Customer Reviews

Sony MDR-EX300/BLK Vertical In-the-Ear Style EX Style Headphones (Black)

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Being in the radio/recording field I am very particular to sound quality. Let me first say, that everyone's ears are different and what sounds excellent to me, might sound different to someone else. I am not bragging, but have been told that my ears are very sensitive and can pinpoint many quality sounds, that others cannot. I guess this might be true, as several radio stations have retained me to fine tune their on-air processing, since my ears have that keene sense of sound quality.

In any event, I have the Sony EX90LP headphones which I have always thought were very good for the price. Very loud sound pressure, good quality high end, a fair amount of base, and a great price. Obviously, not studio headphones, but for I-Pods, Walkman's, not bad.

I decided to try the MDR-EX-300/BLK and I must say, at least to my ears, a big difference, especially in the low end. The bass is more pronounced with more depth. The high end on the other hand, is almost too high. I had to lower my EQ settings from the EX90LP headphones, because the high end was too saturated, which could lead to getting a headache. Not that big of a deal if you make that slight high end adjustment.

Overall, I would rate these headphones a 10, based on quality, and the price of $49.95 I got them for. Compared to everything else out there, especially at this price, these win hands down. Sony sells them for $79.95 on their site, so I guess even compared to other headphones up to $100 I would say these are better.
I also have a pair of BOSE ear bud phones that sell for $99, and the BOSE phones do not even come close. Low volume, muddy sound, hardly any bass and no high end.

As I said earlier, you have to decide for yourself, but for the price, I would at least give these a try. I think you will very pleased.

I haven't ever spent more than maybe $35 or so on a pair of in-ear headphones before. But when my iPod headphones bit the dust, I decided to see what was out there.

These are magnificent headphones. The audio quality is easily the best I've heard out of all of the in-ear headphones I've ever had. Bass is clear and strong, and the high end is not tinny or distorted like on some lower end headphones. Even with the volume high, the clarity is amazing.

They come with three different sized silicone rubber earbuds, a "cord adjuster" which allows you to change the effective length of the cord for your needs, and a nice nylon/velcro carrying case with an insert that allows you to tie up the cords neatly. The description says it's a leather carrying case, but there's only a small tiny portion of it that is made of leather, a strip less than 2 sq. in. in size that has the Sony logo on it. Looks nice, but has no useful value other than aesthetics. The vast majority of the case is nylon. But that's perfectly fine with me, it's still quite nice.

The earbuds are absolutely key to your sound quality. When I first put them in, I guess I must have been using an earbud size that was too small, because the bass was horrible and the sound was distant and unsatisfying. As soon as I put the larger earbuds on, it provided a good seal, and the sound was so great I almost fell down. So make sure you take the time to get the right fit and the right position before you make a decision about how you like them.

The overall size is good, too. Even though these look bigger than the standard Apple headphones that come with the iPods, I can put my motorcycle helmet on over these with no problem, whereas the Apple headphones always get pulled out a little. And the noise reduction is really good, too. Properly inserted, they reduce the roar of my bike at highway speeds to a low rumble. As a comparison, my Apple headphones on the highway needed to be at about 85-90% volume to hear the music reasonably well over the sound of the wind and motor. With these headphones, I only needed the volume at a little over 50%, and I could hear the music BETTER than I could with the Apple phones at a much higher level.

They're a great buy, in my opinion.

Best bang-for-the-buck headphones out there, in my opinion. As some previous reviewers noted, the highs can be a bit overwhelming for some. I eq the treble down a tad. The large drivers really help with the lows. Very comfortable headphones too!

i've owned other sony in-ear headphones and the quality has never let me down. but with these, i was in for a nice supprise. they gave me the shivers really. absolutely full sound!!! dont miss out on these headphones. moderately priced!!! ive tried bose and some other $100 ones that blasted my eardrums with highs (yes earbuds were the right size) anyway these are just amazing. im so happy!! finally. These things are choice.

I have had the Sony MDR-EX-300/BLK for about 2-weeks and very happy with them. I got them at Best Buy on sale for $56. My cat chewed up my V-moda ear buds right before a long plane flight. The Sony buds had a few good reviews and I had to have my music for the flight. For ear buds they are very comfortable. I use sound reducing ear muffs to reduce the plane noise over my ear buds. This is a cheap way to get noise reduction. The problem is they are not very comfortable. I found the MDR-EX-300 did a good job of noise reduction and I did not have to use sound ear muffs.

One thing I have found with my V-moda and other ear buds I have used, the rubber piece that goes in your ear falls off easy and I have lost several. On the Sony's they have a very tight fit and will not fall off. They are actually a little hard to change for a different size - but that is better than too loose.
My ears are a little burned out with too much load Rock & Roll. But I find the sound to be very good for the price. When listening to a high quality recording they sound great. They also bring out the defect on lesser quality MP3's. They are best ear buds I have used so far. The carrying case is very well design and protects them from my cat. Highly recommended.

I've owned and used the Sony EX51s, 71s, 75s, and now the 300s, and these are by far the best of them all. The larger bass drivers make a huge difference in the sound, and the dynamic range overall is much better than anything I've heard before, even with traditional over-the-ear headphones. Even with the drivers, these earbuds fit snugly and unobtrusively in your ears, and while they will try to fall out if you're working out and sweating, it's easy to just push them back in.

Some people dislike the cords, which are made so that the cord to the right earbud goes around the back of your neck. They are not supposed to hang down in front like the traditional stock iPod phones. That's why the left cord is so much shorter than the right cord. The idea is that you can remove the earbuds from your ears (for a conversation, for example) without having them fall off, and also if one of them slides out of your ear, it won't fall off. If you prefer the original iPod cord design, stick with another brand, but I like this design.

The carrying case isn't perfect, but it's better than any I've used before. The buds sit in a plastic tray, then you wind the cord around the outside of the tray and it slides into a squarish fabric-covered box that has a velcro closure. It protects the earbuds and cord and it works fine for me. Speaking of the cords, these have the same ultra-thin cords found on other Sony earbuds, which has been a problem for many users in the past. They don't tend to be as durable as thicker cords. So far, these have held up well, but I've only had them a couple of months. Still, even if they don't last forever, the outstanding sound outweighs any potential cord wear.

I paid full retail for these earbuds, and they were worth it, but the price here is even better. I highly recommend these phones!

I purchased these back in early December of 2009. At first they are overly sibilant in nature, and the bass is boomy and too present. Once they are finally broken in, they sound quite good for headphones this incredibly small. I'd estimate it is at-least 20-30 hours before you can start to enjoy the sound from the EX- series of in-ears by Sony. A multiple diaphragm is used with the 13mm driver, and a 2-piece diaphragm is used with the AKG 701 headphone (the 701 requires 300 hours to break in), multiple diaphragms can lead to a better sound-stage and a warmer sound. The down side though is the unusually long break-in period.

The comfort is quite good, and the silicon tips are comfortable and have proven durable. I do not know if it is the earphones, or just the nature of the shape of my ear-canals, but I keep having to put them back in every 3-10 minutes (which is very annoying). I have never owned, nor used in-ears from another company (Shure, Sennheiser, Denon, etc...), so I cannot give an honest comparison, would neither be fair nor useful as a review for those looking for their next purchase in portable music if I did.

The one stupid criticism that I keep hearing is the complaint regarding the neck-type chain of the headphones. I really like that design, because when you are moving about, it frees up your arms to get work done around the house (or when detailing your own car to save cash!!!). If you do not like the neck-chain style, easy, just wrap the R- side around the left to shorten the distance between the two, and they are then even..... Not a giant leap of the imagination people, seriously!!! I am not even mechanically inclined and I figured that out in the first week ( a more highly evolved monkey than myself could have figured it out sooner, but alas I have poor genetics, poor poor me...).

As to the sound itself, it is warm, with a slight-emphasis towards the upper-bass and mid-range, and the treble is a little dampened. Regardless of what anyone will tell you, all audio equipment will have some sort of preference, pick your poison if you will. Most people will find the Sony sound signature pleasing and enjoyable, it is more suitable for those that want a relaxing listening experience,rather than dynamic and involving. These work great with all-sorts of music, and have a definite preference for recordings that have good-excellent dynamic range. Overly compressed recordings, or low bit-rate mp3's will sound like crap on these, so be careful what you load on to your mp3 player. The EX-300's have very good clarity overall (once they are burned in), and a warm, soft sound. It is true that the bass is slightly boosted on these, but that is definitely a good thing. For you see, the drivers are 13mm, that is 13mm. Not 40mm, not 50mm, but 13mm. They are quite efficient and well-engineered, but still 13mm, and the bass could use a little push so that the sound is not tinny and cold.
You do not want an in-ear to have a flat response through the bass and mid-range, it would sound like crap!!!
Just because that works great with the big boys of headphones, does not apply to the little girls of headphones.
This should be common sense, and people should stop complaining about the bass boost to these, besides, who in the world uses in-ears with an i-pod or Walkman to do critical listening???

The build quality could improve a little, but as long as you take care of them (put them back neatly in their included carrying case), the EX-300's should last at-least a year of regular use. The silicon-tips are very easy to put in the ears, and take out again, with fairly decent isolation.

I bought these after I broke my mdr-ex85lp's. I specifically wanted to buy Sony's after getting impressed with the ex85-lp's (they were amazing). However ex300's are over expensive mediocre earphones at the best. If you love your ex300's I suggest you try ex85's or Sennheiser CX300-B's and compare them.

Fit: I got these so I can mountain bike listening to my amazing vocal trance collection. Fit was the most important thing for me. However, these keep popping out of my ears every few minutes. Yes, I tried the three different sets of earbuds that come with it, I have the same problem with all of them. The worst part is they pop out even when I am working out! Worst fit ever.

Sound: The high's are good, the lows I can hardly make out even with high volume. I got Sennheiser CX300-B's at the same time as these and was wow'd with the quality of the sound from them. FYI they are 1/2 the price of these.

So, if you want to get a decent set of earbuds, DONT buy these...keep looking or get Sennheiser CX300-B's or Sony Mdr-ex85lp's(when the price drops in a few weeks, after Christmas)

Buying ear buds is a tough deal. You can't listen to them before you buy. I bought and took back the Klipsch S4, Bose, Sony MDR-EX85LP, and Lady GaGa made by Monster. The Sony MDR EX300 are easily the best to my ears. The Klipsch had fantastic reviews but like all Klipsch products, they are a little bright sounding with not much bass. I don't understand the rating they get at various sites. Go figure? The Monster lady gaga were muddled with poor mid range. The Sony ex85's were good, good bass, but a little muddied sounding. Not bad though for the money ($43.00 on Amazon). The Bose (I'm sorry but I don't remember the model #, they were $99.95 at Best Buy) were the second best of the ones I listened to, however not that much better than the Sony 85's. The Sony 300's have excellent bass, mid range, and highs. I love these buds and they were only $49.00 on Amazon incl. shipping!! I have read complaints about the uneven cord length but if you wear it around the back of your head like it was intended, it fits perfectly. Cord could be a litte beefier but most ear buds have this same problem. Carrying case is very nice. Overall, an outstanding purchase.

Sony makes IEM phones at two levels above these (EX500 and EX700), so it would be reckless to call these the best, but you'd be hard-pressed to find phones with a more accurate, more natural, more pleasing sound (full, rich mids) than these EX-300's for the price Amazon is currently charging. They don't have the 16mm drivers of the EX700 model, so some of the lowest frequencies are lost, but they nevertheless handle the bottom-most fundamental frequencies (not the boomy mid-range zone) with effortless efficiency. And Sony IEM phones are among the few that sound as good if not better with the manufacturer's ear-tips rather the pricey foam ones that can be purchased on Amazon.

Lately, there's been some controversy about Sony's premium phones and what appear to be low-priced clones, or knock-offs. Buying the directly from Amazon guarantees the customer of the authentic, most recent, state-of-the-art Sony product. Otherwise, the new Sony IEM phones in the MDR-EX300-700 series appear to be identified by the suffix "LP" (as opposed to "SL"), by the adjective "Supreme" (formerly "Premium"), and by longer cords (not the preference of some users).

If the cost of the EX700s and other high-end IEM phones (Ultimate Ears, Shure, Etymotic, Klipsch, etc.) understandably seems out of reach, the MDR-EX300's represent at least an entrance into the upper realm of quintessential sound--they're spacious concert halls compressed to the size of a tiny thimble.