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I've spent a lot of time with good balanced armature monitors stuck in my ears. Mostly it's a pleasure --- there are some darn good headphones out there of this type: Jerry Harvey Audio JH13, Shure SE530, Etymotic ER4P, and Audéo PFE come to mind. I've also spent a good bit of time with in-ear monitors that use dynamic drivers. That hasn't been nearly as pleasurable.

Lately, that's begun to change, and with the Sony MDR-EX600 and MDR-EX1000 I'm thinking we've got a real horse race on our hands.

The Sony MDR-EX600 ($199)…

Sound Quality
The sound quality of both the EX600 and EX1000 is quite good. Other than the EX1000 being slightly faster and brighter sounding, both headphones sounded and measured very similarly.

Boy, it's such a pleasure to put on a pair of dynamic IEMs and not be flooded with a far-too-overemphasized bass. It's a fine line, however, and in-ear headphones that strive for neutrality can fail by seeming a bit too thin (Etymotic ER4S/P, Audeo PFE w/gray filter). The Sonys seem to strike a pretty good balance ... though I could have done with little more bass, these were among…

When I saw these pop up on the internet, I couldn't wait to get my hands on them. I have a pair of the B&W P5 headsets and I like them very much. They're somewhat colored but they're fun sounding, and a sexier piece of audio kit you'll hardly ever see. I was expecting a similar experience with the C5.

Didn't get it though.

Bowers & Wilkins C5 ($179)
Having heard the B&W P5 and Zeppelin, I knew I wasn't going to be hearing a neutral headphone. That's cool. Having seen the P5 and Zeppelin, I knew I was in…

Ergonomics Continued: the Secure Loop
The C5 features a unique method for securing the earpieces in the ear. When I first saw it I thought, "That's cool, and smart as hell." Unfortunately it's not quite so cool in practice.

The first section of wire coming from the earpiece is covered with about four inches of clear, pliable plastic tube. This section loops around and is captive in a slot in the body of the headphone. The slot is slightly larger than the tube and can be slid in and out so as to form…

While perusing for new headphones to measure among HeadRoom's huge stock of sales team demo cans, my eyes fell upon the trio of Sony extra bass headphones. Having spent quite a bit of time lately with celebrity headphones that have exaggerated bass, I thought this might be a good time to hear Sony's take.

Nah, they don't need a celebrity endorsements, one of these cans thumps like mad.

Sony MDR-XB300 ($49), MDR-XB500 ($79), and MDR-XB700 ($139)
I can't tell you the number of times someone asks for slammin' bass…

Sound Quality
All three of these headphones provide strong bass response. In a headphone of this type I look for bass that's clean and tight sounding. I hate accentuated bass that's also loose and flabby, which will tend to overshadow all else with its moaning. I'm glad to say that the XB500 and XB700 deliver tight, well extended (goes very low) bass response. The XB300 tends to be somewhat looser than the other two and isn't as well extended.

All three of these cans have a withdrawn mid-range, and vocals can sound a bit distant. And all three of these headphones have…

Long before I became professionally involved with headphones, the Koss Porta Pro was a great little portable headphone. In fact, it was one of the first headphones designed particularly for portable applications. It has remained relatively unchanged to this day ...

... thank goodness. If it ain't broke ...

Koss Porta Pro ($49)
Cast you mind way back to the early eighties --- Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" was at the top of the charts; if you were really cool, you were into roller disco; and Sony's Walkman had just…

Sound Quality
The overall sound quality of the Porta Pro is warm and laid-back. The bass is weighty and reasonably executed for a headphone of this type and price, but it lacks tight slam and extension you can get with better, and more expensive, headphones. The mid-range is very well balanced, and though slightly overshadowed by the bass, integrates quite well to deliver a satisfying heft and truthful impression of the body…

Today, I start a journey into the wisdom of pop-culture ... oy vey. In the last few years of economic upheaval and outright disaster, the headphone market has flourished ... blossomed even ... it's the fastest growing product type in consumer audio. Why?

Damned rappers!

Editors Note: This is the first of series of reviews I'll be doing over the coming months about "celebrity headphones." I'll be reviewing the Beats, Ludacris, Skullcandy, House of Marley, Quincy Jones, and other vanity cans. At the end, I'll be writing a…

Isolation
The noise canceling circuit on these cans works only moderately well, delivering isolation that might be more typical of a good passive sealed headphone. I would not recommend these as an air or train travel headphone, as they really won't cut down on external noise well enough for that purpose. It does have the nice feature of being able to operate without turning on the noise canceling, which is great if you run out of battery, but the sound of the cans suffer when operating without power.

Sound Quality
With the noise canceling on, these headphones are…