Sony MDR-7506 Review (Headphone)

[samwell7]

Re-reading this thread and looking through the measurements I'm about 99.6% sure the MDR-V6 I'm basing my past impressions off was a fake (bought from eBay, considerably cheaper than others at the time).
I specifically remember snare hits hurting my ears when listening, which doesn't really correlate with the measurements as I have brighter cans which didn't/don't hurt.

I love the look of the 7506's, I'm considering buying a set of these and some Shure SRH440s to compare to the AKG K371s and ATH-M50 (OG) for use at work when I return to the office.

 

[markanini]

Keep us posted @samwell7

 

[Robin L]

Re-reading this thread and looking through the measurements I'm about 99.6% sure the MDR-V6 I'm basing my past impressions off was a fake (bought from eBay, considerably cheaper than others at the time).
I specifically remember snare hits hurting my ears when listening, which doesn't really correlate with the measurements as I have brighter cans which didn't/don't hurt.

I love the look of the 7506's, I'm considering buying a set of these and some Shure SRH440s to compare to the AKG K371s and ATH-M50 (OG) for use at work when I return to the office.

I have lived with the Sony MDR V-6 headphones for decades. The MDR 7506 headphones are near identical. As I recall [what I've read and what I heard, side by side with the V-6], the MDR 7506 update of the V-6 boosted the presence range by a tad. In durability, the Sony 'phones are unbeatable [sic]. However, the AKG K371s have much better frequency response top to bottom. The presence range is not boosted, the deepest bass is a little, but the Sonys don't reproduce the lowest bass at all. The top of the K371 is much smoother than the harsh tops of the two Sony 'phones. My pair of the K 371s are comfortable enough, the headband works properly. However, I'll bet the Sony headphones will outlive the AKGs. My previous pair of AKG 'phones [k167---"Tiësto" branded, supposed to send you to the club, good bottom, upper registers are like the Sony V-6/7506] are crumbling as we speak. Two really good things about the AKG K371: has deep bass without any eq, requires very little power to go very loud.

 

[samwell7]

Keep us posted @samwell7

Will do, don't hold your breath though it might take a while!

 

[samwell7]

I have lived with the Sony MDR V-6 headphones for decades. The MDR 7506 headphones are near identical. As I recall [what I've read and what I heard, side by side with the V-6], the MDR 7506 update of the V-6 boosted the presence range by a tad. In durability, the Sony 'phones are unbeatable [sic]. However, the AKG K371s have much better frequency response top to bottom. The presence range is not boosted, the deepest bass is a little, but the Sonys don't reproduce the lowest bass at all. The top of the K371 is much smoother than the harsh tops of the two Sony 'phones. My pair of the K 371s are comfortable enough, the headband works properly. However, I'll bet the Sony headphones will outlive the AKGs. My previous pair of AKG 'phones [k167---"Tiësto" branded, supposed to send you to the club, good bottom, upper registers are like the Sony V-6/7506] are crumbling as we speak. Two really good things about the AKG K371: has deep bass without any eq, requires very little power to go very loud.

Thanks for the detailed response!
This is pretty close to what my thoughts were around it (i.e. a compromise for build quality vs. frequency response), thinking more into it my ATH-M50 are probably a little better than the 7506 in this regard, especially because I already own them and I'm relatively happy with the comfort, looking at the frequency responses on Crinacle's website I'm probably not missing much by not trying the 7506/V6

Note the M50X is apparently a bit warmer than the version of the M50 which I've got (built in the 'flat' period according to @solderdude's website), so they're probably relatively similar as far as the FR goes.

I'll still probably eventually give them a go, but the SRH440 has moved higher up the list of 'to-try'

 

[Robin L]

Thanks for the detailed response!
This is pretty close to what my thoughts were around it (i.e. a compromise for build quality vs. frequency response), thinking more into it my ATH-M50 are probably a little better than the 7506 in this regard, especially because I already own them and I'm relatively happy with the comfort, looking at the frequency responses on Crinacle's website I'm probably not missing much by not trying the 7506/V6
View attachment 110601
View attachment 110602
Note the M50X is apparently a bit warmer than the version of the M50 which I've got (built in the 'flat' period according to @solderdude's website), so they're probably relatively similar as far as the FR goes.

I'll still probably eventually give them a go, but the SRH440 has moved higher up the list of 'to-try'

Last pair of V-6s I got were at a down-market thrift store, $3.50. Replaced the earpads, something under $15, used them for years, sold them for cheap to a fellow worker [everybody in the typing unit wore 'phones] into metal.

 

[samwell7]

Last pair of V-6s I got were at a down-market thrift store, $3.50. Replaced the earpads, something under $15, used them for years, sold them for cheap to a fellow worker [everybody in the typing unit wore 'phones] into metal.

I'll have to start visiting the op-shops! (what we call thrift stores in Australia)

 

[markanini]

@samwell7 I demoed the Shure SRH440 today. Listening through my playlist of mostly top 20 songs it didn't sound as clear and low-extended as AKG K371. OTOH it didn't sound directly bad, I believe you could adapt to it's sound signature. Getting seal wasn't as finicky as K371 and the fit was good for me. Still nothing beats K371 as far as closed-back sound goes.

 

[Robin L]

@samwell7 I demoed the Shure SRH440 today. Listening through my playlist of mostly top 20 songs it didn't sound as clear and low-extended as AKG K371. OTOH it didn't sound directly bad, I believe you could adapt to it's sound signature. Getting seal wasn't as finicky as K371 and the fit was good for me. Still nothing beats K371 as far as closed-back sound goes.

There's something about the ability to reproduce the lowest octaves with ease that increases the 'realness' of sound reproduction. There's deep bass cues all around us, all the time. With orchestra recordings, there's a lot of low-level bass events, way down in the lowest octaves. Many pop productions cut off the bass deliberately, have an unreal quality on account of the absence of deep bass.

 

[samwell7]

@samwell7 I demoed the Shure SRH440 today. Listening through my playlist of mostly top 20 songs it didn't sound as clear and low-extended as AKG K371. OTOH it didn't sound directly bad, I believe you could adapt to it's sound signature. Getting seal wasn't as finicky as K371 and the fit was good for me. Still nothing beats K371 as far as closed-back sound goes.

Thanks for this! You've saved me 150AUD

 

[samwell7]

There's something about the ability to reproduce the lowest octaves with ease that increases the 'realness' of sound reproduction. There's deep bass cues all around us, all the time. With orchestra recordings, there's a lot of low-level bass events, way down in the lowest octaves. Many pop productions cut off the bass deliberately, have an unreal quality on account of the absence of deep bass.

I couldn't pinpoint what it was about the K371 that made it sound 'real' but I think it is this!
It can go very deep, but it's well behaved, as in the bass won't be there if it isn't in the recording. I feel some other headphones that reproduce low notes will have over-the-top bass all the time, the K371 doesn't do that.

That being said I don't know how good my seal is, because when I used the hearing test in PEACE the bass levels were matched for the K371 and K702

 

[Robbo99999]

@samwell7 I demoed the Shure SRH440 today. Listening through my playlist of mostly top 20 songs it didn't sound as clear and low-extended as AKG K371. OTOH it didn't sound directly bad, I believe you could adapt to it's sound signature. Getting seal wasn't as finicky as K371 and the fit was good for me. Still nothing beats K371 as far as closed-back sound goes.

I'm not sure about that last sentence of yours, that's a dangerous thing to say. It might be true for most people if you're talking about before EQ (because it tracks the Harman Curve accurately), but after EQ I don't think you can really say that. I've got a NAD HP50 closed back for instance and it has just as impressive bass extension as the K371 whilst not having that steep dip in the treble at 4kHz, whilst the HP50 also has lower distortion across the board than the K371. You can't really say that nothing beats K371 for closed back sound.

 

[samwell7]

I'm not sure about that last sentence of yours, that's a dangerous thing to say. It might be true for most people if you're talking about before EQ (because it tracks the Harman Curve accurately), but after EQ I don't think you can really say that. I've got a NAD HP50 closed back for instance and it has just as impressive bass extension as the K371 whilst not having that steep dip in the treble at 4kHz, whilst the HP50 also has lower distortion across the board than the K371.....the HP50 also has angled drivers whilst the K371 does not have angled pads nor drivers, so HP50 likely to have a better soundstage than K371 too. You can't really say that nothing beats K371 for closed back sound.

Just jumping in - it may not have been mentioned explicitly but I was implying no EQ. Really if I was EQing then I wouldn't really have a need to try different closed back cans except for comfort reasons but I'm fairly happy with the M50s as far as comfort is concerned. I do want to eventually try the HP50 too!

 

[Robbo99999]

Just jumping in - it may not have been mentioned explicitly but I was implying no EQ. Really if I was EQing then I wouldn't really have a need to try different closed back cans except for comfort reasons but I'm fairly happy with the M50s as far as comfort is concerned. I do want to eventually try the HP50 too!

Yeah, if considering with no EQ then I think it's pretty safe to say that K371 is gonna be the best closed back for most people.

 

[samwell7]

Yeah, if considering with no EQ then I think it's pretty safe to say that K371 is gonna be the best closed back for most people.

Yeah for sure! The Shure SRH440 follows the Harman curve better according to the only set of measurements I've seen for it but it's hard relying on data from a single source

 

[Robbo99999]

@samwell7 , a quick unrelated note, my K702 pads from Thomann shipped today, they were late in shipping them.....when I get them then I'll send the K702 to Oratory.

 

[markanini]

Any headphones can be improved with EQ. The SRH440 did sound better than any other closed back I've tried out of the box save for K371.

 

[samwell7]

@samwell7 , a quick unrelated note, my K702 pads from Thomann shipped today, they were late in shipping them.....when I get them then I'll send the K702 to Oratory.

Awesome - look forward to seeing how they measure!

 

[markanini]

Speaking of AKG open-backs, I can vouch for K612. They can be EQ'd super close to Harman using a simple octave band EQ. That means if you have a store that let's you demo them you can hear them with Harman using your phones built in EQ.
Being AKG open-backs they're less sensitive to pad aging/compression compared to Beyerdynamic and Sennheiser.

 

[samwell7]

Speaking of AKG open-backs, I can vouch for K612. They can be EQ'd super close to Harman using a simple octave band EQ. That means if you have a store that let's you demo them you can hear them with Harman using your phones built in EQ.
Being AKG open-backs they're less sensitive to pad aging/compression compared to Beyerdynamic and Sennheiser.

Before buying the K702s I was tossing up between the K612 and K702, the K702 ended up being cheaper so I got the K702.
sometimes think the 612 might have been better as it's a bit more tame in the treble apparently