Sony MDR-EX85LP/BLK

I have written before about the Sony wireless, bluetooth headphones I can use with an adapter with my old trusty iPod. Bluetooth stereo works also fine with my new work laptop (Vaio Z31), which was a bit surprising (e.g. with Lenovo the sound was snapping/breaking; must be related to the way bluetooth stereo works for Sony). But wireless headphones do not fit every use and opportunity. You can try to use them with your mobile phone (Nokia N95 and Sony do not work together particularly well, though). But a radio, or some other sound source requires good old wired headphone. I have few of them, like “The Plug” by Koss, but I did find the in-ear-canal, tube-structure painful. They were also dropping out of my ears, and I got tired of cutting the soft isolation material to the odd shapes of my ear canals. I finally found Sony model that appears like a nice compromise between the real high-end and the cheap end: Sony MDR-EX85LP. I like the construction of these in-ear plugs, they fit very well and the isolation is also rather good (even while you can still hear something when you are called upon by your family members…) These ones have also decent sound: rather neutral and balanced in both treble and bass areas. Nothing spectacular, but these are, after all, sub-60 euro headphones. Koss Porta Pro are still the best-sounding travelling headphones I’ve got. (You can get these Sony’s also as a white version.)