Sony Foldable Headphones MDR-ZX310 R - Metallic Red

Great sound. Great sale price. Perfect for my next road trip.

I've been a Sony fan for 30 yrs or better. I swear by this Brand. I mostly use these headphones for watching TV. It's a huge improvement over the rinky-dink generic phones I was using. Depending on the source material, you get crisp clear bass. The highs are like crystal, and dialog is highly intelligible. While these may not be ACTIVE noise-cancelling headphones, they do a pretty good job of blocking out surrounding sounds while using them as they provide a good snug fit over your ears. Assuming one does not have exceptionally large ears to begin with. Overall they are a good quality product and I would highly recommend them for the budget conscious.

This review is based on my first impressions of the MDR-ZX310 R's. I normally would wait longer but I can tell a few things already, and do not feel I need to wait. My experience: I have a number of MDRZX100's, MDRZX110s (only pair of Sonys in this range that broke on me... one side has no audio), new to me at the time of typing this MDR-V150's and these MDR-ZX310's Pros: Metallic Red Look - The Red ones just happened to be a better price than the white or Black models but I have too say that even thought it wasn't a reason WHY I bought these, the metalic red look, really looks nice ... I have to give them credit there. The Sound - I have never had say a $150+ pair of headphones to compare stuff in this range by Sony, to but These are 100% on pair with the XZ100's and 110's ... That maybe a bad thing for some people, but this is 100% a positive. Sure on my devices I use EQ's or Rockbox firmware no matter the headphones ... but despite the fact I am sure the sound quality could be better ... I am happy with them. I recently bought these with a pair of the MDR-V150's and while I think those sound better than my first tests with them in my Mp3 player... in my laptop, they just dont sound right ... these 310's ... sound right with the same settings I have always used (EQ wise) for the 100's and 110's (even DIFFERENT laptops too). These remind me of Sony earbuds I use to love years back vs newer ones.... the newer ones sometime sound horrible to me with "IN YOUR FACE bass" and the mids and highs sound terrible.... these may not have the best bass compared to some but across the board on any genre I have listened to so far... they just sound better. I have to say this based on the last paragraph... The bass IS GREAT for my expectations ...I dont want people to think I am saying it's' not that good... It does have a good "punch" in my view, without overpowering the mids and highs, as I described. Fit - These feel GREAT ... My MDR-V150 are 100% pinching my ears when I wear glasses which I always do ... but these ... are NO Problem and I love them in that regard. Cons: the Cable: These may last (note I bought these after a pair of the 110's with a THICKER cable ... after two years of near daily use, lost audio on one side) but the ironic thing to me is the 100's seem to have the best cable, ... despite the issues that model has, the MDR-V150's have a GREAT cable... but these 310's seem to have an even thinner cable then the 110's .. like the cable would go with cheap pair of earbuds. I may have to change my usecase from using these 310's out and about to keeping these at my PC to hopefully protect the cable from wear but ... I am not a fan of this .... so far ... this is the only CON and if i can keep these lasting for a long time by keeping them in one location ... it may be a non-issue, but I'd just like a thicker, more protected cable. Like the 110s' I have ... there doesn't seem like there is any extra protection on the cable (such as the 100's or MDR-V150's I have), right where it goes into the earcups ... I never would even consider this if my 110's didn't go and right at that point is where i think the break in the cable happened. Overall - I got this pair for $9.99 or so and I have seen them for $25 ... the cable issue MAY BE A turnoff to me if i had paid that more expensive price, but at this lower price I paid... I WOULD get them again ... I'd look at the 100's just because of the quality of the cable, but I can say for the right price I WOULD get theses 310's again ... or compare prices of the 300/310s to the 110's and consider them.

So excited to receive. I plan to not fold and unfold too much seems like that would be the breaking point. Comfortable on ears, easy to use.

Great Sonnd & Quality

These are great little head phones! My son loves these Sony headphones. He uses them for his video games on his keyboard. He had another pair but says these ones work better, he can hear the background better and it cuts out the noises in the house better too. I also notice when he is wearing them and he tries to talk to me, he is yelling when I am standing right next to him. OMG....I usually walk over and open an ear, tell him to turn down the music! They really do cut off the outside world!!

Son likes them (11Y). Lightweight and inexpensive. This one has a switch on the cable, which I didn't want. There are still many of us out there don't need or care about ipod interaction. The MDR-7506 sounds much better and can handle more power, but it's 3-4 times as expensive. Wires are thin and will likely break (as many have before it), but for the price, the quality and value are there for an early teen.

Fits perfectly on my head, but isn't too tight, which is my usual problem with headphones. But, hey...it's a Sony, right? What's not to love? Sound quality is perfectly acceptable for headphones of this price range/durability. I wear them approximately four hours a day, and they're doing a great job. Shipping was fast and they were well-packaged; no 'oops the box opened in transit' surprises. No problems! I would definitely order from this vendor again.