I don't know how many of you use earbuds out there for gaming, but they're a must for me due to portability. I'm not a big fan of buying expensive speaker systems and pimping out my room with 3D dolby digital surround sound with earth-shattering subwoofers, but I do expect some level of quality audio for gaming. With earbuds that's something hard to find.

Enter, the Sony MDR-EX51LP. I've never really owned a pair of earbuds that have been worth mentioning to anyone, so this is a first. But I thought I'd pass the word along that this one indeed kicks major ass. You can get it for $28 at Amazon.com if you're interesting. I highly recommend it if you're into earbuds a lot.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000095SB6/qid=1093753745/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/102-2265941-1956950?v=glance&s=electronics&n=507846

Anyway, when you first put these on, (very comfy btw) with the included fitting plugs that are available in multiple sizes, you start to freak out because you hear yourself swallowing and moving your jaw. And when the adrenaline is flowing during exciting moments you can even hear your own heart pumping sometimes (perfect for Doom 3).

Welp, I've never owned a pair of earbuds known to do that, so I was freaked out. Nevertheless, this serves as a major advantage--there's literally very little or no sound leakage with this thing. If you've got annoying siblings that shout a lot, this is a godsend. On top of that, you feel more like you're into the game.

You'd think these tiny things have low quality, but they really don't. Not by a long shot. Every detail of every sound is shot through your ear like a laser beam. Although it's probably not healthy for the eardrum (gotta turn that volume down, heh), it does make for an excellent gaming experience.

The first thing I did when I got it was rip open the package and fire up Vendetta. I log on, buy a bus, and exit the station. Expecting to hear the same old dinky booster human spitting sound as always, I press my booster key only to get rattled by loud bass echoing through my skull. Woohoo! The bass is back!

Yeah so, if you ever want a high quality and cheap set of earbuds, Sony hits the spot with this product. If anyone else would like to share something to enhance Vendetta's audio, go right on ahead. I'm going to be enjoying these earbuds for a looooong time.

You don't by any chance work for Sony? :P

I was anyway looking for some new headphones. Are these things noise canceling and are they good at that? Cause I'd probably use them often while bicyclering on the road and that combination doesn't sound (heh) like a good idea.

you shouldn't wear headphones in traffic, period.
i myself use a different model, and they are not as "soundproof" as arolte suggests his are.
for normal play i use el cheapo active speakers (200% improvement over the TiBook's weak speakers. has anyone else ever experienced that DVDs play waay to soft?).

It's against the law to do so in MA...

I recently bought a pair of those, they were wonderfull. And I was also quite shocked to hear myself breathing and moving my jaw :D. However around 4 weeks of what I would call normal use the right one died on me. No idea why, was just listening to some music and then suddenly, boom dead earbud. So i bought a pair of the new apple ear buds, although not as cool looking as the sony ones (my opinion) I think they deliver better sound quality and get quite a bit louder. But yes, if you dont want to shell out tons of cash for "sound blocking" headphones id go for the sony ones (the apple ones are quite nice as well for the "gaarrrrrr apple roxzors j00!!!") they are verrrrrry comfortable, I once forgot I had them in when I anwsered the phone and couldent understand why I couldent hear the person. :P

> you shouldn't wear headphones in traffic, period.

Blabla ... All I can say is: Boring low-traffic Eastern German country roads. :P
I agree though everyone who wears headphones in city traffic is crazy.

> It's against the law to do so in MA...

In my life I've only seen like one police car during one of trips on aforementiond roads. And that was after a car crash. (or I forgot about others:P)

Silent, where'd you get the Apple earbuds from? I can't find it anywhere on the online Apple store. Bah!

Oh, speaking of Apple earbuds. My brother got an iPod for a graduation gift from high school this past June. Complete with the Apple earbuds. About a week after he first turned it on, the diaphragm broke on one of the earbuds. And you know what? Apple refused to either give him a replacement set, or a refund. Isn't that nice. I myself have the Apple earbuds, and though they haven't broken yet, I am not that impressed with either their noise cancelling or their ability to keep the music in my ears so other people aren't bothered by it. And...they're not that comfortable. Just the same as normal earbuds. I'm going to look into the ones that Arolte suggested.

...unless you're referring to Apple's In-Ear earbuds which I just found out existed.

edit: Arolte, you might consider looking on eBay for the Apple earbuds (though I don't know why you'd want them).

Nice review Arolte, actually made me want to buy them. One question: How much would they cost if somebody is dull, or at least unassuming?

"You can get it for $28 at Amazon.com if you're interesting. I highly recommend it if you're into earbuds a lot."

I'm not sure I understand your question, FM. Could you rephrase it?

I think the retail price runs at about $40. I found some cheaper prices in this place:

http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Sony%20MDR-EX51LP%20Headphone:1991234116

Some detailed specs on the product can be found here:

http://www.minidisco.com/mdr-ex51lp.html

If you're seriously consider buying them, read up on the other users reviews from Amazon.com or Epinions.com. Overall I can tell you it got a high rating though. This product definitely gives you more bang for your buck, if you're reluctant to spend upwards of $80 or $100 on so called "professional" headphones.

I'd like to provide one word of caution though. When I say the bass is intense on these earbuds I mean it. For people who hate bass these probably aren't the earbuds for you. For those who like 'em, I think you'll enjoy them very much. To my knowledge the only way to turn down the bass on a Mac is through the equalizer in iTunes.

For games you pretty much have no control over it. This may not apply to PC users though, I'm not sure. Does XP let you tweak bass in output sound settings? Apple doesn't let you in OS X, unfortunately. In any case if you don't mind (or enjoy) having that extra oompfh in audio for your games, you'll love these.

You can get it for $28 at Amazon.com if you're *interesting*. I highly recommend it if you're into earbuds a lot."

he's making fun of your use of interesting insted of interested.

Want the bass back in boosters? One name. Klipsch.

Ehhh... I made that post at 1am. Not sure why the messageboard is giving the wrong time. Anyway, mistakes are made early in the day, blah blah blah...

/me smacks Whistler

"Want the bass back in boosters? One name. Klipsch."

Ooof, hella expensive speakers. My $75ish Creative 5.1s work fine. :P

Yeah, my T5400's sound good. If I want more bass, there's a convenient woofer volume knob I can turn.

ieuw...

330 euro for such a junk that you just plug into your ears..., me uses his junkbuds of 5euro...

So what if other people need to listen along, if they dont want to then they shut their ears...

Or ill just cranck the music down, depends which one is easier to do.

crazy people...

"Yeah, my T5400's sound good"

Heh, you've got the exact same model as me. :P

Ahhh but rene, can your 5 euro earbuds block 32 decibels?

Depends on how loud you turn it up I guess...heh...