Review of headphones for listening to classical music Sony MDR-ZX110

While the Sony MDR-ZX110 build quality matches their price, they’re a joy to listen to and a worthy pick for under $10.

Most headphones under $10 and $20 follow a V-shaped sound signature, boosting the bass and the treble.

However, if you do some research, you can find quite a few hidden gems among the dirt. Sony MDR-ZX110 are one of those gems.

They’re built from cheap, thin plastic. Ear cups squeak and rattle when shaken, and the earpads feel like they’ll tear if you look at them incorrectly.

Interestingly, the most well-made thing on these on-ears are the durable cables, which are relatively thick and flat, preventing them from tangling.

However, the biggest star is the great sound quality. The audio output is balanced, with added warmth and a slight boost in the mid-range. Headphones sound smooth as butter.

Still, you can forget about details and small nuances in vocals. But for casual listening, the Sony MDR-ZX110 offer excellent value.

Do these Sony headphones deserve all the praise, or should you avoid them? Find all the pros and cons in the full review below.

Sound

Star Rating 3.0 Good

Sony MDR-ZX110 offer a surprisingly full sound and a good balance across the frequency response. While their dynamic drivers aren’t very detailed, their sound quality is impressive for the price.

Cheap headphones don’t necessarily equal lousy audio quality. Sony MDR-ZX110 only cost $10 yet have a sound quality of at least four times the price.

Bass

Lower frequencies have a modest boost, which adds warmness to the sound. The kick is reasonably tight, and the bass works well with most genres.

Sony headphones offer good control for the price and manage to portray bass guitar notes with decent clarity. Even with more demanding tracks like “Alone Again in the Lap of Luxury” by Marillion.

On the other hand, if you enjoy genres with a lot of double pedal action, you’ll find this pair of headphones a tad too slow.

Furthermore, the extension into sub-bass isn’t impressive, so modern genres focusing on deep bass might sound a bit dull.

Midrange

The lower mids is fairly balanced, while the upper region is slightly boosted. Still, vocals sound natural, full, and without sibilance. The only things that are missing are fine details and voice texture.

Instruments play pretty well for the most part. On busier tracks with lots of instrumentation, you might have difficulty distinguishing individual instruments.

Treble

Higher registers are, again, reasonably balanced and have a nice extension. Cymbals have a decent texture, which is good if you like listening to jazz.

Unfortunately, as soon as the song becomes wild, the treble tends to lose itself in the mix.

For a closed-back headphone, the soundstage is big enough not to hear all the sounds trapped in your head. Of course, for a more immersive experience, you’ll have to grab one of the best open-back headphones.

The imaging, on the other hand, is terrible. The center image is entirely absent, which is a bit strange. I wouldn’t recommend these for playing video games. Even enabling Windows Sonic surround sound doesn’t help.

Overall, the Sony MDR-ZX110 provide a good sound quality for a non-demanding user who just wants to enjoy his favorite music. It’s nothing mind-blowing, but for merely $10, you get more than what you expect.

Comfort & Fit

Star Rating 4.0 Great

Despite their on-ear design, the Sony MDR-ZX110 provide a comfortable fit and a surprising level of stability. They do warm up your ears quickly, though.

On-ear headphones aren’t known for the best comfort. Their ear pads press against your ears, causing your earlobes to start aching.

Fortunately, Sony MDR-ZX110 offer a good balance between lightweight construction, squishy earpads, and a modest clamping force without too much pressure.

The latter is gentle enough not to squish your ears yet strong enough to keep the headphones on your head.

I tried jumping and shaking my head, simulating intense workouts and outdoor running. Surprisingly, I never felt like the headphones were about to fall off.

As for overall comfort, you can wear them for at least an hour or two before taking a break.

Earpads’ padding are very thin, and the plastic layer on top feels more like paper than fake leather. However, it’s still better than having an exposed foam (like Grado headphones).

The only problem is that your ears heat up fairly quickly. Tiny earpads prevent air from circulating, so expect sweaty ears during summer.

Durability

Star Rating 2.0 Adequate

Sony MDR-ZX110 feel light and plasticky and might break if stretched too far. While earpads are cheap, you can replace them.

For $10, the build quality is as expected. The entire headphones have a cheap all-plastic design that doesn’t scream long-term durability.

Headphones rattle when shaken, and the thin headband looks like it will break if you try and stretch it.

Earcups fold inward to save some space. However, that hardly makes sense since you don’t get any carrying bag with the headphones.

Moreover, the hinges for the folding mechanism don’t look too reassuring. They’re just another part that could potentially break.

Earpads use a thin foam on top of a thin layer of plastic that looks like paper for wrapping gifts.

The plastic will tear after about a year of regular use. Or start deteriorating after a few years, practically turning into dust.

Thankfully, earpads are replaceable. You can get them for around $8 on Amazon or $3.5 on AliExpress.

Of course, for the price of earpads, you might as well buy a brand new Sony MDR-ZX110. However, I encourage you to minimize waste and extend the longevity of your budget headphones.

Finally, the cable is surprisingly thick and has a sturdy strain relief on the 3.5mm jack. The wire separates into 2 flat lines, which prevents tangling.

Features

Star Rating 2.0 Adequate

Besides the ability to fold the earcups, Sony MDR-ZX110 don’t provide any other feature.

Lower price means Sony had to make many cuts. As usual, you can’t expect many features in a dirt-cheap product like these headphones.

It’s actually quite surprising that this wired headphone have a folding mechanism. That is something you usually expect from slightly pricier headphones.

However, that’s about it. There’s no remote control, volume control, inline mic, or detachable cable—just simple, barebone wired headphones.

Noise Isolation

Star Rating 2.5 Average

Passive noise isolation isn’t bad, but it should be enough to reduce ambient noise on public transportation. Just be aware of the sound leakage.

Adequate sound isolation is crucial if you want to hear your music in all its glory. In the case of Sony MDR-ZX110, they do an okay job blocking background noises.

Since they don’t fully cover your ears, you can’t expect the same isolation level as with over-ear headphones.

However, if you plan to use them for commuting, they should do their job well. If you don’t mind spending a bit more, there’s a similar Sony headset with active noise cancellation.

It’s worth noting that these on-ear headphones let out some music. Sound leakage isn’t annoyingly loud, but a person next to you might hear your entire playlist.

On the other hand, there’s almost no cable noise present, even when purposely shaking the wire.