Sony MDR-7506 Review (Headphone)

[earlevel]

Andrew Scheps (most notably Chill Peppers, some Adele) mixes on MDR-7506, doesn't always even check the mix on speakers

 

[solderdude]

He is probably very familiar with its sound and knows what he must hear to churn out a product that does sound good.
Experience helps.
Could also be he EQ's his headphone.

 

[earlevel]

He is probably very familiar with its sound and knows what he must hear to churn out a product that does sound good.
Experience helps.
Could also be he EQ's his headphone.

Watch the video, start about 2 minutes in. He's spent decades with the phones, buys a new pair every couple of years. Does not EQ or use speaker simulation. He says, compared to his flat speakers that sound relatively bright, "These headphones are very bright, but they're not flat, but that's OK. My ears have acclimatized to them...".

I used them for a long time (first V6—same thing—then 7506). They are very good for working on music because make the most important parts of the spectrum stand out clearly. I changed some years ago to MDR-7520, because I could judge the warmth in my vocals better while singing.

I'm not advocating using them for a listening experience, though for $100 you can do worse in that regard. But it's amazing how pervasive they are in the recording industry. I mentioned earlier, I think, about Andrea Bocelli singing into his $7000 Italian mic, while monitoring on these $100 headphones.

I picked up a pair of Blue Lola headphones, they are a tad dark but very pleasant and natural for music listening, more natural in the midrange than the 7520. And they EQ well to sound even better. But I tried them for tracking vocals...nope. The 7520 is not going anywhere.

But think of the irony...Andrew Scheps mixes on $100 MDR-7506 headphones, so audiophiles can revel in the glory on their expensive systems...

 

[voodooless]

Andrew Scheps (most notably Chill Peppers, some Adele) mixes on MDR-7506, doesn't always even check the mix on speakers

Well, that explains a lot about those mixes then. Both compressed to death, some Adele songs even have baked in distortion. He just an old loudness war fool

 

[solderdude]

Adele is indeed compressed to hell.
Her live recordings sound better to me than the studio recordings but this is true for more artists.

 

[alekksander]

Adele is indeed compressed to hell.
Her live recordings sound better to me than the studio recordings but this is true for more artists.

when did it happen, right?

 

[earlevel]

Just to be clear, he did four mixes on 21, so don't blame Scheps for Adele in general. Yes, even then, they are not my favorite mixes (nor songs) on the album, they don't do it for me. But they must have been better than the competition (he did seven mixes, four were chosen—I don't know how many were given the opportunity). I'm not a huge fan of Chill Peppers either, but if I'm not listening to them (and I'm not), it's because of the lack of depth in song writing, not Scheps' mixes.

I've said before I think it's pretty funny when people are terribly concerned with whether a 24-bit mix is dithered or 96k or 192k, when most music is mixed to sound good on cheap earbuds or a little mono bluetooth speaker. That's why NS10s and Auratones. Scheps is an unapologetic loudness warrior, and at a trade show said he gets a lot of satisfaction when he walks by someone playing one of his songs on their phone's tiny speaker, and it "sounds good".

I was in one of the large chain grocery stores, Adele came on (not one of Scheps' mixes), on those tiny speakers way high in the ceiling. They weren't up to producing enough of the music to scarcely hear over the ambient noise, yet Adele's voice sounded amazing. That's what they mix this stuff for.

Anyway, not complaining about Scheps, I've seen him talk a number of times, he's a real interesting guy, love to hear his stories. Good for him for being successful, no one is forced to hire him, no one forces us to buy his work. In fact, for the loudness wars, I'm much more concerned about people feeling they "must" take what would otherwise be a good mix, and squash it because they think they have to. In Scheps case, it's the sound he's after, it started that way and it's delivered to the mastering engineer that way.

 

[infinitesymphony]

I've said before I think it's pretty funny when people are terribly concerned with whether a 24-bit mix is dithered or 96k or 192k, when most music is mixed to sound good on cheap earbuds or a little mono bluetooth speaker. That's why NS10s and Auratones.

Yep!

I'm pretty far into experimenting with mixing on a combination of $10 supra-aural headphones and a $30 Bluetooth speaker. In some ways, it's easier to go nuts on those and then dial it back as needed on a full-range set.

 

[blse59]

Not that anyone cares but I listen to these for musical pleasure and watching movies and playing games. These are my main headphones. I think people analyze too much and get lost in the details. When something works it just works. I hear everything in crystal clarity and that's the only thing I care about.

 

[Grooved]

Well, that explains a lot about those mixes then. Both compressed to death, some Adele songs even have baked in distortion. He just an old loudness war fool

I don't think at all, as he's not the mastering engineer
Compressors are used during the mix, but it's generally not hard. The choice of the final level of compression is done after that, and the mastering engineer can have a different preference than what is asked.
Unfortunately, almost everything that is supposed to be played on radio, heard in car in the middle of noise, or on portable speaker that more and more people are using, will be compressed too much. If everybody was listening only on good systems, it would give a good argument to ask for less compression

Regarding the 7506, I think the main reason it's in almost every studio is that for a decent price, you get a good mid-range and it's important for monitoring the singer. Insulation have be good too. That's all

That said, maybe you can get really used to headphones and mix with that, but based on my own experience, spacing and reverbs are the hardest thing to get right with headphones, I tried mixing with it and checking after that on speakers, I had too much reverb each time. Maybe continuing and using always the same headphones, you can end up with the right levels, but I found it hard.
EDIT : just watched the video and saw that Fab Dupont also has a problem with reverbs on headphones, happy to see I'm not alone having this problem

 

[earlevel]

I don't think at all, as he's not the mastering engineer
Compressors are used during the mix, but it's generally not hard. The choice of the final level of compression is done after that, and the mastering engineer can have a different preference than what is asked.

No offense, but I guess you don't know about Scheps

Anyway, I agree with what you said almost entirely, but had to rib you about that (Scheps likes to compress, he doesn't leave it up to mastering engineers)

 

[voodooless]

Unfortunately, almost everything that is supposed to be played on radio, heard in car in the middle of noise, or on portable speaker that more and more people are using, will be compressed too much. If everybody was listening only on good systems, it would give a good argument to ask for less compression

F* that! If they want to have it sound good on tiny shit, they can build in compressors into said device, not unreverably mangle perfectly find audio tracks!

 

[Grooved]

No offense, but I guess you don't know about Scheps

Anyway, I agree with what you said almost entirely, but had to rib you about that (Scheps likes to compress, he doesn't leave it up to mastering engineers)

No problem, and good information
Will listen to some of his mixes to see if it's always like this with any kind of music, and check his reverbs because it's something that surprised me. Don't know if he uses it, they don't talk about that, but I just got the idea to do a mix test with crossfeed on headphones output, and especially while setting reverbs, never tried and don't know if it can help

F* that! If they want to have it sound good on tiny shit, they can build in compressors into said device, not unreverably mangle perfectly find audio tracks!

I totally agree with you, unfortunately, that's not what is done at this moment

 

[Robert C]

Andrew Scheps (most notably Chill Peppers, some Adele) mixes on MDR-7506, doesn't always even check the mix on speakers

He's wearing them backwards

 

[Grooved]

He's wearing them backwards

You can adapt to a system/headphones that are not perfect if you know what is not perfect, but I have a doubt on mixing with headphones without using an EQ on the monitoring output, and if I'm not wrong, they don't talk about it in this video, which would have been an important information.

 

[julian_hughes]

You can adapt to a system/headphones that are not perfect if you know what is not perfect, but I have a doubt on mixing with headphones without using an EQ on the monitoring output, and if I'm not wrong, they don't talk about it in this video, which would have been an important information.

Nothing can correct mirror reversal. Except the possibility that multiverse theory is true.

 

[julian_hughes]

Which it isn't.

 

[earlevel]

He's wearing them backwards

Dam, and his Mac keyboard has the num pad on the left side, and he's left-handed with the mouse! He must be left-eared too!

 

[teched58]

I love these headphones. I've used them for years, and when my first one wore out, I bought another one. The measurements support this as a good headphone. Dr. Sean Olive has praised them,

Most people find the Sony MDR-7506 very light and comfortable. I feel like the fact that Amir did not find them comfortable cast a pall over the rest of the review (hey, he's human, like everyone else, and if you don't like something, you don't like it).

As to the widespread availability of aftermarket pads (ear cushions), I don't believe that this is due to any issues with comfort. Rather, it is about durability. These headphones are widely used by audio pros, including TV news and film crews. The OEM pads are not very robust and will generally start to become problematic within six months to a year. Mostly, it's because the thin strip of vinyl that keeps them attached to the head pieces (the thin vinyl fits into a thin hole around the circumference of the ear pieces) starts becoming dislodged and it becomes a PITA to keep the cushions in place. Also, just left alone the ear cushions suffer from the "rubber band" problem, in that the outer layer will start to disintegrate after a few years (like those old speaker foam surrounds). [MORE Annoyingly, this is also the case for the Sony MDR-ZX110. The reason it's a prob here is cause replacement pads cost more than the phone, which is only $10.]

The only real deficiency I could see in the measurements that can't be argued away was the low-bass distortion. OK, I'll give you that, it's real. But the positives: best adherence to Harman curve, ability to clearly hear any probs in real-time audio feeds (the "it allows you to hear hiss well" comment) and the light weight and ease of wearing, makes the MDR-7506 a keeper.

Remember, in the old days (1970s) we only had the Koss Pro4A, which felt like you were wearing a deep-sea diving bell on your head. So these Sonys are a godsend by comparison, as a daily driver.

Yes, ten thousand people can be wrong, but those would be the people who've purchased a Crosley, not MDR-7506 users!

 

[sfheadfi]

Amir, I appreciate you surfacing the subjective situation. The eq suggestions are better and have helped me learn a little more about eq. You lose a little punch but you can turn it up to get it back. Thank you