Not perfect, but good enough

A few months ago, I found myself looking for a new pair of headphones. Actually, I had been looking for a while, but it wasn’t until then that I had enough extra money to really consider buying one. Even then, I didn’t have much. I was thinking about spending about $20, but I saw two sets in a music store that were $10 each.

All I wanted was a set of headphones that would cover my ears. I didn’t need anything that was priced at $100 or more. I decided to go for the CV-320. At $10, I figured that I could afford to buy the other ten-dollar set or maybe even spring for a twenty-dollar set if I felt like it.

The set hasn’t broken (irreparably) yet. I’m still debating whether or not to replace them. The first major problem I had was adjusting the width of the headphones. They’re uncomfortable unless they’re fully expanded, and even then, they occasionally apply pressure to the top of my head. It’s not so bad if you’re willing to play around with it, but I can see a lot of people getting frustrated with it.

The sound quality is comparable to any other headphones that go for $20 or less. It’s not the best thing that I’ve ever heard, but it gets the job done without a lot of distortion or extra noise. In that sense, it was worth the money and I’ve gotten at least a few months out of it. That’s not to say that the unit is without problem or incident.

Each ear has separate volume control, which I can’t quite figure out. I usually keep each one at the maximum and adjust the iPod’s volume control as needed. I once took the headphones and iPod out to use once only to find that the volume had completely fallen off in one ear. At first, I thought that the headphones had broken already. (This is usually the problem that I have with headphones that indicates that they’re going in the garbage.) It turned out that the volume on that ear had been turned off.

Also, the cushion on one ear came off. It took a little work to get it back on. I suppose that I’m lucky that I got it back on. I don’t think I would have been able to use the headphones without the cushion.

I suppose that this is what I get for being too cheap to go for the $20 model. Sure, most headphones break, especially when you’re spending under $50. However, I can’t see spending that much money on a pair of headphones, especially considering that I don’t really need the best quality.

These headphones get three and a half stars, but I’m going to round up in this case. I wouldn’t recommend them if you’re in the recording industry, but if you’re listening to a portable CD or MP3 player, you’ll find them adequate.