$9 Headphone Review: Sony MDR-ZX110

[asteroth]

The only problem is that I don't have experience with more expensive headphones.
So I have this feeling that I might have been living under a rock for thinking that CAL sounds good.

 

[Cote Dazur]

I have had those ZX 110 for a while now and I appreciate them more and more for what they are. I like how they play music. Yes it is not the ultimate in details, bla bla bla, but overall, at the level I like to listen, they sound great to my ears on all type of music and different recordings. I have other headphones if I want to dive in deeper into details or “accuracy”.
That said, they feel “cheap” and I do not like the noise that the cans make, the creaking noise. They are great value for money to me, but I would be interested in finding an other model, with the same sonic signature, ie same or very similar test results, as per Amir test, but more comfortable and less noisy.
Any recommendations?

 

[matts19]

I like how these headphones have complete lack of grain in an abrasive manner, like many other cheap (and not so cheap) headphones.

 

[Cars-N-Cans]

Another decent one is the Koss KSC75 at $20. Cheap headphone that is neutral tonally albeit without much deep bass since its a clip-on and doesn't explicitly seal around the ear. Still for air travel and work use its hard to beat since if it gets wrecked you can just toss it for another pair.

 

[IXOYE]

I'm keen to try these for fun, but I'm wondering if the 3.5 to 6.3 mm adapters I have lying around from other headphones will fit on these?

 

[asrUser]

Aww god DMS reviewed them

 

[totti1965]

Just want to say Thank you -Thank you - Thank you!!! to Amir!
I got my Sony MDR ZX-110 today for EUR 15,— in white from amazon Germany - and they are so beautyfull.
The Sound with Amirs equalisation is more than increadible!
I use Roon also and added a fifth frequency correction at 11.000 Hz: + 7.0 dB with a Q 6.
Now I own besides of the Massdrop Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee (also with Amirs Correction) another pair of „Electrostat- like“ Headphones!

I like the EUR 15,— Sony Headphone even a tight bit more than the USD 200,— Sennheisers. The Sony is so lightweighted and so nice to wear over the ear!

The iPad has no Problem to play the Sony MDR ZX-110 very loud. Even thought I biased them to minus 11 dB to have enough headroom for equalization.

At this Moment I listen to the whole wonderfull Pomplamoose Album „En Francais“.
Oh wow! Speechless!

Merci Monsieur Amir Majidimehr! Hoch lebe die Audiowissenschaft!

 

[AllJazz]

I bought a pair last night for $20 CAD from my local bestbuy. A few observations.

1. For the music I listen to (Jazz) I like these as much as the Philips SHP9500 which cost 7x the price!
2. Without EQ for me anyways these are not enjoyable at all and I would not recommend them without EQ.
3. My cell phone provides ample power to drive these and the volume levels are more than adequate.
4. Im using the Wavelet App on my phone to EQ these, Wavelet only provides the MDR-ZX110NC (Noise Cancelling) EQ settings but even with this the difference is night and day. No EQ sound is not as clear, less detailed and somewhat muffled almost like the mid bass was boosted and there is something veiling the sound. The Wavelet EQ setting for the MDR-ZX110NC works wonders for these headphones!
5. The detail that these headphones offer is quite amazing for $20! Seriously I listened to about 5 albums last night and was very impressed.
6. These headphones are terrible at blocking out sound around you. I was lying in bed listening to some Jazz music and my wife was watching TV at relatively low volume but I could definitely hear the TV in the background.
7. This ones pretty obvious but if you dont wear them the way they where intended in terms of Left Side Right Side they dont sound nearly as good as volume drops significantly because the cups are slanted inward to hug you're ear's better when worn properly. I tried both ways to see which worked better.

What a bargain for $20! The only thing I tried to do but couldn't figure out was how to import the EQ settings from this thread into Wavelet. I dont know if there is a way to convert these setting ITT to the Wavelet format?

Have a great weekend!

Cheers

 

[staticV3]

The only thing I tried to do but couldn't figure out was how to import the EQ settings from this thread into Wavelet. I dont know if there is a way to convert these setting ITT to the Wavelet format?

Attached below is a Wavelet preset that corrects Amir's measurement of the ZX-110 to Harman Over Ear 2018:


By default, the tool that I'm using (https://autoeq.app/) will limit bass boost to 12dB, which as you can see from the graph, is not enough to get it to Harman levels of bass.
If you'd like, then you can experiment yourself with different settings by uploading the measurement and target response into the tool. I've attached them as Zip file below.

There are also B&K 5128 measurements of the ZX-110 that one could experiment with: Link
You'd just have to use a different target response as Harman is not compatible with B&K 5128 measurements (yet).

 

[amirm]

By default, the tool that I'm using (https://autoeq.app/) will limit bass boost to 12dB, which as you can see from the graph, is not enough to get it to Harman levels of bass.

These headphone's can't produce much bass so you do not want to push them as I noted in the review. Just enough to get tonality right but no more.

 

[solderdude]

The biggest issues of this headphone is not so much the response between 50Hz and 13kHz which is correctable.

One major problem is seal:

Perfect seal, pads slightly lifted (so small ‘leakage’) pads lifted a bit more , Pads lifted even more.

And the 2nd one is the inability to increase the low bass to normal to somewhat loud levels by punishment of huge amounts (thus audible) distortion due to compression (max.linear excursion).

70dB, 80dB, 90dB and 97dB

This headphone is 'fine' for video conferencing and listening to podcasts etc. Could possibly even be used for low volume music listening when not demanding audiophile qualities.
Its main selling point is price. One does not need a BK5128 to arrive at that conclusion either as that can be concluded using a $ 10.- mic capsule as well and, aside from Amirs conclusion with EQ, it is fairly obvious from Amirs measurements anyway.

 

[Miota]

Good afternoon everyone!
You may laugh, but after buying these Sony MDR-ZX110s - thank you very much Amirm for their review - I decided to sell my the vaunted but uncomfortable AKG K371. I'm not sure how I feel about them.

The velour earpads for the ZX110s made them incredibly comfortable, and @amirm or @Maiky76 's equalization worked wonders!
Even with equalization, the K371s sound a bit dull compared to the ZX110s. K371 also need to be stored carefully and dust blown off their delicate earpads...

When I listen to the ZX110s from my phone, I use the PowerAmp equalizer with the addition of a parametric preset from Maiky76 or Amirm.

PS. I want to try 75mm diameter velour earpads instead of 70mm. Seems to be much more comfortable.

 

[bunkbail]

Good afternoon everyone!
You may laugh, but after buying these Sony MDR-ZX110s - thank you very much Amirm for their review - I decided to sell my the vaunted but uncomfortable AKG K371. I'm not sure how I feel about them.

The velour earpads for the ZX110s made them incredibly comfortable, and @amirm or @Maiky76 's equalization worked wonders!
Even with equalization, the K371s sound a bit dull compared to the ZX110s. K371 also need to be stored carefully and dust blown off their delicate earpads...

When I listen to the ZX110s from my phone, I use the PowerAmp equalizer with the addition of a parametric preset from Maiky76 or Amirm.

PS. I want to try 75mm diameter velour earpads instead of 70mm. Seems to be much more comfortable.

Have you tried the EQ from @thewas (link)? The lower preamp value really helps since the headphones is already quite insensitive and doesn't go very loud and to my ears sound quite a bit better than the other 2 EQ settings. Tonally these headphones sound near damn perfect to me. I prefer these over my Verum 1s (this review unit was mine) and even after EQ. I wish Amir had measured the bigger brother MDR-ZX310 since I can't find any measurements of them anywhere on the net.

 

[Ste_S]

I have a pair of ZX660, that this review has made me fish out. Are these essentialy the same as ZX110?