It must be noted up front that Sony has intentionally distinguished its earphones by model number, and the EX55 is no exception: it is the latest in the MDR-EX50 series, which Sony has traditionally sold for $10 less than the EX70s and $20 less than the EX80s. The price tradeoff has generally meant that you can expect the EX50s to look and sound worse than the EX70s, which sound worse than the EX80s, and so on, a reason that we haven?t previously?