Sony MDR-ED21LP Fontopia In-The-Ear Headphones (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

It's not surprising to see the Sennheiser CX300's listed as #1 on Amazon's list of best-selling earbud headphones. The most popular consumer magazine recently rated them above a pair costing ten times as much. But it's somewhat surprising that the Sony MDR-ED21 earbuds aren't listed more prominently among Amazon's best-sellers, since they were also rated above the costly "audiophile" earbuds and are currently selling at a sizable discount even to the CX300's.When my wife borrowed my Sony ED21's and didn't want to give them back, I decided to order the CX300's. While I don't necessarily regret the decision, I do have second thoughts. A few observations:1. The Sennheisers plug directly into the ear canal; the Sony ED21 design is a "compromise" between the familiar, conventional buds (e.g. Apple's standard issue) that are held in place by the cartilage of the outer ear and plugs that are inserted into the ear canal. The Sony buds enter the canal but only part way, sealing out less sound than the Sennheiser CX300s but compensating for the loss with an ingenious little "sound board" that serves to boost the bass. (Because of this design, it's especially critical with the ED21's not to switch left and right ear-buds.)2. Bass, or lack of it, is the main issue with any earbuds--the reason that listeners still use full-sized headphones. Both the Sennheiser and Sony buds reproduce the deepest bass frequencies, but both are admittedly quite "anemic" (and I'm someone who's habitually complaining about over-amplified bass). Because they form a tighter seal and are more sensitive (i.e. louder), the Sennheisers have a slight edge in reproducing bass without the use of equalization, etc. (If you expect to have big bass with a pair of ear buds, best wait: Sony has announced the imminent release of a radically new design. Price? Five hundred smackers.)3. The CX300X buds have outstanding treble, but compared to the MDR-ED21 buds, the balance in the mid-range lacks richness and warmth to my ears, sounding almost "tinny" upon some quick exchanges between the two devices. I'm afraid the resonant vocal tones of Sinatra or Renee Fleming are done the greater disservice by the Sennheiser buds.4. The 3 pairs of covers, or soft adapters, included with the Sennheiser buds have less to do with the size of the listener's ear canal than with his or her preference. All three are likely to "fit," so the question is how deep the listener wishes the bud to penetrate the auditory canal. The largest one is no doubt the "safest," but the smallest one will provide the tightest seal--along with the best bass and smoothest overall sound. (But best decide which of the three you prefer asap. My guess is that misplacing one of these is more a probability than a possibility.)5. Some Amazon reviewers have criticized Sennheiser's designers for shortening the length of wire (by two-thirds) to the left earpiece. Sennheiser justifies the asymmetrical length with directions that the long wire (to the right ear) is to be worn behind the neck, thus avoiding superfluous wire hanging from the user's chin. I'm OK by that,, but should it be an issue, the Sony buds employ wires that are of equal length--and, moreover, are adjustable. (Just remember that the Sony mini-cans are essentially ineffective if left and right ear buds get switched around; with the Sennheiser's the only effect would be a reversing of channels.)6. Possible deal-maker/breaker: the CX300's come with a slightly larger housing for the 3.5mm plug, yet turning the plug in my player or jiggling the cord itself transmits static, "microphonics," and other non-musical sounds, sometimes causing a channel to cut out momentarily. I can't reproduce the effect in the Sony ED21's, which appear to be much better insulated. Runners probably should steer clear of the Sennheisers; either that, or take seriously Sennheiser's directions (on their website) to wear the "long wire" behind the neck to reduce flapping of the wires.7. The Sennheiser buds come with those 4 extra ear covers--that's it; the Sony pair comes with a little cinch carrying bag--that's it. Take your pick. I'm giving the Sony's an extra star for better durability and insulation, better protection against hearing damage, better price, and at least comparable sound. (Or, purchase both, and use the Sony sack for storing the extra Sennheiser covers.)

Inoffensive is the word that these earbuds bring to mind and that isn't bad at all for earbuds of any price. Listening on my music phone (Samsung SPH-A920), I rarely find myself thinking about these earphones at all... a noteworthy achievement. When played on better equipment in a quiet room they can't compete with better headphone/earphones I've tried -- lacking clear treble, strong bass, or a defined soundstage -- but they are still decent for earbuds, particularly at their price.Like all earbuds, sound quality is very dependent upon fit. For my ears, the ED21LP's offer fairly good (but not powerful) bass and midrange with slightly muffled treble. The treble isn't bad, I had no trouble picking out and following counterpoint or appreciating complex harmonies. But when switching to the ED21LPs from better earphones (KSC75) it was noticeably muffled and lacked a the sense of clear separation of sounds (from multiple voice/instruments). Again, the ED21LPs treble is perfectly listenable, but it certainly isn't the best when directly compared to my portable headphones or in-ear canal phones. Fit did have a huge impact on quality though and I spend a fair amount of time wiggling these things around to get the best sound. As such, your experience may very depending on silly things like ear shape and how/where you let the cable hang. On the plus side, the ED21LP's do stay in place better than other earbuds, staying put for awhile once you do find the sweet spot... again, at least for me.Bass is very good for earbuds. Which is to say that it's there. You can follow a bassline and even some of the fundamentals in Organ music. Recordings without a lot of harmonics will show the lack of depth of these phones, but the same can be said of $1000+ bookshelf monitors as neither were designed with deep bass in mind. For normal listening bass is quite reasonable -- you can hear it cleanly, but there isn't much "bloom" or "punch" I've played them on a decent quality headphone amp (Headroom Bithead) and even then, if you're looking for strong bass you'll be turning these way up. But that isn't a solution as mids and highs become painfully harsh quite quickly as the gain goes up. At moderate listening levels, the ED21LP's are very pleasant, with tight (not muddy) bass and accurate mids (my subjective opinion only as I don't have the equipment or desire to do any actual testing).Summing up:Lack of strong bass isn't a valid criticism of earbuds -- it's a trade off inherent in the design. Unfortunately the extreme portability that makes earbuds so attractive often finds them playing in noisy environments where decent bass is a must. Which is why I recommend looking for quality canal-phones instead. As earbuds go, these Sony's are better than most I've heard. Only really excelled by better designs (in-ear canal type phones / portable headphones). If you need an upgrade for your portable music player and want something with enough musicality not to completely disappoint with classical, opera, and jazz and just enough bass to manage more popular tracks -- these aren't a bad choice. Dance and hip-hop fans will certainly want more bass, but I doubt they'll find it in any earbud. You can do better, however, if you are willing to set aside earbuds for better designs. Personally I have a set of slightly modified (tape over the ports) Koss Sparkplugs that are noticeably better than the ED21LPs for about the same price. Or you can blow them both away with a set of quality earclips (Koss KSC75's are an excellent choice).-- note: These earbuds really benefited from a bit of burn in. When I first unwrapped them and hooked them up I nearly sent them back, as they were unbelievably harsh. My first listening session ended after 10 minutes of teeth grinding with more than a bit of a headache. After being left to play overnight at moderate volume they were much improved. The impressions in this review are after a few weeks of play.

This is the 3rd pair of these in-ear phones that I have bought over the years, and they continue to emit an excellent, crystal-clear sound with a massive range in tone - deep resounding bass and clear (but not noisy) treble. The in-ear format sits snuggly in your ear with no discomfort whatsover, and for me, they sit very firmly too. I can turn my head vigorously from side to side knowing they won't fall out.An excellent purchase from a well-known reliable manufacturer!

Which magazine gave these top marks for in-ear headphones, and they are good. Don't expect the performance of proper headphones, but of this small type one of the best I have tried. Also tried the Sennheiser in-ear recommended by Which, but they were poor with strange scratchy treble notes. At the price of the Sony ones you probably can't do much better.

I thought I did an extensive enough research but alas, nothing in the other reviews indicated these are actually only good for hip-hop and RNB /not that I don't love these styles/.Briefly - good design, good fit, amazing bass... but the treble is left behind. If you wanna listen to anything like heavy metal and classical music that requires a good balance of bass and treble, just... DON'T go for these - the music is just spoilt. Otherwise, they are two classes above anything else I've tried for the same money - fuller sound in general and deeper bass - oh yeah, no complaints in that department.After buying 4 pairs in the sub-£25 price range, I think my friend's advice is spot on - the only way to get a decent pair of headphones that you don't need to change every 6 months is to go for something in the £50-£80 price range. Anything less and you will always have to compromise.

Great value for money! They are cleverly designed not to go too deep in the ear. Performance is excellent. They arrived as promised and the whole transaction worked very smoothly.

These phones are well enough made but beware if you think they are ear canal type buds! They have a 20mm hard shell (about the size of UK 5 pence coin) which must fit inside the ear to stay put. This proved too large for my average sized ears. There is a pliable rubbery face on the shell from which the sound emerges but I would rather have the entire shell made from this stuff. I didn't seem to be able to get this far enough into my ear to hear the best sound.All in all they are quite well made but uncomfortable to wear. The sound is not bad but nothing spectecular. My cheaper Creative 630 buds sound better! I use in ear canal type buds again and may donate the EP 21LPs to someone with big ears.