Just bought new headphones for listening to music on my blackberry and ipod. Went to croma to have a look at available headphones. I sincerely regret buying from Croma. There was a lack of variety in the products that were offered. I had heard the Philips ear phones though cheap were pretty good. But I didnt have much confidence on that. Philips is a good brand for audio players. But after listening to some of their MP3 players and low end circumaural headphones, I found the sound mediocre. There were a few Philips earphones and some in-ear type phones from Philips, Sony, Sennheiser, Panasonic but most were above my budget. I also wanted to avoid the in-canal or noise isolating ear phones and cans as well. I want my ears to breathe. If I don't give them enough air, the wax accumulation goes up and I feel uncomfortable. I decided to play safe and get the cheapest Sony headphones available. MRP 499 but they listed for 390.
I started listening to them immediately after leaving the store and was immediately disappointed, they sounded too bright. They were supposed to have 16mm drivers and good range but i could not shake off the feeling that they were sounding more like tweeters. I thought that may be they would mellow down after some use so I put them on a 18 hour "running-in" - connected to an ipod playing a variety of songs.
In the meanwhile I needed a reference to compare these against so brought out an old set of panasonics RP-HT222 which i had bought for around 650 from croma. (BTW I have decided to not go to croma for buying headphones atleast). The 222s sounded much more neutral and deeper compared to the sony. In fact, the sound is so much better that I don't want to use the Sony earphones anymore.
After 18 hours though, I thought I'd check on them and see if there was any difference to them. Glad to say the sound has changed... mellowed down a bit. But still not comparable to the Panasonic. There are some good points to the Sony, they sound is clear and bass is very punchy if you are listening to dance numbers its a good choice, also at low volumes you can listen to old hindi songs and country music, the clarity and brightness helping there. At high volume anything, you listen to will quickly bring fatigue.
I would say avoid Sony MDR-818LP. Try another model or another brand.
