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Product: Stereo earbud headphones

Developer: Sony

Retail Price: $49.95

Availability: Out now

Unlike most people, I never hated the standard iPod earbuds. Never, that is, until I got a pair of Sony Fontopias. And you know what? Standard iPod earbuds suck.

They suck like the hockey puck mouse. They suck like the PowerMac 5200. They suck like Appleworks.

The Sony Fontopia MDR-EX71SL earbuds deliver impressive sound quality (and for fifty bucks, they damn well better). But they do take some getting used to. The headphones come with three sizes of silicon plugs (small, medium, and...oh, crap, what's the third one?) so that the 'buds can fit snugly in your ear canal.

This accomplishes several things: first, it directs bass—a lot of bass—directly into the ear, rather than losing it as the standard iPod headphones do. Second, it plugs the ear, blocking out most external sound. It does this so effectively that even with the iPod off, I was unable to understand what people would say to me, and could only hear my own voice through bone hearing. People who complain about the isolating effects of digital music players are going to freak if they ever try out these.

There are some drawbacks to this, however. The first is that the plugs also create the sensation of having your ears underwater—you know, sort of an "echo of silence?"—which took me a couple of days to get used to. The other is that if the cord gets jostled, it can create a loud rustling noise as the sound is physically transmitted up the cord, into the earbud and into the ear. Crinkle a new bill next to your ear to get an idea of how annoying this can be. I worked around this problem by clipping the wire to my coat, but it would have been nice of Sony to include this as part of the package.

The earbud cord is shaped asymmetrically: that the left ear wire is shorter than the right one, presumably for joggers who wear their players on their arms. The cord is also broken into two parts, with a short length (about a 13") running from the earbuds to an extension (about 38", and included with the earbuds). The short length is, again, perfect for those who jog or exercise with a devise strapped to their arm. I, however, found the earbuds by themselves to be just too short with the iPod in my breast pocket (moving my head kept jerking the cord out), and with the extension cord attached, I had too much length, requiring me to wind it and stuff it in my pocket, which was awkward when I had to pull the iPod out for use.

The asymmetric design is a pain as well. Any sort of snag, or even the small amount of weight from the extension cord jack, would cause the left earbud to be pulled out. Again, had Sony included a small clip with the product, this could have been avoided. On the plus side, the Fontopia works well in colder weather. Minnesota winters caused the standard iPod cords to stiffen like twigs, which could cause them to jar and fall out during normal movement. The Sony earbuds, however, maintain more of their flexibility, even in sub-zero weather.

What was included was a small, hard plastic carrying case, with a special insert for protecting the earbuds themselves. Fitting the entire device inside of it takes some arrangement, but, once done, holds everything snugly.

And how do the earbuds sound? Fantastic. Simply fantastic. I find myself turning music down so that the bass being pumped directly into my skull does not overwhelm me. Even sitting next to the engine, the bus ride to work is a quiet one, allowing me to enjoy old radio shows. And in situations where it's already quiet, the Fontopia earbuds simply allow the music to wash over me, while allowing me to pick up subtleties in the music I hadn't noticed before: crickets chirping in Hard Time Killing Floor Blues.

Finally, they're expensive. Fifty bucks is a lot to drop for a pair of headphones, in my opinion, but the sound quality is so freaking amazing, you're really getting what you pay for. Once I got used to the sensation of having my ears stoppered, the quality of the music, of the sound experience, really came through. You know the old trick where the stereo salesmen shows you the high-end equipment before the affordable stuff, so you can appreciate what you're missing with the more expensive gear? It's like that.

If you're looking for a premium pair of in-ear headphones that effectively block out sound and deliver a lot of bass directly into your eardrum, here you go. And for your iPod purists, they also come in white.

Bill's been using Macs since the late 80s. When he's not making smartass remarks to amuse Kirk Hiner, he enjoys fighting for the user.