Nice review Ciprian. I have a pair of Sony MDRXB450AP/B with Extra Bass and I love the bass it brings. Sony headphones with extra bass are the ones that bring bass without any extra effort. However, to streamline the sound quality to get a more balanced sound out from my PC, I use these EQ applications (https://www.nextofwindows.com/how-to-add-sound-equalizer-on-windows-10). I typically set up one eq preset that lowers the mid-range and increases the high about 10db to get a sound set that I like and enjoy even more.
My wife bought these as a gift for me last June. I use these every day at work and carry them back and forth using a hard clamshell case that I bought only days after my wife gave them to me. I treat these phones with care and respect since they were a gift from my wife and since they represent a significant price upgrade from the Skullcandy phones I lost. I take care of my things and expect them to last.
The sound on these is pretty good and the features are nice. I enjoy the noise cancelling feature and the extra base feature works fine. One thing that does annoy is an occasional, repeated drop of the sound signal, which can only be described as a “hiccup” during song playback. There are supposed to be different playing modes that you can enter by turning the phones on while holding a combination of buttons that’s supposed to suppress this problem. These different playing modes have never worked for me. Furthermore, this is a problem that I have never experienced using any Skullcandy phones at half the price of these.
Now on to the real reason for this review. As I said before, I transport these phones in a hard case and treat them very gently. Last week I rotated the left cup and held it to my ear to listen to something without putting them completely on. The cups on these phones rotate so that they can lay flat for easier packing and also for “DJ” style listening. A little while later when I went to put them on, I noticed one of the arms that held the left ear cup was broken. So the weight of the phones being held sideways to listen to only one cup must have broken the arm. To say that I was disappointed is a vast understatement.
However, the disappointment was only beginning. I went home and located the receipt. These phones are only eight months old and there’s a one-year warranty. Cool. I still had the box with the original paperwork (that’s how new they are) so I broke it out and called Sony Customer Support and told them my story expecting them to replace these defective phones. Less than ten minutes into the call the guy on the other end says, “Let me check our database.” [Keyboard typing sounds…] “No, I don’t see any reports of this type of problem with this model so this would fall under physical damage, which is not covered under the warranty. You can try calling an authorized repair shop to see if they can be fixed.” What?!
Frustrated, I took the number and called the repair center, which is located in New York. They said they could be fixed. It would be $18.00 to ship them, $75.00/hour for labor, plus parts. So $93.00 before parts to fix some phones that my wife originally paid $125.00 for? “No thanks,” I told the lady, “I’ll try to glue them back together myself or get a different pair.” I guarantee if it comes to the latter option, it won’t be another pair of Sony phones.
By the way, after looking on the Sony website, I see that there are several reports of the exact same problem that I had. I don’t know what database the Sony Customer Rep was searching, but obviously, it wasn’t their own website.
Avoid this model unless you want the same hassle. Seriously. You’ve been warned.
Nice review Ciprian. I have a pair of Sony MDRXB450AP/B with Extra Bass and I love the bass it brings. Sony headphones with extra bass are the ones that bring bass without any extra effort. However, to streamline the sound quality to get a more balanced sound out from my PC, I use these EQ applications (https://www.nextofwindows.com/how-to-add-sound-equalizer-on-windows-10). I typically set up one eq preset that lowers the mid-range and increases the high about 10db to get a sound set that I like and enjoy even more.
Thanks for sharing this tip.
My wife bought these as a gift for me last June. I use these every day at work and carry them back and forth using a hard clamshell case that I bought only days after my wife gave them to me. I treat these phones with care and respect since they were a gift from my wife and since they represent a significant price upgrade from the Skullcandy phones I lost. I take care of my things and expect them to last.
The sound on these is pretty good and the features are nice. I enjoy the noise cancelling feature and the extra base feature works fine. One thing that does annoy is an occasional, repeated drop of the sound signal, which can only be described as a “hiccup” during song playback. There are supposed to be different playing modes that you can enter by turning the phones on while holding a combination of buttons that’s supposed to suppress this problem. These different playing modes have never worked for me. Furthermore, this is a problem that I have never experienced using any Skullcandy phones at half the price of these.
Now on to the real reason for this review. As I said before, I transport these phones in a hard case and treat them very gently. Last week I rotated the left cup and held it to my ear to listen to something without putting them completely on. The cups on these phones rotate so that they can lay flat for easier packing and also for “DJ” style listening. A little while later when I went to put them on, I noticed one of the arms that held the left ear cup was broken. So the weight of the phones being held sideways to listen to only one cup must have broken the arm. To say that I was disappointed is a vast understatement.
However, the disappointment was only beginning. I went home and located the receipt. These phones are only eight months old and there’s a one-year warranty. Cool. I still had the box with the original paperwork (that’s how new they are) so I broke it out and called Sony Customer Support and told them my story expecting them to replace these defective phones. Less than ten minutes into the call the guy on the other end says, “Let me check our database.” [Keyboard typing sounds…] “No, I don’t see any reports of this type of problem with this model so this would fall under physical damage, which is not covered under the warranty. You can try calling an authorized repair shop to see if they can be fixed.” What?!
Frustrated, I took the number and called the repair center, which is located in New York. They said they could be fixed. It would be $18.00 to ship them, $75.00/hour for labor, plus parts. So $93.00 before parts to fix some phones that my wife originally paid $125.00 for? “No thanks,” I told the lady, “I’ll try to glue them back together myself or get a different pair.” I guarantee if it comes to the latter option, it won’t be another pair of Sony phones.
By the way, after looking on the Sony website, I see that there are several reports of the exact same problem that I had. I don’t know what database the Sony Customer Rep was searching, but obviously, it wasn’t their own website.
Avoid this model unless you want the same hassle. Seriously. You’ve been warned.
Thank you for sharing your story with others. I’m sure other readers are going to appreciate it.
Excellent pair of headphones, very powerful sound and long lasting battery.