TDK MP100 On-Ear Heaphones Review

The TDK MP100 headphones stood out to me for several reasons. They're cheap (really, really cheap) and seem to offer a good level of comfort with on-ear pads. So I decided to get hold of a pair and give them a quick test to see if they're worth pocket change they sell for.

The MP100's are advertised as lightweight DJ-styled headphones and will set you back around £10 ($16 USD) from retail stores - and slightly less from places like Amazon. I've added some links with the best prices at the bottom of this post. For £10 I really wasn't expecting too much; and although these headphones didn't blow me away I feel that they are the best value for money for what they offer.

The TDK MP100 headphones have large, generously padded cups with a diameter of 7cm at their narrowest points. These are large enough to pass as over-ear headphones for most ear sizes and therefore comfort is upgraded. The pads a good mix of firm yet soft and I had no issues of irritation after wearing them through a five hour journey consisting of a coach, airplane and train. What's more is that the headband can be adjusted to further suit your fitting too.

Sound quality is well below average. These are a very loud pair of headphones and easily cancel out any surrounding noise whilst out travelling. But in terms of crispness, treble and bass these will definitely be an ear ache for those who take their music very seriously. There is little to almost no bass at all even with a custom equalizer preset. They do, however, perform very well with a voice booster equalizer or spoken word tracks.

The only serious issue I have with these is the design of the headband which seems very 'wide'. Unlike most headphones the band does not hug your head and instead juts out making the TDK MP100s look must bigger than necessary. The image below should help demonstrate the problem:

To conclude, the TDK MP100 headphones give you exactly what you pay for. A pair of on-ear/over-ear, fairly comfortable headphones from a well-known and reputable company. If you are simply looking for a pair of headphones and want to pay as little as possible for anything that will do the job these work just fine. You could alternatively look to purchase a pair of generic headphones from China but then you run the risk of cheap cable that may break within a week.

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