Side by Side Comparison of: Sony vs Symphonized

these work just fine. seam to be about the same as my more expensive ( by about 10$)Sound Magic E30s but these have more base.other than the base, they seam pretty balanced and clear on the highs and lows. the base is not too much. i dont think the wood makes any sound improvement over plastic, but it looks alot nicer, especially with my green replacement buds i had.the braided cord is nice, but is louder than expected. if you loop the cord behind your ears, it greatly reduces cord noise. the braided cod should also make it a little more durable of a cord, and might help prevent a cat from chewing though it ( like happened with my E30s) i chose orange, and it works nice and well to see where my cord is dangling, also makes it more visible for others to see if the cord is spanning a gap. it also glows under a black light ( UV)

Usually when I write reviews about headphones/earbuds, it tends to be negative. However, this is probably the earbuds that has lasted me the longest, even longer than ones costing upwards of $100. They have lasted through my last year of college and college all-nighters+partying, trips to Dallas and Myrtle Beach, and survived rough use in a developing country (Bangladesh). They sound amazing and the bass is great. Finally one of the sides went dead after more than a year but not upset considering how rough I used it and all those tanglings and surprised it lasted that long. Now I'm buying another pair of the same thing. I'm officially a faithful customer to Symphonized. Well done!

First off I'll say this: I own a lot of headphones in various styles. I'm super picky when it comes to my audio because I like listening to music in a particular fashion. These earbuds and honestly very good. The lows, mids, and highs are all very crisp. Everything is separated very nicely, and every range is clearly heard. I'm usually a base heavy person, and these earbuds don't have the most "banging" bass. However, the base is very balanced and makes the music sound wonderful.Now for the construction. The earbuds casings are made from a lightweight wood, and they honestly feel very nice. They feel light enough to have in your ears for multiple hours and feel no pain or discomfort. I honestly forgot that I had been wearing them a few times, that's how light they feel. The cable is made of a a twisted nylon that feels nice in the hand. The thickness of the cable feels more secured than a lot of other earbuds with a thin cable. They also don't tangle as easily as other earbuds do. They also come with two sets of three different sizes, half black and half of whatever color you chose. That's a set of large, medium, and small warriors in both colors. With a little drawstring sack for storage, you can easily have everything you need on the go.For $25, these earbuds are a steal. I've never found another pair of earbuds that have delivered such smooth, balanced audio as this pair of earbuds does. If you have any concerns with buying these earbuds, don't. They are such a good pair for what you're paying for.

I really was surprised at how much I liked these. Customer support emailed me back right away after I had a question about the aux input bending to the point of not working. I skateboard a lot with these and go to the gym. I go through headphones often and these have been durable for me. I also noticed that when I forgot this pair of headphones at home and used some old backup ones I had, the sound quality was night and day. I don't buy "beat" priced headphones because of having cats at home as well as a lot of skateboard falls. Its always nice finding stuff like this on amazon. I always check the amazon reviews and see what the common negative issues are that way if a lot of people have similar reviews it seems more credible/realistic. The aux input where it plugs into your device is the weakest point from my experience. It's not something you could probably break by using it just to walk to class, but if your like me and you stress it with physical activity be careful with it!

I read so many reviews my head hurts and decided to purchase the updated 2.0 NRG type with covered cable. I have listened to Steely Dan to my favorite guitarist Joe Satriani and Blasted these on my Samsung Galaxy S5 Smartphone. It took everything and no distortion. I did sound for a band, and so far as far as the cable making rubbing noise? I do not see nor hear any that would give it a bad review. I own Dr. Dre Beats and you can have them for all that money and deep bass. These symphonized earbuds rock and have a very distinct bass, midrange and tremble without being bright. Just very even across the board in my opinion. If you listen to enough Joe Satriani, you will hear ALL clean sound. Love these, and can not wait to receive the 2.0 NRG Symphonized version later today or 3-2-2016. Will give a comparison of them versus these. Also, the wood on these are very well done and definitely give a much better sound then some others I have owned that were plastic. And finally, using on my mobile phone, the sound is very clear on both ends! Highly recommend these, but will see if any big difference between these and the 2.0 version and covered cables?

These earphones get the job done, and the customer service seems to be absolutely amazing. However, although the earphones do a good job of being soundproof, it still has some major flaws. The main headphone jack seems to be incredibly sensitive, if you accidentally move the cord too much or you accidentally move or touch the headphone jack, you either trigger Siri, cause the music to stop playing, or cause it to play in fast speed. Although the earbuds themselves are amazing, the flaws that are connected with its headphone jack are major enough for me to give it a 3 star review. The sound quality is amazing, and is comparable to that of the more expensive brands, but if the music doesn't play smoothly and keeps annoyingly triggering Siri every 5 seconds the entire experience isn't as enjoyable anymore.However, if you experience any problems with the earbuds, the amazing customer service would gladly replace it for you relatively quickly.Update: I was pleasantly surprised after symphonized reached out to me concerning the review I put in before about Siri and the weird flaw with the earphones. They told me that I had a received an old version of their headphones (one that wasn't compatible with the iPhone 6 because Apple changed the headphone jack for the iPhone 6). They replaced my earphones and they work perfectly now, no problems with Siri or anything. These earphones are now absolutely perfect, and the amazing customer service that Symphonized has, makes these earphones way better.

I don't usually review products, but I really like these pair of headphones. So I figure I would say something others may consider buying them.I originally bought two pairs, one for me and one for my girlfriend. We both love them.The silicone ear pieces create a clear separation/vacuum, allowing for clear sounds without too much ambient noises. Definitely useful when I study, on the train, or on an airplane. I feel they are almost as good as some active-noise cancelling headphones.In terms of sound and technical aspects, I am not a audiophile, but I have purchased a few nicer headphones and IEMs just to compare (material quality, sound quality, etc.).Sound-wise, I really like the sound. Clear sound with for highs and mids without being overbearing. The wood really brings out the bass of certain songs, and does not really sound muffled. For the price range, I think these are great.The only drawback I did not like were:- the long cord (more than a few times, the cord would get caught on a doorknob while I'm walking around)- the stiff, oblique headphone jack. (this was a unique feature, which is fine initially. But I broke the jack when I was plugged into my phone, had my phone in my pocket, and then sat down. Just be careful!)What's also really nice is the price. Does not break the bank compared to other nicer IEMs I have bought. Overall, a good find and a good product that I would recommend.tl;dr: great pair of headphones, good suction for noise-isolation, wood brings out the bass nicely, careful with the headphone jack and the long cord, the price is great

[UPDATE 12/15/2016]: Suffers from a lot of cord noise as the cord contacts clothing.The Symphonized NRG Premium Genuine Wood In-ear headphones in orange braided cord exceeded my expectations. Full disclaimer they were on sale here, 50% off so the ~$25 purchase price sets the bar low. I'm neither a headphones geek with expensive amp-requiring headphones nor audio engineer but I am am musician and 70s kid so I have years of relevant experience. All of that said, the sound is natural, tight, punchy, clear and crisp. Their in-ear nature cuts external sound effectively. Both sonically and noise reduction-wise they compare well against my Bose QuietComfort 25s in an office environment. The pause function on the microphone works as expected and callers hear my voice clearly. I'm glad to see the resurgence of braided fabric wrapped cords and that, the wood earpieces and price were the main draws. The funky angled plug is a nice design element. The comfort level is what you'd expect from the photos and your own past experience with in-ears. The package contains softer silicone inserts which I haven't tried yet. I'll revisit this review if anything comes up. Aesthetics : 5/5 Sound: 5/5 Comfort: average/normal Features: 5/5

I like these earbuds enough that I've bought two more pairs for whenever my first pair burns out. The sound quality is really nice and the noise cancelling effects are good enough that most background noise is minimized substantially, but you're not completely dead to the world or oblivious to everything around you. It dulls the background to a nice ambient level that's easily ignored.The nylon cord surrounding the wire is very durable and attractive. I like having a bright red cord so I can find them wherever they're hidden in my bag when not attached to my phone. It feels strong and I've never felt like it stretched or loosened despite some rough handling.I would highly recommend these to anyone interested in buying earbuds with good sound quality who don't want to break the bank. I probably wouldn't buy them if they were over the approximately $26 I paid for them, but I'm very happy with them at the price they're currently at.

EDIT: I contacted customer support and they sent me a free replacement of the 2.0 version of the headphones. They were very friendly and did not hesitate to place the order. After using the new pair, I can say some of my issues are no longer a problem. The updated cord design does not tangle as often, and I'm not experiencing the weird sound problems I had before. However, within 30 seconds of using the headphones, music in the left ear cut out a few times. It was only for a few seconds, and it has never done it since, so I'm hoping it is a one-time occurrence. So far, I'm enjoying the NRG 2.0s. I've changed my rating from 2 to 4 stars.The sound quality on these is not bad for the price. However, there is a very weird beeping noise that occurs in both earbuds from time to time, especially if I'm walking. And my music will stop playing occasionally for no reason. This only happens with these buds (I have a brand new iPhone 6s and any other headphones I use don't do this). Also, the cord is always curled no matter what I do to flatten it out. I am on the cusp of getting a refund.

Pros: Sounds good, feels sturdy, bumping bass, nylon cord. The mic in the cord is nice, there is a button that lets me pause or play music or hang up calls.These have an angled jack which is a good thing for extending cord life, and the cord is nice and long.I liked how full these sounded, the bass is there, the high and mids are a bit dampened, but thats the whole point of using wood in your headphones, wood gives the sound a warm feelings, aka, heavier bass, lower highs. I can still easily understand music, and its not even noticeable to those of you who are newbies to headphones and critical listening, but to a trained ear, its something worth noting.I own a pair of Sony MDR-XB800's, and I got these earbuds to use when I'm out and about, because these are infact very portable, in case you did not know that earbuds were portable, yes, they work with just about any audio device.Cons: Slightly uncomfortable after long use, and when putting them in I get a popping/crackling noise from some diaphragms being forced in and out.If these didn't have that annoying popping when I put them in, I would give them 5/5, but that popping is just annoying.I WOULD recommend these to other people.

*UPDATE Dec. 18, 2014I highly recommend these. I mentioned in my original review that these would be great 'phones for travel, and then I went ahead and flew on a plane (my first time in a plane since 1998! it was very exciting!) to prove their worth. They're great. Great at noise isolation and produce great sound.I do have one tip to share. You might look a little goofy, but it's worth it if you are interested in dampening the vibration/banging traveling up the cord (which is by far my biggest complaint with these). All you have to do is, after inserting into your ear, tuck the cord over and around your ear so that it's going up behind your ears. The key is that all the vibration will stop where the cord touches your ear, and the remaining line isn't going to be touched or moving by much of anything. To give you a visual, the end result might look like the sports-marketed earbuds that wrap around behind your ear. It SIGNIFICANTLY helps.One other thing. I really like the braided cord, and my color is bright blue. Again, great for travel: it's easier to spot and distinguish from your other myriad cords, and the braided texture doesn't seem to tangle as badly as some other cords.*ORIGINAL REVIEW Nov. 13, 2014These are killer earbuds. Does the wood help? Maybe, I don't know. But these sound fantastic for the price. Does the braided cord reduce banging noise? Probably not, but it feels great, looks great, and is easy to untangle.I am not an audio professional by any means -- I'm not a "super hearer" -- but I do listen to a wide variety of music and produce the occasional music track/ video track / podcast episode. I don't know if I would use them as studio monitors -- and I'll explain why in a moment -- but for playback, for convenience of slipping these in your pocket or having a pair in your glove box for emergency listening... these put out some great sound. There's a bassy punch, but it leaves plenty of spaced for nuanced mid-range tunage. (That's the only convoluted audio-babble sentence I'll use, I promise.)The honest to goodness, only downside of these earbuds: they're still earbuds. The little silicone rings that seal off your ears feel great, like the start of an amazingly-comfortable Q-tip entering your canal, and do a lovely job of sealing off outside sounds. (Thus the "noise isolation.") They also do an amazing job of sending every single vibration, every miniscule amount of friction that touches that braided cord, into your ears. This is very noticeable to me during quieter songs, extremely noticeable during moments of silence, and not too bad during louder music. You'll never notice if you're sitting very still -- passenger in a car, a plane (which is why I purchased these!), or laying in bed.Here's what it comes down to: I will probably never use these at work, where I am often using my arms for typing and computery-stuff. (I also use a standing desk, so I'm probably shifting my weight back and forth more than if I were sitting in a chair.) But the subtle motion of moving my arms, shifting around, or whatever, is more than enough to send the annoying vibrations up the line. I listened to about two songs at work before pulling out my trusty pair of Sony MDR-7506 studio monitors.But I want to end this review by clarifying that I didn't buy these to replace my regular "big" headphones... I just needed a small pair of 'phones for travel and other situations where I didn't want to stuff a huge pair in my bag, but it would have been nice to have some. (Hiking around on trails, for instance.) I totally expected these to have the "vibration downfall", but what I did not expect was the killer sound that these puppies can rock out and the really nice quality design. Thumbs up!

The sound quality is great and the price with it totally bundles well with how good this earbuds are. But after 3 months of using this it finally show some issue, especially with the left earbud. It has buzzing noise with every bass hits. This pair is well taken care of and usually packed nicely inside my backpack. I would give this a 5 star if this pair last a bit longer than 3 months. But maybe I got the bad pair out of the many great pairs out there. Still worth the $25 I got this for.

The sound quality for these headphones is pretty good, but compared to other similar in-ear headphones I have had, they don't seat as well in my ear. Therefore, they don't block ambient noise as well. The controls on the cord allow to pause/restart music and occasionally will let me skip songs by clicking twice. However, the clicking twice does not consistently work and frequently leaves me trying multiple times to skip before I have to take my phone out and manually skip on the screen. There is no volume control on the cord. Overall I'd say they are average in-ear headphones. I'm not much of an audiophile, so for me I think I could have gotten something just as good or better for a much lower price.

I purchased these recently because I had lost an earlier model of the same ear buds. The original earbuds were fantastic - comfortable, solid, great noise reduction and good sound. Especially for sub $30 earbuds.However, these new earbuds (which look almost exactly the same) do not reduce as well as the original and the jack does not fit the audio out on the laptop or tablet firmly. Jiggling even a slight amount will cause a disconnect requiring me to unplug the earbuds and plug them in again. Still a decent set of earbuds for the price, but not as well made as the original pair I had from the same company.

Sad to give these a 3 star review.Edit: Almost forgot to include that the rubber earpieces over time split in half. Not talking about off the earbud itself. But the part of the earpiece that goes in your ear and creates the seal. It tears around the opening for the audio and eventually falls apart. Luckily they come with multiple (at different sizes) and mine had a black and a clear version. So the earbuds died before i ran out of rubber earpieces.When I first got them I would have given them a 4-5 star rating. I got the Zebra version and did they look awesome. Plugged them in and the sound was great as well! I listen to a large variety of songs so I like my headphones to be able to cover the full spectrum fairly well and this fit the bill. Highs and mids came out clear, and they definitely had a thunk to the bass. Then came the bad parts. The cord when rubbed on things like clothing causes a scratching sound in the earbuds. It's just an issue with the type of wire covering (which i like the looks and feel of). Not the manufacturers fault really. When listening to music this wasn't an issue. But if I was ever using them with something like a laptop and no audio was playing, the rubbing sound was fairly loud and annoying. Nothing I couldnt deal with, just not great. After a couple of months the left ear started going out. I pushed through even when the ear blew out completely and the right ear started to dwindle. I contacted Symphonized and got a replacement pair very quickly. Unfortunately the right ear in those has started to dwindle as well. So for a decently priced 25$ earbuds that look amazing and last 4-8 months depending on how much you use them and how well you take care of them I'd say they are decent. Not amazing, not horrible.Pros:-Looks amazing-Sounds great-Great customer serviceCons:-Degrades fairly rapidly over time-Rubbing sound from wires-Ear pieces broke over time

These headphones are phenomenal for analog (OLD) music upgraded to a lossless digital format. The sound is very similar to what you used to get on a stereo with great big wooden speakers. Vinyl rips sound absolutely amazing on these. The sound is "lifted" and "spread" so you can hear all the individual elements much more clearly. Lossy formats.... you can hear every single bit of data that got dropped during compression. On normal headphones that "garbled" sound you hear in the background of mp3's would be barely noticeable, but it comes through clear and prominent hear. Also, because of the way wooden speakers spread and clarify the individual sound elements, modern HD audio tracks can sound smoother but a bit tinny. Anything that's designed to sound good on a crappy cellphone speaker is going to have its flaws emphasized. People who aren't used to the analog sound might not like it - the sound is clear and level and emphasizes the treble section with a nice kick to the bass. Modern music tends to put all it's money on blowing out the bass and pumping the loudness until everything sounds murky and that won't sound good on these.Like other reviewers, one of my headphone just fell right apart one day without warning. The glue that holds them together just disintegrates after a while, I guess. Mine lasted nine months, which is a record for headphones under $50. Every other pair of headphones I've ever owned in that price range died within four to six months of purchase with serious sound quality degrading. I experienced NO LOSS of sound quality during the entire 9 months that I owned these. The most annoying thing was that they went all-at-once so I didn't have any backup headphones handy.

Great sound at a super price. From a product performance standpoint, the only problem is you get a lot of noise radiating up the cord if it rubs against rough clothing. However, I deducted stars for the confusing Symphonized product offerings: having to weed through numerous color options with and without nylon cords, multiple models without any info on how they differ from each other, all priced at $25. And then when I correctly ordered supposedly one with nylon cord and one with the standard cord, it turns out there is no difference between the two. Hard to believe this couldn't be simplified significantly.

They stopped working after less than a day of ownership. This was for normal use and nothing extreme, no cord pulling or anything like that. A soldered connection within the connector seemed to lose integrity. These would also cause my phone (an iPhone 6s) to detect unwanted inputs from the inline control/mic, when I would move the connector. The only thing keeping me from rating this 1 star is because the sound quality when they worked was great. Also it was painless to get a refund. I'd give these another chance if there weren't issues with unwanted inputs being detected (and yes I cleaned the headphone jack out, additionally the issue doesn't occur with other headphones with inline controls).

I have a pair of these I bought in March of 2015 and always loved the bright clarity without contrived bass. I prefer them over the V-modas which are three times the price.But I've just purchased a second pair now in 2017 and I find it unusable. The brightness is gone, the treble is muddy and the bass is bellow'y and immediately fatiguing. I'm returning them, but the hard part is starting over with looking for a headphone with fairly accurate clear sound at a decent price.

Frankly, was expecting much more. Sony's earbuds that used to come with their portable players offer better quality. The mid-low bass is over-emphasized, but then there's a massive hole in the response curve around 400hz, and another around 2kz. Even after equalization, the sound is simply lacking in clarity. Trebles are harsh instead of crisp. It just seems like these have horrible harmonics - which I don't know how they managed that with such a tiny diaphragm. They also require being perfectly sealed, which results in very uncomfortable pressure changes if you so much as touch the cord.I bought these to have something to listen to at work, because the Beyerdynamics I have are open-backed and bug everyone around me. I didn't expect anything like the Beyerdynamics in terms of clarity, but the $18 Sennheiser HD-201s are much, much better, and really, they shouldn't be.

These headphones are great for about six months. This is the second pair I've purchased. The first pair pooped out after about 9 months. I thought it was an anomaly. I bought another pair, which arrived with one earbud not working. They sent a replacement right away, which was great. Now, 6 months later, they're dead too. One earbud stopped working and you have to jiggle the plug to get any sound. It's not like I'm swinging my phone around by the headphone wires- I take good care of my stuff! Back to the drawing board for headphones that last...

Ugh... I really hate these headphones. I gave them 2 stars because they appear durable. But they are too big so they stick out uncomfortably which makes them not great for plane rides or any other time you might nod off to sleep. They stick out of your ear so far if you rest your head on your ear at all, the earbuds pokes you in the head. Really uncomfortable.The worst part is the material of the cord. It's nice that it doesn't tangle much, but the problem is the material is something strange... it looks like a shoelace. But if it rubs against your shirt, jacket, arm, neck, or anything, the noise travels right up the cord and into your ear. It drives me nuts. You need to be perfectly still, or make sure the cord isn't touching anything at all or it'll ruin your listening experience. Not very practical.

Bought these because of the great reviews and after 2 years my Klipsch S4i's finally broke. I had really, really high hopes for these and went into the purchase thinking it was an incredible bargain given the reviews. However, I'm not entirely sure why everyone is so happy with these. The bass is about the only thing I can say is good on these earbuds. They're above average at noise cancellation but not as good as the Klipsch S4's. The mids and highs are almost non-existent on these earbuds. Sometimes you almost cannot even hear a song, or the lyrics, or anything else for that matter because just about the only thing that comes out on these is bass. Unless all you listen to is drum and bass I wouldn't reccomend these. I mean for $25 they're a bargain, but they're a substantial step down in sound quality compared to the other products available in the sub-$100 price range.

They feel fine and sound good... for a month or two. Then the problems begin. The cord had problems because unless I pulled it at the proper angle, only one ear worked. Wiggle/twist the cord a bit, and the sound comes back. Then, one of the wooden pieces came apart, leaving the earpiece dangling from very tiny little cords. It seems that they didn't really seal/glue the wooden piece together properly. Also, like others mentioned in the comments, for whatever the reason, these cords tend to tangle a lot more than most other earpiece cords I've used. I will also add that the picture shows purple earbuds and a purple cord. But, mine only had the purple cord and clear white earbuds. I feel that's a bit of false advertising. If you want a nice novelty of wood grained ear pieces that look really great in pictures, and you only plan on using them a month, buy these. If you want something that actually lasts, go somewhere else.

I usually don't write reviews, but I thought I should for this item. The first thing I noticed was how incredibly loud the cord noise is. You know, the noise you hear when the cord rubs up against something? The noise is WAY loud. This definitely makes these not appropriate for anything active. My main concern is that the cord came out of the earbud only after a few months of occasional use. I was able to just shove it back in the earbud and they worked just fine, but this continued to happen. The cord is just glued to the earbud. The glue obviously came loose on mine. The sound is OK. I think skullcandy gives you a better bang for your buck though. Stick to rubberized cords to reduce excess noise. Definitely learned that lesson here. I also should have tried to return these before it got so long after my purchase. Summing it up... Not worth the money. Get something else like Skullcandy if you're looking for decent quality without spending a lot. Hope this helps!

I honestly don't understand why these headphones have such good reviews. I purchased these after the headphones included with my iPhone started to show signs of wear, and I was pretty excited to pick them up because they looked nice and had so many good reviews.Right out of the box I was disappointed. These headphones are incredibly cheaply made, they look and feel cheap. The inline controller worked for one day. I tested it briefly the day I received the package and it seemed to work, next day - nothing. The audio cuts in/out and changes vastly in quality if the 3.5mm jack is moved even a little bit. I could not even use these with my phone in my pocket because my shirt would brush against the jack and cause the audio to cut out. The cord makes a lot of noise when you're wearing them. The audio quality sucks. These are garbage.

Not really impressed. Build quality is OK for the price but audio quality is about the same as the cheapest earbuds that would be included with a device. Absolutely no bass and the highs are extremely buzzy. Just to be clear I' m no headphone snob nor did I expect high end sound out of a low cost headphone but these are about as bad as I've ever used.Update; Just used them to listen to an audio book and 10 minutes in and the left channel has decided to intermittently drop out. I confirmed the issue in another device. Going from the junk drawer to the junk pile and reducing my rating to one star. AVOID!!! Plenty of other choices out there at this price point

The order arrived quickly and the earbuds worked great for the first three months at which time a short at the rubber enclosed connection next to the male insert evolved. The earbuds only worked if you could find the right position and keep it without moving it. Symphonized was contacted and they sent me a new pair. The new pair lasted only two and a half months before they too had the same problem. Symphonized was contacted regarding the problem only this time to be informed that they were not under warranty and we cannot help you. These were primarily used for exercising with my iPhone in my pocket or plugged into the treadmill, and not involved in rough and rigorous activity.To say that this was discouraging is an understatement. Spending this amount of money one expects a quality product and quality service. As you can see this happened not once but twice. Hope this helps Symphonized to improve the product and the service.

When I first got these headphones, I loved them. Their sound quality is way above their price. Unfortunately less than a week, one of the earbuds just stopped working. I emailed Symphonized customer service, and they where nice enough to send me a new pair. Those lasted about a month, and then they too randomly stopped working. I emailed them again, and they emailed me a prepaid label and asked me to send the broken headphones back. I sent them back and after about a month, they sent me a new pair. Then a couple days after getting the new pair, lo and behold one side stopped working. After that I just gave up on them, because I would feel bad emailing Symphonized to ask for yet another pair. If these lasted, they'd be great headphones. However, I had a total of three pairs, and none of them lasted for than a month of relatively light usage.