SONY mdr-7506 VS Alessandro MS-1, which ones better?

[Colin0317]

I currently own some SONY mdr-7506, but I would like to upgrade. I thought they sounded amazing at first, but now I keep hearing about these Alessandro MS-1 and I am wondering if it would be worth the upgrade. Are they better than my current SONYs? I don't hear from my SONYs in the forums...

[HiWire]

Yes, they're musically better than your Sonys in every conceivable way. It's not really a fair comparison - the Sony headphones are DJ monitors, and the Alessandros make divine harmonies. The Sonys are better for isolation (both for the listener and the people around), durability, and possibly comfort, but that's about it. You'll be surprised at how the Sony cans sound after you listen to a can like the Alessandro for a month.

If you can stretch your budget a bit higher, the MS-2 will give you even more (soundstage, bass depth, and detail), but they should be powered for a headphone amplifier for optimal performance.

[Colin0317]

Originally Posted by HiWire

Yes, they're musically better than your Sonys in every conceivable way. It's not really a fair comparison - the Sony headphones are DJ monitors, and the Alessandros make divine harmonies. The Sonys are better for isolation (both for the listener and the people around), durability, and possibly comfort, but that's about it. You'll be surprised at how the Sony cans sound after you listen to a can like the Alessandro for a month.

If you can stretch your budget a bit higher, the MS-2 will give you even more (soundstage, bass depth, and detail), but they should be powered for a headphone amplifier for optimal performance.

Are the MS-1 made cheap? Are they comparable to high end headphones in terms of sound quality, or are they just good but not great? How well would they perform with movies (main use would be music)?

Thanks for your reply!

[Colin0317]

I guess I made the mistake of buying the SONYs to simply enjoy my music. I bought them because I read reviews raving about how they where incredibly good sounding and neutral, so that it actually sounds exactly like the artist intended it to be heard. I find the bass to be a but loose on them (lacking punch). I might just be too fussy, and thats why I wanted to ask here to make sure I don't waste money on headphones that wouldn't make a huge difference in my listening pleasure.

[HiWire]

The MS-1 are not made cheaply, but they have a slightly rough appearance due to the older manufacturing equipment Grado Labs uses. So you'll notice small marks at the bottom of the plastic cups, near the cable openings. I think these are flash cuttings from the molds used to make the cups. Some people will notice slight variations in the cables - most of them are 100% straight, but they do have a slightly handmade appearance at the Y-connector. Mine are fine.

When I first got my MS-1s, I couldn't stop looking at them. They have a strange kind of beauty that takes getting used to. A lot of what you'll read here is exaggerated and based on a few bad units coming out of the factory. I can't find any other problems with my pair other than the marks mentioned above. Please note that I also own the Grado HP-2, widely considered to have the best build quality and aesthetics in the field.

My MS-1 have survived 3 years in my backpack jumbled with books, camera, laptop, and various other gear. Frankly, I'm surprised that they've survived this long under those conditions. They have a strangely tough/fragile reputation that is difficult to explain definitively. Some issues that you might notice over time:

1) The silver lettering gets rubbed off with contact. This is easily remedied with any silver paint.
2) The pads fade in color slightly, turning a lighter brown or green color. You can either dye them, leave them as is, or replace them. Mine still look black in most lighting, so I've left them.
3) The cables get tangled. Untangle them by turning the drivers and straightening the cable.
4) Grattle. Sometimes a hair will get stuck in the driver - causing a rattling or vibrating sound. Remove the hair by blowing in the driver or using tweezers, etc.
5) Breakage. This doesn't happen all that often, but it's possible to break or separate the parts that hold the sliding rods. Since they're glued, this is relatively easy to fix.

That's about all I can think of at the moment. Once you get over the niggling details, you might even enjoy the music.

[Mik]

I own the 7506 and they honestly don't sound good compared to anything else I still have. They do excel in noisy environments though since they isolate so well. They're also built really well and are fairly portable. I kept them because of all that. I never use them at home. Even the $20 KSC-75 phones sound better. I've never heard the MS-1 but I'd bet it sounds better, but isolates worse, than the 7506.

[The Actual]

I think the MDR7506 and V6 provide very good audiophile level sound. However, I mainly recommend them (and value my own) for how well rounded they are. They sound pretty good, are relatively inexpensive, extremely durable, portable enough, isolating enough, comfortable enough.

However, once you get into more expensive headphones devoted to only sounding amazing (such as the MS-1, which I don't think anyone would suggest using as daily portable headphones and putting them in backpacks or the like), they can't really compete any more.


Since it sounds like you are starting to get the upgrade itch, I would wait a little longer until you can stretch your budget some more. It is worth it to wait and make one big upgrade than making two or more along the way.

Maybe one of the higher end Grados is what you are looking for? SR-225 and 325i are both great.
Happy listening.








Hm, since I posted this HiWire has said the MS-1s can survive in a backpack.. very impressive

[HiWire]

The MS-1 sounds excellent on an absolute level, whereas the the 7506 sounds good compared to stock car audio, etc. Bass is reasonably deep on the MS-1, and deeper with a good amp. You'll find that the MS-1 hits harder, and doesn't have that diffuse, woolly bass that is the hallmark of lesser headphones and speakers. Also, you'll notice that you're hearing more details and more musical flow from vocalists and instrumentalists - sounds are more authentic.

Many people are immediately disappointed by the MS-1 bass quantity when they are new, but they definitely improve over a prolonged listening period. It actually takes quite a while for them to settle into an optimal state, so be patient. This advice applies to most headphones, in general. The main weakness of the MS-1 is that the soundstage is much closer than in other headphones -I think of the soundstage as being in the first few rows of the audience rather than farther back.

Against much more expensive headphones, the MS-1 misses some of the detail and ambience in audiophile recordings, but you have to go a lot higher in the audio chain for this to start happening. It's the classic case of diminishing returns, and why the MS-1 is called the "gateway drug" at $100.

I find the MS-1 to be much more forgiving than the HP-2 for rock and pop music, which is why I mainly listen to the HP-2 with classical and jazz music. The MS-1 will have some trouble portraying the depth, placement and acoustics of something like a full orchestra using a portable's headphone output (e.g. my portable CD player or an MP3 player), which is why an amp is recommended. In general, I run my MS-1 directly out of my PCDP, and save the amp for the HP-2.

There have been recent comparisons of the MS-1 against the Grado SR-60 and up. In general, the MS-1 is considered slightly less bright and a bit less upfront in presentation. You probably won't go wrong either way, but I prefer the more neutral sound of the Alessandro headphones.

[Colin0317]

Originally Posted by HiWire

The MS-1 sounds excellent on an absolute level, whereas the the 7506 sounds good compared to stock car audio, etc. Bass is reasonably deep on the MS-1, and deeper with a good amp. You'll find that the MS-1 hits harder, and doesn't have that diffuse, woolly bass that is the hallmark of lesser headphones and speakers. Also, you'll notice that you're hearing more details and more musical flow from vocalists and instrumentalists - sounds are more authentic.

Many people are immediately disappointed by the MS-1 bass quantity when they are new, but they definitely improve over a prolonged listening period. It actually takes quite a while for them to settle into an optimal state, so be patient. This advice applies to most headphones, in general. The main weakness of the MS-1 is that the soundstage is much closer than in other headphones -I think of the soundstage as being in the first few rows of the audience rather than farther back.

Against much more expensive headphones, the MS-1 misses some of the detail and ambience in audiophile recordings, but you have to go a lot higher in the audio chain for this to start happening. It's the classic case of diminishing returns, and why the MS-1 is called the "gateway drug" at $100.

I find the MS-1 to be much more forgiving than the HP-2 for rock and pop music, which is why I mainly listen to the HP-2 with classical and jazz music. The MS-1 will have some trouble portraying the depth, placement and acoustics of something like a full orchestra using a portable's headphone output (e.g. my portable CD player or an MP3 player), which is why an amp is recommended. In general, I run my MS-1 directly out of my PCDP, and save the amp for the HP-2.

There have been recent comparisons of the MS-1 against the Grado SR-60 and up. In general, the MS-1 is considered slightly less bright and a bit less upfront in presentation. You probably won't go wrong either way, but I prefer the more neutral sound of the Alessandro headphones.

Thank you so much HiWire and others. You guys are great help! I'll order the MS-1 tonight hehe.

[Colin0317]

Would it be the best choice in that price range?