$9 Headphone Review: Sony MDR-ZX110

[Barrelhouse Solly]

Bought these a couple of months ago on the basis of this review. I finally set up a CamillaDSP config with Amir's suggested PEQ settings. I'm thoroughly amazed. It's even more exciting than 43131 DACs. It's as cheap as earbuds from a gas station convenience store. I'm listening to "Kind of Blue" after trying out Anner Bylsma's "Cello of the 17th Century." Wow

 

[AyeYoYoYO]

I still have some of the old SONY on-ears of my childhood, and listen to some of the better ones from time to time, with the tracks I listened to at the time.

This is one of them I didn’t keep after the left side of the headband/cup junction cracked. Happened to 3-4 pairs, and in retrospect I sorta wished I kept all of em, and tried to repair as best I could.

Sincere props for this lil experiment

 

[totti1965]

Bought these a couple of months ago on the basis of this review. I finally set up a CamillaDSP config with Amir's suggested PEQ settings. I'm thoroughly amazed. It's even more exciting than 43131 DACs. It's as cheap as earbuds from a gas station convenience store. I'm listening to "Kind of Blue" after trying out Anner Bylsma's "Cello of the 17th Century." Wow

Well, I was (and still am) pretty enthusiastic about these Sony headphones: They're extremely light, and with @amirm's equalization suggestions, they sound really good.
But what really annoys me, and why I prefer my Sennheiser HD 58x Jubilee, which is 18 times more expensive, is that the body noise the Sony transmits is extremely annoying!!!!!
Not only does every slight touch of the headband come through completely unfiltered, but sometimes it feels like it's being amplified, like a bell. Even the back-and-forth movement of the jaw, a movement of the eyebrows, or similar minimal and involuntary muscle movements in the head are amplified and transmitted to the cheap plastic headband, resulting in unpleasant "sidetones" that add to the music.
The Sennheiser HD 58x Jubilee is wonderfully dampened here (although there are certainly headphones that can handle headband contact even better!), which makes them feel much more valuable and, despite their only average weight, much more fun to use.

 

[maxvf]

I brought these 4 years ago, didnt use it much because of the lack of comfort. Sadly my other headphones broke(Superlux hd 672, Takstar Pro 82), so i have to use this one till i get replacement cables. With a little bit of modification i was able to fit hd 4.50 pads on these + used a soft kitchen sponge for the headrest, looks very dumb, but it instantly made it to my most comfortable headphone, easily wearable for 10 hours.

I use it with thewas EQ, its quite enjoyable after EQ. I only miss the bass from the Superlux, with songs like Justice - Fire its definitely lacking.
One big issue with it is quality control, the right side making very weird noises sometimes, like the driver is blown or its touching plastic or something. I noticed this when i got it, but only did it very rarely and only with few songs, now it doing it more frequently. If someone has this issue return it, it will get worse. I removed the felt / took it apart, didnt made any difference.

 

[teched58]

The one weak spot with these headphones is/are the pleather earpads. After about a year, they start to shed heavily.

When I tried to find replacement earpads, it's a) difficult to find ones that fit and b) the earpads cost about the same as a new pair of zx-100s. So my solution is to buy a new pair of these headphones whenever the earpads are shot. I'm on my third pair.

 

[totti1965]

I brought these 4 years ago, didnt use it much because of the lack of comfort. Sadly my other headphones broke(Superlux hd 672, Takstar Pro 82), so i have to use this one till i get replacement cables. With a little bit of modification i was able to fit hd 4.50 pads on these + used a soft kitchen sponge for the headrest, looks very dumb, but it instantly made it to my most comfortable headphone, easily wearable for 10 hours.

I use it with thewas EQ, its quite enjoyable after EQ. I only miss the bass from the Superlux, with songs like Justice - Fire its definitely lacking.
One big issue with it is quality control, the right side making very weird noises sometimes, like the driver is blown or its touching plastic or something. I noticed this when i got it, but only did it very rarely and only with few songs, now it doing it more frequently. If someone has this issue return it, it will get worse. I removed the felt / took it apart, didnt made any difference.

Welcome to audiosciencereview.com!

Your story makes us courious.
A picture would be nice!

Yours,

thorsten

 

[solderdude]

I brought these 4 years ago, didnt use it much because of the lack of comfort. Sadly my other headphones broke(Superlux hd 672, Takstar Pro 82), so i have to use this one till i get replacement cables. With a little bit of modification i was able to fit hd 4.50 pads on these + used a soft kitchen sponge for the headrest, looks very dumb, but it instantly made it to my most comfortable headphone, easily wearable for 10 hours.

I use it with thewas EQ, its quite enjoyable after EQ. I only miss the bass from the Superlux, with songs like Justice - Fire its definitely lacking.
One big issue with it is quality control, the right side making very weird noises sometimes, like the driver is blown or its touching plastic or something. I noticed this when i got it, but only did it very rarely and only with few songs, now it doing it more frequently. If someone has this issue return it, it will get worse. I removed the felt / took it apart, didnt made any difference.

Buy a new one when:

• The pads fall apart... in most cases buying replacement pads for headphones are more expensive than this entire headphone.
• you hear a strange rattle, buy a new one... these are dirt cheap.
• the cable breaks ... buy a new one and keep the old one for spare parts (driver, pads, headband).
• you like it and want to have a spare.

 

[jacobacci]

Buy a new one when:

• The pads fall apart... in most cases buying replacement pads for headphones are more expensive than this entire headphone.

I don't like throwing away things that otherwise work. Has anyone replaced the pads on the ZX110? Are there pads of better quality?

 

[solderdude]

I don't either but honestly.. it is a poor (sound)quality headphone with a throw-away price.
When looking for pads just measured the outer diameter and look on the usual Chinese websites for something that fits.
Other pads are unlikely to improve nor worsen the 'sound/tonal balance'.

 

[jacobacci]

Better was not about "better sounding" but longer lasting. Only so much you can achieve at this price.
I have now gone for these. They look a bit more solid than the stock ones.

 

[Dave Harris]

Hi, Amirm.

I'm a little confused by the EQ settings you've provided.

Can you explain to me the benefits of a 8db boost at 40Hz on a pair of headphones already described as 'too bassy' ?

If it were 'cuts', it'd make more sense to me.

Thanks, mate.

 

[Tim Link]

Better was not about "better sounding" but longer lasting. Only so much you can achieve at this price.
I have now gone for these. They look a bit more solid than the stock ones.

The surface material on mine has now completely disintegrated after leaving thousands of black specks on my ears. The foam that remains seems stable.

 

[staticV3]

Hi, Amirm.

I'm a little confused by the EQ settings you've provided.

Can you explain to me the benefits of a 8db boost at 40Hz on a pair of headphones already described as 'too bassy' ?

If it were 'cuts', it'd make more sense to me.

Thanks, mate.

Hi @Dave Harris! Welcome to ASR.

Here's the ZX110's frequency response relative to Harman:


As you can see, the headphone starts to lose track at ~100Hz, significantly undershooting the target approaching 20Hz.

Amir's EQ parameters try to correct this, at least partially.

Hence, the bass boost.

It's not the most precise application of frequency response correction, as can be seen here, but it is sound in theory.

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

The surface material on mine has now completely disintegrated after leaving thousands of black specks on my ears. The foam that remains seems stable.

Purchased a “leatherette” coach. Material should be outlawed. Disintegrated and floated in the air. Thin as Saran Wrap.

 

[Jimster480]

Purchased a “leatherette” coach. Material should be outlawed. Disintegrated and floated in the air. Thin as Saran Wrap.

You have everything leather at, absolutely disintegrate. I don't understand why this material is still used after so many years of disintegrating products, but essentially anything made with it is deemed to disintegrate. I once had a set of seat covers made out of this, and that really turned out to be a mistake after about a year and a half.

 

[teched58]

The surface material on mine has now completely disintegrated after leaving thousands of black specks on my ears. The foam that remains seems stable.

How long did it take for that to happen?

For mine, it takes about a year and then the specks start flaking off.

When that happens, I just buy another zx110, it's only a coupla dollars more than ebay replacement earpads that don't fit properly

 

[Tim Link]

How long did it take for that to happen?

For mine, it takes about a year and then the specks start flaking off.

When that happens, I just buy another zx110, it's only a coupla dollars more than ebay replacement earpads that don't fit properly

I think it started after about 2 years for me, if I remember correctly, because I wasn't using them that much at frist. Now I used them every evening for watching youtube in bed ( I shouldn't do that.) Once they started flaking I think it took them the better part of a year to finally run out of flakes.

 

[solderdude]

Hi, Amirm.

I'm a little confused by the EQ settings you've provided.

Can you explain to me the benefits of a 8db boost at 40Hz on a pair of headphones already described as 'too bassy' ?

If it were 'cuts', it'd make more sense to me.

Thanks, mate.

Well they have a (mid)bass emphasis in normal usage. The reason it isn't shown in the measurements is because they were made at 94dB SPL (which is VERY loud at 1kHz) and the ZX110 has terrible amounts of distortion (some of the worst I ever saw) and the driver compresses like nobody's business in the lows.

Response measured at 70dB, 80dB, 90dB and 97dB and overlaid.
When used at 'normal' levels (70dB average) there is a lot of bass but it disappears at louder levels (because of the heavy compression = odd harmonic distortion)

Then there are also seal issues reducing the bass when the on-ear does not fully seal (depends on ear shape)

These are fine for spoken word (video conferencing)
They're cheap on-ears so they will be limited.

Koss thingies are way better in every aspect.

 

[Dave Harris]

I had mine over almost 3 years, wear them almost daily gaming and the whole unit still looks like new, cheap but new, including the pads.

Exactly...it's all to do with how much your ears sweat. You don't see cows disintegrating irl, do you ?????

 

[solderdude]

You don't see cows disintegrating irl, do you ?????

LOL

The pads are pleather (PVC-leather look).
Cloth covered with PVC with a leather-look embossing basically.