Customer Reviews

Sony MDR-EX51LP Fontopia In-The-Ear Headphones, White

5 star:		(126)
4 star:		(79)
3 star:		(40)
2 star:		(32)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

I ordered these because the Apple headphones that came with my iPod Mini kept falling out at the gym, and also lacked adequate bass response. When I first tried the Sony phones at home, I was disappointed. I did not like how they fit, and the sound didn't seem to be any better than the originals. However, I decided to try them out at the gym, since that was why I got them in the first place.

It took me a while to get used to the cords being different lengths, but now I like that feature, becaue I can have them out and around my neck, even when they're not in my ears. This is convenient when I'm at the airport or on a plane, and have to be listening for boarding calls or announcements, but don't want to put the headphones away.

As for the fit and sound, I found that after I had them in for a few minutes, I hardly noticed them at all, and the sound is a lot better than the Apple headphones. As many other reviewers have noted, you must insert these headphones fully into your ear canal, or they won't stay in and they won't sound good. It sounds a lot more intrusive than it feels, at least for me. I can wear them for hours without any problems at all.

While they are not really noise-canceling headphones, they do effectively isolate you from all but the loudest ambient sounds. This makes them ideal for air travel and other times you want to block out external noise.

I am pleased to have headphones that allow me to enjoy my iPod more fully than the originals ever did.

My EX51s have been trouble free for several months, despite some mild abuse. They stay in place fairly well after fitting the proper-sized rubber sleeves, and they're comfortable enough to fall asleep with. The "behind the neck" cord requires some adjustment, but aftter learning how to wear it properly (entire cord behind neck, main cord clipped to shirt or collar to relieve strain) I adapted quickly.

The sound quality is surprisingly good for buds cheap enough to regard as disposable, though they seemed rather shrill at first. Several hours of burn-in were required to tame the tizzy highs. Clarity & detail are better than with the standard iPod buds. Frequency response is fairly neutral (using my Sennheiser HD590s for comparison), with a slight treble boost and the bottom end rolled off just a bit. Sound isolation seems nearly ideal to me, with perhaps a 15dB reduction of external noise--enough to make outside sounds unobtrusive, but still permitting one to hear approaching cars when running on public roads. Though I've been disappointed by Sony products in the past, I don't hesitate to recommend the EX51s as a terrific value.

UPDATE Dec '09: This review was based on Amazon's price of ~$20. At that price, they were a bargain, but not at $40 or $50!

I had the same issue as other people who have written reviews. The rubber started decomposing shortly after I got it, but I didn't notice until I got a mild shock. Then I saw that a good portion of the rubber had definitely lost its color and composition. By the time I called, it was out of warranty (though I'm not sure even if the warranty would have covered it).

I called Sony, and replacements are $25. More than buying them here on amazon. Oh, well, I'll just keep the rubber earbuds as spares for the other Sony buds I have.

Do yourself a favor and get the black equivalent - the black tubing is physically different (a little tougher, and doesn't decompose). They might be a dollar or so more, and they might not match your iPod, but they'll last you a lot longer.

Let me start this review by talking about me. I am extremely cheap, and I wanted the best possible headphones that would not break my bank. I would definitely call my self an audio aficionado. The system in my car has the complete Infinity kappa perfect series, if you know what that is then you know I dropped over 3 grand on my car, and my family room has the Bose lifestyle 28 system in it.

I am demand my headphones to be durable, fit well (not even know that they are there), white to match my iPod, tolerant to a little water or alot of sweat, very durable, and simply amazing sound quality. These headphones hit every single mark with amazing results.

I have owned these headphones for a little over a half a year, and use them almost every day. The cord length was a little weird at first, but when you get used to them, they are awesome. I use them at the gym most the time, and the cord design puts them behind your neck, and out of the way, so when you run or lift you cant even tell that they are there. Give a little time to get used to them; you will never go back to 'normal' cord lengths again.

I bought these to replace the headphones that came with my iPod mini 6gb, and the difference is unreal. Yes, you read that right, it goes down to 8hz... 12hz lower than most human ears can hear, so obviously the bass response is superb. The highs and mids are very crisp, clean and clear too.

Now on to the noise-isolating feature; I would not call these headphones 'true sound isolating', but they are good enough. Sure, you could spend another 100 dollars on 'true sound isolating' headphones, but you are going to feel like an idiot when you find out that there is barely an audible difference. Sometimes when I'm studying for college I put these in and no music just to make it more quite when it's a little too loud where I am.

You can also listen to music at a lower volume with very good quality to save battery life and still not hear anything around you. But when your favorite song comes on, blast em and you are in for an ear orgasm.

One problem that I did find with these headphones (and probably all ear bud headphones) is that when you smile alot it hurts your ears a little bit. I love the comedian Dane Cook, and I got just about everything he has ever said on mp3 on my iPod, and when I'm smiling or laughing a little too much... it kind of hurts.

All in all, if you are cheap like me, demand a sound quality that is out of this world, and want a very durable set of headphones, these are perfect for you. If you have money coming out your @ss... and will pay 150+ for headphones... go for it, but just try these out once, you can always return them and Amazon has a amazing return policy but I really doubt you will return them.

As always for a review, I give the product time. In this case the EX51LP needed time for me to get adjusted to the "hot" sound.
Here "hot" means the bass and treble notes sound emphacised compared to other phones, especially the Ipod's. Not bad mind you, just more in your face type of sound. I use them with the Shuffle, which you may know has the best bass response of all the Ipods (ref PCMag tests)so the bass was really Really right there. It may be a bit too bright on the low and high end, but it also eliminates the need for equalization for me. Other phones will sound dull after this, not necessarily more accurate, but definitively more dull. Ipod lounge is another good source for many "bud" and other phones comparisons as well. The specs for 51's and 71's are identical, as is the sound, the mounts on the 81's are a bit different but the sound is similar, people hate the two piece cord on the 71's. The wire lengths on the 51's are preferred by a vast majority, left ear is about 4", right 12", the joint cord about 4ft. The cord is tangle prone, and the little "wrap" case is useless, use an Altoids can instead. All of the 3 sizes of the ear pads fit in my ear OK, the inserts are THAT soft. The buds are small enough that you can fall asleep on the side of your head, and they will not hurt. They are not very efficient at 100db, the Ipod players are very loud at 1/2 full, but for instance my Panasonic MP3 CD player had to be turned almost all the way up. Informed opinion is that that the higher level Etymotics and Shure buds are more accurate although not as "hot" or "impressive" sounding. But for sheer performance under 100$ you will be hard pressed to do better.

I gotta say it, this headphones are really nice. I really like the noise-reducing feature that SONY made for this headphones. Also the soft silicone buds that are included feel really nice in your ears. I previously owned the Sony MDR-EX71SL Headphones which were extreme good, but i wasn't satisfied. I had a few problems with the Sony MDR-EX71SL Headphones.

Two things i didn't like about the SONY MDR-EX71SL:
1.I didn't like the length of the cable. The headphones by itself is too short and when u attach the additional cable it makes it too long.
2.The Left and Right bottom rubber part of the earpiece were really sensitive(when i had this headphones the bottom rubber part of the left side started ripping apart so i had to put a lil piece of clear tape on it.)

So far i'm not having those problems with the Sony MDR-EX51LP. The length of the cable it's perfect and the Left & Right side of the earpiece are protected with a hard plastic material. In clonclusion, SONY made a very good job on this headphones. I recommend the Sony MDR-EX51LP Headphones over the Sony MDR-EX71SL Headphones.

The Sony MDR-EX51LP Fontopia ear buds are the best lightweight headphones I have ever used. I have now tried three different types of ear buds on my iPod, and these are by far my favorites. They are a closed type of headphone, and come with two different size silicone tips. I like them because they really seal out the external noise well (although be careful not to turn the volume up too high, as it is easier to hurt your ears with a closed system) and they stay in place perfectly, even during strenuous exercise.

I think the sound response, including bass, is very good, and is amazing given the price. I find that there is more than ample volume available, so I don't understand the criticism that has said they lack power. If you have these at maximum volume and they still are not loud enough, I suspect that you have a defective pair, or want to listen to music well beyond the volume threshold where pain begins. I likewise find the sound reproduction to be extremely crisp: I can, in fact, hear dialogue between band members in live concert numbers that I have never heard before that was obviously picked up accidentally by open microphones onstage.

I basically have nothing bad to say about these headphones: they are a great set of ear buds at a great price, and I recommend them highly.

Pros:
- Sound quality, especially the bass, is much better than headphones supplied by Apple.
- Stay in my ear better than Apple headphones.
- I can comfortably lie my head on a pillow while wearing these Sony in-ear phones. The normal Apple headphones are larger and therefore are painful if you press your ear against a pillow.
- I personally prefer that the cord hangs down the left side of my body rather than down the middle of my chest. I keep the ipod in my left pocket and the cord better stays out of the way when eating or whatever.
- Volume can sound slightly louder because they reduce outside noise by blocking out your ear canal. This is mainly appreciated when listening to movies in airplanes, where the normal Apple phones were too quiet to understand dialogue over the sound of the airplane engines.

Cons:
- Because they block outside noise, difficult to hear if people try to talk to you even when you turn the volume low. Could also be dangerous if you cannot hear cars while jogging.
- Because they fit directly in your ear canal, you hear any vibrations coming from the cord, like listening to a stethoscope. You can hear the magnified sound of the cord rubbing against your clothing as you move. You can also hear yourself breathing and your own voice can be heard echoing in your head. To understand what this sounds like, plug both your ears with your fingers and try breathing heavily or talking. These Sony in-ear phones have the same effect.

Overall, I would definitely recommend Sony in-ear headphones.

I own two pairs of these headphones. One black, and one white. The black rubber has proven to be much more durable. I have had the black pair for about 3 years and have used them daily. They have held up very well. The white pair is less than a year old and the rubber is fraying. The sound is excellent by any standard.

First off; for those who do not want the long extended cord that separates into two DO NOT get the EX71LP, I made that mistake and whiles the sound was just as good, it was too much of a pain to manage the really long cord. Anyhow, a year later and I upgraded to the EX51LP and the cord is normal length. The sound is awesome on the EX51LP; the bass is clear and deep-no static and the treble ranges are just a good-not a great as the bass though. If you listen to bass heavy music then you will love these.
The comfort are amazing and slightly more comfortable than the EX71 and ALOT more comfortable than the iPod headphones. The gel inserts are amazing and totally reducing all noise from the outside so that you can enjoy the music.
The durability of these are not of the tough sort, these are very delicate headphones and will break if you step on them or tend to toss them around care-lessly in your backpack or bedroom floor. They are not cheap or low quality, but the cords are every thin and light and will rip or tear if you are rough with it. Other than that, it will survive normal everyday use.
I paid $29 for them and I don't think they are worth more than that and for $29 you'll get what you pay for.

and YES these are better than the cheaper brands like JVC and COBY!