[Duncan]

The EX71s sound damned great out of my D311 Discman...

They can sound bass-light, and overall very thin sounding... when, as has been mentioned above, they are pushed too far into the ears...

Compared to the EX70s, the EX71 'plugs' are made of much more flexible rubber, so it is a lot easier to put them in 'wrongly'... but get it right, and they're not bad at all

One sideline thing though, I think that the only difference between the EX70 and EX71 in terms of drivers could be that the EX71s have a thinner diaphragm... I have had them distort at stupidly loud levels, a rasping (although high pitched) noise... that has never been apparent on the 70s...

I personally give them the thumbs up

 

[rblanco10]

I agree with Duncan, I personally give the MDR-EX71's a thumbs up also!

There has been a lot of discussion on these phones lately. People either love them or hate them.

raymondlin wrote: Quote:

You lot were expecting Ety for the price of $50 ?

Exactly!

Comparing with other earbuds and canal phones in the < $50 range the MDR-EX71's stand at the top with the Sennheiser MX500's IMHO. I prefer the EX71's over the MX500's for the bass.

They produce clear highs & mids, and great bass on my Sharp
MD-MS702MK recorder/player.

Adding to what Spyro started with but now IMO...

This is the hype that I like about my EX71's!

GOOD: Nice design, great fit, very comfortable, Great highs and midrange sound, YOU CAN HEAR THE BASS & the bass doesn't
murk the highs and mids, nice included extras, excellent isolation,
ultra portable, Sony quality.

BAD: Inefficient, hard to drive straight from portable player (UN-AMPed play) I have to turn up the volume a little bit (not so bad.)

Quote:

Cannot touch the Porta Pros in any area except isolation.

My main portable phones right now are my EX71's and KSC-35's
I enjoy listening to both. But I am using my EX71's more cause they don't leak music as much as the KSC-35's, they block out the external public noise, they are ultra portable (the EX71's fit in my small shirt pocket and my MD player is carried in my pants
pocket), and to my ears the EX71's still make my music sound good without having to break the bank for canal phones.

Peace!

 

[xcalibur]

it seems people are divided with the ex71 opinions...poor quality control by sony? Some people seem to find the bass overpowering and 'muddying' (like me) and lacking clear mids and highs but on the other hand there are some who find the ex71 is solid in all departments...personally haveing tested MY unit my mx500s were just too far away for the ex71 to keep up when it came to the mids and highs...and for bass...what can i say...sony 7506!

 

[Spyro]

Quote:

Originally posted by xcalibur ...poor quality control by sony?

Interesting point!. I really wonder? That's how awful these sound. My Koss Plugs, which I agree are toward the bottom of the barrel, sound like Ety's next to the Sony's and that is no joke.

 

[dragonlong]

Quote:

Originally posted by xcalibur it seems people are divided with the ex71 opinions...poor quality control by sony? Some people seem to find the bass overpowering and 'muddying' (like me) and lacking clear mids and highs but on the other hand there are some who find the ex71 is solid in all departments...

Yes, I'm thinking that Sony has poor quality control too. I also did not like my EX71 very much and am very disappointed with them. All there was was the bass, and even so, it wasn't a likeable bass.

 

[bong]

does the EX71 improve upon the EX70's poor midrange and the fatiguing shrill highs? i don't mind the bloated bass of the EX70's, but i absolutely despise the poor midrange and the shrill treble.

also, how does the EX51 compare to the two as well, thanks.

 

[Tanalasta]

I bought the ex71's direct from Sony and on my DE-J725 they sound really terrible from the headphone amp (almost no treble, overemphasized bass/low mids - to the point its almost muddy) . I plugged them into the line-out and now they sound absolutey perfect (except i've now got no volumn control). The point is, the 71SL's are lovely headphones: if they sound bad - it mite well be what you're using to drive them.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Well, you're not supposed to use a line out to drive headhones you know

If it sounds good out of a line out and nothing else (not what I'm arguing here) it's still bad

 

[Nights_85]

Quote:

Originally posted by Spyro GOOD: Nice design, pretty good fit. Great midrange sound. Sony quality.

*cough cough gag cough!* quality.... earphones... sony.. *cough!!!*

 

[Joe Bloggs]

They DO make the R10, King of Headphones, you know.

 

[deanpaul]

What about Shure earphones for a new option?
The SE535s use three drivers, with one being a tweeter. As such, they can reproduce the highest frequencies, at 18Hz to 19kHz. Their 36Ohm impedance is also the highest.