These are the h.ear on headphones that are due to be released for sale this weekend. Honestly, I've never had a pair of headphones that have actually fit my head before, yet these do (without falling off). The noise cancelling is literally, deaf to everything outside of them. Build quality wise, it's like Sony have corrected everything they did wrong over the past 10 years. Now I just need to wait a little longer while some Hi-Res audio completes downloading and then I can put them through their pace. I'll be testing them on a Sony Xperia M2, along with an ASUS 6.1 Hi-Res audio sound card plugged into the PC. I've been listening to an album I know backwards. Through a couple of devices. The album is Muse - Absolution, the devices are, my Hi-Res ready PC and my Xperia M2. Note that the phone isn't Hi-Res, and the h.ear on headphones are not supposed to work on a PC or laptop. The headphones crashed windows when plugging them in or out (which has been happening a lot, so it might be the PC's fault rather than than the headphones). But given a restart, and a Hi-Res compatible media player, you do notice the difference between non Hi-Res speakers and the headphones. It's not a tiny difference either, it's massive!. However, I then tried the same album on my smartphone, and I'm sad to say, there is a loss of quality due to the hardware. It does still play FLAC files through 7 Digital (the app I used to buy and play Hi-Res audio). The loss isn't as great as you might think however, it's not as bad as the non Hi-Res speakers, but you're still going t want to get a Hi-Res phone. Speaking of which, the Z5 is available in the same colours. So I now want a phone to match, I also want to replace my entire discography to Hi-Res. The trouble is, not much of it is available, in fact there is very little available right now. Here then is the dilemma. The sound is unbelievable, the design and build quality is everything you'd expect from Sony at their best. You really want these headphones, but they'll make you poor very quickly, and frustrated that you will be switching between MP3/CD/HiFi and Hi-Res quality until all your files are Hi-Res. TLDR: The summary is this; these headphones are amazing, but it might be too early to make the switch. It's the DVD to Blu-Ray switch all over again.

The h.ear on headphones is a great step up from your average run of the mill earphones and provides great performance for headphones in it's category. I normally use my earphones to listen to music and I would sometimes crave for more sound cancellation and higher fidelity. The h.ear on headphones provided that and really did make a difference in the way I listen to music. Even listening through Spotify, I could hear a difference in quality and it let me hear elements I could never hear before using normal earphones or entry level headphones. When listening to hi-res or uncompressed audio, the difference is really apparent, even for someone like me who is not an audiophile. The design is the thing I love the most, it is minimal and comes in great colours. I also like how you can detach the audio cable.

Really impressed with the new 'hear.on' hi res lineup - the MDR-100AP has the traits of the bigger brothers from MDR-R series and the headphones have the signature neutral/flat soundstage with great clarity. Only quibble with these is that its perhaps too flat for some tastes and lacks the warmth from the low end. Tried these with the new hi-res walkman and it sounded absolutely fantastic. The headphones are significantly lighter than most over ear headphones which means that its comfortable over wearing a long period of time - really impressed. Overall a great choice for those wanting something more, not to mention the flat cable stops the cord from tangling as much (thank you Sony!)