SeriesSony MDR

The Sony MDR-7509 HD Headphones are a professional pair of over-the-head, around-the-ear headphones, which is ideal in a recording studio, and also great for film production, radio, video production, and virtually any audio-related application. These headphones feature large 50mm driver units, amorphous diamond evaporated diaphragms, high power handling, extended LF reproduction (which is required by high-definition recording systems), and more. The MDR-7509HD is also equipped with reversible ear cups, so it can be used for single ear monitoring, and it is also completely fold-able, and fits nicely into the included string-closing bag. I did find, however, that over years, the fabric on the side of the ear muff became damaged, and I'm not sure if it was caused by transporting and folding the headphones into the carry bag. Nevertheless, they sound and feel great, even with that minor damage. The cable of the headphones is partially coiled (like old telephone cables), which helps keep the cable out of the way during most studio usage. However, you should be careful on where you drag the cable, particularly the 1/4 or 1/8 inch connector, because on my pair of Sony headphones, this connection started to fail, and I will need to replace the connector eventually. This is true with most audio cabling, however, as they are all prone to failure if abused and dropped on the floor multiple times. The audio quality of these headphones is spectacular, and they are extremely comfortable to wear. I use them almost exclusively when I am mastering and mixing my tracks, and when I am recording vocals. They do not isolate outside noise too much, but they are not made to do that, and I would not use these for drummers, as you may risk pushing too much power into them, damaging the drivers. Overall, a wonderful pair of Sony headphones, and at $200, they may be a bit steep, but they are certainly worth the money.

The MDR-V6 are the big brother of the MDR-7506. They are driven by CCAW electromagnet voice coils, giving them a frequency response of 10Hz to 30kHz which far outstrips the 7506's. The V6 are not as new user friendly as the 7506's either. Where the 7506's sound like headphones, making them easier for a beginner to mix with, the V6's have a much more natural response. The lower band response gives it less buildup in the 60-120 Hz range than the 7506's. Because of the increase in 10Hz response and 7.5kHz+ response, these headphones can sound spitty due to the tighter attacks. The dynamic response is much more sensitive on these phones, and therefore the mix sounds deeper. The higher bandwidth makes the frequency spectrum taller. The V6's make everything from your stereo field, frequency spectrum, and dynamic depth all sound gigantic, albeit sometimes to the degree of sounding sparse. In my experience this is a fact of the phones, and helps create dynamically complex mixes when run through less dynamic speakers. Overall I'm happy with the way these phones affect my mixes. I used to glut 120-240Hz in my mixes because of the increased bass response of the 7506's and the V6's remedied that problem. They are not a beginner's phone though for the complexity of their output. I VOTE 4.5/5. My only major complaint is that the phone cups can be rough on the cheeks after many hours and the amount of sweat that builds up in them. Once again, 4.5/5. I am a big fan of the Sony MDR-V6.

Great phones. I use them for detailed listening, tracking, etc. - even mixed. Mixing to headphones in general is not the best idea, but if you know your headphones and what things should sound like for a good mix, its not THAT hard. I've done better mixes with these than some of the cookie-cutter template mixes you'll hear everyday from the high end studio. With all of the different types of headphones on the market today its hard to pick a solid pair that are stable. These are very stable there arent pretty to look at like some of the skull candy headphones or dre beats. But they do the job, I put these up there right with the dre beats. Not as good though, but close. Plus the price is very affordable. I am not sure if they still make these, I got mine back in 2004. These headphones are super comfortable, and the fold-up design is awesome. I've owned my pair for at least 7 years and they're just about all I've used. They're very durable and they sound REALLY good. And in fact, that is probably my only issue with the 7506. They sound too good. Pretty much every mix I've ever done with them sounds unbelievably awesome in the headset, but when the final mix is played on another system, there is much to adjust. I guess you just have to learn to compensate, but it seems like a lot of compensation especially on the lows and clarity of it all (as in the headset sounds much fuller, clearer and punchier than the mix really is). Overall, These headphones also have great bass response and very detailed mids and highs. I use these to monitor my mixes and they come out very good and translate well over my studio monitors. I also have the Sennheiser eH-150 headphones and I use them now strictly for tracking vocals.

These sony MDR 7502 headphones are very nice, they are very light weight and are pretty comfy. I think that they are pretty good value for money but for what they are I would like to pay a little less in my opinion. I have had a lot of headphones in the past and these do not stand out as the best ones that I have owned. I would say that there are a lot better headphones out there than these, I am not trying to put you off these headphones but definitely miss them out if you want some good dj headphones. As I am a dj these headphones did not really fit when I was mixing, just something about them really aggravated me. They do come with a quarter inch jack adapter though so you can plug them into your mixer or anything like that, maybe your soundcard. I would not advise mixing down with these headphones if you do not have money for monitors as they are pretty lame when it comes to response. Bass is ok sounding, but for me everything was very tinny sounding which I dislike being an audio freak like I am. I would stay away from these headphones in my opinion but if you were in a shop and your headphones had broken and these were the only ones left I would pick them up definitely but if I had a choice I would not go for these at all. As I said the quality of sound is very tinny but it does say they have a pretty decent frequency range on the box, I can not remember exactly what it is at the moment but I do remember that it was pretty good. The value for price is ok I guess. They should be a lot cheaper in my eyes but its sony so they will charge you a little more just to make you think that you are buying something great.

These are a pair of noise-canceling headphones from Sony. With the power of one AAA battery, they can cancel ambient noise. The way they do this is with a tiny microphone on the outside of the headphones, which records the sounds that are heard, and then plays them back at a 180 degree angle, which effectively cancels the noise out due to phasing. This really only works with noises that are constant, such as wind, traffic, airplane turbines, and fans/AC. A car horn isn't going to get canceled out, for instance. When these headphones have the noise canceling turned on, they sound pretty great. They have a pretty solid bass response for headphones of their size, a response that I was very impressed with. The frequencies are well-rounded. However, when the headphones run out of battery power, which can be often if you aren't careful, they don't sound nearly as good. In fact, they are pretty weak at that point. Definitely make it a point to always have the batteries in and as fresh as possible. This can eventually rack up quite an expense in terms of batteries. They are not really ideal for studio use, as they aren't exactly equipped to handle the unmastered, rough tracks that come through a DAW. They also aren't capable of providing isolation when there's other instruments going on, so they really aren't that effective in this capacity. The biggest complaint I've had with these headphones is that they break easily. They have a cool collapsible structure that makes them fit in small places, unfortunately the plastic isn't hard enough to withstand much pressure at all. Be very careful with them or you'll regret it. While these are a decent price, and do sound good when everything is going swimmingly, there's a lot of problems with them. Enjoy at your own risk.

The Sony MDR-V150s are a set of consumer headphones that are designed for general listening purposes. I've listened to music on these headphones a number of times, but don't own a pair of them myself. They are definitely some of the cheapest headphones that Sony has to offer in their MDR line of headphones, which range from headphones like these to real high end studio headphones. I'm definitely a fan of Sony's work in general, so with this review I'm largely taking into account that these are designed for consumers and not for studio use. If you're thinking about these for anything besides listening to your iPod or mp3 player on, I'd definitely recommend that you think again. While the MDR-V150's are an okay enough set of headphones to listen to music on, they're definitely not worthy of much more than average praise. They'll definitely get the job done if you just want to listen to music on them, but the low end response isn't there and they also don't stay on your head all that well. I don't think that I'd even recommend checking mixes on these unless you're really looking for something down and dirty. Basically, these sound like the price that they command, which really isn't much at all. The price is definitely the best part of these headphones, as they're worth it considering how cheap they are. However, the bottom line is that you're going to have to spend some more money if you want a nice set of studio headphones, but if you want something cheap, these are fine and will more times than not get the job done. If you do want a pair of studio headphones and are willing to spend a bit more money, I'd check out either the Sony MDR-V500 or the Sennheiser HD 280's.

The Sony MDR-V300's are a set of lower end headphones for use in the recording studio or elsewhere. I've used these headphones for listening during editing sound clips when I'm unable to use a larger set of monitors. While I don't own them myself, I use them a good amount at my job where I do a lot of sound editing in a small space environment. While they certainly aren't the best sounding headphones out there by a long shot, for what I am using them for they get the job done just fine. You should keep in mind that I will be reviewing the MDR-V300 for what I am using them for, which is essentially simple listening and monitoring, as I don't have experience with them in the recording studio, and definitely wouldn't use them for mixing or anything like that. As far as comfort goes, while they do have a the folding design which makes them easy to fold up and store, this doesn't exactly make them the most comfortable headphones in the world. I wouldn't say that they are unnaturally uncomfortable, but they aren't anything to write home about on this front. If I wear them for more than an hour or so they start to take their toll, but this is definitely something that you will experience with most sets of headphones in this price range. The overall sound quality of the MDR-V300's is decent enough for simple listening, but certainly not for critical listening or mixing. The price is incredibly reasonable however, which is what will drive most people to the Sony MDR-V300's in the first place. So in the end, if you're looking for a set of headphones for listening to during editing or just for listening to your iPod or something like that, I'd at least recommend checking out the Sony MDR-V300's, but they definitely wouldn't cut it for any other type of use...

What I like most about these headphones is the way they fold up. They are ideal for DJing or just running samples because you can do the "put them on your shoulder" thing quite easily. What I mean by that in case you don't know is the ear pieces can rotate 180 degrees so you can "stack" them and stick them on your shoulder (kinda like you can do with a cell phone) and work hands free, although you neck will hurt if you stay in that position too long. The other thing i should mention is that the sound quality and bass response is pretty darn good. They are not the best cans I own (I have a pair of AKG MKII's that are out of this world) but they are the best pair I use for live settings. They also seem pretty sturdy and because the ear pieces swivel, I can safely fit them into my laptop case (great for on the go). What I don't like about these headphone is the earpieces are not deep enough for my ears. For the record, I do not have huge ears and they do not stick out from my head in any abnormal way. After about a 1/2 of continuous use, my ears start to feel soar. That is really the only problem I have with these headphones. I got these for about $100. I have to say that for the sound quality and the durability, I feel its a good deal. The response from these headphones is very good. They can easily be used as studio headphones, but they are meant for the stage. I have used many headphones in my day, including other Sony pairs and this set holds it own quite well. I will say again, if you are just looking for Studio headphones, fork over the extra cash and get a pair of AKG MKII's, they are absolutely amazing, especially for mixing. Yes, I DJ occasionally but its not my passion at all. I am a Multi instrumentalist who plays a variety of styles of music and I use these headphones often, especially when I bring my laptop and run ableton 8. Yes, I would buy these again if I didn't own them already.

I've been using the Sony MDR-V500 studio headphones for about two years. These headphones are a favorite of a lot of engineers for monitoring while recording and for checking mixes on. They are built well and have a full sound overall. This being said, they are headphones and they don't have a huge low end presence. While they aren't isolation headphones really, they do block out most of the sound when you are monitoring while recording, but won't block out all the noise - the ear phones just aren't big enough to fit snug enough to block out all the noise, although they do fit comfortably. The sound of the MDR-V500s is full and it covers the whole frequency spectrum except for the very low end. I would compare these headphones to the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones as they are similar in price. While the HD 280 Pros have a much better low end presence, the overall sound quality is pretty comparable and both will deliver an accurate sound. I would say that I prefer the Sennheiser headphones better because of the low end presence that makes them better for mixing, although I never do too much mixing on headphones. I would say that these are best suited for monitoring while recording and for checking mixes rather than mixing itself. For this reason I would recommend these headphones to those looking for a great pair of headphones for overall use, but would also encourage those interested to check out the Sennheisers I mentioned as it is a matter of personal preference. The MDR-V500 are very reasonable in price, which is less than a hundred dollars USD, and are an overall great set of headphones that deliver a full sound for such a small set of headphones at such a small price.

I've had this pair of headphones for years, which is a great testimony to their longevity. Most pairs of headphones last me a year or two, but I've had these at least 5 and they're in great shape. I originally got this on recommendation by a friend of mine, saying that I should go for these over the more popular 7506 headphones that Sony offers. I compared them both at the store, and definitely agreed. You get a better depth of sound and realism in these phones than you do with the 7506's. The frequency response is similar if not exactly the same, but I think the difference is in the response to dynamics and transients. The quick hits seem more crisp in these. The noise rejection is fair in these headphones. They do cover your ear completely, but they are not very tight on your head. That means they're more comfortable to wear which is also important, but that more of the outside noise is going to get in, and vice versa. So you might want to keep another pair around for when you're recording close up to a vocal mic, because you will probably get a little spill into the mic from these headphones. Barring that complaint, they are otherwise a great pair and the price for them is fair. You definitely pay for Sony quality, but if you care about sound fidelity, it's worth the price you pay for their brand name. I'd get them again, listening to music sounds great in them and I like to use them while monitoring when I'm recording someone else. They also give you a snazzy velvet bag for safe keeping if you take them traveling, as well as a converter to go from 1/8" to 1/4". Nice bonuses!