I'm no audiophile, I don't know most of the technical terms and jargons, but I'd like to think I'd realize what sounds good and what doesn't. This baby works just fine for me. I got the Sennheisers cuz I just couldn't stand the panasonics's awkward design or the sony's weak performance, and I was satisfied. Decent reproduction of all low bass ranges, excellent clear sounds all around. They fit comfortably (for my ears) and comes with nice coverings and the roll up case. Best of all, they're not too expensive.

The bass is still not up to grade, but what can you expect from in-ear earphones? If you're like me and prefer earphones over headphones, this is as good as you can get under $20. Oh, the cord.... 3 feet, too dman short.

Excellent sound quality (for earphones) good value, just don't expect toooo much. Short cord. I gotta recommend this. (Oh, and I have only been using this for a week, not quiet broken in yet... who knows... it can get better)

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Panasonic plug
panasonic RPHV279A
sony MDRE827G earbud

Damn great sound! nice low bass that doesn't overpower the vibrant mid and highs. volume control. great price in germany. very comfortable (yes, it *is* important when you have something stuck up your ear!) managed to reach 40hz (checked them with a signal generator)

tends to clip a bit when producing bass in high volume.

this review is for the mx500 (not my fault they only put a category for the 400)

When my father went to work in Germany for a month i told him that i desperatly needed a good pair of headphones for my discman, at first i thought of the senn hd56, but he couldn't get them - only the hd36 and he claims that they sounded like crap. so, he bought these instead.

at first i was reluctent. i hate earbuds, they are uncomfortable, tend to fall off etc..
but then i heard them. damn.
they not only sound *amazing* for their size, they are VERY comfortable and all in all: they rule!

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Various other crappy earbuds. hated them as a priniciple until i heard my mx500

Good sound.

I hate built-in volume controls.

[I've actually been using the bigger brother MX-5's.] Not exactly cheap ear-buds at GBP25 or USD40, but if this is the type of thing you're after, the little Senn's might be better than similarly priced Sony's or Panasonic's. The MX-5 offers some bass, and has this airy, transparent, yet (relatively) full-bodied and dynamic sound. No need for bass bosst on your portable! But they don't take high volumes easily. Headbangers should look elsewhere... For other tastes it's a decent choice.

Great mids and highs
Non-overpowering bass

Maybe these earbuds need a little more mid-bass...
Crappy volume control?

I actually have the MX-500's. :>)

These earbuds are WAY better than the Sonys listed under "Similar Products Used:". The mids and highs are clear; the bass, though audible, doesn't squash the detail in the lower mids (unlike the Sony 828's and 848's, which suffer from boomy bass that tends to run into the lower portion of the mids). The Sony 827G's have detailed mids, also, but is almost completely bass-less in comparison to these Senns - and the Senns may need a bit more mid-bass output for best sound (the Senn MX-500's have some low bass, but the mid-bass is a bit thin). :>@ (EEK!)

The only other complaint that I have with these earbuds is the volume control. Though mine doesn't have a problem yet, it may develop a "scratching" sound with age. That's crappy quality control on that part. :>(

Overall, the MX-500's are still outstanding earbuds for the $18 price that Headroom sells them for; in fact, only the super-expensive Sony MDR-E888LP earbuds ($80) perform better (among open-air-type earbuds). :>)

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Sony MDR-E827G, MDR-E828LP, MDR-E848LP

Decent midrange, comfortable, low impedence, cheap. Not bad midbass for earbuds.

Very noticable sibilance, harsh treble. Fragile, poor volume control construction (MX500).

This is a review on the MX500, which is an upgraded version of the MX400, with a volume control. The strengths of this earbud lie in its extreme portability (nice carrying case also) and ease to power with a portable source (32ohms, excellent for portables). For most people, this is a possible replacement for the extremely cheap, poor quality headphones/earbuds that come stock with cd/mp3 players. For this purpose, these earbuds work quite well. Also, their relative inexpensiveness has to be taken into account. This is a worthwhile upgrade if you have very poor stock headphones, love portability and is on a very tight budget. As far as sound quality it concerned, the treble is rather harsh. It really tends to amplify this problem if the source is already harsh. The midrange is very respectable, especially for earbuds. Midbass is fairly accurate, but not percussive. Lower bass is lacking (but you can't expect this from earbuds, just be happy it's midbass is decent). I am less satisfied with the construction though. The volume control is poorly implimented and will produce problems over time (can already hear noise when adjusting it). Also, the wire attached to the earbud has a frail connection, one good yank and say goodbye. The bottom line is that for $20 (shipped) these earbuds are not bad. I would NOT, however spend the $40 that some in here have spent. If you can't afford any better then you won't be dissapointed with these, but if you could stretch it to $60, some Grado SR60s will certainly begin your initiation into audiophile bliss.

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Sony fontopia earbuds, Senheiser HD600, HD 570, Grado SR60, Various Koss and Sonys

Incredible sound quality for this price!

Not really sturdy - the input jack broke after 9 months of use; no built-in volume control.

It is quite unbelievable that such a sound can come out of earbuds - never heard anything quite like the MX-4. Simply loved the sound. However, after 9 months of use the input jack broke, and I got Maxell EB-425 as a replacement, thinking they were in the same category. Nothing could be farther from the truth - the Maxell sounded really terrible. The spec lists their range as 20Hz-23Khz - 23KHz, my left leg, sounds more like 10KHz. So I soldered the Maxell's input cord cord (with its built-in volume control) to the actual MX-4 earbuds, and got great sound with volume control. And, after the surgery, the volume of the MX-4 got much higher, for some reason - go figure.

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Maxell EB-425

Nice full emboddied sound, bass not to profound.

Not enough bass at times

Like the sound in midrange. Would have liked some more punch
in the bass region. Have the MX500 with volume controll.
Is's to easy to turn it up to loud, and thats when you'r ears crap out. But at lower levels it's good. If one as sensitive ears, should then go with standard headphones instead.

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lot's of crap

Great sound for their size

In-line volume control

These are a great pair of ear-buds. I have tried several other types of ear-buds but they are horrible at reproducing the low end, and break up on the highs. I was amazed the first time I listened to these. Taking their size into consideration there is plenty of bass and the highs are very clear. I actually have the MX-5's, they are the same except they have an in-line volume control. If I could have I would have gotten the MX-4's the volume control skips out when you turn it all the way up. I was a little aprehensive when I saw the price, but now that I have listened to them I don't regret it at all. If you want good quality sound and don't want to lug a big set of headphones around pick these up.

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sony

wow, really good sound quality
bass response is good, not exactly overpowering but good with the low end

flimsy!!!
broke after only a couple of months of normal use when they accidentally got pulled out of my ear
the earpiece came apart(!)

poor high volume sound quality
starts to break up

good sound quality-see below
seems perfect for something like classical music
not really for music with strong bass or music that you want to blast
distortion occurs at what seems to be just slightly loud volume levels

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sony fontopia with base booster