Sony MDRV6 Headphone Review (with/without BRAINWAVZ Pad)

[Geert]

How was the durability during professional use?

Reasonable for its price. The ones in our vocal booths lasted more than 5 years. At that point the ear pads started disintegrating. In the recording studio where people could move around with the headphones the cables could break at the ear pads or jack connector, and they weren't easily replaceable.

 

[ampguy]

I used these a lot in the 90s and 00s, they used to sell them in big round bins at Fry’s, always under $100, the pads didn’t last, but aftermarket were always available

 

[oscar_dziki]

This is an ancient piece based on the 7506
Hopefully their new model is better:

https://pro.sony/en_PH/products/headphones/mdr-mv1

And of course no measurements on the site. What professional would like to know the performance of the professional gear he is buying? :/

 

[oscar_dziki]

They were the headphones of my dreams in times when 100$ was a fortune for me and I couldn't afford them... I'm sure I would have loved them anyway and think they are the best in the world, cos they are SONY Professionals.

 

[solderdude]

And of course no measurements on the site. What professional would like to know the performance of the professional gear he is buying? :/

That's what independent reviewers are for.

Sony MDR-MV1 Review

The Sony MDR-MV1 are reference-grade open-backs with dynamic drivers. Designed for mixing and mastering audio, these cans stand out from Sony's closed-back audio...

www.rtings.com

Sony MDR-MV1

I understand it's blasphemy to critize the NDH30, but I can assure you; I was wearing it correctly. I agree 100%. NDH 30 is an awkward HP to wear with its ginormous round pads. Looks like MV1 is much more comfortable to wear. But if they sound along the lines of hix65 or hd560s, may be a bit...

www.head-fi.org

treble canon, just like 7506 and V6, which is fine in a studio as a monitor because it highlights details.

 

[Orion76]

They used to be like $90 back in the day. Now, out of production they are in the category of holy grail for some, I guess.
And they definitely getting much much worse with time, it's hard to listen to the ones that are 4-5 years old.

For sure! I about fell over when I saw the $495 price tag. I checked amazon and I bought mine for $90 back in 2016. Eventually I gave mine to my son. We had to replace the earpads in 2020 (Brainwaves perforated), but to be fair he did use them daily.

 

[Power Pop 23]

Ouch......

A Sony Discman drove a pair of these headphones for more than a few years on my bus to work

Another audio memory now tainted with the knowledge of objective measurements

 

[Robbo99999]

The price point Sony worked to for these headphones is less than 100$. The 495$ mentioned in the first post is the price for a collectors item, effectively the last item sold by Sony of this discontinued product.

View attachment 343466

That's a fair bit better then!

 

[Deleted member 48726]

I thought the $495 price was a typo, but someone is actually trying to sell a used unit for that much, and I am sure since they are no longer in production, some sucker will buy it, .
I owned the 7506 model a while back, glad I made my money back on Ebay, didn't like them one bit.

People are sometimes forgetting that it's old kit they try to sell.

I saw a pair of Cerwin Vega CD90 for 750 USD the other day..

 

[bmwr75]

Bought a pair of those back in the 80s or 90s for less than $100 am sure. Gave them away decades ago.

 

[IanRoberts]

Wow when I put together my first home recording studio these were the must-have affordable headphones everyone recommended. They were considered "flat" and better for mixing and monitoring than headphones that sounded more "correct." I've had a pair for 15 years and they are a fairly unpleasant listen, and very uncomfortable for longer sessions.

 

[Repdetect]

Back in 1990s when I was working closely with major use labels, the Sony MDRV-6 was one of the accepted "standards." (the other two were Stax and Sennheiser HD560 (?)). This is why I bought all three to test our audio system fidelity as to predict what the label reaction would be. They definitely took you seriously if you showed up with any of these three.

I used these or even earlier models when I did sound for television production, they were THE standard. Never noticed anything else on location or on a set. Rarely used for music, used primarily for making sure voice was recorded properly. Never had an issue with them, in those circumstances, and they were relatively cheap.
Music was monitored in editing with speakers.

 

[sssn]

This pair of headphones has always been a staple in the "scene" and frankly, I never understood that. They sound pretty bad for recreational use, build quality is medicore and the original vinyl earpads are just gross. I'm absolutely convinced that the oldschool studio aesthetic is responsible for the popularity of this model.

 

[JIW]

Interesting. FR Looks very funky and channel imbalance looks worrying.

FR looks quite similar to HP13 from the study, which most people think is 7506.

View attachment 343458

Interestingly enough, untrained people find these headphones (assuming it is indeed HP13 in the study) slightly more preferable than the target itself.

It is not obvious to me at all why that would be the case.

View attachment 343459


Listeners of course were using another pair of headphones tuned to FR of these headphones for testing so they would not be exposed to distortion of these headphones, whether it is audible or not.

The error bars overlap. Inasmuch as there is a difference in preference rating, it is not statistically significant. If anything, what can be said is that HP13 is not less preferred than the target by untrained listeners. The same can also be said about HP14.

 

[IAtaman]

The error bars overlap. Inasmuch there is a difference in preference rating, it is not statistically significant. If anything, what can be said is that HP13 is not less preferred than the target by untrained listeners. The same can also be said about HP14.

You are right, the difference is not statistically or pragmatically significant.

Any theories as to why this seemlingly bright tilted tuning with a hole in 4K is so highly prefered by untrained listeners?

 

[JIW]

You are right, the difference is not statistically or pragmatically significant.

Any theories as to why this seemlingly bright tilted tuning with a hole in 4K is so highly prefered by untrained listeners?

No. I would speculate weak ability to discriminate since trained listeners separate them from the target. It seems to be +-3dB from the target throughout without a big resonance peak or dip. That may be due to smoothing, however. If the smoothed response was the EQ-target, this may make it rather inoffensive.

Also, in the speaker testing, if I recall correctly, untrained listeners preferred more of a v-shape even if the overall tilt was the about the same -1dB/octave for all groups. This might play into the slight brightness being penalised less.

 

[Wunderphones]

Back before companies started making purpose-built DJ headphones, these were the most commonly used headphones for the job. And they were...okay. So I've got a soft spot in my heart for them, because they were what I had when I was learning.

But my nostalgia isn't remotely strong enough to get me to pay that. That's ******* insane.

 

[375HP2482]

This shows how much better value the latest IEMs tested are comparatively. Much better frequency response, lowest distortion and a fraction of the price. To me this is as obsolete as a typewriter in 2024.

Even a gas-station IEM like the Panasonics cured any urge I had for expensive and disappointing headphones. After the Panasonics came the Salnotes. Which, though they sound immaculate, are rather cumbersome -- an issue resolved with my latest buy, the Tanchjim Ones. I'm all set now.

 

[VQR]

@amirm any chance you can check what you paid in 2017? Would be fun to compare the price difference now and then.

 

[CiXel]

@amirm any chance you can check what you paid in 2017? Would be fun to compare the price difference now and then.

In Post 3 it was mentioned:

I looked up my order and you are right: I only paid $74 for it.