Sony uses 13.5 mm driver units in these headphones. While lightweight and small enough to fit inside the ear, they also deliver a good bass sound and wide frequency range (down to 18 Hz.) Neodymium magnets give the headphones maximum energy at a minimal size and weight. Sony's Acoustic Twin Turbo Circuitry will deliver powerful bass sound for high efficiency, giving you consistently good sound in an extremely lightweight pair of headphones. The open-air design allows for ambient noise to enter the ear, a safe feature for exercisers as you will hear car horns, passing bikers and dog barks. The cord is one meter long (3.3 feet) and the nickel-plated mini-plug offers crisp sound delivery. If you are looking for a quality-sounding, lightweight and stable pair of headphones, with the added ease of an in-line volume control, then these MDR-W24V headphones should fit the bill.

What's in the Box
Sony MDR-W24V headphones

Product Description
Sony offers the MDR-W24V vertical, in-the-earheadphones. Vertical in-the-ear design reduces size and weight to the bare minimum to be comfortable hour after hour. Cord-Mounted Volume Control is always handy. No more groping for the volume on your portable stereo. Wide Headband allows for broader weight distribution, greater comfort. 13.5 MM Diameter Driver is small enough to fit inside your ear. Neodymium Magnet assures maximum energy in minimum size. Neodymium is comparably more powerful than conventional Samarium Cobalt or Aluminum magnets. Sony Acoustic Twin Turbo Circuit allows for high efficiency, gets high sonic output from your portable stereo and extends bass down to 18 Hz. Nickel-Plated Mini-Plug resists corrosion for high conductivity, low noise.

There are a few reasons I SWEAR by this design, and one of the more prominent ones (besides the in-the-ear design) is the volume control. The reason I like it is because it: (1) gives me an easy way to turn the player up when I'm too lazy to reach for the remote (2) gives me a back-up in case I break the remote or I accidentally get my player stuck on "hold" and I'm too busy to fish out the player or (3) because it allows me to override the sound restrictions that are there to safeguard my hearing on my discman and to make it louder. All of these work wonders, too, because I'm really not prone to listening to the noises that are manufactured by my fellow human beings. I'd rather drown out the Muzak when walking through the mall and I'd rather have an override switch that turns up the volume quickly if I'm approached by people I don't want to hear. Taking this and coupling it with an in-the-ear design works wonders, too.

Besides that, they are durable, they don't blow out all that often, and you should honestly replace your headphones AT LEAST once a month anyhow - and more if you use them like I do. During the time that you own them, you shouldn't have to worry about durability issues, about its ability to carry sound, and you also shouldn't have to worry about something newly designed that looks nice but that hurt when you wrap it around your ears. Here you have the answers to all your listening needs because Sony products last!


Good Stuff   January 18, 2004
 15 out of 16 found this review helpful

I think these are very nice headpones and i enjoy the way they are small and not bulky, but a word to the wise: if you have these kind of "in ear" headphones, make sure you have another padded ear headphones becuase at times they can kind of irritate your ear and are not always comfortable if you are laying down with them on.


Usefull headphones   July 3, 2006
 9 out of 9 found this review helpful

One reason I like these headphones is because the headband is comfortable and keeps the earphones in place most of the time unless you are bending over a lot (pulling weeds).

Many types of headphones give my ears claustrphobia, but these are not intrusive and do allow outside sounds in as when my wife calls that dinner is ready.

I really like the volume control so that when I go in and out of noisey environments, I don't have to fish out my iPod and adjust the volume. However, as others have mentioned, you can't use the volume control when you have the cord inside your shirt so as not to jerk your ears off on some annoying projection or part of your body.

In fact, I just lost sound in one earpiece after catching the cord on my knee while bending over. I am going to buy two more of these, they are the best I've seen so far.


Sony Headphones   February 17, 2006
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

I have tried several different kinds of headphones for the gym and these are my favorite. You have to be somewhat careful how you store them so they don't get damaged but for the price there are great and you can always get another set if one gets damaged. The only problem I have is that I can't use the volume control very well because I usually thread the wire under my shirt so it doesn't get caught in the equipment at the gym. I had the head phones on and walked too close to a machine and the wire caught on the machine and about pulled my ears off. It was a good reminder to me to be careful around the equipment and the moving parts in particular. I ended up pulling the wire from the volume control loose and had to buy a new set. They are extremely light weight and I think the sound quality is certainly good enough for someone who just wants to use them while working out. I think I will order another set now.


Low durability   March 30, 2007
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Decent high-end and middle frequency range, poor low-end--typical for small headphones. The in-the-ear style works for me. The chord is too short for my needs. My 1st pair arrived defective and the 2nd pair lasted for only 3 months and I was very careful with them. Three stars only for low durability and short chord.