Sony MDRX10/RED X Over-The-Ear Headphones Red/Silver (Renewed)

I'm in an apartment that I need to move out of soon, and I do almost all of my listening these days withheadphones in any case. If I find headphones fatiguing, I never listen to them: they end up gathering dust.Or, if I find their overall performance crap, or the sound dull. Goodbye.Having said that, I'm not really a huge fan of Sony's headphones these days. I do own a 2008 Sonyhome theater in a box set, which is decent but not outstanding (not top end), and a small Sony 2011bookshelf system with Ipod dock--which sounds good for basic apt. background listening and radio),so I do own some basic Sony audio stuff which is good for certain things. I feel like their headphonesare hit or miss though lately, with quality, build, and performance. I don't really love Bluetooth because I likebeing able to control the ampage and EQ as much as possible with wired setups, and the still-iffy quality ofwireless audio.I wanted cans that offer much better bass response than most of the other quite excellent headphones I've bought the past five years or so. Some have tons of bass, like Koss PortaPros or the wonderful Linsoul Pro ZS10 IEMs. The PortaPros are great but a bit flimsyand delicate, though totally portable, and the IEMs are great when I want the IEM sound and portability,but sometimes I don't want to feel isolated as IEMs can sometimes make you feel like.I also recently invested in a pair of Audio-Technica MH20xs, good budget studio monitor cans, but, they aren't really super bass-cannons, and they are a bit analytical and "dry," and this is not what I want from a pair of totally "fun", warm, bass-heavy headphones for sheer music listening. If you want that, put on the ATs, or my Fostex RP40s, which will give you detail but not massive bass. I find the ATs are better for classical, jazz, and watching streamingstuff online or movies and such. They're just not super musical, since they're intended as pro monitors.They are excellent though for $55 studio cans. However.... I'm difficult to please.I still wanted more serious sized, bass-heavy but not distorted etc. headphones that were light and comfortable. I heard the MDRX10s were exemplary in that mode. You cannot find them retail in NY or LI where I'm at these days,since Sony seems to be pushing their very basic BT headphones and sports buds and such, and nothing"limited edition" like the X10s, which is very bloody annoying, so I ordered them up on Amazon frommy man BigBanana (sic) from out there in sunny Alameda, California. He shipped these big bassy bastardsPriority Mail and they showed up fast. I opened the package and held my breath, expecting to hear cheapsounding sludgey cans that made Beats actually sound good. Oh, how the mighty have risen.I received mine today, 12/30/19, and thus far, they absolutely deliver what they promise. In my experience this is a rarity for Sony these days, and a rarity for headphones in general. I don't like Beats, don't think their quality is good enough to warrant the price, bass or not. I've previewed Bose and they generally sound good, but kind of boringand lifeless to my ears, with pleasant bass, but nothing truly outstanding, minus the high prices andmaybe noise-canceling if you absolutely need that. I own Hifiman HE400I planar magnetics, which are the best open back headphones I own, they have nice solid tight bass, but not Deep DELICIOUS brain-eating bass. Overall quality and detail, and high end, they beat these Sonys, but, on the other hand, the MDRX10s are stupendous for some decent clarity, they don't sound muddy at all, and, they pack a MASSIVE wallop in terms of bass response, impact, and bass clarity. I would differentiate this way: The Hifiman HE400Is have a warmish, clear, detailed darkish signature withtight, clean bass, and super detailed sparkling high end, but require a lot of amp power, whereas the MDRX10s offer high efficiency, super warm, muscular powerful bass response, with more of a sound signature that reminds me of great powered DJ monitors like KRK, JBL, or Pioneers with a good subwoofer added in. You can also drivethe X10s with a phone or media player or tablet, without necessarily having to add a separate head. amp.For really good quality 50mm bass-heavy headphones, that is a true accomplishment, without their losinga lot of detail and quality in the mids and highs in the process. Also, the bass on the X10s doesn't getmuddy or buzzy like those ghastly bass-adjustable Skullcandy Krushers that have a sliding bass switch on 'em.Stay far away from those unless you like distorted bass in your drum and bass music.I need only turn these bad boys up to maybe 10-12 on my PC Creative Labs amp setup, with some EQ,to get a gorgeous loud but listenable level overall, with truly ass kicking bass for rock, dance music, etc. Afterabout eight hours of testing, with a pair that was sent to me new, or open-box new, these headphones stillfelt comfortable due to the soft on-ear pads, I wasn't expecting that, and, they deliver some serious performance,easily 10x what I'd expected from them from reviews here or on YouTube. I feel like Sony still makes quality stuff,but mainly at their higher end, top shelf, but the X10s at roughly $90 that I paid for mine, easily punch way above their price point. They seem to be well-made and are definitely comfortable, and even offer two removablecables, and a nice vinyl metallic case. They're quite lightweight, and look stylish and attractive without beingtoo garish. They're spectacularly efficient headphones, even though they actually seem to offer a prettypowerful, bass-emphasized signature, but still with some good clear mids and highs, and, the highs aren'tshrill or overbearing in any way. This is highly important as I CANNOT STAND shrill, metallic, sibilant,annoying unpleasant highs. But I love me some good solid bass where the kick drum in say, the averageHD recording of The Police, (Voices Inside My Head) sounds like I'm putting my head about three feet or lessfrom the kick drum riser. It doesn't sound like someone kicking the pedal against a rug, it sounds likeStewart Copeland actually kicking that bloody pedal on that bloody kick drum.Yes, these are better than Beats, by far, and they cost less, and they have more bass than many higher-endheadphones I could name (Grado? Beyer? AKG? All great headphones that lack heavy bass). That's aboutall you need to know. If you want budget-priced headphones with some unbelievable deep yet tight bass,and clarity otherwise, and comfort, I can't recommend too many other headphones that fit the bill in a DJtype design, that deliver all of the points I've mentioned. I even own new PIoneer X7 DJ pro headphones,and, honestly, I like the sound of the MDRX10s better, because, the Pioneers A. don't have as much goodbass as these do and B. they were a lot more money and C. they are spectacularly heavy, and not verycomfortable and D. the overall sound signature is a bit muddy, total V shape, murkier bass and highsand not much good midrange at all. They distort a lot more easily at higher volumes than the X10s.So, Sony has redeemed themselves a bit this time out. I figured I'd laugh at how awful they sounded,and send them right back to Amazon, but, instead, I lucked out with a really bracing sounding pairof headphones with 50mm drivers and bass that truly devastates. I mainly listen to rock, pop, dance music,goth, 80s, folk rock, power pop, etc., and metal. The X10s are the perfect headphones for these genres.If you want to listen to nothing but classical and jazz, I recommend the Hifimans, BeyerDynamics,AKGs, Grados, etc. As for the Sony MDRX10 "Simon Cowell but you needn't like him or his silly show to buy these": I recommend putting these through the best amplifier you own, EQing them to cut the regular bass down a tad and up the sub-bass a bit, and playing The Sisters Of Mercy's "Dominion/Mother Russia" at about volume 14, and be prepared for the retro nightclub playing in your head. You have been warned for bass masturbation ecstasy dead ahead.

OK, I'll admit that I have never considered spending more than $50 on a pair of headphones. For as many pairs as I have owned, I consider them a perishable item, along the same lines as sunglasses and shoes (yeah, there's fashionable, but then there's also just wasting too much money).I've owned all sorts, from all sorts of manufacturers, and they have all served their purpose as a way to listen to my music without disturbing those around me. Some were better than others, and each style has it's own purpose, whether it's to be light and unobtrusive as in earbuds, or all encompassing and ambient as in over the ears.I finally decided to up my budget as I wanted something with the volume and clarity to use while DJ'ing in louder environments. I considered allot of the current trend items (Beats, SOL, Skull Candy, etc.), as well as trusted brands (Sony, Bose, JBL, etc.). I landed here because of my previous experiences with Sony headphones (I've always found them to have excellent sound reproduction in comparison to their price points). So, I like their sound for price ratio. This quickly ruled out Beats, Bose, and JBL because Beats are overpriced for the sound quality and Bose and JBL may be worth the price, but that price is just too high for something I consider perishable. While I have liked some Skull Candy offerings, they seem to be more fashion than function to me.I considered several models from Sony, mainly in this on the ear style, and most with the X bass feature. I eventually landed on this model because of the price in comparison to the sound and features.For $100 I got...Full sized on the ear headphones with 50mm driversFolding and extended swivel ear cups with allot of paddingSingle point cable attachment, that can be disconnected/replacedTwo cables one standard tangle free, and on apple compliant control/mic cableA 1/4" headphone jack adapterA plastic/pleather caseI wanted to get them in Black/Silver, but the few pairs left were more expensive than the similar/replacement 920 model. And I'll pay $40 less and live with the slightly more decadent Red/Silver version.As I said, I got these for the main purpose of monitoring on my DJ sets, but I will use them in other aspects as well. With the DJ'ing, of course there will be a lot of pop, rap, hip-hop, house, techno, funk, etc. But I love to listen to all sorts of music from rock and metal, to country, easy listening, and other "softer" musical genres.First off, these are definitely built for the bass loving genres. They have a great amount of full and clear bass, so much as to tickle the hairs in your ear canal, even without going full volume on your playback device (I've used them on a Droid Razr Maxx HD, an iPad, Asus laptop, Hercules RMX2 mixer, and so on).When listening on my Droid Razr Maxx HD, I used to have the volume on full with lower end headphones and earbuds to get close to full sound. Not so with these, 75% volume was plenty loud, full, rich, and clear. I've seen other reviews that recommend using an amplifier in conjunction with their devices and I have to wonder how much volume do they feel they need? I mean those hairs that are tickling are meant to be there to help you hear, and can be destroyed by volumes at that level.While the bass is definitely the focal point, the mids and highs are still there in clear and distinct quality. I usually listen with flat EQ settings to reproduce a variety of musical styles as they were intended, I only adjust for the speaker by utilizing pink noise to adjust or modeling based on response graphs. I found that while the bass at a flat setting was very much on top of the mix, it did not take much reduction in the low end of the EQ to get a flatter "real world" response and the sound quality was still excellent, with rich, full and crisp sound that maintained allot of volume headroom.With that being said, while mixing I leave my EQ flat because the enhanced bass makes it easy to passively hold the beat and not have to intensely press an earcup to your ear and focus on finding the rhythm.The design of these earcups are excellent. While they rest "on the ear", they are large and supple, making them comfortable as well as "noise cancelling" (they don't actually have a "noise cancelling" chip or technology, they hold off ambient noise by creating a comfortable seal on the ear). They envelope your ear, but don't wear so large as to make your neck sweat, and the band does not constrict, but still holds relatively well for a full size headphone.Speaking of the headband, their construction has a very well-made, solid feel. They don't feel flimsy or cheap, and yet don't feel stiff or rigid. They fold when you want them to fold, but don't make you force them so hard you feel like you might break them before they fold. The headband adjusts with solid clicks and stays. Nothing is exceptionally loose or ill fitting except the swivel on the earcups, which is a good thing. I hate having to force the earcups to swivel when I adjust where the headphone is resting on my head, you just adjust and the earcup swivels to it's new home.As for the durability of the fit and finish, I can't say anything bad, and probably never will. I don't just toss my headphones around, drag them behind me if they drop, use them as hammers, etc. If they're not on my head or resting around my neck, I set them aside (nesting in their nifty, soft lined case, now). I haven't seen any wear or scratches develop yet, nor has anything fallen off, stripped apart, or otherwise shown flaws.I am very happy with these headphones. For those that may be scared because of th extra bass feature, if you have an EQ with the ability to lower the low end around 100hz just a bit, you will still be happy with how good they sound. If the full sized on the ear style is what you are looking for, these are very comfortable, while remaining on your head. The features are well done and abundant and make them the definite step up in the Sony MDR line (right in line with the 920 model).I definitely feel these were worthy of being a $100 purchase on headphones (and thus, I probably won't want to spend more than that for some time).

Great quality, its the second pair and we love them!!!