Sony MDR-XB50AP In-Ear Extra Bass Headphones with In-Line Control - Black

Product Information

There is a little bit of audio leakage (people around you hearing your music) if you go to louder volumes. For lower- to medium volumes, you won't bother anyone around. I’m a musician and I play bass. Sound definition is important for me, with a special focus on bass. These do just that. Maybe, as some people say, the highs could be better. But it’s not been a problem for me. In fact, since compression algorithms such as Mp3’s tend to make a mess of higher frequencies, maybe it’s a good thing that these headphones don’t render them too faithfully. I don’t know. In any case, I’ve never noticed a deficiency there personally. Some of these "pros" or "cons" will be a matter of opinion, so I'm just going to list them all together:

I've tried a variety of sounds with this pair of headphones - my music preferences are a bit swingy so I've tested rap, edm, country, acoustic instruments, pop, indie....etc.

Often compared with Sony MDR-XB50AP

The cord feels a little cheap, but it's not too bad. I'm kinda paranoid about crappy cords because I tend to get them tangled up and they end up breaking the earbuds. The actual ear buds are kinda big, as a few people have mentioned. I have medium sized ears and I would say they are pretty big.

If you're in the market for a pair of earphones, then the Sony MDR-XB50 might just fit the bill. Worn in-ear, they weigh 8 g and are designed for comfort.

build quality: pretty good. Cord/earbuds get caught in couch and other furniture often...so far haven't noticed any damage. The silicone pieces earbuds itself sometimes detaches tho, but haven't lost them so far. The "extra bass" thing isn't just a sales pitch - these really do have strong bass. I was very impressed. It made my music sound so much more intense and helped me connect emotionally to it more. It isn't overbearing - it just sounds GOOD. Impactful. Great IEMs with punchy and powerful bass, clear mids and okayish highs. The build quality is great and they look awesome (I got the one in red color). How comfortable they are will depend on person to person, but I felt they I could wear them for extended periods of time without any problems. The sound isolation is decent, but its not enough to isolate the noise of a subway train when you are traveling.

The bass is as described; strong, vibrant, and quite stable. I did notice a decent improvement between these and my previous non-bass-boosting headphones, but I personally believe that it's attributed to a variety of factors, not just the "extra bass" For me, they fit really well in my ears. I've used them at the gym, while running, while on the bus, walking to work...etc and they've never fallen out. Overall, very satisfied with the audio, and I believe that for most consumers, the audio quality is more than enough. The first thing to know about this product is that I found the box containing it impossible to open without tearing the cardboard, and the earbuds were jammed into the plastic insert inside, so even if I wanted to return the product, I'm sure it wouldn't be accepted as a return with a torn box. They are quite comfortable for wearing over long periods of time, including with mild pressure (eg. when slumped over on the bus)First off, my use case is for my cellphone only. I use these with my Google Pixel XL like all earbuds I buy. Which means no EQ tweaking, not much power driving them, just cell phone spec usage. Easily the most impressive part of this product, the isolation almost made me believe that there was active noise cancelling (which there isn't). I can listen to music at moderate-low volume on noisy buses, transit, or at the gym. At home it virtually cancels out all other sounds. This greatly improves my music experience, as I can experience the sounds and basses without interference, which in turn makes them a lot more vibrant. working out with these are cumbersome due to the cable (duh) but is more prone to falling out then normal.

Other than the mic casing, these are made from quality material. You can feel it, and I was able to see it over the years with these ear buds. the earphones depending on your ear shape which in terms of mine, the headphones do fall out by themselves not constantly but enough to be annoying . They come with a soft little carrying pouch with a pull-string closure as well as three pairs of different-sized tips. The ear pieces are big. I thought this would bother me, but I actually don't mind it. They don't feel heavy when worn and I've never had an issue with them falling out of my ear.

Sony MDR-XB50AP - Pros & Cons

So I have been on a tirade of buying earbuds, from 10 dollar cheap-ies to Bose 99.99 earbuds.... and I have to say I am blown away. These earphones had quite good comfort, the tips fit nicely in the ear and sit quite deep. For me they get a bit uncomfortable after prolonged periods of use but that could just be due to me generally getting uncomfortable listening to music for longer than 3 hours. They don't fall out of the ear too easily and don't ever feel too heavy. Overall a very comfortable earphone and which securely fits in the ear. They are a solid pair of buds that don't feel as if they would break easily. I've dropped them many times before from quite high distances where they slam to the ground quite hard, but I didn't notice any difference in sound. Although I did notice a small chip on the outer metal ring on one of the earbuds. Overall the build quality seems relatively decent and could easily last more than a year. One of the best aspects of these earphones is the isolation. They provide incredibly good isolation which in turn greatly improves bass response. The isolation is comparable to Panasonics ergo fit line which I consider to be some of the best isolating non noise cancelling earbuds.