Sony MDR-7506 Review (Headphone)

[soundtrane]

To my knowledge, the 7506 became a mainstay of on-site sound production. Not sure how popular the 7509 was.

you are right, and as i just mentioned, a lot of reference to the 7506 is as 'studio' headphones. I never heard of the 7509 being used by anyone for "on-site" sound. maybe someone did - as studio headphones? hence my post...

 

[solderdude]

I wonder why no one mentions the MDR-7509, a contemporary of the 7506...

MDR-7509HD

back to Sonyback to measurementshome published: Nov-24-2021, updated: Nov-23-2023 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ s…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

Different from 7509 and not really usable as a hifi headphone.
The one above is supposed to be the improved version of the 7509.

 

[crx]

Just got them strictly for mixing duties.

I also have the HD600 (had them for almost 30 years) and ATH50x (junky phones for vocal tracking, not even worth mentioning).

Love the MDRs at the first listen. Much, much better than I expected. Crystal clear. Switching between the HD600 it's really night and day. HD600 extremely soft and lacking any detail for critical listening. For years I thought they were pretty good. Today I listened to the MDRs, and HD600 are retired, instantly. Not a chance for them. Crushing KO. Lights out.

But I can hear immediately how fatiguing the MDRs are for casual listening. It's a big mistake to buy them for just music listening (or for prolonged listening of any kind). It's when you do critical listening you don't really "listen to music", you're constantly scanning the spectrum for artefacts, frequency imbalances and that stuff so it's not fatiguing in that way as your brain processes them differently.

But the clue is right there on them, it says right there in big letters on them, "Professional". Should be a red flag for most. This is not a consumer headphone in any shape or form. It's also not going to benefit beginner producers, may be too early for them to appreciate what these bring to the table.

I keep listening to them, and am still wow'ed. Wish I didn't listen to nay sayers and got them years ago. Absolutely amazing. They also have a funny price tag. $89 for this level of audio? Absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Feelas]

Just got them strictly for mixing duties.

I also have the HD600 (had them for almost 30 years) and ATH50x (junky phones for vocal tracking, not even worth mentioning).

Love the MDRs at the first listen. Much, much better than I expected. Crystal clear. Switching between the HD600 it's really night and day. HD600 extremely soft and lacking any detail for critical listening. For years I thought they were pretty good. Today I listened to the MDRs, and HD600 are retired, instantly. Not a chance for them. Crushing KO. Lights out.

But I can hear immediately how fatiguing the MDRs are for casual listening. It's a big mistake to buy them for just music listening (or for prolonged listening of any kind). It's when you do critical listening you don't really "listen to music", you're constantly scanning the spectrum for artefacts, frequency imbalances and that stuff so it's not fatiguing in that way as your brain processes them differently.

But the clue is right there on them, it says right there in big letters on them, "Professional". Should be a red flag for most. This is not a consumer headphone in any shape or form. It's also not going to benefit beginner producers, may be too early for them to appreciate what these bring to the table.

I keep listening to them, and am still wow'ed. Wish I didn't listen to nay sayers and got them years ago. Absolutely amazing. They also have a funny price tag. $89 for this level of audio? Absolutely ridiculous.

Do you think that mixes done on/assisted by MDR-7506 will translate well?

 

[earlevel]

Do you think that mixes done on/assisted by MDR-7506 will translate well?

A discussion of exactly this, including the question of how well it translates. FWIW, a common practice is to listen to reference mixes, great mixes of great songs, before and often during mix session breaks. So, as long as the headphones give good detail—particularly in the important midrange area—there's no reason to not expect mixes to translate, due to referencing. And of course it's common to give them a final check on different monitors, even when mixing on monitors. Personally, I'd expect something like Slate VSX to be a better bet, because you can check different speakers virtually. But I haven't gotten down to mixing with them yet, and I use MDR-7520 for tracking.

 

[Robbo99999]

A discussion of exactly this, including the question of how well it translates. FWIW, a common practice is to listen to reference mixes, great mixes of great songs, before and often during mix session breaks. So, as long as the headphones give good detail—particularly in the important midrange area—there's no reason to not expect mixes to translate, due to referencing. And of course it's common to give them a final check on different monitors, even when mixing on monitors. Personally, I'd expect something like Slate VSX to be a better bet, because you can check different speakers virtually. But I haven't gotten down to mixing with them yet, and I use MDR-7520 for tracking.

Although I see no logic for why these headphones would be the most ideal for creating music, in fact I'm sure they're not the most ideal - the fact that there's one or maybe more professionals that manage to use them to create music successfully is more testimony to their overall abilities.

 

[crx]

Do you think that mixes done on/assisted by MDR-7506 will translate well?

Depends on the person's skill/ears/experience. They give you all the information you need, it's up to you to hear it and understand it and work with it.

 

[Balrog]

I'd swear John Paul Jones is wearing a pair of MDR-7506's in his Playing for Change video.

 

[GXAlan]

I'd swear John Paul Jones is wearing a pair of MDR-7506's in his Playing for Change video.

It could be. It’s one of the most popular U.S. headphones in its era.

A question that we’ll get answered soon is if there are real differences between the original Made in Japan Samarium cobalt versions and the later Neodymium versions that were made in other countries.

 

[posvibes]

On the other hand.......

Sony MDR-7506 Headphones: An Affordable Sound Booth Staple

The Sony MDR-7506 headphones sound like they should cost a lot more.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Balrog]

It could be. It’s one of the most popular U.S. headphones in its era.

A question that we’ll get answered soon is if there are real differences between the original Made in Japan Samarium cobalt versions and the later Neodymium versions that were made in other countries.

Guess some people don't like change! AFIAK, Playing for Change was done a couple of years ago.
Fun stuff.
Might be just me, but MDR-7506 is present in many, many TV & movie sets where they are 'producing' music. (And quite a few real studios!) Could be that's all the prop room had lying around. The funk group The Mummies used them when appearing on The Bob & Tom Show. (The group is known for high profile, incognito, & otherwise contracted musicians.
The MDR-7506 is one of the most faked headphone out there.

 

[Robin L]

Guess some people don't like change! AFIAK, Playing for Change was done a couple of years ago.
Fun stuff.
Might be just me, but MDR-7506 is present in many, many TV & movie sets where they are 'producing' music. (And quite a few real studios!) Could be that's all the prop room had lying around. The funk group The Mummies used them when appearing on The Bob & Tom Show. (The group is known for high profile, incognito, & otherwise contracted musicians.
The MDR-7506 is one of the most faked headphone out there.

The MDR-7506 (and its very close cousin the MDR-V6) became a "studio standard" for a number of good reasons. To start with, they are nearly bulletproof. They are lightweight. The sound characteristics emphasize frequencies that are potentially troublesome (bass where hum is a possibility, upper midrange where speech elements can be focused on). They are easy to wear for long periods of time. When I was doing radio programs (a while back) I saw a lot of the on-air talent using the V-6s.

 

[GXAlan]

This was just half a year ago with Arnold reading for his audiobook.

 

[tiramisu]

My 7506's are going on 20 years old... I have replaced the ear pads a few times but other than that they are still kicking. I use PEACE for EQ on the head phones to give them that slightly more modern neutral sound. I occasionally think about switching up to a new/old pair of HD600's but these are so well broken in that I can comforably wear them all day long while working.

 

[crx]

A discussion of exactly this, including the question of how well it translates. FWIW, a common practice is to listen to reference mixes, great mixes of great songs, before and often during mix session breaks. So, as long as the headphones give good detail—particularly in the important midrange area—there's no reason to not expect mixes to translate, due to referencing. And of course it's common to give them a final check on different monitors, even when mixing on monitors. Personally, I'd expect something like Slate VSX to be a better bet, because you can check different speakers virtually. But I haven't gotten down to mixing with them yet, and I use MDR-7520 for tracking.

It is a bit puzzling about the whole "big hole around 400Hz" AS was referring to. It is indeed very obvious. I've been learning/mixing with them for a little bit and still trying to figure out the 200-500 area. It is definitely not flat as the measurements done on ASR or Rtings show it. At least 3-4dB below

 

[solderdude]

Also measured the MDR-7506 and my conclusion is similar to Amir.
Uncomfortable and sharp sounding. The latter is easily fixed but the comfort is not.
It is going back where it came from.
Lots of (good sounding) bass with a perfect seal. Too bad of the comfort and non-audiophile treble.
High distortion in the lows (compression starting from 80dB SPL)

Seal is an issue and needs to be good to get good bass:

Looks like Amir did not get a good seal on the MDR-7506 either.
Possibly due to the very limited depth of the pads, 14mm, which may have lifted the headphone a little ?

 

[markanini]

It's frequency balance will make effective mixing difficult, the excess upper mids would will lead to EQ choices that don't translate well. For editing of monitoring they will be totally serviceable, the build quality is top notch.