Sony PIIQ Premium Over-the-Ear Headphones (MDR-PQ1) - Pink

Initial Impression:
Immediately upon seeing these, many moons past, it was very funky. The black and hot pink colour scheme stood out and they seemed very cool, more so than anything else. They felt very good to the touch with the rough fabric-like dome covers and I was immensely impressed with the bungee cord that loops around the cable where it plugs into the headphone.
 
Aesthetics:
These are designed to be flashy and funky. They're made to draw attention to the wearer and to themselves as they are large, black and hot pink. On the domes, there is a grey design to keep it from being boring whatsoever and overall they are good-looking though obnoxious.
 
Build Quality:
Over the three years that I have owned them, they have held together quite well in typical Sony fashion. The cable has been good and the only degradation I've found it the little plastic-y decals on the domes have started to fall off. The headphones feel strong and sturdy though they don't collapse or do any tricks with the earcups.
 
Comfort:
These headphones are NOT comfortable at all. The pads are firm and the plastic is not soft. The headband is lined with hard nubs for no conceivable reason. The pads are very short too leading your ears to go right up against the inner wall of the earcup. The only thing that makes them at all bearable to wear is how light they are (approximately 9oz).
 
Sound Quality:
They sound like any other decent $100 headphone except these sacrifice a little it of the mids and highs to get some massive bass. Now most affordable headphones have low impedance but these don't. At a hearty 70 ohms, they don't sound awful unpowered but they definitely improve a lot from a decent amplifier.
 
Sound Signature:
These headphones are a budget basshead's dream. Costing only $100 (at most), these deliver very powerful bass in return for quieter (but well executed) highs and tinny and recessed mids. It's like a v-shaped sound signature that is tilted a little to the right.
 
Overall:
These headphones wouldn't know what subtle is if it was hit over the head with subtlety itself. Whether it's the obnoxious looks or obnoxious sound, these are very in-your-face and very good value.

My reaction to unboxing this product was, wow no accessories for a 100 dollar retail price. Being already disappointed I didn't expect this headphone to be any better than an awful pair of overpriced headphones but as I used it overtime it started to become better the overall audio quality could have definitely been better the mids sounded so recessed and the odd part of it all is that the bass is quite balanced it didn't have the booming amount of bass i was expecting it was very detailed and quite nice but because the mids were so recessed the entire quality of the sound decreased. the highs were something that i expected to be recessed buying this product knowing that this is meant for a "younger" demographic and it was, but still not as recessed as the mids. now from an average joe's perspective a simple phone or ipod will get these "loud" but these will not sound as good compared to if you head a simple portable amplifier or a soundcard for a computer these are far from audiophile headphones and will not supply the amount of sound quality for 100 USD but the overall design of the headphone is relatively nice the locking mechanism is simple yet functional it uses a simple velcro and a standard clicking adjustable headband. the color is pink and will not come in any other color. sound isolation/cancellation is not great, the cancellation on these are good enough to make high frequencies become more dull but not enough to block out a loud street or bus; but the isolation is not the worst, knowing that most people concerned about isolation usually commute i tested it running off of a galaxy s2 and the results were satisfactory the leakage was a little more than i was expecting out of a closed back headphone but wasn't as bad as an open design, at about 50% volume the leakage became noticeable and somebody sitting next to you or in a seat in front/behind you would hear it so this is not the greatest for people that usually travel or commute. 
 
Verdict: This is not worth the retail price the sound is not very good and should only be purchased if a good price is to be found