speakers time to break in. My last pair fell in antifreeze and the new pair sounded just as bad when I bought them. I left them on high volume for 24 hours and they sounded just fine afterwards.

overall I think these headphones are the best. They used to be uncomfortable a few years ago, but I have no problems anymore. They're loud, sound good, and have potential to last a really long time if properly taken care of. I'd be more than happy to pay twice as much for them, but I'm glad I didn't.

I purchased the Sony MDR E829v to replace my ipod's instock earphones because in many ipod reviews I have read that the sound quality of the ipod increases when you use a good quality earphones. Since I did not want to spend much on it straight away, I tried this one because it was comparitively cheap. I can say that for the price you pay, this Sony performs quite well. I always wondered how they manage to generate so much of bass from such a tiny product. Usually for getting good bass response we have to go for big, ear covering type headphones which are bulky and not good for travelling. But this Sony manages to create quite nice bass which is considerably smooth and with good amount of depth. Only problem is that treble is a little weak. If you are a rock lover, this is just the earphone for you.

I bought these headphones in July. They were great at first. Clean sound, simple design, handy volume control. Three months later now (October), it has been going downhill fast. The headphones are now especially sensitive around the plug-in jack. Any slight touch or movement causes the sound to be completely muffled, produce static, or cut out altogether. I haven't mishandled them. They have been in my bag and have come into little contact with anything else. I have bought cheaper headphones from the drugstore that have withstood the same kind of environment. Overall I'm disappointed since they were great at first. The volume control was really useful. But I will have to get another pair since these are failing only after 3 months.

I bought these less than two weeks ago, and they've already crapped out on the right headphone. This is the third time I've bought this brand of headphone, and the third time the right earbud has crapped out after only a short amount of moderate use.

If you want headphones that last, don't buy these. It's just frustrating.

I was looking for comfy earphones to replace my Phillips one I got awhile back cos the rubber coating had fallen off and I stumbled on this one. I was a bit skeptical about the volume control thinking it would give out after a few times of sliding up and down but it works wonderfully and is so light and responsive to touch as well as being sturdy.

I started out using the foam that came with it but that proved to be a bother and pretty much useless as the plastic earbuds are comfy enough. And they stay in your ears like glue. No more readjusting and I loved that.

For the price, this SO worth it.

EDIT [12/6/2006]: Right! So I bought this in April but somehow one ear's volume got lower than the other at the end of August so I gave it to my brother cos he didn't mind. I searched for other earplugs in the meantime (tried about 4 in fact) but none compared with the comfyness of this so I'm back again and giving it a 2nd chance. Hope it doesn't bail out on me again!