Sony MDRZX310-WQ Foldable Headphones - Metallic White

I got these for my 8 year old son and these headphones have absolutely no right to sound this good for $20. I am an audiophile with 30 years of listening experience and I am absolutely stunned at what they have been able to achieve at such a low price point. Simply put, this level of sound quality just wouldn't have been possible even 10 years ago. What strikes you most about the sound is the sense of dynamics and rhythmic drive. Even out of a bare iPhone 6 with no headphone amp, these 'phones deliver a nice energy to the music, following rhythmic lines quickly and easily. The bass in particular came through with authority and weight and I was impressed at how solid and punchy it sounded - again, for this price point. This is not nearly a high resolution set of 'phones by any stretch - for example, the treble is slightly rolled off to be sure, but personally I'd much prefer treble that is rolled off and still pleasing, rather than the shrill sound that is far too common with cheap gear. They seemed to work reasonably well directly out of my iPhone and Macbook too, sounding just fine directly from the headphone jack with no amp needed. But of course they DID sound much much better with one of my home headphone amps (Naim Audio Headline in the context of an all-Naim system), where they even began to even start to give you a tiny bit of "snap" - but then again, using a set of $20 headphones with an $800 headphone amp is pretty ridiculous and unlikely! But it was a fun experiment. Lastly, the headphones themselves seemed much higher quality than the price would suggest. The earpieces were soft and overall they were reasonably comfortable. All in all, you just can't go wrong with these, and I was simply not expecting this at only 20 bucks. What have you got to lose?

I bought these to use on public transit on my way to and from work. I wanted a cheap pair in case they got broken or stolen. I must admit, when I first opened the package they arrived in I wasn't impressed, but I gave them a chance. I had read all of the negative comments about them. I have had them for a few weeks now and I like them. They are comfortable, the sound is decent, there is more bass than I expected. I also have a pair of studio beats and a pair of studio AKGs that I love. For the price, if something happens to them, I would get another pair. The negative remarks I read must be people who are very picky and hard to please. You can't expect good quality from inexpensive headphones. I am pleased for the price I paid. They definitely don't compare to my beats or AKGs but they aren't supposed to.

These headphones are currently my favorite cheap headphone. They are more comfortable than the tiny headphones, they stay on better than the behind the head headphones. Of course I wouldn't use them for mixing. Then if I wanted to hear my mix in headphones I use Sennheiser MD-600. I use these for such things as watching videos on a laptop that doesn't have speakers, and playing guitar along to a CD. Actually, the real reason I wanted to write a review is to scold Sony for publishing bogus specifications. Sony had a professional audio products division and therefore should know better. The frequency response specification of 10 to 24000 Hz is incomplete and therefore meaningless. 10 to 24,000 Hz +/- .5 db would be an excellent specification. 10 to 24, 000 HZ +/- 3 db would be a very poor specification. Without the variance number the rest is meaningless. This specification is supposed to tell you how much the level of different notes vary within a range of frequencies. Just stating a range of frequencies is meaningless. Sony is implying that the consumer no longer knows anything about audio. It makes it difficult to compare products when the specifications are meaningless. Look at the specifications on Sony professional audio products. They will look more like 30-17,500 Hz. +/- .5 db. They want to show a low variance and so limit the frequency range. An audio db or decibel is the minimum difference an ear can hear. If, within a range of frequencies the variance is +/- .5 db, that means a particular note may be as much as 1/2 db louder than the other notes, or 1/2 db lower. So there may be as much as 1db difference between the different notes in this range. This is barely noticeable. This would be considered a very flat and smooth frequency response. With a variance of +/- 3 db., some notes recorded at the same level would be as much as 6db louder than others. This would sound bad and be considered a very poor frequency response specification.

I attended a training session where these were used and was TOTALLY impressed by the folding design and quality. SO immediately went and ordered this set. I had expected to get the one exactly as ordered (no mike) but it came with the mike on the cord. Rather than immediately get upset, after a lot of checking into things and sources, I found that the units are exactly the SAME in audio quality, and because the unit with the mike is more popular the other seems to be an issue to get. SO now I have a great set of headphones for use with my Canon Video Camera, ZOOM H6, and my Smartphone.. sweet. I'm a Happy camper..

Too much bass. If you have an equalizer you can decrease the bass and the sound is acceptable. I bought the white ones. The color should not matter but it seems to actually matter. After buying two pairs of white headphones I later bought the same model in red. The red ones were garbage because of poor sound quality. My guess is that the color is not the only difference. Maybe the red ones have different construction and materials. The covers that come in contact with your ears are low quality and deteriorate quickly. I bought them and later bought a second pair and then a third pair.

I'm kind of mixed about my rating. Although they are great headphones for my grandson, it's the only type he'll wear, he has autism, he uses them for his devices, but also uses them to block out unwanted noise! His hearing is extremely sensitive because of the Autism. I've lost count of how many pair I have bought, some last quite a while, others maybe a couple weeks, and it's always the same problem, one ear cup just stops working! No damage, just quit! I have at least 15-20 pair that only one side works. That definitely really upsets Justin. I don't know what to do, because I can't buy another brand, only Sony! But when they work, they have great sound!!

These are my favorite headphones and I use them all the time. The sound is clear and the style of headphone is everything. I don't have to worry about them falling out of my ears or anything like that and they cover my ears so I can't hear anything around me when my music is playing. I also like the foldable feature. It helps when I put them in my case for my gym bag. All in all, Great investment. The shipping was quick and the product was what I was looking for. If I ever purchase more headphones, I will repurchase these.

I have bought several of these after leaving them in hotels and rental cars. They are my go to travel headphones because they are compact and over the ear. I don't want to stick buds in my ear after touching airplanes or airports! Perfect for streaming and ignoring loud children on long flights. I don't hear a thing expect what I am supposed to.