Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review
(81 customer reviews) 104 of 106 people found the following review helpful
Good match for an MP3 player,
February 11, 2007 Petur O. Jonsson (Fayetteville, NC USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sony MDR-EX90LP Stereo Earphones (Electronics)
The one critical difference between this headphone and the others in the MDR-EX series from Sony is the width of the drivers. This headphone uses 13.5 mm drivers, whereas the MDR-EX81, MDR-EX71 and MDR-EX51 all use 9 mm drivers.
The larger driver yields two distinct improvements: (1) better clarity, and (2) greater efficiency. The efficiency is important if you want to use this headphone with an MP3 player since most MP3 players have very little power. This headphone is rated at 106 dB/mW whereas all the ones with the 9 mm drivers are rated at 100 dB/mW. This is a difference of 6 dB and the rule of thumb is that it takes about 3dB for us to hear a clear difference in the volume level.
Note that the greater efficiency is not just important for playing music loudly, it is critcally important for a proper delivery of dynamic range at low levels of volume. It should therefore not be surprising that these headphones are a significant improvement over the ones with the...Read more
56 of 56 people found the following review helpful
Rich Bass, Expanisve Sound, Secure Fit but Little Noise Isolation,
November 24, 2006 H. Hong (NYC) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sony MDR-EX90LP Stereo Earphones (Electronics)
An update after 3 months of usage:
I uphold my original opinion. EX90 is worth the price. Indeed, it is value for money when compared to any of the headphones that Shure has to offer. The bass in your well-coded MP3s will no longer sound like somebody's beating a broker drum under water...
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I have previously owned Shure E2C, Sony MDR-EX 51/71/81, Ipod buds, a pair of AIWA earphone comes with a top of the range walkman. I have also tested Boss QC3 and Boss Tripod.
The Sound: very rich bass, crystal clear treble and medium frequency sounds full and realistic. It is definitely better than all the headphones listed above. The Ipod buds are a disaster.
E2C has good bass, when you fit it in your ear correctly. But the other frequency ranges are much lass well defined. Consequently, its sound is not as clear. EX71/81 has similar problem, but at less than half the price of the...Read more
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Well worth the price,
September 26, 2006 Fosdick Fong (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sony MDR-EX90LP Stereo Earphones (Electronics)
I own over 20 pairs of earhpones and headphones and this is the second best pair just next to my full size Sennheiser HD600. I have compared it to its Sony Fontopia siblings such as the EX-71SL and EX-81LP and found that this EX-90LP definitely sounds superior to them. The EX-71SL and EX-81LP actually sound alike with only one major difference of the ear-hook on the EX-81LP; otherwise the materials and technologies are the same. While both the EX-71SL and EX-81LP use a 9mm driver, this one uses a 13.5mm driver which gives far better dynamic range and signifcantly better bass besides delivering more natural sounds. Using this EX-90LP on an ordinary MP3, I immediately heard more details in the recordings which I did not realize they ever existed. The human voice came out more naturally (the other two had some voices a bit exaggerated) and I could hear deeper bass and clearer cymbals with more overtones and longer resonances. For those who failed to appreciate the sound of this...Read more
