Stereo headphone review: Sony MDR-XD300

“I am not an audiophile expert, if you are, spare me- or else I have the crowbar that Gordon Freeman gifted me on my 18th birthday!” The Sorcerer (before writing this article)

Sound makes us happy, sad, shocked, and surprised, give a sigh of relief, think and believe. And one of the instruments used to hear sounds from- is from our computer. Music, games, movies and animation. We love our speakers dear to our heart and ears but at times, due to unavoidable reasons, we need headphones. We don’t mind if it’s cheap but it shouldn’t sound like 2 plastic cups tied together with a string as well, we need long lasting headphones to help us enjoy moments as much as we can. We have many choices- but sony is something which is rarely talked about. Is it worth the silence, or will it break the silence? Maybe!!

Package information
Features:
# Wider dynamic range can be realized with long stroke driver units.
# 40mm driver units with 360 kj/m³ neodymium magnets are used to reproduce high fidelity, high resolution sound.
# “sound mode” switch allows the reproduction of the sound to give appropriate sound effect, music or movie
# “Ear conscious design” helps headphones to fit the angle of any shapes of the ear naturally without squeezing the ear.
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Specifications:
# Type: closed/ dynamic
Driver unit: 40mm, dome type
Power handling capacity: 1500 mW (IEC)
Impedence: 70 Ω at kHz
Sensitivity: 104 dB/mW
Frequency response: 8-25,000 Hz
Cord: 2.5m, OFC litz cord
Plug: Gold plated stereo mini plug
Connection type: Connector: 3.5mm attached & 6.3 mm stereo via converter
Mass: approx 246 g without cord
Supplied accessories:
Gold- plated unimatch plug adapter
Extension cord (2.5m length, stereo mini jack↔ stereo mini plug)



First impressions:
Plastic quality is decent. Not as strong but it’s around the standard quality you might expect in a 1.5k headphones. Better plastic then altec Lansing 5021i if that would help. Might feel bit uncomfortable as first, but after some use, it feels comfortable. The design of the cushion is exactly as it is mentioned in the box, designed according to the ear. It’s the overhead support which looks like as it’s holding the ear but that’s just my imagination. Although this is good, it feels as comfortable as other headphones in the same price range. The quality of the cushion cloth’s lifespan however comes into a question. There weren’t many wrinkles when I bought it but as the time went by, it’s started aging. Although this would not affect the sound quality, don’t be surprised if it comes out after almost a year’s time. It’s the same thing happened when I had altec Lansing 5021i headphones with mic.

It skipped my mind, but WOW the cables lengths are long as a snake. A 2.5m cord attached to the headphone, and 2.5 additional extension cord. Whoa this is long. When connected with the extensions, they reach from the start to the end of the hall. 5 m cable. It also comes with a 6.3mm jack as well. All the connectors are gold plate. Do they make any difference….we will know



If you see on each cup, they have push type switches. It’s a controller for movie and music. This is something good?? Time to check it out.
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Guinea pigs
Games: Half life, Quake 3: arena, half life 2, nfs:ug2, nfs: mw bioshock
Movies: Pirates of the Caribbean: dead man’s chest, V for Vendetta, Fullmetal alchemist: conqueror of shambala, Initial D- the movie
Series: Prison break, Initial D, The IT CROWD
Music:
Limp Bizkit (128 bit mp3)
Finger Eleven: One thing (128 bit mp3)
Mixmag presents Paul Van dyk (364 bit mp3)
Other devices:
PC/PSP/21 inch flat screen Sony
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Conclusions:
Not a surprise- the movie and music toggle switch is more like a show then it actually does anything. It looses a point on that. I rather would have preferred a sound controller then this. It’s a surprising design flaw that if they have given an extra extension with the same good quality, they didn’t realize that a sound controller would be absolutely fantastic idea. Sony is my favorite and it’s something which I will buy eyes closed, but situations are changing time by time.
Playing half life and quake 3 in this was amazing. Left was left and right was right. It wasn’t the case for the new games unfortunately that wasn’t the case for the rest of the lot. It does sound great and crisp. Bass wasn’t much but the overall sound is clear. But left and right hearing was another story. I swapped it with my ep-630 and altec Lansing atp3 and that wasn’t the case on them. It’s strange that a headphone which was great for old games isn’t exactly colourful. I disabled the music on the mw and tried to listen if left and right drifts can be heard properly. It was but not to a great extent. Cranked it up with my underground 2, I can hear the difference between left and right properly. It seemed that this was made based on old technology.
Watching movies, series and listening music however was different. Crisp, clear sound with a proper balance. Even on max sound, the sound doesn’t distort at all. Sony isn’t known for good sound, but hell yeah they are known to use quality resources for their stuff. Don’t expect a good amount of bass though, expect a crisp clear non distorted sound. Will you be disturbed on outside sound? From mid level sound, you wont. But the sound can be heard outside as well. Metal clash in fight scenes with swords are damn clear and crisp, sound of walking, sound behind the bushes, the sound of drifting its totally awesome. No issues with left and right issues though. I chose the song one thing because I needed to know if the guitar sound and the song can be heard- its damn good.
If your looking for a budget headphone with sound of ep-630, your better off with the 630. Though the quality of the cable, connector and plastic is good, the cloth however is a question mark. It would have been better off without it. The sound mode is a big turn off. If they weren’t there, they wouldn’t have lost the point.
Just like I said before, I am looking for something between my speakers and headphones. Its gets a 3 out of 5. It isn’t a “bang the head” sound quality, but it is bang for a buck quality. However, there seem to be a price issue though. In some places this costs Rs. 1499 while some as ridiculous as Rs. 2999- but the manufacturing date was april 2007. When I checked in stores, its not more then Rs. 1600 at max. You do get one year warranty with it. Is it worth the buck, well…it is doing what I want it to do. So it is- for watching movies and music. For gaming, well...look for other alternates, if they are better ones on same price range, well and good. I am pretty sure that phillips must be having something good for gaming but not sure.