[JayG]

I tried to like them, I really did. But after 3 months now, I can't escape the conclusion that the Sharp MD33s are crap, plain and simple.

First of all, the sound. I didn't like it from day one. It's completely bloated, with boomy shallow bass that has no texture at all. The mids sound completely unnatural, like all the instruments are synthesized. And the highs, if you can find any, and shrill and distorted. They really do sound bad. I don't know how they got such high praise for their sound on Head-Fi, even taking into account their price.

Secondly, comfort. These things are a nightmare as far as practicality. I wanted earbuds or canal-phones because they are small and truly portable. But a cable that's longer than my small intestine with a adaptor connection right in the middle of it isn't exactly practical. You don't want to hear about what a hassle it was even to just wrap the cord around my iPod and try to get the adaptor connection to lay flat on the front or back. It always wanted to be on the side which of course made it stick up. Then there's the dumb behind the neck right-bud configuration to deal with. Novel idea I suppose, but it sucks. The cable is always in the way hanging so close to the left side of my body and the earbud was always being accidently yanked out, and they're annoying to put in having to go behind my head. And the in-ear fit was bad, too. None of the 3 sizes of tips would reliably stay all the way in my ears for a long period of time without unsealing or slipping out, and when they were sealed, they gave an uncomfortable feeling of pressure. And the sound is bad enough with a good seal..

Third, durability/build quality. You guessed it: bad. They're cheaply constructed and it shows. Every once in a while the left earbud would highly distort to the point of being unlistenable, or just stop working altogether. There was no visible blockage or anything, and the only way to fix it was to wait a while and blow really hard into the screen to try to clear whatever miniscule thing may have been causing the problem. After this happened a few times and it eventually started working again, it happened one last time and now seems to be dead for good. As another sign of cheap construction, I was using my fingernail to try to scrape the little mesh covering in case it has something in it, and just that light pressure bent it.

So now I have no portable headphones that work except the iPod buds and a few assorted streetstyle or over-the-head stock issue pieces of crap that have accumulated over the years. The MD33s weren't close to being worth $40+. I would have felt ripped off even if I had payed considerably less.

So, to sum it all up in Cliffs Notes style: The MD33s were a huge waste of money that caused me nothing but frustration.

I guess I need to start researching my best option for a replacement.

-Jay

 

[rauer]

I'm sorry to hear how much you dislike your MD33s. I personally like the sound but unfortunately have to agree on the usability problems. I've posted earlier about my problems with this cord and the extension. And yes, I also somewhat dislike the uneven cord lenght. The right one is so much longer that the pull is totally on the left one and it gets very easily pulled from the ear.

When I some day find a good way to wrap the excess cord, I'll be pretty satisfied with mine. Hopefully I don't have to agree with you on the build quality in the future too.

 

[boodi]

I agree with the usability , but quite disagree they are that bad..

Have you tried them with another source ? it could be there's a bad synergy between them and the ipod

Have you tried the mod for them ?

 

[joelongwood]

So, I take it you're not too happy with the Sharps?
For what some consider better sound, you might want to pick up a pair of Sennheiser MX-400 buds for under $20........excellent sound for the money. They are pretty durable as well.
Or maybe give the Sony EX71 a shot.....they're $29 at Minidisco.
Although I've only had the Sharps for a day, I'm really liking the sound, particularly out of the Sharp MD-DR7 with an Auvi digital amp and 4-pole headphone output......the thing the Sharps were designed for. It's a major improvement over the iPod headphone out....the sound fills out nicely. Plus, I don't need the adapter cable.

Good luck in your search.

 

[oluv]

didn't have problems with mine so far, i really like them, and i like the short-cord, it is perfect for use with a remote-control, sure it would suck if used with the extension-cable, but as i don't need the extension-cable it rocks!

the sound is not bad at all regarding the price. i think i wouldn't pay double-price for the "popular" E2-sound...
if i compare the md33 sound to a sennheiser px100, the md33 are not much behind, they sound quite similar indeed. so regarding to your opinion the px100 must also suck with shallow bass and no texture at all.

quality-wise mine are ok so far. i sat on them, i through them inside my pocket, i have them inside my ears for hours and they are still the same, sounding the same.

the behind-the neck design is not a problem for me. i normally wrap the wires around my ear, before i insert the drivers, so when there is some pulling-force, i feel it on my ears first, without having the drivers pulled out that easily.

well, if you find a better canal-phone than the md33 for a similar price, please let me know, i will certainly order one.

 

[akellor]

I totally agree with you JayG. 100% I'm constantly surprised that others like these, I couldn't stand them for even 1 week. For me it was the treble that pushed me over the edge, whenever there are supposed to be cymbals all I could hear was a "shhhhh" sound. Very distracting.

I'm not suggesting the MD33 fans are wrong, I just don't feel the love since they sounded so bad to my ears.

 

[acidtripwow]

I've had my pair for about a month now and sometimes I feel the same way. The highs can sound shrill and the lows can be very bloated. I use mine with my Sharp MD-MT821 minidisc player and usually only use them with certain types of music like Jazz. Don't even think about using these earbuds with Metal unless you want to make your ears bleed. The sound is very clear but it's like a TV in a department store where the brightness is turned up to 100 so the TV stands out from the crowd. The 33's will make their presence known whether you want them to or not. I was listening to some Coltrane this morning and the sound was very clear with piano, trumpets, and saxophones. I had to turn off any bass boost though. Female Jazz vocalists can sound great but you will get a lot of sibilance, also. For the money you can't beat the Senn MX500s. You should give them a shot if you haven't heard them yet. If you have the funds then you can try the Shure E3C's. I have a set of those and they're great with all types of music. The cord is kind of thick though and not all that flexible.

One side note: Don't use the 33's outside in the cold. I do that every so often here in Chicago and the microphonics is just overwhelming.

 

[rauer]

The Sharps do sound a little bright but I've become fond of it. I've used both my Sharps and Porta Pros in the portable setup and can hardly stand the "darkness" of the PPs any more.

 

[oluv]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rauer The Sharps do sound a little bright but I've become fond of it. I've used both my Sharps and Porta Pros in the portable setup and can hardly stand the "darkness" of the PPs any more.

"darkness" of the PP? i find the PPs to reach much farther in the upper register than the sharps. to me the sharps are a bit cutoff in the upper highs, the PPs sound more brilliant! do we have different phones?

 

[JayG]

Of course I don't expect everyone to agree, and I'm glad some of you guys love your MD33s. I just wanted to post this so that people considering buying them can hear both sides of the story. I probably wouldn't have given my particular gripes if not for the fact that the MD33s have gotten pretty much all good press here, especially around when I bought them, nobody was saying anything bad about them. Glad to see some people agree with me though, so I know I'm not completely crazy.

-Jay

 

[phyrefly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oluv "darkness" of the PP? i find the PPs to reach much farther in the upper register than the sharps. to me the sharps are a bit cutoff in the upper highs, the PPs sound more brilliant! do we have different phones?

Agreed.

The only thing that I can't stand when it comes to the MD33 is the bass. It's not boomy enough!

I'd describe the MD33's bass as tight and precise (compared to PP), minus the fun factor of the PP.

Foam mod + large buds + rolled up extension (just tie it up with the plastic thing that came with it if you can't stand the length

) + shirtclip = Happy MD33 user

(except bass )

 

[Xarthan]

what i hate is the stupid cord noise!!!!!!! so annoying!

 

[tim_the_gamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayG Of course I don't expect everyone to agree, and I'm glad some of you guys love your MD33s. I just wanted to post this so that people considering buying them can hear both sides of the story. I probably wouldn't have given my particular gripes if not for the fact that the MD33s have gotten pretty much all good press here, especially around when I bought them, nobody was saying anything bad about them. Glad to see some people agree with me though, so I know I'm not completely crazy. -Jay

I tried to say something a while back but I got bum-rushed by the fan boys. While they did make a single valid point, I still don't like the MD33's and was happy to sell them and recoup some costs.

 

[jirou]

Have you tried messing around with EQ settings in iTunes? I have the Panasonic HJE50s and at first I was kind of disappointed. They feature that same sharp high "sshhh" sound you talk about. But after I put some foam over the drivers and edited the EQ settings, they sound pretty nice. What I did was make a preset in iTunes, then selected all my songs on my iPod in iTunes and changed their EQ preset to my custom one.

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jirou What I did was make a preset in iTunes, then selected all my songs on my iPod in iTunes and changed their EQ preset to my custom one.

jirou, I'm confused (nothing new there), but I can only see how to do this for one song at a time.......how do you do it for all songs at once?