Sony MDR-XB30EX Review

If you ask me which is difficult , choosing a good phone or choosing a good pair earphone, I'd definitely choose the latter. When it comes to choosing a phone, the specifications are pretty explicit and you have a limited no of brands to choose . This makes the process far more easier and you can narrow it down quite easily to 2-3

But when it comes to choosing a pair of earphone you need something ,within your budget, that can give you the sound output equivalent to a super expensive brand and at the same time should be comfortable wearing it and of course long lasting.

A simple search for earphones in all e-commerce websites gave me a list of 40-50 brands each boasting of the best sound quality, at low prices, with great bass and treble  . The process becomes even tough when you have to narrow it down to 4-5 , after sifting through thousands of reviews , both positive and negative. E-commerce retailing can always give you a small disadvantage of not having hearing the sound directly or feeling its touch to see if you are ok with it. Some of my initial choices included a Creative earphones, Philips, House of Marley , Sound Logic ES and of course Sony

With all the other brands, you know that you'll be expecting a fairly straight mid range vocals and a controlled bass. Sometimes the sound can be as flat as it can get and leaves you wanting for that punchy bass feeling that you always wanted.  Sony, in this case has delivered just that

The SonyMDR-XB30EX has the "Extra Bass" in its name itself and delivers a powerful, rich, high bass which no other earphone in this range or even extra can remotely deliver. The sounds are clear, the bass is phenomenal as the pulsating beats can totally deliver a superior performance

I recall a scene in Jobs movie , when he says : "Both "Coach and Economy land in the same runway, but they cant be the same". This is where you realize the power of Sony.

Sony is one of those premium brands that can always be classy to carry around and you know it screams of quality and power. It has the potential to turn you into that ultimate bass head as you begin to swing your head to the tunes of the punchy bass.

I tested these quite extensively with various tracks of DJ LikeMike, The Knife, Hardwell, Metallica and of course some punchy beats of Rahman and the sound output was outstanding. The initial period during burn-in can be a bit wavery but it just gets so much better after that

Price :

Rs.1689 in Amazon :  http://amzn.to/1VpqvtS

Rs.1985 in Flipkart   : http://fkrt.it/EFWg5NNNNN 

Note : This is one of the most popular versions which is duplicated in China. So please be careful and not buy any variants which costs you around 400-450 in less reliable sites like Shopclues

The Flipkart and Amazon link posted above have been personally verified to be original and safe to buy

Summary :

This is one of the best bass earphones in the market and totally worth every penny of it. Chances are that once you get to hear this earphone, you will never go back to any other model or brand

Pros :

• Excellent Bass
• 4Hz- 24000Hz Frequency Response
• 13.5 MM driver that provides the additional bass
• Good price point in the 1500-2000Rs segment.  Comparable brands of similar quality will easily cost Rs.3000+
• Additional earbuds are provided based on ear size

Cons:

Just be very careful while purchasing it, as there are many sites and sellers dealing in duplicate copies of this and you can easily be misled.

Verdict : A definite buy for all music lovers !!

Mi Earphones Basic Review

I have always admired the Xiaomi brand for delivering rock solid phones with excellent quality at a game changing price. Probably they were the ones who influenced other brands to sharply reduce the prices and gave Samsung and HTC's a run for their money. The MI 3 , MI 4 were a huge success when they were launched and the product's quality was proof enough that the brand was serious about quality

With this confidence, I happened to spot the Xiaomi In-Ear Earphones for 299 (+40 Deliver) in the MI.com site . With good descriptions and images, I was quite convinced that they will somehow become a super hit in the earhpones industry as well and challenge Sennheiser , Sony, SkullCandy and the likes. However my joy and expectation was shortlived when I was quite literally vastly disappointed at the earphones I had received.


For Rs.349 , this definitely was one of my biggest mistakes in trusting a brand without reading extensive reviews of it. The earphone was white in colour and had a flat wire which claimed to be non-tangled one.

The first time I heard a few songs , connected through my phone, I realized that this is a bad investment. Though the sound clarity was fine, the earphones provided absolutely no boost or any effect to the song. Both Bass and Treble was completely absent and I had the feeling of listening to a FM radio when in fact a a nice EDM track with 320 KBPS was playing in my phone.

The song was flat , with 0 bass and you could hear the thumping beats and punchy sounds getting dissolved in the background and what you could hear was an average audio quality of the song

Another key issue while buying directly through MI.com was the fact that there is no return policy on this one. They replace if there are any defects but no returns if you dont like the product

Verdict : Do not buy!!

There are plenty of phones in the 300-400 Range in Panasonic, Philips and Creative that offer . If you can go a little higher you can even get a Sennheiser brand :  Sennheiser MX170 for 600rs which is a fantastic buy

Audio Technica - ATH-M20x : Hands-on Review

My search for an ideal professional grade Studio quality headphones finally came to an end,post my purchase of the Audio Technica ATH M20X. When my existing Philips and SkullCandy headphone began to wear out, splurging on this 3000rs headphone seemed to be the most ideal thing to do

The below review is posted after using it extensively for more than a month, every day and passed the burn-in period

Costing Rs.3000 , this is one of the best choices for a over the ear headphone in the 50$ segment and definitely great value for money. Audio Technica may have other cheaper models in the sub 1500Rs segment offering much lower quality and prone to criticism of their brand. But with the M20X , they have hit it right on target and delivers superior quality of music, that's probably heard only in very expensive premium headphones costing 10K+, such as Beats, Sennheiser and JVC.

The other 2 variants in the ATH MX series apart from the M20X include the M30X(Rs.4000 ~ 60USD) and the M50X(Rs.10,000 ~ 150USD). These two variants offer far higher resistance and nearly double the power input of M20X. Sensitivity and frequency response however remains almost identical to all three variants and so do the appearance

The M20X offers the most ideal mix of bass and treble naturally and doesn't require any advanced equalizers to fine tune the audio. The sound output is crystal clear and you can get to hear those special instruments chirping away in the background very clearly. The songs are not distorted by extra punchy bass but at the same time it reproduces the sound effects quite vividly, including the intended bass available in many tracks

Not just songs, but this can be a great choice for watching movies in laptops as well. The flatness in the audio with support for almost all frequency ranges. I played a wide genre of songs in different languages and till now yet to find a track that wasn't justified by the Audio Technica M20X. Even if the track was just 256-320KBS and not necessarily a FLAC/Lossless WAV format, it played it with perfection

The noise isolation was 100% as it complete encompasses your ear and makes you forget the world completely. However person next to you can slightly overhear you if the volume is kept at a slightly higher level



Other Alternatives :

The only 2 other choices that is often considered,in this price range includes the Sony MDR-XB450  and BeyerDynamic.

•  Sony MDR XB450 costs around 2000 and is strictly marketed for "Bass heads" and offers the extra punchy bass along with an excellent depth of quality. But its definitely not for the average music listener or the "purists", who expects to listen the raw version of the song without being distorted by extra high sounding bass.
• BeyerDynamic costing almost similar to the ATH M20X at around 3K INR, it offers a decent alternative to Audio Technica. With similar open back design, swivelling ear cups, Beyerdynamic is modelled along the lines of the former,with similar frequency response and slightly higher bass. 

However, when faced with a choice I'd stricly go for the Audio Technica, primarily because of its military grade quality in both the ear piece as well as its thick insulation cable that stretches to nearly 2-3m. The popularity of the Audio Technica brand among musicians, primarily for studio monitoring purposes thanks to its pure crystal clear sound output, can be a great factor while choosing this headphone

Summary

Pros:

• Outstanding clarity and purity of sound
• Military grade encasing of the 3M Chord with neodymium magnet
• Pricing is quite optimal at the 3K (and definitely offers quality that of a 10K Rs. headphone)
• Best Studio Monitor Headphone in the market
• 100% Sound Isolation
• Also contains an additional 6.5MM jack to connect to Amps

Cons:

• Not foldable and can be quite bulky while travelling.
• Not ideal for jogging/walking (but of course these are meant to be for home use/studio use)
• Can become slightly difficult while listening to it for a stretch ( better to take a few minutes break now and then )

Verdict : Definite buy !!

You can buy it here in Flipkart : http://fkrt.it/SHq2euuuuN