Sony MDR-EX71SLB Fontopia Headphones - Black

When fitted correctly (see below), all external noise is cut out and, with my Sony MD / MP3, I'm rewarded with strong (but not overbearing) bass; treble which has "presence" without being tinny; and crisp clear vocals.

Combined with their unique design - which makes them for me by far the most comfortable in-the-ear phones I've ever owned (plus, they never fall out!) - and I'm one v. satisfied customer...

One point to highlight: to ensure the best depth and clarity of sound from these little gems, it's important to use them with the correct size of (silicone) earpiece for your ear (S, M and L are supplied). They should be a tight, although comfortable, fit. With all external noise blocked out, you'll be rewarded with great sound. I highlight this because when using mine for the first time (with the medium earpieces that were fitted) I was dissapointed by the quietness of vocals and a bass that was too powerful. However, this problem was quickly resolved by my replacing with the larger earpieces.

Since I bought these phones for their sound quality - rather than the accompanying accessories - I won't comment on, for example, the small plastic carry case. Suffice to say, it adequately does its job but is easily lost.

Although not cheap, for their quality, I think these headphones offer good value for money. I'd recommend them to anyone looking for a comfortable, lightweight design, combined with outstanding sound.


The only in-ear alternative to over-ear phones...   September 8, 2004
25 out of 25 found this review helpful

With this product Sony have managed to overcome the problems that are present with the average pair of in-ear headphones.

The usual problems with in ear phones are:

1) They dont fit in your ear correctly, and you are very lucky if they do not hurt. A rigid design based on the average ear size is the problem here.

2) Mid-range and bass is lost, you really cannot hear the whole presence of the sound without pushing the headphones deep into your ear and holding them there, not an ideal situation.

The sony headphones are excellent, they have a flexible rubber earplug design which is guaranteed to fit any size of ear completely. They come with three sizes of earbud attachment, the medium will probably fit most ears. The main thing here is that the earbud is flexible and changes shape with the shape of your inner-ear, thus not being constrictive, and at the same time filling your ear completely so no sound is lost.

This is important as it cuts out most of the background noise that you hear using conventional earphones, and thus the full range of sound reaches your ear drum and is not lost to the outside world, nor is it distorted by background noise in your listening environment.

This really makes a difference, you can hear the bass fully and you also do not need to have your mp3 player (or whatever) turned up as loud, i reduced my volume by 20% thus protecting my ears.

The best way I can describe the sound quality compared to conventional ear phones is by listening to music and pressing the ear phones into your ears, listen to the difference, with the sony Fontopia earbuds it is like that all the time.


Fontopia simply the best!   June 19, 2003
151 out of 158 found this review helpful

I open the packet of headphones hoping it were not going to be an anti climax and finally the people at Sony listened (literally) these headphones are fantastic! These reasons I tell you why...

When the fontopia range of headphones came out I bought a pair, the older version of these (EX-70's) and to be honest was neither happy nor sad (but I wanted to say dam these headphones are the business man!). They went back to the drawing board with these and created a gem that should have been but fell at the final hurdle. They may seem expensive but these are top spec headphones. The sound output is awesome (you would need a good pair of DJ headphones to beat these – you would need to pay a lot more then!) as with the previous model except bass and treble output has increased furthermore! With all fontopia headphones tiny little 9mm motors drive the speakers. Designed to fit into your ear nice and snug with a set of different plugs (depending on your ear size) to prevent them falling out like a cheap pair of headphones would. It comes with a small plastic holder to keep the headphones protected (same as previous model) when not in use.

When I forked out for the old pair I was missing something, they were still great but I had no extras. I was expecting more than some top spec headphones for the price. With the new version you get a free soft pouch to keep your player in. I think the pouch though was designed for one thing – for Sony’s line of NETMD players (i.e. MZ-N1 etc) as it fits one of these perfect. This time you don’t get a load of wire. It was nothing but a nuisance when you were on the move. They have included extension cord if you need the extra wire instead – thanks Sony! Most walkmans have controllers to switch between tracks the extra wire is not needed unless you don’t use a controller (personally sometimes I don’t) or don’t have one, its helpful either way!

So here comes the moment of truth…

GOOD NEWS:

SOUND: Top notch you can hear every note being played for any genre of music COMFORT: Fits perfect in your ear nicely
STYLE: Nicely packaged and presented the headphones have a silver metallic finish for each one with the Sony brand where the wire splits to each headphone.

BAD NEWS:

PRICE: It is worth it if you want the best sound and headphones that don’t fall out your ears!

Supplied with:

Extension cord (1m) Earbuds (Sx2, Mx2, Lx2) Holder and carrying pouch & the usual 1yr guarantee from Sony.


As good as they say   October 9, 2004
16 out of 16 found this review helpful

I was a bit sceptical, even after reading the description and the reviews, I've never spent 25 on headphones before and wasn't sure if it would be worth it. However my headphones arrived and I tried them out straight away and they are actually better than I was expecting.

I didn't think that they would be such a comfortable fit, but they don't hurt my ears at all or fall out (the ear-bud is made of some kind of squishy plastic and not a thin piece of foam-like substance stretched over some hard plastic or metal speakers) and that's without having to change the medium sized buds. Plus they really do cut out outside noise, with them in and with the sound only set to medium-low I can barely hear myself typing on quiet bits of songs and not at all on some louder pieces, even when I tried to type as loud as possible to test it out.

I've yet to try them outside, but since my family can sound like a herd of elephants sometimes and I've yet to hear anything really distracting, I think they will work just as well whilst out on Grand Adventures.

25 well spent in my opinion.


Continues to be my choice, but handle with care.   January 17, 2005
ceperman (UK)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful

I bought one of these over a year and a half ago, and used it almost daily with my Panasonic mp3 player. Unfortunately the right earpiece gave up the other day for no apparent reason, but as I've been so pleased with them, I've immediately replaced them. It's easy to forget how good they are until you're forced to use something else.

Here's some comments from one who's used them a lot:

(1) They are comfortable. I used to have some small folding Sony in-ear headphones which made my ears sore after an hour or so. I can wear the MDR-EX71SL all day without a problem.
(2) They block out outside sound well. The earpiece fits snuggly into the ear and not just perched on the outside. This effectively seals the ear from outside noise. A side-effect is that the sound pressure *inside* the ear from the earpiece also can't escape, which means that too much bass can be a bit brutal!
(3) They are *not* built badly, but are a bit flimsy, particularly around the junction of the individual earpiece leads. You do therefore need to treat them with respect. When I put them away, I always wind the lead up around my fingers and make sure that the leads from this junction are wrapped in their natural direction i.e. in opposite directions, so the leads don't kink at the joint. After a year and a half of constant use, this treatment meant that there was no wear/tear/kinking etc showing at all.