Sony MDR-ED31LP Fontopia

I bought the Sony MDR-ED31LP Fontopia off Amazon [used, private sale] for £17 odd, rather disappointed by the mediocre sound, and although they espouse to be "ear buds" the things still work loose in no time...one thing though...they came in a cheap shoddy box with Chinese only writing and I suspect they may be cheap copies, anyone else had my experiences?

hmmm

I bought the Sony MDR-ED31LP Fontopia earbuds after breaking my Sennheiser MX500s in Budapest Airport I was desperate to get some decent earbuds for my MP3 player. Knowing from past experience that most earbuds are rubbish I followed a review and got the SONY MDR-ED31LPs. At the same time I became the owner of some Sennheiser MX550 earbuds so this is a comparison. The Sonys need time to become comfortable in the ear and time to break in. The discomfort at first can affect the subjective enjoyment of the music. They are extremely transparent and clear at all times. At first though the treble end of the midrange was a bit rough. The soundstage is the best I've heard from earbuds. Live music especially giving a feel of spaciousness and positioning of instruments. After they became comfortable (about a week) my music became absolutely enjoyable. Both sets of Sennheisers MX500s and MX550s have some colouration. Both the Sennheisers have better low end attack and are more dynamically compelling. They are also very comfortable which is extremely important. It is a hard choice to say which is the best but I have noticed that as I've got more comfortable with the Sonys in my ear I'm using them a lot more than the Sennheisers. For about £20 the SONY MDR-ED31LPs are a 1000% improvement over supplied earbuds.