Review on 🎧 Sony Fontopia MDR-EX51LP Headphones - Discontinued by Manufacturer (SEO-optimized) by Rebecca Bourassa

I actually have the model described above, but I decided to give a review for them as well because they are almost the same, except for the connector in the middle, which is actually more is more of a problem than anything else. I've had these headphones for about 9 months now and I really LOVE them until last week. Very comfortable, compact, great sound. Unfortunately they have started to misbehave lately. In my left earbud, the volume dropped by about 75%. By all accounts it's dead and it drives me insane to listen to headphones with one side not working. The interesting thing is that when I started asking people I knew who had them, I found that 4 out of 4 people I interviewed had problems with them. My friend who originally recommended these headphones to me said that after 6 months he completely lost the bass in one ear and can't use them anymore. Today I got a call from my sister (whom I bought a pair as gifts because I loved mine so much) saying one of the earbuds is completely dead. She is only 6 months old. Another friend bought a pair and they were dead 3 DAYS after purchase! Sony replaced it with a pair, but it wasn't without major problems initially. They also tried to send a MUCH cheaper model to replace the original kit. So I recommend: These headphones are great when they work, but I paid $50 for mine, which I found was well worth the money until they broke. But if I'm going to spend that much on headphones, I want them to last longer than 6-9 months! Tired of silicone ear tips. They can fall off easily and if you lose them, replacing them can be expensive. Update - January 2010. The price of these headphones has dropped to around $14 (August 09) and some improvements have been made to the product so I decided to try another pair as I thought the price was worth it . Unfortunately I crimped the wire (my mistake) and one side didn't work so I waited for the price to drop back down to around $14 so I could buy another pair. I just found it interesting that the price has been steadily increasing since August '09 (now January '10) and is now over $30. At $14 a pair they're worth it, but anything over $20 wouldn't bother me. Either wait for the price to drop again or buy something else.