Sound-Spewing Earphones are the bane of public transport. If your wearing them, the music gets crowded out by noise and incessant ranting from beggars. If you’re sitting next to someone wearing them, you want to put an icepick through their head.
The in-ear’phones shut out a certain amount of external babble even before you turn on the noise-reduction. Hit the switch, though, and its like being underwater (with Walkman on). Once you’ve heard the sound of silence, you’ll wonder how you ever travelled without it.
This capsule-shaped player is heavier than you’d expect but looks the business, with its super-bright OLED screen. The controls are neatly stripped down, with Sony’s usual jog wheel handling volume or rewind/fast-forward depending on weather you pull it out a notch or not.
The only drawback is that Sony inflicts its inferior SonicStage ripping/management software on you. Its not as bad as it used to be. If you can leave with that, the 50-hour battery life is superb, and the price is competitive for such a cracking player.