Sony pretty much invented Portable Hi-Fidelity Audio with the WalkMan back in the 1980’s. While one can debate the validity of cassette tapes as an audiophile format, you can’t argue that Sony has a history of offering some of the best affordable, high quality headphones for both professionals and consumers. I still use the same pair of Sony MDR V-150 Studio Monitor Headsets I bought 20 years ago for my video editing today.
In my ongoing quest to find the best “cheap” headphone I tried out Sony’s ZX110 heaphones. They come in a range of colors, I picked up a white colored pair on Amazon which were on sale for under $10 (regular retail price $15). They come shipped in a cleanly designed cardboard box. This is a nice step up from the usual vacuform clamshell packages of their competitors like Panasonic and JVC.
The headphones retained my V-150s design cues on the ear cup , while improving on their compact stowability. Cord was an ample 4ft long with good solid feeling amount of wire insulation for durability. The audio jack had a clever dimple design on a right-angled 3.5mm jack.
Wearing them, I found them to be more comfortable than my old V-150’s, which have to fit tightly on the head to reduce sound-leak along the ear pads. The ZX110 head a looser more light feel along the ears while providing decent sound isolation. The earpads are replaceable.
Audio quality was balanced but underwhelming compared to my studio headphones. Performance was very similar to Pansonic HF100’s with slightly weaker bass response but clearer in the mid-range. The bass was its weak point, sounding more rattling than thumping on a House music track. Those used to bass-biased power speakers, like Beats will be disappointed. But the overall balance was good and likely to be straining on the user when listening to spoken word, Classical, Jazz, or Acoustic Pop.
Overall the headphones were among the performers in the Budget sub $20 price tier. These headphones are available on Amazon. Please use my Affiliate link to support my work: https://amzn.to/3764DoW
SPECS
CORD: 3.94 ft
IMPEDANCE (OHM): 24 ohm (1KHz)
PLUG: L-Shaped 3.5mm
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 12–22,000Hz
DRIVER: 1.18 in dynamic – Dome type
SENSITIVITY: 98 dB/mW