It's an ok set of phones but the bass is lacking and when they get 7-8 years old without much usage the vinal on the ear seals begins to turn back into crude oil, gets sticky and falls apart.

good sound. enough bass. NOT muddy, not staticky. tough (used for over 8 years) and Im not a delicate user. its been tossed, thrown, dropped, swung around, slept with headphone on. very durable.

wires may be too long for a portable MP3 player. would be better if the wires were retractable.

overall excellent headphone for a non audiophile. tough build and comfortable ear pieces. Lenghthy wires for most tasks. comes with a large jack converter which is very convenient for other audio source format.

Similar Products Used:

SONY VR150 (piece of @#$)
SONY (forgot its name the ones with retractable wires. the thing broke after 3 months, bought another pair and same thing happened).
Philips SBC (not as good all around)

Solid sound reproduction Good sound isolation Travel well (partially foldable) Good, long, flexible cord

While generally comfortable, can get a little tight over long periods (by the end of a long movie).

I received these as a gift (with a little guidance given to the giver). They were exactly what I was looking for - high-end sound reproduction, reasonable sound isolation, semi-foldable for travel with a long enough cord for most rooms. I've used them until the coating on the ear pads is nearly gone (anyone know where to get replacement ear pads for these?) Solid sound reproduction - sounds like the source - the better the source the better the sound. Good enough sound isolation to let the tunes and DVD sound through even in the cheap seats of the commuter jets (right next to the engines, I could still get reasonable sound without cranking the volume all the way up). Good enough for decent monitoring during recording - great for experimenting on the road.

Similar Products Used:

Other Sony, Koss, Sennheiser

NONE. These headphones are comparable to the junk headphones that come with cd-players.

Total dissapointment, I was trying to get something to be not so big on my ears, but to sound better than the cheapo headphones that came with my cd-player, what I got is another pair of muddy headphones (SAVE THE RECEiPT if you buy those). I returned them as fast as possible

Total crap. Sounded like in a tunnel without the reverb... coloration is aweful, high dull, non-existent speciousness, and the LACK OF BASS is more than obvious. I bought a pair of JVC's for 29.99 (old-model back then) and was a LOT happier.

Similar Products Used:

Technics, JVC (couple pairs), older 80's sony of similar design (which were excellent)

bass, treble and midrange are all acceptable. Not meant for over sound 150dbs, they tend to blend and static in sound quality. if flat, adjust with e.q.

Not meant for over sound 150dbs, they tend to blend and static in sound quality. if flat, adjust with e.q.

I bought this set 5 years ago and quite frankly, for the price, i found them to be very pleasing. I had played them with my platinum 5.1.1 digital system for my mp3's. I recently bought a pair of wireless from RCA to replace the sony set because of a short in the 1/8" jack end of the cord. Needless to say wireless needs a few more years under their belt to sound as well as the MDR-V200. I will not buy Koss for any reason. And now i'm searching for another pair of the 200's. For the price i'm suprised to read so many complaints. Now i am sure not to take in critical review's. If you don't find these to be your liking, simply keep the receipt.

Similar Products Used:

wireless RCA, $70 - these fade in and out of channels, and do not handle treble very well. Has a constant static background noise also.

bass, treble and midrange are all acceptable. Not meant for over sound 150dbs, they tend to blend and static in sound quality. if flat, adjust with e.q.

Not meant for over sound 150dbs, they tend to blend and static in sound quality. if flat, adjust with e.q.

I bought this set 5 years ago and quite frankly, for the price, i found them to be very pleasing. I had played them with my platinum 5.1.1 digital system for my mp3's. I recently bought a pair of wireless from RCA to replace the sony set because of a short in the 1/8" jack end of the cord. Needless to say wireless needs a few more years under their belt to sound as well as the MDR-V200. I will not buy Koss for any reason. And now i'm searching for another pair of the 200's. For the price i'm suprised to read so many complaints. Now i am sure not to take in critical review's. If you don't find these to be your liking, simply keep the receipt.

Similar Products Used:

wireless RCA, $70 - these fade in and out of channels, and do not handle treble very well. Has a constant static background noise also.

Doesn't exaggerate the music. Clean bass.

Overpriced and underperforming. Weak bass, weak treble, annoying and slightly overemphasized midrange. Not good for the casual listener.

Many of the other reviews have focused on the unimpressive sound from these headphones. I believe this is partially intentional on Sony's part; these are sold as "studio monitor" phones. They won't fatten up your bass or play with your treble -- they're designed to exactly reproduce the source audio. Because most compact discs and other digital sources expect the headphones/speakers/system to adjust bass/treble to the user's liking, they have a pretty flat sound -- which shows up in the headphones. Sadly, these phones are very overpriced in my opinion; they don't really live up to their claims and they're really not very good for listening to music. The bass is precise and clean, but rather weak. Midranges are emphasized, and sound flat -- higher midranges sound piercing and get annoying after awhile. Upper treble is very poorly represented. The headphones are comfortable for short periods of listening but the pads will begin to hurt your ears under extended use. Not recommended. Much better headphones available for cheaper.

GREAT sound (in my specific sample..?)

Fairly uncomfortable after 6+ hours of use.

I got those in ~1991 and I don''t know if I have a different product batch or whatever, but these headphones are really _awesome_. Obviously (?) this is not the case with those that are made today with the same model number though (I have used a friend''s pair with the exakt same model number and they sounded awful).. or it may be that my headphones has 10,000 hours (at least) behind them to stretch the membranes..! I honestly don''t know and I wouldn''t dare giving any recommendations.

On a parallel track the MDR-V100's with a full earcup for good isolation when I am mixing film/video on the set sound way too bassy and are fatiguing to use for any length of time by comparison to the MDR-V6 which has been my standard set headphones.
I don't know how much of an audiophile I am, I just do a lot of sound professionally.

Overall I guess this is a decent headphone. I mainly use it just for my cd-player so it suits me fine. But for those who are using it for other purposes than for a walkman or CD player, I suggest you spend a little more and get a different brand or higher model number, because I feel these headphones are just for average individuals not for audiophiles.