Widget - Sony Nudex Fontopia Earbud MDR-EX51LP WHI

Since my old pair gave up on me yesterday, I yondered over to Yamada to get some new buds. The Sony Nudex Fontopia Earbud MDR-EX51LP features a distinct in-the-ear design that may seem inconvenient at first, but after putting them on leaves you wondering at why they've only thought of this now.

The package comes with 3 sets of silicon ear plugs for fitting into the bud itself. You need to choose the right size otherwise it could get inconvenient once you've put them on, but otherwise provides an excellent fit that doesn't easily fall off. The cable is also long enough (1.2m) for any general purpose or active work such as jogging and working out.

The design helps reduce outside noise and provides resonant bass response. One draw back though is that you may hear "internal noises" such as that while chewing food or merely swallowing.

You may wonder why the cable is shaped like an L, with the left-side bud's being shorter. This may cause that side being pulled out often if worn like Y-shaped buds. This model is meant to be behind-the neck and not left dangling in front.

The package also comes with a plastic case which also doubles as a wire shortener, though I find it mostly annoying and useless. I just got myself a battery storage container to store this set in.

Also, since the buds are inside your ear, ear wax and other dirt may accumulate inside, sometimes causing distorted sound. Just clean it up and it'll be back to its old self again.

If you happen to lose your pair of silicon plugs, replacements are available, though they don't come in just the one size that you want, the replacement package contains the same 3 sizes as that that came with the ear buds. After buying the replacement pack, you might be left with 4 pairs of useless plugs. My set cost me ¥2,850, a bit on the expensive side though not bad at all and an over all good buy.

Some hard specs:

• In-The-Ear Design
• 9 Mm Drivers
• 400 kj/ma Ultra-High-Power Neodymium Magnet
• Impedance: 16 ohms at 1 kHz
• Sensitivity: 100 dB/mW
• Power Handling Capacity: 100mW
• Frequency Response: 6 - 23,000 Hz
• Weight: 0.1 oz. (4g) w/o cord
• Oxygen-Free Copper (OFC) Cord
• Silicon Earplugs
• Earbud Holder
• Available in Silver, Blue, Pink and White