PARENT - Sony MDR-EX51LP Fontopia Headphones

 100x better than standard iPod headphones
I have Sonys since 3 days and I love them - sound quality is amazing. Original iPod headphones are OK, but if you spend $300+ on the device, you definitely need good quality headphones. I really like how much they separate you from the outside noise and how well low frequencies sound.

 A little inconvenient, but highly recommended
After blowing out the original iPod headphones, I was looking for some new all white ear buds- it's just a trendy thing to have the look of the original iPod ones. I really wanted a much better sound, especially more bass, and I got it with these. Songs that the originals could not handle are played with ease out of the Sony's. I was slightly concerned with the 'in-ear' aspect when I first got them, but they are now very comfortable after getting used to them. They block out almost all normal noise, so I don't have to crank the volume and blow them again, although I often find myself yelling instead of talking normally or not hearing people yelling at me because I can't hear them. I can also lay my head down to rest or sleep with them better because they are mostly in my ear. The only problem with them is the behind the back feature- they are designed to come out of a backpack where you would safely store your iPod, but I change my music around so much that my iPod always stays in my pocket. They probably would be out of the way if I put it in my bag, but I won't so I can pick every song. Both ear buds connect at a point below to the left ear (the right connects to that point by going behind your neck) to get the cord out of your way. This actually gets the cord tangled up in my left arm instead of running the cord straight down my chest. Since the distance the ear buds are away from their connection point is different, it is also hard to wrap them around the iPod without getting them tangled. Overall, the sound and convenience are great and outweigh the messy cord aspect. Definitely better than the original.

 A terrific value in inexpensive earbuds with decent sound
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.

 Amazing quality for the price! Thank You Sony!!!!
I got 'em today (overnighted, I'm a princess like that.) They're great, and I would reccomend them to anyone who's in the market. The only caveat* is that you need to use the proper size ear pad thing for them to sound properly, as the sound is partially transmitted through the pads themselves. If you don't get 100% contact all around, the bass levels drop tremendously. They come with 3 different sizes and shoud be adequate for most people.

I've been cleaning** with them in today, and they never threatened to fall out once.













*This would be the proper usage of the word "caveat," Gayson.

**And by cleaning, I of course mean break dancing.

 Awesome Bass Response
This small piece of earphones fit right in your ears with options of different silicones available. The bass response is awesome much much better than anyother earphone I ever tried.

 awesome sound quality but not durable
bass response was really good - in general, audio quality is one of the best in the market. On the other hand, these headphones arent durable. For some reason, my pair suffered from unexplainable eroding of rubber. I think some other users experienced the same problem too. And yeah, the earbud comes off so easily and i already lost like 2 of them. Be extra gentle on these headphones if you're planning to buy them

 bad buy
These headphones were probably my worst buy of the year. As a musician sound quality and crispness is very important. These headphones have neither. Its true I really should suck it up and buy a pair of bose but once again as a musician I am poor.
These headphones don't compete with the standard iPod earbuds as far as performance. As confort goes the sony's are fantastic but thats as far as it goes. Poor volume range and quality make for an extremely bad buy. If you like the sony's spend 5 or 10 bucks more and get the 81's (MUCH BETTER).

 Be Afraid, be very afraid
I was wondering if my hearing was just plain bad, the ipod was fried or do these earbuds stink. Well, after trying a large assortment of earbuds I realized that I hear just fine and these things are crap. The botton end is miserable. If you like very little base response, Lots of mids and piercing highs then these are your buds otherwise, save your money and get a set of radio shack $19 foam buds because they sound better by far.

I like the Shures, and actually the stock iPod buds are quite nice. I rarely will review a product and if I do its because its either Outstanding in its class or an absolute failure. The latter is the case here. Buy with caution!

 Best fitting headphones! say goodbye to tangled wire
I bought both the EX51LP and the EX71. They both fit perfectly in my ear, isolating most noises from the surroundings. Included case is also very convenient.

Sound quality is decent but the usual Sony earphone problem-lack of bass, but for $25, I didnt expect extreme superb sound anyway.

One thing I like about these earphones is the fact that they are very very comfortable to wear. The iPod earphones are just way too painful for me to wear more than 15 mins. And they block the noise so well, the 1st time I put them on, felt like I'm the only one exist in the world.

The best thing about this earphones is actually the little plastic case included in the package. I'm sure you all have experience when using earphones: trying to sort out the tangled wire, which will take about 10 mins, then u listen to your mp3 for 2 mins and put them away. But with these Sony earphones, all you need to do is to enclose the 2 ear pieces in the plastic capsule, then no matter how you tangle the wire, the 2 ear pieces come untangeled within secs. It is amazing, I've tried with my friends many times to tangle the wire with the plastic capsule on, everytime it comes sorted in mere secs. In my opinion, the most wonderful design for earphones!

So if you like convenience no-tangle wire and isolation of noise but cares less about having alot of bass, this is the perfect earphone for you!

 Better Than The Sony MDR-EX71SL Headphones!!
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.