Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought a set of these headphones (in blue) in late January 2016 a a local Big Box home electronics store. First the good. I use them to listen to music, for on-line gaming and monitoring my home recording. Sonically they are superb. I used a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones prior to this purchase and now the Sennheisers rarely leave their storage. The Sonys are very comfortable to wear for extended periods though I have to insert the back of my ears into the earcups rather than have the pads rest on my ears. Now for the bad (and it's really, really bad). The yoke holding an earcup to the headband connects to the headband with very thin plastic connector. After a few weeks I noticed a hairline crack in this piece on both yokes, left and right. Maybe my fat head is too big for these things and place too much stress on the thin plastic. Pieces of the plastic connector on each yoke began to fall out with continued use (see attached pictures). Today (just moments ago after I'd taken first five pictures) the left yoke failed completely and the left earcup dangles from the headband by its connecting wire (last picture). The headphones are now unwearable. In my opinion you should avoid purchasing these headphones until Sony addresses this mechanical problem in their design. Best regards, Glenn p.s. A follow-up to my review. After some web research regarding the Sony headphone's mechanical failure and various purchasers' efforts to get Sony to fix or replace their headphones (all without success - Sony's position being that the headphones must of been misused/abused for the yoke to break) I took it upon myself to effect my own repair. I made short plate out of some aluminum barstock for each yoke (see added pictures) and with a liberal use of super glue I put the plates and broken parts together. I've been using the headphones daily since and they've been functioning well. However, I will not change my "2-star" rating. My experience has left me very unhappy with Sony and their products. Their warranty is virtually worthless. Instead of acknowledging the problem with these headphones and fixing it Sony chose to blame the customer. p.p.s. A few readers have contacted me asking how I repaired my set of headphones, so I'll try to detail the procedure. Set your tools, materials, etc. together and think through what you'll do each step of the way before you start. First, I cut two small rectangles (1cm x 2cm) from some 1/16" aluminum bar stock with a small hacksaw, one for each ear cup yoke. You can find short lengths of aluminum bar stock (flat or angled) at your local hardware store or one of the "big-box" home centers (Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.). Same for the hacksaw. Even one of the "mini-hacksaw"s will do. Go slow, take your time. You may have to file any rough spots to smooth out the edges of the cut piece. This 1cm x 2cm size will fit nicely between screw holes on the yoke. Next, fit the broken parts of the ear cup yoke together as best you can and apply some glue to the space between the screw holes. I used some super glue. Be careful, super glue will quickly fasten your fingers together if you're sloppy. Use just enough to glue the bit of bar stock to the yoke. Use too much glue you'll risk gluing the yoke to the headband preventing the ear cup from rotating. Finally, position the bit of bar stock on the space between the screw holes where you applied the glue and clamp it in place. Position the clamp to press the bar stock bit onto the glue in the space between the screw holes. I used a small spring clamp I had on my workbench, one like this ( https://www.amazon.com/Evelots-Plastic-Muslin-Spring-Clamps/dp/B013RL1OQ2/ref=sr_1_30?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1473422102&sr=1-30&keywords=clamps+for+woodworking ). Any small clamp will do as long as it opens wide enough to fit over the thickness of the yoke, even one of those large "office supply" clips you may have kicking around in a desk drawer. Put the whole deal aside for a while until the glue sets. After the glue has set remove the clamps and test your handiwork. And that's it. Since my repair a few months ago I've used my headphones daily with no problems.