14 DAY TRIAL // After being officially unveiled in Japan back in September, it seems that Sony's MDR-EX1000 in-ear headphones are starting to make appearances in other parts of the world as well, albeit at a price point very few customers will be willing to tackle, at least in the near future.
The new "EX-Monitor" EX1000 earphones come with ultra large drivers of 16mm (newly developed by Sony) for an impressive level of sound reproduction, the drivers being vertically aligned to the ears for more realistic sound.
Furthermore, the earphones are manufactured using a liquid crystalline polymer film and promise to be more rigid than a standard diaphragm, resulting in crisp and precise sound.
Other interesting technical specs worth mentioning about the earphones from Sony include the frequency range (3-30,000Hz), the sensitivity range (108dB/mW), the maximum input (200mW), as well as the mpedance - 32 ohms at 1 kHz.
Last, but certainly not least, we'll have to mention that earphones come with a very impressive set of accessories, namely an extension cord (gold plated stereo mini- jack -> gold-plating L type stereo mini- plug, 1m), 10 sets of ear pieces (SS/S/M/L/LL), inner case and carrying case.
Of course, while the gold-plated connectors do in fact offer a superior level of audio quality compared to standard ones, we can't help but admire the care Sony's showing as far as the users' level of comfort is concerned, since just about everyone is sure to find a matching pair of ear buds from the 10 provided in the sales package.
However, if you've quite glad about all of the goodies included in the sales package, you'll probably be a lot less thrilled by the pricing of the Sony MDR-EX1000, Audiocubes selling them for around 800 US dollars, which is not exactly the kind of money most people (even audiophiles) will be willing to cough up in order to get a pair of the new earphones from Sony.