Sony MDR-XD200 Stereo Headphones

This review is aimed at those with eyeglasses and whose ears get pinched between the eyeglass arms and the earphones. I do not like to block up my ears with ear plugs all day for health concerns. I have bought and used these:Sony MDR-CD230Sony MDR-V6Sony MDR-XD200My ears are not real fussy on quality, nearly all headphones give my ears a problem by pressing them against my eyeglass arms and this hurts, usually after 10-20 minutes of listening. My hatsize if about 7.25,my ears are pretty normal in size, I am middle aged. All three of these headphones I own are the best I have tried on or read reviews by eyeglass wearers over past 2 years. Headphones have a left and right side - the cord typically is attached to the left side, and the ear spaces, or cups, are oriented accordingly, to that the back of the ear lobe has more space to sit in than the front of the ear lobe. The sideways pressure (how hard they clamp onto your head) also is a secondary factor in whether my ears hurt. I wear wireframe glasses, and my use for headphones is background music while I program.$30 The CD230 is no longer available, that I could find (Fall 2006), and I've used them for 5 years. They hurt my ears after 3-4 hours of continual use, but are good before that. They have cloth covered ear cushions, and relatively deep ear lobe spaces. This feature in all earphone seems to be the primary feature that determines whether my ears hurt or not. If you can find these, and like cloth covered headphones, you won't be unhappy. The sideways pressure is light for me.$64 The V6 stands out for 2 things - richness and accuracy of the sound and blocking out outside office noises. Listening to classical music, not real loud, a co-worker can speak to my face and his voice is muffled pretty well. (Women's voices too). Overheard conversations are not overheard.I have used these occaisionally for a couple months and my ears/head get sore after 1-2 hours. The sideways pressure is noticeably more than the other two, but not excessive. They are well cushioned, with soft fake thin leather-like vinyl which I did not find causes sweating at all. But there is not a large space for the ear lobes to sit, and this is what causes pressure after a while to build up uncomfortably I am sure. If I did not have my eyeglasses on, then these are very comfortable.$26 The XD200 is a little lighter than the V6, it does not block out outside noises as well, which can be a benefit in the office because I can hear co-workers calling my name. The sideways pressure is light, the cushion is the same thickneess as the V6 but the ear space is much deeper for the earlobe, so for this reason it is the most comfortable of all headphones I've owned or tried. The cushions are covered in the thin leather-like vinyl like the V6 - this stuff feels like a paper much more than a plastic, it feels dry, not clammy. To my unprofessional ears the sound is great. If you wear eyeglasses, don't want to use ear plugs for hours at a stretch, then I think you will be happiest with the Sony MDR-XD200 headphones.Edited May 2013 to offer a still better option for those whoe ears get sore from headphones. The Sony Ultra Lightweight MDR-W08L Vertical In-The-Ear Headphones, which as of now costs $16, are very good, better for comfort than the over the ear headphones. These "in-the-ear" headphones really do NOT go *in* the ear, they rest on the outside and the head band is exceptionally light on pressure. Now, every other so-called in-the-ear headphone does in fact go *in* the ear, but not these. These are flat disks that rest on the outside of the ear canal and allow air in and out. They will not block noise like the over-the-ear headphones, and that is a real factor in a noisy office, but for comfort I've found these the best for the past year, so that I no longer use my head phones.

Comfort, price & quality were the primary factors in my purchase and satisfaction with these headphones. I wanted comfort for LONG listening sessions...check. It is not unusual for my music-addict self to spend listening sessions as long as 6 to 8 hours on headphones listening to music, so comfort was very important to me...if not slightly more important than quality, otherwise I'd have spent much money. I don't want the headphones to determine how often I HAVE to take a break from listening session. This is where these headphones excel. Very comfortable.These are by no means noise-canceling but having previously used some expensive Bose noise-canceling headphones (which broke after their warranty expiration), I was not disappointed as that is not really my primary concern in my home where I primarily use them, often with the television going in the background. I multi-task in that regard anyway. At the same time, I also purchased the Sennheiser HD201 Lightweight Over-Ear Binaural Headphones. I haven't tried the Sennheiser HD 202 Dynamic Headphones yet and was generally hesitant due to all the reviews about comfort and fit. I can tell you that if I had to chose between the two I did purchase, the extra $10 was better spent on these Sony headphones. I am keeping the Sennheiser's as well; however, these Sony headphones will be my primary headphones. I also liked that these Sony headphones had the cord extending from only one ear versus the Sennheiser HD201's cords extending from both ears...just a small thing, not really that important. These Sony headphones are more adjustable and will fit a wider range of people than the Sennheiser HD201. Just read the other reviews on the Sennheiser HD201 & 202 and you'll see that to be true. The Sony earcups don't swivel from right-to-left, but only up-and-down. The Sennheiser earcups swivel both up-and-down and right-and-left. However, the Sony's slightly thicker padding, wider fit, better flexibility and better adjustments make these Sony headphones the best in comfort. The Sennheiser headphones fit so noticeably close to the ear so as to put slight pressure on the ear that I can already tell that they will be uncomfortable during my longer listening sessions. Better explained, there is very little actual space, if any, between your ears and the headphones on the Sennheiser HD201. That is not the case with these Sony headphones. They are very comfortable.You will hear slightly less outside noise with the Sennheiser HD201, but again that wasn't an important factor for me. Don't be swayed either way by the "sound mode" feature on these Sony headphones. It does virtually nothing perceptible. I tried to figure out the difference. The best I could barely perceive was the 'movie' mode had insignificantly more bass and/or mid-range than the 'music' mode. I'm not influenced either way from this practically non-existent 'feature'.For me it came down to this: I paid $10 more for these and received a dramatically more comfortable set of headphones. Almost forgot to mention, the Sennheiser HD201 is lacking on the bass. The Sony was lacking on the highs. I mean they are both under $22...so what do you expect? Let's not be pretentious here. They are both roughly comparable quality for the money...depending on what you prefer. I plan on wearing out this Sony first. Length of life and how well they will wear in the long term, that I don't know yet.