Sony XBA-S65 - Balanced Armature Sports Headphones

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $88.00
Sale Price: $37.21
Today's Bonus: 58% Off

Update: I'm sadly taking this way down to a 2 from a 5 and not recommending a purchase. While these headphones are the most intelligent design I've tried, they do slip out even still and they do break easily. I'm on my 4th pair (all free replacements) and I've had many problems. On two pairs, one driver developed a crackle. On the other two the housing broke as you've seen in many other reviews. Sony did come out with a better designed and cheaper version that doesn't use the XBA-series balanced armature. I'm tempted to try those but in the mean time my hunt for a solid workout/running in-ear set continues... (Denon Exercise Freak, Etymotic Research, Klipsch Image, other Sony sports, Sennheisser, Bose, B&W C5, and the cheap ones all of them have failed me)

Original Review:

My background:

Techie, not-quite-audiophile, runner, frequently at the gym, own dozens of headphones from Etymotic's to Sennheiser to Sony to Apple, listen daily, read gadget news.

Bottom line:

If you're looking for a great headphone for working out or running and you know what natural sound is like (i.e. a flat response curve), then stop reading. These are underpriced for their quality and they are by far the best fit for working out. Get them now and be happy.

These headphones mark the end of my years-long search to find a great workout headphone. I've gone through many headphones trying to find something that was a great fit and had at least reasonable audio quality. These turn out to have superb quality and the fit is better than any other for workout purposes.

Pros:

No-tangle cord It does what it should. I've bunched them up and shoved them in pockets/bags and pulled them in and out days later unraveling them takes just a couple seconds.

Ear loops and fit There are better fits to be had for every day listening but for working out and especially running, these are amazing. The loops fit such that cord noise is diminished (but present still) and if you tug on the cord, it doesn't move the driver much. And if the seal comes undone a little (rare) then all you have to do is gently push the driver to seat it again because the loops hold it right over your ear canal. It doesn't drift around and twist or force you to play with the fit. The loops themselves are comfortable so long as you don't try to cinch your ear off. The rubber coating is durable and soft.

Audio quality It's comparable to similarly priced high-end IEMs. It can drive really clearly at high volume which is great for running (I always crank it up when I'm running up a hill). You'll find higher quality options for every day listening but I haven't heard anything nearly as good in a sports headphone. For those of you tuned to Sony's bass-filled low-end, these will sound flat and lifeless. You'll adjust. The bass is there and it's actually quite amazing especially after a good long burn-in. However, for some people's purposes, a thick, incorrect, pronounced bass response from cheaper headphones is what you want for working out. For me, these are so comfortable and sound so great that I've actually switched to using these nearly all of the time. I'm planning on getting a multi-driver XBA for non-workout listening but in the mean time these are my favorite.

Water seal I sweat worse than anyone I've seen at the gym and I haven't had a problem. I've killed several ipod shuffles but these are going strong after about a month of use. I've also run in the rain with them. The only thing is that if your ears get full of sweat or water, you'll have a little bit of slipping on the seal. See above about fit it's easy to re-seat them.

Sound isolation I give it decent rating here. It's not meant to block all noise and for running outside I wouldn't want it to. But you will definitely hear a little outside noise. Overall though, it's a good amount of isolation.

Cons:

Cord length It's long and although I hate a bulky in-line adapter, I kind of wish I could split it in half sometimes. The little cord adjustment kit and clip it come with are the typical sony sports pieces that are good but just plain annoying to get on and off so I never bother.

Pressure in seal Any fit of this style is going to have a certain amount of air-tightness to it. In the case of etymotics, the seal is completely air-tight. That means when you run, the pressure of your body jolting causes your ear to jump up and down in pressure making running uncomfortable, not to mention unstable (inner ear balances us after all). These headphones are much better than Etymotics, but the seal is just slightly aggressive. This is good when lifting weight but for running if you try to adjust the fit and accidentally push it a little too hard, you'll squeeze out air and create a really tight low-pressure seal. It's not a deal-breaker. It's just a little tricky at times. I've gotten used to it without a problem really. It doesn't cause me any pressure issues while running.

RMA'd first unit The original that I got from J&R through amazon had a defect where something (likely the water seal material) was loose in the left driver. At various frequencies the loose material would rattle. RMA'ing wasn't a big deal and the second unit has been fine.

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When I first received the product, I was like WOW, what great design.

It fits much better compare to the apple headphone.

I used it for three months, ran 4 times a week on a treadmill and

about 7miles each time. It fits firmly but not to the level of

discomfort.

Then both sides broken. And they all happened on the same spot

on the R&L side, around the little red spot above the sony label.

Just to be clear, I never used the headphone when not running and I

consider myself always took good care of them, this is the first pair

of headphone that broken on my ears.

Buy Sony XBA-S65 - Balanced Armature Sports Headphones Now

First, let me start by saying I am a huge fan of Sony products. I had high expectations for the XBA-S65, but it fell short on one hugely critical thing the fit in my ears. Even with the largest cone size on the buds, they still popped out of my ears immediately after I pushed them in. I tried pushing them back in a hundred times during my hour-long cardio workout, but the sweat kept them from staying secure in my ear canals. I guess I have large ears, but I don't think they are abnormally large. I am legitimately shocked how even the largest cones were too small. It's such a shame too because the mids/treble sounded great on these. The bass was non-existent like many of the other reviewers said, so if you want bass these will disappoint you on that alone. I really wish these had worked for me. The whole reason I bought them was so that I'd have a great pair of earbuds that wouldn't come out during my workout. The only reason they didn't completely fall off my ears was because of the loops that kept them dangling after they popped out. I am beyond disappointed, and I returned them to Amazon for a refund. If you have slightly large ears, look elsewhere.

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I bought these headphones because I read great reviews about the sound quality compared specifically to other performance head phones. I was contemplating buying the Beats sport version, but they were about 2x the price of the Sony headphones.

The sound quality of the Sony XBA's was rated to be close if not better than the Beats, which I would argue is pretty accurate. However, the reason for the poor rating is that the these are very DELICATE headphones.

I use these solely at the gym, and they are classified as being sports headphones. To me this means being able to put up with sweat, a little tugging while running ,etc.

Well these didn't last 6 months of 5-10 hours of use per week at the gym. The loop that goes around the ear has slowly ripped out from where it connects to the bottom wire, and they no longer stay on my ear in a stable way. I'm very disappointed in the durability of these sports headphones, as I take good care of my electronics too.

I understand some wear and tear is going to happen, but these are very flimsy and any tugging on the ear look causes them to rip out of where they were originally put together.

Want Sony XBA-S65 - Balanced Armature Sports Headphones Discount?

The ear buds don't stay all the way in your ear very long while jogging. They tend to come out and dangle in your ear as they are held by the over the ear strap. The sound quality goes down when they aren't shoved in all the way in your ear. When they are in your ear,the sound quality is pretty good but the over the ear strap isn't very durable. I only use these earbuds for jogging and they tore after about 20 uses. I now use a $10 pair of sony sport ear buds with a durable plastic over the ear thingy. They are more comfortable but the sound quality is a little less.