MDR-PQ5/GRN
3.4
5
7
7
Pretty good
I got these as a back-up pair of ear buds for when my B*** ear buds decide to kick the bucket. I will say right now that these are MANY times better in every sense than the basic iPod buds. The rubber "mask" is much softer than the defaults, so it can stay comfortable much longer. The sound quality is crystal clear, albeit a bit high pitched. A song I listen to regularly is noticeably higher in pitch than with my high -end buds. The bass is also lacking. I've dropped them, accidentally stepped on them, rolled them over in my office chair, and they still work like new. If you're looking for economy buds, get these.
September 22, 2012
Pretty nice earbuds for the price!
I purchased these headphones on amazon for $7 as a replacement for my apple headphones, because i didn't really feel like it had enough bass in them.(I listen to a lot of dub-step type of music) In order for me to really get the bass I would have to turn up the volume, which i didn't like doing because i knew it would hurt my ears. It only took about 5 days for me to recieve them, but i purchased them from amazon so it may be different when buying them directly from Sony.
I personally really like them a lot and I showed them to my sister and she used them when she went for a run. When she came back she said that she was most likely going to buy a pair, because they sound great and they don't fall out of years as much as the apple headphones do.
I cannot believe the quality of these things for the price, but wish they had a better choice of color. I would like it if they came out with a black/red, black/blue, etc. They should have come out with all the different colors like the Skull Candy Ink'd earbuds.
February 9, 2012
Fails Wonderfully at its Title Claim of "Bass"
I'm always excited to get a great deal. Who isn't? I was even more excited when the package from Sony arrived. I was hoping they would look slightly different than their ugly colors online (I chose the least ugly, in my opinion), but I was slightly dismayed to find that they are indeed just as ugly as online pictures suggest ... perhaps even uglier.
No matter. I was expecting that, and for the $6 sale price, who can complain?
I excitedly connected them to my audio player device with some 320 variable bit rate high quality MP3s. I was immediately disappointed by the sound. I played with my EQ settings, and could not in the slightest produce "good base" with these headphones. Mids and highs were passable, at best. Some $1 earbuds I ordered from China definitely had worse mids and highs, but the bass on these things is extremely disappointing. I fiddled with different positions for my ears, cranked up the volume to the point of hearing some mild distortion on the bass tones, and still did not have good, solid feeling bass whatsoever.
What headphones am I comparing these to, you ask? Well, I compared them directly (with the same songs on the same device with the same EQ settings in the same room with precisely the same levels of ambient noise) to a $10 set of Sony earbuds I've had for over 3.5 years (still $9.88 at Walmart. Saw them there just tonight, actually!) and a pair of Skullcandy Ink'd Buds I picked up for their frequent sale price of $10.
Both the good ol' Sonys and the Ink'd produce MUCH better bass, and slightly better highs and mids than the PIIQ Bass earbuds, for a very similar price. The MEElectronics M9's can frequently be found on sale for $10 with free shipping, and they also sound much better than these PIIQs.
The most equivalent set of earbuds (sound quality wise) that I can compare these to would be if you were to search on Amazon for "Samsung 3.5 mm Premium Stereo Headset Bulk Packaging". They run about $5 now, but I've seen them as low as $2.88 with free shipping, depending on who you order from. They have comparable mids and highs to the PIIQs and definitely have a "budget" sound quality to them, but they still beat the PIIQs in the bass arena.
Why then, would I bewilderingly have awarded these lackluster performers with laughable bass a fair two stars? Well, two reasons. Despite not being in-canal earbuds they fit very nicely and stay in your ears even during physical activity, which I tested extensively. They accomplish this without plugging your ears from outside noise. If you run in an area with lots of traffic it is definitely safer to be able to hear oncoming traffic. In addition, the earbuds that reside deeper in the canal often tend to transfer vibration and bump noise up the cord right into your ears. When I jog with my Skullcandy Ink'd headpones, I hear and feel a "thump, thump, thump" pattern with each impact of my foot hitting the ground. The old trusty $10 Sony earbuds with the foam pads fall out when I run. The PIIQs have no such issue. They don't transfer the thumps and vibrations to your ears.
Overall, I have a heard time recommending these. I want to because of their unique ability to stay in your ears without plugging them (good for working out in public places, especially with traffic), and their lack of vibration transfer to your ears. However, with their poor sound quality, especially bass, even at the sale price I just can't make a clear cut recommendation. At the regular price, I would NEVER buy these. It's possible I got a defective set. If my set is the norm for this model's sound quality, Sony needs to change their name to" PIIQ Bassless" or PIIQ Bass Free." Bass is the number one thing these lack.
January 31, 2012
Strong
I love these head phones just for the fact that they survived going threw the washer and dryer with out breaking. They also have yet to break at my work which means a lot. The sound was decent for the price but they could have done better.
December 7, 2011
