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| Product: Street Style Headphones |
Company: Sony Electronics |
| Web: www.sony.com |
Phone: 201-930-1000 |
| Platform: |
SRP: US$30, $35, $40
Street Price: same |
Cred Rating: | Special Award: Object Value |
More than any other company, Sony understands me. They know that I'm
shallow and easily distracted by bright, shiny objects made of cheap
plastic and even cheaper microchips. Sony knows that what really gets me is
personal electronics that sport sleek, sexy designs. Sony also knows that I'm not alone, hence the Sony Style catalog, the Victoria's Secret catalog for gadget geeks like me.
Street Style 'Phones. (Matthew Hawn Not Shown.)
So when I went looking for a replacement set of headphones for my new
minidisc player, I went straight to the Sony catalog on the Web. The site
lists dozens of headphones from the cheap Fontopia ear-buds that slip Cronenberg-like into your ear canals, to the big bucks wireless digital sets.
Why do they offer so many choices? Headphones are headphones, right?
Wrong. Besides audio quality differences, headphones are the most visible and style-driven accoutrement of the mobile music maven. Your 'phones can say a lot about you. For example, you want to be mistaken for the 3rd
Chemical Brother? Go big and bulky with Mickey Mouse-sized
earcups. Everyone will know that you're more concerned with big beats
than looking like you're a SETI researcher listening for interstellar
transmissions. Looking to keep a low, sleek profile? Gotta go with the
ear-buds -- they're tiny and cool in a 007 or MiB sorta way.
I was a bit overwhelmed with the choices until I saw the ad copy that hooked me and hooked me good:
"Sony Street Style Headphones. Won't interfere with your hairstyle."
Now there's a selling feature!
The Sony Street Style headphones were designed with a behind-the-neck headband so that nothing goes over the top of your head. Like Geordi's oil filter eyewear on StarTrek TNG, these are cyborganic stylin'. They look like they just grew over your ears. It's easy to wear a hat with them and the smooth plastic doesn't get caught in your hair like the metal and plastic over-the-head style. It has a standard miniplug found on all portable stereo gear.
If you want a snugger fit, there are earclips that hold the cups tightly
in place. Like a good pair of jeans, the fit is what's all important. The
problem is, you can't try these 'phones on in the store (Sony seals them into the package). If you have doubts about how they'll fit [e.g. some of us in the Street Tech posse have enormous heads. -Ed.], get the clerk to pop open a pair.
Oh yeah, about the sound. I'm no audiophile; I can tell the difference
between decent CD sound and a fuzzy FM radio, and that's about it. At US$30, I'm not expecting sound that replicates Sydney Opera house
acoustics. I do know that these 'phones can handle more power and sound better than the smaller ear-bud style sets. You can certainly get better sounding 'phones (try Sony's Digital series, for instance), but at 2 ounces, these are ultra portable and tres chic.
Before you bash me as being a complete fashion victim, let me defend myself by saying that I'm also a functionality freak. No other headphones feel as comfortable and unobtrusive. Hundreds of Japanese teenagers agree. Email from a friend in Tokyo reveals that these are the new 'phones of choice on the streets there. I'm also beginning to see them here in NYC where I live.
Like it or not, personal tech is as much fashion as function, particularly as technology gets cheaper, and more sophisticated features become standard across a product category. Sony deserves credit for raising the sartorial bar in the same way they've set the standard for solidly performing gear.
- Matthew Hawn [5/7/99]
Other select audio gear reviewed on Street Tech:
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