Skip to main content ↑ ↓

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: Sony MDR-V6 headphones, unchanged for 20 years and still kickin' a (Read 7749 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Sony MDR-V6 headphones, unchanged for 20 years and still kickin' a

ive read the Sony MDR-V6 headphone design has not been changed in over 20 years and there are MANY excellent, rave reviews of these cans on mainly amazon but also a few less popular places.

on amazon, i found they were suprisingly cheaper than i thought, $64 with no shipping (or not yet calculated). i did a search on pricegrabber, and the cheapest i found was 80$ including shipping. for once amazon is the cheapest here.

more recent cans like SENNHEISER HD555 go for around $110 or the Sennheiser HD-280 for $80, can these Sony MDR-V6 do as well? these seem to be the main cans for 60-110$ price range.

which of the 3 would be best for running? they all seem to be closed circum-aural which is GOOD for moving?

thank you for your time

Sony MDR-V6 headphones, unchanged for 20 years and still kickin' a

Reply #1 –
the v6/7506 is mediocre.

Sony MDR-V6 headphones, unchanged for 20 years and still kickin' a

Reply #2 –
Quote from: nukesgoboom on
ive read the Sony MDR-V6 headphone design has not been changed in over 20 years and there are MANY excellent, rave reviews of these cans on mainly amazon but also a few less popular places.


I really don't know how old it is, but you'd be hard pressed to find performing headphones at its price point. I bought mine in the summer of 2003, did days of research and couldn't find anything else that came close to it on specs. Sennheiser was a strong competitor, but their spec list was strangely incomplete - driver size (important to me) was missing and frequency response wasn't as wide (the situation may have changed since).


Quote from: nukesgoboom on
which of the 3 would be best for running? they all seem to be closed circum-aural which is GOOD for moving?


None, for several reasons:

1 - They were built for studio monitor use, not running
2 - Your sweat will get into the earpad material, resulting in an unpleasant smell
3 - (For the V600, at least) Good luck finding a portable device capable of driving it at the volumes it really shines at (loud)

If you want to go running, you're much better off with in-ear headphones, although you'll have to spend considerably more for the same quality as studio monitor models.
EAC>1)fb2k>LAME3.99 -V 0 --vbr-new>WMP12 2)MAC-Extra High

Sony MDR-V6 headphones, unchanged for 20 years and still kickin' a

Reply #3 –
You read headphone manufacturers' specs?!

Sony MDR-V6 headphones, unchanged for 20 years and still kickin' a

Reply #4 –
Quote from: nukesgoboom on
which of the 3 would be best for running? they all seem to be closed circum-aural which is GOOD for moving?


Your head will overheat and explode. 

But seriously, I have the 7506 (basically the same, folding) which I use for field monitoring. To me, they have a neutral, flat sound, but my iPod has trouble driving them. I would not use them for running

For running I like  the Sennheiser LX 70 Sport. They are comfortable, last well and don't let moisture build up in your ear. I've tried at least a dozen different headphones for running over the past 5 years and prefer the Senns. For a long time I used the  Sony MDR-W25G Sports, but they dies every 3-4 months.  It's been almost a year with the Senn and no problems.
EAC secure | FLAC  --best -V -b 4096 | LAME 3.97 -V0 -q0 -b32

Sony MDR-V6 headphones, unchanged for 20 years and still kickin' a

Reply #5 –
thank you for pointing out that the MDR-7506 is the same thing as the MKD-V6 except it has a gold plated plug... same sound quality so thats all im concerned about.

good point about none of them being good for running. i wish i had more common sense. ear buds, true, would be good, but god oh how annoying they can become!

so im hearing that the MDR-V6 is mediocre now. im leaning more towards one of the nearest Sennheiser models.

really dude? i heard TERRIBLE thingS about the MDR v600! mostly on amazon but i heard it from like 4 or 5 different posters. they said stuff like "MAKE SURE you dont confuse the MDR-V6 with the MDR-v600!!"

i cant decide between the Sennheiser HD-280 at $82 or SENNHEISER HD555 at $108. pricegrabber cant find the 555's for less than 108$, where are you finding them? the 280 look SO COOL but obviously looks are meaningless, only sound quality really matters, is the 555 really WORTH the extra?

but if looks were not important, if that were true then wouldnt most of us be using grado? LOL


thanks guys!

Sony MDR-V6 headphones, unchanged for 20 years and still kickin' a

Reply #6 –
I couldn't be happier with the sound of my MDR-7506's plugged into my 1G 2GB Nano (playing LAME-encoded -V2 --vbr-new MP3's, of course  ).  I also have a 4G 20GB iPod which does produce noticeably less bass when driving both the 7506's and my Audio-Technica ATH-M40's.

A couple things to note:

1) Sony moved the manufacturing of 7506's from Japan to China a few years ago.  I have a pair of both the Japanese and Chinese manufactured models, and there are differences.  The cord on the Chinese made model is not as flexible, and is a matte dark gray instead of the semi-gloss black of the Japanese model.  More importantly, the Chinese model is physically lighter, and sounds like it:  there is a slightly "cupped" quality to the sound, as if the earcups are creating a resonance in the lower-midrange...the Japanese model is completely free of this artifact.  Also, the Chinese model seems slightly harsher (elevated upper-midrange/treble) on some material, although this is not nearly as pronounced as the lower-midrange resonance.

2) Overall, the 7506's are very neutral cans, which not everyone likes.  They do have a well-known, documented dip around 250 Hz, which will indeed make them sound somewhat bright and at times harsh with material which is already bright/thin-sounding to begin with.  However, with even decently-recorded material, they have an incredibly clear, uncolored, punchy sound - very "in-your-face," yet with *very* strong low end when the material calls for it.  A lot of people don't like this "honesty" in their headphones/loudspeakers, and will instead prefer something like Sennheisers, which in my experience have either an upper-bass/lower-midrange bump that makes things sound "fuller" (a few of their lower-end models) but that I find very annoying, or a somewhat recessed midrange combined with a *very* "airy" treble (HD-580's) that can sound very pleasant and "refined," but with the rock/pop/electronica I listen to (Aimee Mann, Beck, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Massive Attack, etc.), just makes the music sound like it's floating in a nebulous cloud....

Note that I have not heard either the MD-280's or MD-555's (I think both of these are newer models, and the last time I heard Sennheisers was probably three years ago), so I can't say whether or not they possess either of those Sennheiser "family traits," although I suspect they do to some degree.

A related comment regarding earbuds/in-ear monitors:  Several months ago, I was shopping around for in-ear monitors for my Nano, and after reading through several dozen posts on both HA and a few of the headphone-specific forums, I came across someone who had bought a set of Etymotic ER-6i's, and also owned 7506's.  He claimed that the ER-6i's "sounded exactly like my 7506's", and I thought, "Great! That's exactly what I want in an IEM."  Not to put too fine a point on it, but there was something wrong with that guy's hearing...  The only thing they had remotely in common was a clear, uncolored midrange, although the ER-6i's seemed a bit more forward.  Outside of that, they differed dramatically:  the ER-6i's had a very shelved-down top end, making sounds like high-hats and sibiliants sound very squashed and "spitty".  They were also quite lightweight in the low end, even when pressing them into my ears.  Long story short, I guess I'm just reiterating what LanJackal said about spending considerably more on in-ear monitors to get the same quality as conventional headphones.
"Not sure what the question is, but the answer is probably no."

Sony MDR-V6 headphones, unchanged for 20 years and still kickin' a

Reply #7 –
Quote from: nukesgoboom on
really dude? i heard TERRIBLE thingS about the MDR v600! mostly on amazon but i heard it from like 4 or 5 different posters. they said stuff like "MAKE SURE you dont confuse the MDR-V6 with the MDR-v600!!"


Which Amazon are you looking at? The one in Brazil, lol? The Amazon product page here has the Sony MDR-V600 rated 4.5/5 stars by 109 users. That's pretty stellar. Two words describe it: deafeningly clear. Many headphones start to show their limits when you max the volume on a sufficiently powerful driving output, not this one. You'll go deaf before you exceed its performance envelope. Promise. I'll say no more, I think the ratings speak for themselves.
EAC>1)fb2k>LAME3.99 -V 0 --vbr-new>WMP12 2)MAC-Extra High
 

Sony MDR-V6 headphones, unchanged for 20 years and still kickin' a

Reply #8 –
isnt it true, that the 555 has many of the same things as the 595 without the extras like replacable plug and other such things? or am i dead wrong? i believe i read that on indeed head-fi.org in some post.

ah! someone says the V6 is competitive with the 280 AND 555's? just when i was about to give up on them! impressive now im back to square 1 again!

ive always held a bitter hatred against buds because they fall out, i should probobly look for clips instead. CLIPS have to be the best for running, from what i have read. ive seen some pretty bad reviews on buds, pretty much every bud ive seen.

dude! 595's are like $200 smackers! again, i heard a rumor that the 555's were very similiar to the 595's, only lacking a few of the extra physical features, truth to this? like the replaceable cord and such.

yup the headband problem on the 280's, ive heard that EVERYWHERE, people say after a few months the headband just dies, nothing you can do. i heard some guy was happy with super glueing them back together or something, but man this headband issue is all over the place.

thanks for the link on amazon. which seller were you talking about? i had to 'add them to the cart' to see the actual price, and i cant find that 95 dollar bargain. does that INCLUDE SHIPPING? because with that included i can get 108$.

Sennheiser eH-350 seem to be supra-aural, i was hoping for a circum-aural, closed and not open  : ) LOL

thank you for telling me about the chinese and japenese manufacturing differences! thats a huge difference with the earcup resonance artifact!

true dude but what i meant was the MDR-v600 compared to the MDR-v6, the V6 is generally better than the v600, i have seen 3-4 people mention this on the V6 prouduct reviews dude, not the v600 page.