X Headphones MDR-X10/BLK

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Price: $198.00 $180.00   

Product Feature

• Closed, dynamic 50 mm driver units and high-energy neodymium magnets provide wide dynamic frequency response (3 Hz - 29 kHz) that perfectly complements today's popular music genres
• Sealed acoustic design allows for high level of sound isolation which aides in powerful reproduction of extended bass sound
• Made for iPod, iPhone and iPad, in-line remote gives you volume and track controls (Play, Stop, Next/Prior), while built-in microphone makes it easy to take calls
• Dual folding design - Compact for portability yet affording listening flexibility, reversible earpads let you enjoy music in many ways
• Durable, 3.9 foot flat cord has a serrated finish that reduces tangles

Product Description

Sony MDR-X10/BLK Pump more bump into every bass line with boldly-styled headphones meticulously crafted from the highest quality materials. Turn up the intensity of gripping sound with powerful 50mm driver units and high-energy neodymium magnets.

X Headphones MDR-X10/BLK Review

You can never be quite sure as to what sound quality you'll get when listening to different types of music with these well- made headphones, but what you will be assured of as a significant part of the MDR X10 sound will be a lot of thumping bass. How well that strong bass conforms to your music will determine how much you like these headphones. Impeccable build quality, excellent materials, and a steeply discounted price point vis a vis market leader Beats may well sweeten the pot for fence-sitters.

First, I have no idea to what extent Mr. Cowell was involved in the design of these headphones. Unlike some of the more embarrassing celebrity crossover headphones, the X10s do not have Cowell's name and / or "X Factor" logos slathered all over them. Though certainly not subtle, the X10s visual design at least is not utterly tacky in terms of promotional endorsements. As far as acoustical design goes, the X10s are re-tuned XB700s, so this is hardly a radical new concept from Mr. Cowell.

As far as music tuning goes, these phones have all the bass emphasis of the targeted Beats phones, but unlike the Beats, treble and mids are not quite as recessed, and detail, clarity, and soundstage are all superior to the Beats. As I suggest above, your impression of the sound quality of these phones for music will depend on what you listen to. The type of stuff you might hear on American Idol or X Factor comes off best here; that is to say, pop or R&B vocals, with throbbing overdone bass lines, and simple ensemble instrumentation sounds great. Alicia Keys, Adele, Amy Winehouse: all show off the X10s to an ideal degree. Rap also sounds good - Jay Z, Public Enemy. Downtempo & Big Beat electronica is also excellent: Massive Attack, Zero 7, Portishead.

The biggest internal genre variation is found in metal. Old school 80s / 90s style stuff where bass was just meant to be thumpy and less articulated and layered comes off acceptably well: Slayer, Judas Priest, Pantera. More modern metal where you're supposed to hear exactly what the drummer is doing is much less impressive: Mastodon, Lamb of God = detail washed out by thumping. Congested wall of noise death metal (non-prog Opeth, Agalloch) is a disaster, with the music turning into a jumble of noise and the vocals becoming like background noise. Clearly when Sony says the X10s are meant for "today's music", they are not considering Metal to be part of that subject heading! Metalheads will _not_ like these at all...

Similarly (and strangely) exempt from the category of "today's music" that the X10s can handle is vocal oriented alternative, i.e. where the bass line is meant to be minimal or even not present at all (gasp!). Bands like The National and Lost in the Trees end up with frail distant vocals and oddly emphasized bass rhythm lines that completely change the intended effect of the music. More mainstream rock with more intended bass emphasis in recordings like Muse and Radiohead sounds decent, not awesome, but more acoustical oriented alternative is washed out to see by the bassic tides...

One might think the bass-happy X10s would run roughshod over acoustical genres, and you would be right to some extent. Surprisingly, classical sounds pretty good with these (more on that later) but acoustic jazz is another great disaster here with Kind of Blue and Bill Evans at the Village Vanguard sounding like the bands are playing on a subway train or while under bombardment in a bunker somewhere, i.e. the bass line takes the music over and makes it sound like a tuba or two have joined the lineup. Unless you are dealing with a very treble emphasized album (e.g. Sketches of Spain) the X10s will take whatever bass is in the music and crank it up to Volume 11, which makes for unhappy listening for most jazz fans. Smooth jazz would probably be fine: Diana Krall sounded perfectly good.

Classical was the biggest surprise here. The X10 drivers are not junk; they are capable of balance and articulation to a significant degree, much more than many popular consumer grade cans. This hidden capability can be seen in classical; in the first movement of Mahler's Third Symphony (Bernstein / NYPO) the basses and drums are crisp and precise, and the relatively subtle background rumble that Mahler aims for throughout the movement and done perfectly and do not overpower the other instruments. In Hillary Hahn's recording of the Sibelius Violin Concerto, the orchestra and soloist are well balanced, and the violin tone is audible, crisp, and properly detailed. Not every classical piece I listened to was excellent with these, but there were no great disasters as there were with other genres. I guess where the recording offers no bass boost and a well balanced audio recording, the X10s add some warmth but not too much so as to unbalance the recording altogether.

To be clear, the X10s are not neutral or even accurate; purists will hear a lot of extra bass added to classical recordings. But to my ears, the added bass is not usually offensive and can even add positive effect. E.G. Pollini's last 5 Beethoven sonatas on DG have a notorious trebly dry recorded sound; the X10s added some warmth and made the recording sound better to my ears than it did on a more neutral headphone like the AKG K550. If this sentiment and concept horrify you, congratulations, you are an audiophile, go buy something else. The detail, clarity, and precise staging of the X10s are all excellent, so classical fans who don't mind significant amounts of added bass may have some fun here. Compared to the X10s, the ATH M50s sound positively neutral, so those who consider the M50s to be bass monsters will find the X10s to be the King of all bass monsters...

Besides the mixed bag of sound quality, there are generally good things happening here. Though there is a bit of plastic in the frame, the overall feel of build and materials is substantial and impressive. The detachable cord is nice, but it is a proprietary locking design, which means you may not be able to use any connector cord as a replacement. You get two different cords with the phones, one with standard Idevice controls on it. The X10s fold along two axes, meaning they contract into a snug little ball for travel. The included case is nice and compact, but is made of a very soft material, and at the price point a hard case would have been more appropriate.

The X10s were driven to more than adequate volume even with classical by a Touch Ipod and Ipad at 2/3rds volume. A Samsung Galaxy 3 at 3/4s volume was also fine. I tried a Total Airhead portable amp and a FiIO E10 USB amp and neither added much in the way of sound quality that was not related only to volume. I would say an amp is not needed, and that most portable devices will power the X10s to satisfying levels of loudness and full spectrum sound.

The phones are full sized but supra-aural (sitting on top of the ears) as there is no hollowed out area for the ears to go. Instead there is a soft covering where the donut hole would be. The closed back phones clamp down on the ear with some force, but the pillow-like materials used are soft and comfy. The clamping and dense material give considerable isolation but also a high level of comfort. I listened to these phones for close to three hours continuously before my ears felt like they needed a break, which is pretty good in my experience. Of my collection, only the Senn HD595s were more comfortable for longer, and those are smaller and provide less isolation.

So what to make of these? The variable sound quality will be an issue for many, especially fans of metal, acoustic jazz, and alternative. Much of the bass heaviness can be eliminated with equalization, (try "reduced bass" on any Idevice) and audiophiles will want to avoid these. Regular music fans who listen to pop, electronic, and rap will probably be quite pleased. The real selling point here is the phenomenal Sony expertise in building comfortable and sturdy headphones. And the even bigger selling point is the shiny new price point, which place the X10s at only 2/3rds of the cost of the worse-sounding lower build quality Beats. The X10s were originally priced to go head to head with the Beats, but Sony wisely cut the price a bit. Even if you listen to one or more of the lower sound quality genres, if you want a nice well made comfy headphone, and don't mind using an equalizer setting, these may well be your ideal game of baseball.

Three stars for sound quality. (Minus one star for jazz / metal / alternative fans). Plus one star for a mix of excellent build quality, excellent comfort, and the relative bargain inherent in the current price point. If you listened to Beats and liked them, add one star to the rating, as these are far superior in all ways to those aging, overpriced, and overhyped cans.

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