Pretty darn good

For $25 these are very good headphones. Why? Lets find out.

-----Product Box / packaging
The packaging was easy too open. The back was cardboard and the front is a bubbled plastic. (I guess I have an older unit, because, as I recall, the new Sony headphone packages are black all round). Thankfully the back cardboard didn't peel like the the tops of cereal boxes. So if you need to return the product, it shouldn't be too much of a mess. Another thing about the cardboard rear. It has the warranty (90 days) printed on it, so don't throw away you package too soon!

-----The Headphones
The XD200's are plastic all-round. The topmost part is a two piece-looking mechanism I would guess that the top two-piece band is used for the structural integrity for the headphones themselves, i.e. holding the cans' (or more precisely, the length adjuster for the cans'). The second band under the topmost one is probably used for the resting of the headphones on top of your head, so as it wouldn't apply too much pressure on top of your head. There is a length adjuster for each can so they can fit to the anatomy of you head and ears. The headphones rest lightly on the side of you head with padded foam, covered with (paper thin) plastic (cant really call it pleather, because you can *tell* its plastic). Since the human ear is angled outward, so are the inside of the headphones. The front most part (of the inside) is basically level with the plastic foam padding. As you go rearward, the insides get deeper and deeper, until you reach the back, where the inside has sunken about 3/4's of an inch. Then and there is where a small wall of plastic forms, as it goes up you will once again reach the plastic-covered foam padding. The outside of the headphones are a grayish looking light blue, with a plastic silver ring that goes around the border of the cans'. The middle has the printed Sony logo as well the model and a message announcing that these headphones are made for a stereo (!?). Oh, and the cord is 10 feet long. The cord sheath is a hard plastic material that should be able to stand up against almost any abuse. The rubber strain-relief object has a small groove to allow easier grip to the connector. The connector is straight with a gold-plated connector at the end.

Altogether the whole things plastic. If you pick these up, one way or another they will make a subtle creaking sound. They should last for quite some time if you don't throw them across the room or anything everyday. I wouldn't jostle them or bend them too much, as I don't want to start seeing minuscule cracks appearing near the screw holes.

-----Sound
Ok, enough of that, time for the part that most likely made you buy these headphones in the first place. The sound on these is very good for headphones costing $25. The low end on these are the most powerful Ive heard in my entire lineup of headphones (these XD200's are my most expensive set mind you). You almost can feel the bass in your ears. Rap, R&B, hip-hop, and possibly even techno/trance listeners should be satisfied with these. Classical too was good, cellos, drums etc. came in clearly, being only a tiny bit overpowering though. The mids were good, a tiny, tiny bit less than what I was expecting, as some of the higher-mid notes on pianos were lightly interrupted by the bass instruments. Vocals swept in nice and clear though. The highs were good, not harsh or piercing at all. Very clear highs all in all.

Movie/T.V. watching was awesome with these sets, weather your watching any of the Star movies (Trek, Wars, Gate etc. etc.) or a late night comedy show, these are well suited.

These headphones were also great for gaming. Explosion from artillery strikes, or grenade in Call of Duty 3 came through like they should, i.e. To get your adrenaline pumping. You can even hear footsteps of people that might be coming from behind you in multilayer with these on. Voices too were clearly decipherable through all the action. ***Note ~~ i am using a tos-link connector from my console (PS3) to a Dolby Digital receiver.

A 10 – 22,000Hz frequency response should be enough for all but the most alert listeners.

The sound mode switch on the side does do some minor difference in the reproduction of the sound. With the switch to 'Music' the bass sound is more (supposedly) natural, with no additional bass applied. With the switch to 'Movie' the bass is more pronounced. In reality, this is true, but the whole bass range isn't affected, its the higher-mid bass thats affected. With 'Music' those higher-mid bass's are less pronounced, and as with 'Movie' they are more pronounced. I cant really hear it too much myself, but its there.

-----Comfort
The only nit-picky thing about these is that they are not the most comfortable to wear. That second two-piece band, under the “structural-integrity” one is really hurting my scalp. The front part is digging into my head, and is quite annoying. If the whole band was a single slab of plastic, maybe it would have been more comfortable. But beside that, these aren't too bad on comfort. The ear pads don't make my ears sweat too much, but you do notice it after, maybe one hour. The whole thing is light, so you don't really notice them beside your ears. But you do fell them on your head. (again, the headband issue). These are also quite stable. If, for example you shake your head trying to get your hair out of the way, they wont fall off. Looking down will make them slide forward a bit, but tilting your head up doesn't deter them at all.

-----Conclusion
For $25 you are getting a good bang for your buck if your hunting down for some cheap music/stereo/movie/gaming headphones. The headphones are plastic yes, but most of the attention goes to how great they sound under almost any circumstance. All in all, if you get these (assuming you haven't owned anything more expensive then these, like MDR XD300's or MDR V6's, or some Sennheiser equivalents etc.) you shouldn't be disappointed.

~~~Sony MDR-XD200~~~
Type - - - - - - - - - - - - - closed
Driver size - - - - - - - - 40 mm (dome type)
Power handling - - - - -1500mW
Impedance - - - - - - - - -70 (omega) @ 1 kHz
Sensitivity - - - - - - - - - 105 dB/mW
Freq. Response - - - - - - 10 – 22,000 Hz
Cord - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11.5 feet (cord made of OFC litz)
Mass - - - - - - - - - - - - -220 grams