Customer Reviews

Sony MDR-EX71SL/WK Fontopia Headphones (White)

5 star:		(90)
4 star:		(86)
3 star:		(33)
2 star:		(41)
1 star:		(37)

 

 

Other reviewers have noted this as well, and they're right! The plastic insulation around the headphone wires will break down over time into a sticky mess. You're left with bare wire. Sure, the headphones sound good, but the faulty insulation makes these headphones not worth the money.

PLUS, when you call SONY and complain, they only offer you the option of replacing the headphones (for a charge of $30) or having them "repaired" for $60.

THE SOUND & FIT:
Being fully "in-ear" headphones, they produce incredible bass and block out outside noise. It has a great balance of mids and treble too. I ordered Apple in ear buds and loved the improvement in sound over the standard earphones that come with the ipod but, they would not stay fully seated in my ears even when relatively still. These Sony's sound at least as great, if not better, than the upgraded (and more expensive) Apple in ear buds and blow away the standard ear phones that come with the ipod. They look great (in white) and match my ipods perfectly. They do not fall out either! -Even when jogging. The Apple buds don't really conform to the shape of your canal, but these Sony's do, so that they can be held in place better. The ear pieces have a nice, premium, rubberized feel and look expensive. They are an excellent value!

WORDS OF ADVICE:
There is 1 drawback, which depending on your use, could be a big advantage... The cord. It is a 2 piece cord. The 1st piece is too short to use by itself with a normal ipod. When connected to the extension piece, it is way too long.
BUT... If you have a ipod Shuffle, there is no better choice out there if you use your shuffle with the neck lanyard. The cord is the PERFECT length. Also, if you have the Apple remote cord, this is the perfect set of headphones to use with your remote and regular ipod. To give you an idea of how long the cord is without the extension... With the speakers in my ear, the jack at the end of the cord hits me 1 inch above my belly button (I am 5'8")

BOTTOM LINE:
You'll love the sound, the feel, and the look, and depending on your particular use, you could also love the cord length!

First off, these are great headphones for what they are. They are not meant to be premium creme of the crop audiophile quality, but they are worlds better than any cheap open air earphones you'll get for your mp3 player.
To explain a few of the mdr ex71's features:
1) the short cord with the extension. It is made like this so runners can attach their music player to their arm and not have a huge cord whipping around in their way. Conversely, the extension add-on cord is so you have ample room to put your music player in just about any pocket on your body and not be uncomfortable. Some say with the extension it is too long, but I appreciate this aspect. (I am 6'4" and find most earphones' cord slightly too short.)
2) The "poor" quality rubber of the cord. This might seem true, superficially, but these phones have the least undesirable microphonics of the in-ear phones I've tried. This is the noise that reverberates in your ears from the cord being touched, blown by the wind, etc. This is due to the make of the cord. Plain and simple. And if it starts coming apart on you, why not try to mend it with a little electrical tape?
3) the uneven lengths of the left and right sides. This is so you'll wear the right side behind your neck. This further reduces the cord noise previously discussed and eases the distribution of weight from the left side onto your neck. Plus it helps keep the cord out of your way from whatever you're doing. In my opinion, this is a no-brainer advantage over the traditional Y-split cords.
4) The make of the silicon earbuds is superb. They stay in easier than any others that I've tried and seem not to get as dirty. Personal experience, but hopefully yours would be similar.
I've noticed other reviewers have published outlandish rants concerning one or more of the features mentioned above, obviously without knowledge of why the phones were developed this way. I hope this makes things clear.
Lastly, the sound produced by these is wonderful for the average listener. The proper size earbud must be used in order to get a good seal for getting strong bass response and keeping out ambient sounds. I've found the treble to be a little strong at first, but that is often the case before drivers "break in," so to speak. All in all, these phones are a solid choice if you're in the market for in-ear phones and don't want to break the bank.

I've bought two different pairs of the Fontopia headphones (one black, one white), and my results have been the same with both pairs: The sound quality is amazingly good for a (relatively) cheap earphone (these are not the Sennheisers, ok?) and I've been completely satisfied with them for the first, oh, six weeks. Both around the six-week mark with both pairs, I've noticed the plastic coating on the wires starting to disintegrate, exposing the wires leading from the plug to the phones.

After the first set started to go, I figured it must be simply a bad one -- one in a million, right? The same thing happened with the second set -- same symptoms, same timeframe. They quickly became completely unusable due to the exposed wires -- but only after the 30-day return period, right? Yeah.

I really like the sound quality these produce -- they block much more noise than my noise-cancelling over-the-ears, they sound great at lower volumes, and they fit very comfortably (even while sleeping on one's side), but I won't buy another pair due to the poor quality of the rubber/plastic coating on the wires.

First off, I think headphones all come down to personal fit, which is why there are so many disparate reviews about the same product. Like many of you searching for the best headphones (I was searching for ones for running and working out), I also read reviews about these headphones, particularly the reviews on CNET, which rated this one the best for its price. I was really excited about getting these to replace my iPod headphones, which I have come to despise. Unfortunately, these Sony headphones did not live up to the reviews. In fact, they were worse than the iPod ones. And I have this funny feeling in my right ear still 1 day after using them! Here are some of the issues I found with these Sony headphones:
1. Although the earbuds block out surrounding noise better than the iPod headphones, they plug your earhole so much so that a suction is created, and pressure is felt in your ear, making it uncomfortable. Furthermore, you can hear yourself breathe in your head, and it overall makes for an unpleasant experience.
2. The cord is too short to use for your MP3 player on your waist or holding it by your waist, unless you use the extension cord that comes with the headphones. But if you use the extension cord, it becomes too long-- even longer than the iPod headphone cord-- which is what I hated about the iPod ones.
3. What happened to the bass? The headphones tout premium bass, but I found that the bass is actually less than that of the iPod headphones, which is pretty bad already. The treble sound level is heightened with these headphones, which makes many songs sound too shrill.

Overall, I do not recommend these headphones.

I didn't think they would be so good. But I definitely have changed my mind. And, the price is just right for them! I use them for work when the environment here is not so quiet and I need to focus on my work. I put these on and I'm good to go. They definitely drown out all the noise and give good quality sound with just enough base. They are very very comfortable compared to apple earbuds and phillips brand and won't hurt your ears if you where them for long periods of time. Only thing that I do not suggest is having your ears wet when wearing they fall right out. I wore them in the tub and they slid right off.

This is the second pair of Fontopia headphones I have owned. The original pair were black & didn't match my iPod so I ordered this 2nd set as a backup & more stylish match. Problem is, it seems that Sony miscalculated on the formulation of the rubber that coats the wires--it is much too soft, has turned sticky (no, nothing was spilled on them, it's coming from within), and can actually be rubbed off of the wires with little effort! My 2-year older set of Fontopias have no such problems, so it is definitely with this new white-colored rubber formulation. With the way the wires are now starting to become exposed, I expect these to fail any day now, after having been used less than 6 months and only a dozen or so times during that period (as the problem manifested itself pretty early in my ownership.) It's a pity, really, as aside from this serious problem the rest of the product is nicely designed and works well. I would strongly advise buyers away from the white Fontopias, or at least buy them at a local store where you can return them immediately if the wires show any hint of degredation.

I have to say that I bought these headphones after a recommendation from the guy in dixons who also has the Zen Micro Mpg player I have who had a similar problem to me. The creative headphones kept falling out of my ear, which drove me insane and I was looking for ear buds that would stay in cos some Panosonic ones I tried which sat on the outside were plain awful, I lost so much bass on them and the distortion on the high end was awful.

Well anyway I'm impressed with these its important to get a few things right with them first off.

Firstly make sure you try the different size rubber seals that come with them because size IS important LOL they form a seal and this DOES effect the sound quality, the better fit you have the better the sound. So get them out of the packet and try the different ones, you'll know you have got it right straight away.

Dont be put of by the extension a real Mpg player enthusiast will understand this right away, wired remotes need to be attached to your headphones and in the past this has meant you end up with a humoungous cord! Well by having a short cord to begib with eliminates this straight away. Plus the little gizmo they give you for storing your ear buds in seconds for a cord wraparound and I love the nifty little grey bag for putting all me bits in. But then I am a girl I love neat and tidy!


Secondly, dont let the right side having a longer cord confuse you, you put the left side in first then put the cord behind you head and then put the right in, when you take a bud out it now nestles nicely on your shoulder instead of dangling in midair!, I was doing this wrong at first and the left side kept feeling like it was falling out and I followed a reviewers advice and it really does make sense.

Thirdly despite the temptation dont whack the voloume up too loud, you really dont need it with these and plus you will give yourself a headache LOL, Play with the EQ on your player. I almost took my eardrum off the first time I tried them LOL

A couple of weird things, you can hear yourself eat and swallow with these LOL Also not so weird as frightening really, They really do cut out the outside noise, as I'm typing this (cant hear my typing which is freaky) I have them on listening to Pink Floyd The Wall which sounds awesome by the way on these, I cant hear anyone else and when engrossed have been given a heart attack when being tapped on the shoulder cos I havent heard them call me despite them shouting quite loudly!

Anyway I rate them pretty highly and I'm a fussy bugger whne it comes to me music, so thats high praise indeed.

I've had these headphones for several months and after a month or two I noticed I would get a small shock in my left ear every once and awhile. It turns out it was b/c the wire covering was deterriorating and leaving the wire exposed. Although this model is nice and light, I think the wire protection was sacraficed because the cord that covers the wire quickly wears away.

Instead of getting these I would recommend getting the very comparable "Sony MDR-EX51LP Fontopia Headphones." I got that model and they are pretty much the same thing, with the same great sound quality, still light (good to workout with), blocks out outside noise, works wonderfully with my ipod, also comes in a few colors, and the cord doesn't errode away.

We've had these headphones for 8 months now, and they've had lots of use. They do sound great. Truly great for their size and price. BUT we have also had the insulation turn into a sticky mess leaving bare wires exposed. Absolutely not recommended for this reason. You expect more than a few months wear our of a product like this.

I've read that the white ones are more prone to do this than black, so if matching your ipod isn't an issue, black may be the way to go.