Sony MDR-ED21LP Fontopia In-The-Ear Headphones

by Sony

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4 x 1 inches ; 2.1 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000094Q77
• Item model number: MDRED21LP
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (260 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 15, 2003

Product Description

Ear Bud Headphones - 16MM

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost Perfect, October 24, 2004

By 

Gene "ginjin3" (Chicago, IL, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sony MDR-ED21LP Fontopia In-The-Ear Headphones (Electronics)

I got these headphones and also the MDR-EX51LP, I liked these better than the MDR-EX51LP because the sounds it produced was crisper and overall just much better. My only problem with these is that the chord is a little short, just a little over 3ft.

I didn't choose the MDR-EX51LP because that the bass was way too loud. I know that people like bass, but whenever you listen to songs with lyrics all you can hear is the bass, and the spoken stuff gets drowned a bit.

I like the MDR-ED21LP because it was just right, and it was actually louder. I use them on my IAudio CW200 and I usually set my volume to 25. When I have it in that volume level MDR-EX51LP is just too low to even hear it. Even though it goes into your ear canal it doesn't perform as loud as the the MDR-ED21LP. You can also hear some ruffling noise whenever the chord rubs in your clothes, like the stetoscope effect, as another user reviewed.

For the MDR-ED21LP, everything is great, crisp, loud sound, great bass. My only complaint is the chord length.

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Earbuds, December 28, 2005

By 

Rui Zamith (Porto, Portugal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony MDR-ED21LP Fontopia In-The-Ear Headphones (Electronics)

First of all, there's one very important thing to be said: I'm using an iPod Mini. I'm really amazed with the sound that this small electronic device can supply.. The sound is so great that I even believed at first that the Apple headphones were great. Of course, after some time I started to notice the lack of sound quality, isolation and bass.

After searching the web for earbuds, I've noticed that there are 2 very different types:
- flat earbuds (just like the Apple's)
- canal phones (very expensive Koss, Etymotic or Shure phones, that you really "stick" in your ear)

Of course there are great quality flat phones, but the bass power is always very week, even on the top ones, as I could see with the Bang & Olufsen Earbuds.
On the other hand, the Canal Phones require some time for you to get used to it. The isolation and bass power are really incredible, but they are very agressive to your ears.

Well, the Sony MDR-ED21LP are the ONLY earbuds that I found, that are really in the middle of these 2 types..
They are not flat at all, which really enhances the bass, but they are really NOT agressive to your ears.
Besides, the sound quality is fantastic (remember that I'm using the Powerful iPod Mini), and you can use them for many hours in a row without even feeling them.

And priced like this, I totally recommend these earbuds.

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best sub-$100 earphones, and cheap!, September 9, 2005

By 

oldtaku (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony MDR-ED21LP Fontopia In-The-Ear Headphones (Electronics)

I've tried all sorts of earphones, and these are the best for under $100 (best I've tried that costs more are the Etymotics). They're cheap, the bass response is wonderful thanks to the extra over the bud 'horn'. You will get much better sound than you will with the flat buds (even the $50 ones) without actually sticking something right in your ear canal.

I use my trusty pair of these with my iPod Nano. For only $10-15 they sound so much better than the headphones that came with the Nano that I feel kind of cheated.

I still think a good pair of headphones (Sony MDR-CD790) are more comfortable for long periods of time, but they're not nearly as portable. Also, the cord on these is sometimes a bit too short (but most of the time it's nice not to have the extra stuff laying around).