Good audio, good price. Sony’s audio portfolio may had been quite stale in the recent years, but that doesn’t mean they’ve lost their touch when it comes to audio entertainment. In this review I’ll be pitting one of Sony’s most affordable headphones, the MDR-XD200 against low to high quality MP3s, varying music genres such as from rock to classical, techno to pop, games such as Counter Strike Source and Skyrim, and also how it’s comfort and build quality stands up to everyday use.
They’ve got big cans.
Unfortunately, I’ve had the pleasure of throwing the packaging away so I can’t really show you guys about me undressing these Sony’s.
First and foremost, I am not in anyway whatsoever a self-confessed audiophile or any of that sort. I’m somewhat in the middle, I want my music to sound really good, minus the $$$$ equipment. Frankly, I’m taking these on the “slightly above-average Joe” perspective.
Now that’s out of the way, the first thing you’ll realize about these Sony headphone is that really, really long cable.
Yep, it’s THAT long.
Sony made it clear that these are for those who wants to watch their home theatre setup while maintaining a close environment. I find it’s 3m cable to be quite excessive as Sony didn’t offer separate cables instead. You’ll have to improvise with these long cables, maybe just like what I did: tying it up with a rubber band.
Big, puffy pads for the cans.
The cans are huge, and quite comfy. I think I have fairly large ears, yet they fit snugly throughout my ears. During the first few minutes of using the headphones, the side of my head feels like it’s been gently massage (or something similar like that). Yet, moving on towards the 1 hour mark, I can’t help but notice the biased pressure on the front-side of my face than on the back. It’s not what I would call unbearable, just irritating enough for me to take it off and let my sides rest for a few minutes.
Double headband? Quad headband?
Sony opted for a dual headband design which I believe to be quite practical and just overall more comfortable than the solo headband that litters most of the headphones out there. I’ve used the SteelSeries Siberia before, and let me tell you that this design is really, really comfy. However, instead of using an elastic nylon/cotton material like the Siberia, Sony used some sort of a rubber/plastic material which isn’t really something I would rate as the Siberias. Even then, I feel no pressure on the top of my head, it’s almost non-existent!
For BND$40 headphones, the build quality’s quite so-so.
When it comes to build quality, I would rate it slightly below average. Every time I extend the cans to fit them on my head, it makes a cheap ‘creak’ sound. Should I mention that there’s no metal used here? Well, actually I’m quite happy that metal isn’t used primarily. I’d rather have a flimsy but elastic plastic to hold the cups than a brittle metal. Yes Beats headphones, I’m looking at you.
Don’t expect much.
Looking at the cans itself, you’ll notice there’s a slider underneath each. It shows “movie” on one side and “music” in the other. I find this addition odd in a budget headphone, so I wasn’t expecting much from it, probably just an aesthetic addition. My first few minutes of using the headphone confirms my belief on these sliders being useless. Well, until I started using 320 kbps MP3s with music genres that has a strong techno-theme to it. It’s not just for aesthetics, it really does make a slight change in how the music is outputted. From “music” to “movie”, I find that in general the mids and lows got a slight bump upwards, which makes sense as in a movie strong audio ambience immersion is key, while listening to music marathons with strong bass might cause fatigue on some people. I think Sony used a passive blocker for this, since it really feels plastic-ky.
Notice the slant on the insides?
It should be a crime for anyone to make the drivers to touch the ears with such uncomfortable degree. Thankfully Sony put effort into removing this problem by slanting the driver base so that it aligns parallel to your ear. What does this mean? It means that the audio can get as close to your ear as possible without it putting stress and pressure on your ears.
Snug and tight, but leaks.
When I first used the headphones, I can’t make up my mind if it’s either a closed or an open can design. It certainly did muffle up enough of the ambient noise, but I can still hear people around me talk, the whine of cars passing by and all that. It wasn’t until I turn up the volume to 80% on my Nokia that it fully drowns out the outside noise. Yes the sound leaks unfortunately, except that the leak isn’t as horrendous as I expected it to be. Suffice to say, on 50% volume and in a quiet room, a person beside you might hear whatever you’re listening, but it’s not an ear-bleeding leak. It’s quiet subtle really.
AUDIO TESTING
Alright, time for the main part, testing it’s audio output. I’ll be using 5 songs consistently throughout my reviews. One of them I’ve ripped at WMA lossless format and others at 320 kbps MP3 format. The songs will be:
[Metallica – Enter the Sandman] WMA lossless
[Adelitas Way – Sick] MP3 320 kbps
[Yanni – Never Leave The Sun] MP3 320 kbps
[Michael Gettel – When All Is Quiet (She Dreams of Horses)] MP3 320 kbps
[Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill] MP3 320 kbps
Other conditions:
Played through Zune media player
Default volume at 100%
Zune volume at 50%
Sound card is a generic “High Definition Audio Device” (through Device Manager)
No enhancements in the control panel are used
Headphones set to “MUSIC” mode
Metallica – Enter the Sandman
Wow. And I thought it sounded good on my crappy earphones that came with my phone. This sounded WAY better. Let me put this in details. During the intro, I can hear the guitar plucks making a reverberating sound around me. The sound stage was really there. Comparing this to my old crappy earphones, it feels like a crappy radio churning static in a monotone while the Sonys create a real surrounding stage and it seriously picks up more minute details that I wouldn’t have noticed on my earphones. Still, I can’t help but notice a slight crackling sound when the cymbals were played. This is true throughout the highs, it seems that it can’t handle much of the higher frequency of the sound spectrum. The bass felt really, really good. It was punchy, but not so much that it would feel muddy. Only after hearing through these headphones that I realized how much muddy and overblown basses are played these days. Those bass made me feel like I’m drowning, these bass delivers a solid and controlled punch into my ear canal. The mids are ok, but not something to write home about. I do notice a little bit more detail in with the guitars, but it also gets lost easily when too much instruments (mainly the highs) are played. Actually, it’s the cymbals that were lost the most. It seems that the sound stage of these headphones, while a major improvement over crappy earphones, still doesn’t offer the much needed area for the instruments to play individually. It felt a bit cramped once you get used to it. Moving on towards the solos, WOW! I don’t know what happened, but I’m beginning to notice all the instruments more clearly. It’s as if the headphones just needed a few minutes of music to stretch out. I heard the guitar solo with crystal clarity, it was oh-so-good to hear. I still hear the crackling in the background though, but that’s usually during the quiet moments. Vocals were really clear, not too crispy not too muddy, it was perfect and was in front amongst the instruments.
Adelitas Way – Sick
Oh my God, I just LOVE how these pair handles the beats in the intro, and it handles the sound stage really well as a stereo headset. When the guitar riffs comes in, it was absolutely delicious, the minute detail was heard. Then Rick’s vocals move in and yes, despite being surrounded by cymbals, mid and highs of the guitars and the beating of the drums, his voice was very apparent and in the middle amongst the others. The beats of the drums were well received, punchy and controlled. Cymbals were, mostly drowned unfortunately. It requires a bit of effort to detect them. During the vocal solo, Rick’s voice was crystal clear. Other than the cymbals, it was the high guitar riffs that were a bit drowned by other instruments, but it’s still there and doesn’t requires as much effort as the cymbals. Generally, it was the mids that were the stars of this song when using the headset.
Michael Gettel – When All Is Quiet (She Dreams of Horses)
Transition from earpiece to the MDR-XD200 was like moving from 1950’s TV show to a 2011 one. Yes, it’s just pure clarity, but once again I felt a few bit of distortion here and there when the highs are in. But overall it was beautiful. I can’t help but have this feeling that I’m missing a few minor sounds though.
Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill
It’s quite obvious that this headphone rapes any previous cheap/generic/one-that-comes-with-your-phone earphones (or headphones for that matter). The Beats are once again punchy and just right, not muddy at all. I also noticed that some sort of buzz in the background that I wouldn’t have noticed with my cheap earphones. But where it really shines here is the sound stage (again). I can easily differentiate which sounds that are far or near.
I noticed that these stereo headphones just lacks any positional audio to help out the placements of each sound. Doesn’t look too good on the gaming front from here.
Counter Strike Source
Every click, every reload, the drop of a shotgun shell, the blast from the AWP. Crystal clarity. It’s safe to say it feels like I developed a 6th sense when I mowed CTs through the ‘assault’map. Unfortunately, my gripe on these headphones were true. It doesn’t offer any true positional audio that would satisfy a serious gamer. You might hear someone entering through the vents when you’re in the hostage room, but you won’t be given sufficient positional info to pick it out, so you’ll have to improvise by memorizing the sounds heard.
Skyrim
This is coming from a guy who’s been a fan of the Elder Scrolls series since Morrowind. Yes, Morrowind, can’t believe Live Writer red-lined that one. Sheesh. Anyway, the sounds from Skyrim was just absolutely beautiful. It would be a crime to not at least put effort into using a good pair of headphones for this game. In contrast to CS: Source however, Skyrim offers a much more accurate audio positions in-game. Yes, that means I don;t have to turn around like a blind man (curse you default FOV) to find where the hell did that dragon came from. The real highlight here is the sounds of magic 9or any kind of missile) being cast. It was really clear and beautiful. When I casted a healing spell, the sound of my heartbeat felt really good and (yes) punchy. When pissed off giants slam the ground it shook my ears a lot. Music in-game was pleasing to the ear during my lazy strolls on the field near Whiterun, while epic dragon-battle songs (Sons of Skyrim) got my heart and mind really going and my hairs standing up.
Conclusion
Now, where should put this headphones in? They’re certainly quite good, but definitely not the high-end.I would say that this is a headphone that’s for people who don’t want to shell out big bucks on the counter yet at the same time wants it to bring out good audio output. As for things that brings out the bigger band for the buck, you’ll have to compromise with it’s creaky construction, uncomfortable long-term wear and also the (friggin’) long cable. But for the price you pay, it’s a wonderful value. Definitely a nice and comfortable step up from any of these cheap earphones you’re probably using.
*My first review here, hope I did well. It wasn’t in my intention to sound professional or any of that sort. Just a casual review actually. Next up, review of the Kinzu mouse. This is S2Koprio, out.
