These provide nothing below the upper midrange besides a little one note thump that provides the impression of bass in much the way that plastic covered cardboard can look a bit like leather. Listening to these on a laptop and pulling the lead out changes nothing with the sound, bar making it a little quieter.
 
I've tried these with different phones and players, and the only one that could get some sense out of them was a player with class D amp, which presumably is something to do with the way they load an ordinary amp.
 
Looks and fit wise there's nothing too awry about them, but their large, useless drivers mean that they don't fit in my ears very well at all, not that they're worth the effort of placing there anyway.

I originally had a 6GB HDD Sony shaped like a purple bean, and then I had a 4GB flash Sony with the most incredible sound quality. Building on the idea that this is the all out best that Sony can make, and that my iPod Classic sounds like flat New Coke tastes, I took the plunge and got an as new one off eBay.
 
The sound is stunning, although the detail comes at the expense of creating a little hiss during the silences. This is surprisingly not annoying, and is reminiscent of cassette Walkman. If the trade off for detail is a noise floor below the hiss generated by the hardware, then so be it. The Walkman also includes noise cancelling that will work with any headphones that incorporate a mic, and it also has a fantastic DSP and EQ that are actually worth using. The entirely digital amp is of such quality that external amping spoils the sound.
 
This is one of my most treasured possessions, and reading what Sony had to say about it, it looks like they intended this.

This is not actually a bad phone, and its sound quality is miles ahead of my 6G iPod Classic. I had two Android phones before this, and one of them was constantly hanging and crashing. Except for its crappy reception, this thing does what it says, and paired with good headphones, it sounds sweet.
 
An unintentional advantage is that its small memory means that I swap music in and out all the time. It turns out the soundtrack to my life is female folk. Who'd a thunked it?

The ubiquitous iPod. Now with slightly less audio quality.
 
I originally had a 30GB Color, and this took the most awesome fall from the top of one of the world's tallest roller coasters and into a lake beneath, so I used an interim and ancient Sony, and then bought this thing expecting an improvement. Not only did it cost more than the competition, it also sounded mediocre, like somebody in California had spent time and effort shaving every fraction of a penny off its design while still maintaining the superficial impression of quality.
 
The thing sounds like a late 80s to early 90s budget CD player; in fact it sounds identical to a Discman I bought off eBay for about $1. While you would think this is a good thing, and it sort of is, there are Discman from that era that cost $500 because they sparkle and breath life into the music, which is something that is just not happening here.
 
It's just a bit naff. Adding an amp helps with any headphone you use with it, but it's like airline food or instant coffee: no matter what it's never quite as good as it could be.

These headphones are crisp with treble and light on the bass, but they are fantastically easy going to listen to. They offer only very slight isolation, so they're don't block out traffic noise too much, but they block enough so that you can listen to them without turning them up high, and they're just so mild mannered.
 
These are the headphones I have on me at all times, regardless of whether I have another pair. They're clearer than Sennheiser CX300, less isolating and more comfortable than Etymotic, less ostentatious than Amperior or Ultimate Ears, and they beat pretty much every standard phone headset or included earphone from a media player. If you just fancy some tunes while you're out and about, they hit the spot fine, regardless of genre or style.

I bought these as a toss-up between the ER4P and themselves, and truthfully the ER4P are a lot better. these are a dual driver IEM that require a good seal to produce bass, and with the stock tips this can be hard, however, Sony's tips also work and are much easier and more comfortable.
 
To put them on you twist them into your ear and bend the wire around the top and then behind your ear. Then you wait for the quiet pop noise and all the bass to disappear as the seal breaks, and then you have to fiddle with them again. Eventually you get to hear your music, but of course sometimes the seal breaks more gradually, leading you to go through phases of continually checking them.
 
Overall a nice sounding IEM that works well with unamped players, and generally more comfortable than having Etys jammed into your brain, but they are sometimes frustrating, and don't even get me started on their cord that automatically forms any bizarre shape except for one that's useful and out of the way. If you use these, you will be wearing the cord around your chin, and that's that.

These are...ok. I expected great things from these, and if they were my first pair of real headphones, I guess I would like them, but compared to many others, including the similar Amperior, they're simply missing something. The bass is there, the treble goes nearly high enough, they're clear and the instruments separate, yet they just don't excite. They really are professional monitor headphones, and nothing more and nothing less.
 
I kept these things for their high isolation so I can watch movies at night, but really I should trade them for some Sony 7506, which is what I would recommend over these.
 
Objectively, as a studio headphone, these are a good product. Subjectively they are kind of meh, though.

These are simply the de facto best headphones at this price. They have a dark, slow sound that's suited to strings, guitar and vocals, and their matched drivers mean that centre-stage vocals will actually come from between your ears.
 
These don't so much break in, rather you get used to their reproduction. I can't recommend these enough, and everybody should spend some time with these, whether they take to them immediately or not.

I bought these on a whim and a good vibe that they'd be my best headphones ever, and they're not bad. It's just that coming from better headphones and good IEMs, they don't particularly impress. Half the stuff at this price point sounds as good as these, and some of those are more comfortable and closed back. What you're getting for your 40 or so bucks is some very cheaply made headphones that will grab your hair and press on you ears and head in unusual places. The foam will also disintegrate in a few years; it will literally fall apart, but at least getting replacements from eBay is extremely cheap and easy.
 
These things do include a lifetime warranty, but you may find that it's easier to buy more than to mess with shipping and getting them returned.
 
In their favour they do impress me each time I use them, but invariably the little hook used for clipping the headband to itself will start to gnaw my ear, or I'll adjust them and cause the spring loaded comfort setting to alter, which has to be set each and every time you put them on anyway. Then after a few hours use over a couple of days they get forgotten again.
 
They do look cool, and everybody here should own a pair, but I do get a little tired with how much they're vaunted.

I bought these in a sale, and I was so impressed that I considered buying other Sennheiser on-ear until I settled on going for the Amperior and calling it a job well done.
 
They have a good sound that's somewhat duller and more closed in than the Amperior, and alike the Amperior, you need to push them well back on your ears so that the drivers line up with your ear canals, although they are not as sensitive to position as some IEMs. For the price I paid these are stunning, and make a great pair to throw in a bag if you're going out and don't want to risk taking something more expensive with you. However, they don't come with their own carry case or even a 6.5mm adapter, and their cable is too short to use for home listening anyway. The cable is also very thin and the plug is bulky and has no strain relief.
 
If you want something more comfortable than Portapro, and less likely to snag your hair, these are great. People also seem to think they're expensive too, which they certainly are not. They also make an "i" model with iPhone controls and a mic that also work on other Apple products.

These were my very first headphones, and ten year old me selected them by listening to demo models. If I'd been able to, I would have gone for the higher models because they had better treble, but the bass and mids on these were great. I had these for a decade or so until my brother just announced he was taking them and walked off with them. Alas, my poor headphones got lost forever, and I'm still kind of pissed about it :3
 
AFAIK they still make these for use at the BBC, so occasionally they appear on eBay, but they don't have a retail model anymore. I can only hope they're as good as my memories.

These are not the final word in isolation, but coupled with their ability to play loud and to entertain, they might result in you forgetting that roads are dangerous and normally noisy.
 
The sound quality itself is great, like its older brother, but the bass can be a little like it's only one note. If you use these outdoors, you'll be shocked at how good they are for a portable, and they may make you reconsider whether IEMs are the best choice. They also look pretty funky in a WW2 headset sort of way.

 
I found that I had to constantly adjust these to get a consistent sound, and doing so stopped me getting into the music. Because of this I sold them quickly. They sound similar to Etymotic ER6i, with perhaps better bass. I'm not sure if they distorted treble slightly.
 
Basically, unless you get them dirt cheap or love the looks, there's real earphones to be bought instead.

These are pretty much drop in replacements for iPod earphones, and they sound almost identical. The bonus is that they're rubbery and less likely to fall out, the bad part is that they sound like before IEMs hit the mainstream and everybody had to have Megabass switched on to get any resemblance of a beat.
 
In short, you'll need these turned up so loud to hear all parts of the music that you'll probably have tinnitus before the end of the album.

I listened to these very carefully, and although I almost fell in love with them and their very businesslike appearance, I did feel like an idiot for wearing something that's all about its looks. Swapping between these and similarly priced earphones I found that while they're inoffensive, they were doing nothing out of the ordinary besides looking like a million bucks, and their writeup on Senn's site and the packaging seemed to back this up.
 
As I'm writing this I kind of wish I still had them, but at least they sold for their cost on eBay.

These were actually supplied with a Sony X-Series Walkman, which has built in cancelling. The headphones themselves have little mics on the back, and this is fed to the Walkman using an ordinary headset plug like you'd expect a handsfree kit to have. To be honest I've never found the noise cancelling feature to be useful, and even if I did, any headset with a mic in it would be a better choice, such as one by Etymotic.
 
The sound itself is far too lacking in bass, although the highs are brilliant without being sibilant. You can fix this to some degree with Sony's excellent DSP and equaliser options, but the best fix is to just put these in a drawer and pull something else out. Perhaps ironically, Sony's cheaper players come with muddier but far more enjoyable earphones.

I actually got these on sale for less than $10, so thanks to the guy who probably didn't print the price correctly. Anyway, these earphones use a fairly large dynamic driver, which you listen to from the side. This improves bass, which is very detailed and well extended, and the treble too is very crisp...almost to the point of being fatiguing.
 
For $10 these are a bargain, but their retail of about $75 is far more realistic. As with most Sony, the higher the model the more detailed they usually are, so if you don't need the aluminium trim and the leather case, a cheaper pair might have a darker, more engaging sound. They are somewhat analytical to listen to.

I don't know whether it's a conspiracy or a joke, but Apple's talk of these being good quality just makes them seem like hilarious liars who could sell ice to eskimos. If their intent is to drive aftermarket sales, then they've managed it. As far as I can tell these things literally don't play bass. It's just not there. The midrange is ok, and if you're tired, they're ok for watching movies with because they delete the thunderous parts of the soundtrack and preserve the voices and background noise quite well.
 
The only possible use these really have is as a marketing tool to see how many people are wearing them and therefore fell for the marketing and sales speech. It's a lot.
 
Oh and they fall out easily and they snap quite unexpectedly if you drop them on something hard.

These were my first real earphones, and I bought them entirely because they'd been spreading like a plague on a forum I used. Upon first hearing them I was disappointed, but over time they grew on me, and until upgrading to the ER4, they were a firm favourite. Some of my friends couldn't get the fuss, nor understand why anybody would spend a hundred bucks on iPod earphones, but then again they were and are still listening to fake Sonys off eBay with the bass turned to 11.
 
The bass on these isn't room shaking, but it is present and accurate. If you want massive bass, then there's plenty of multi armature or on-ear options, but to be frank, massive bass is felt as much as it is heard, so bass music is best left to subwoofers, and accurate reproduction left to headphones, which these excel at.
 
For my first real audiophile product, I think these were a great introduction to how music should sound.

These are great earphones, and similar models are often packaged with Sony's excellent sounding and extremely cheap media players. If you want something cheap to stuff in your bag or keep as spares at work, you can't go far wrong. Just make sure they're real and avoid bulk packaging and too good to be true prices.