Sony MDR-R10 Owner's Club - Page 20

Damn, zardon. You're just a regular R10 locator! : )

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuppetFace 

Damn, zardon. You're just a regular R10 locator! : )

 

I need to keep stopping myself from buying them :( ive just bought new speakers so im trying to be good !

My problem isn't that the drivers may or may not fail.  My issue is with the fact that parts for repair/replacement are no longer in production.  When the first batch of SR-009 came out, there was an ~11% driver failure rate.  But since the parts are current-production, it's not a big risk if you're under warranty.  Same with the HE90.  Though the headphone isn't in production, Senn still has parts and can service headphones if there's an issue.  The same cannot be said of the Qualia 010 and the MDR-R10.

With the SR-009, the failures that occurred happened pretty quickly into the life cycle, as I believe it was a production issue.

 

For the R10, we're talking about a headphone that has been around since the early 90s, so on the one hand one could argue that it makes it an even riskier proposition due to its age, but on the other hand they've made it this far so it's a testament to how well built these are too. I've got a pair of headphones from the early 60s that uses mylar cones, and it's still going strong.

 

It's not ideal: I certainly would feel more comfortable if parts were being made. However that goes with the territory of being a collector. Assuming there was a failure in a driver, one would have to search for another person with a failed driver and either sell or buy to make a complete set.

I will try to buy the one on sale on Yahoo japan.

 

Hope to have it at good price.

Quote:

Originally Posted by customcoco 

What are the HP1000's drivers made of?

 

A regular polymer/mylar diaphragm, neodymium ring shaped magnet, UHPLC copper voicecoil, hard plastic body and no felt on the back of the unit. Made in Japan by Singaporean firm Primo (model DH-40, but tweaked/doped by Joseph to sound better).

 

Joseph Grado still replaces your two drivers for two others equally well matched, for 600 dollars... and I suggest you get the full HP2i upgrade at that point, for 1250 dollars.

 

But this is the R10 owner's club :P, sorry for derailing all the time.

From what I've seen, the R10 usually costs more than the Qualia 010, though I've seen more R10s for sale (like six or seven over the years) versus only two Qualias. I got mine from a collector in Japan, a really nice guy. The Qualia is tricky though because it was originally custom tailored to fit the buyer's head, so there could be issues with fit when you buy used, and replacement headbands are very very rare, especially in smaller sizes. Some people have had to mod theirs by sewing sponges into the pads for a better fit. A very fit dependent headphone!

@ Muppet

 

Yeah.

 

That's why I will buy a Qualia only if I found one at good price (low price - Around the brand new price when it was in stock).

 

About the price, I think the Qualia is probably rarest than the R10, and R10 costs usually more than the Qualia because the Qualia is not as good as the R10 when you read reviews.

With the Qualia, sometimes people said that it was a bad headphone for us (yes, the word was "bad") because anyway they wear the headphone there was a problem with high frequency. 

 

I never read someone saying that R10 was a problem. I only read good reviews about the R10.

I think some of the negative reviews of the Qualia come from people not getting the proper fit. It is a custom tailored product, and in a similar sense if someone took custom IEMs that belonged to someone else and tried shoving them into their ears to listen to music, the sound would probably be somewhat off too: lacking in bass response, sounding recessed, sounding thin and brittle or "piped," etc.

 

Also recording quality plays a huge role with the Qualia, as it is a ruthless and hyper-analytical detail monster. Moreso than even the HD800! If you listen to poorly recorded material on it... well, it's going to sound pretty awful.

 

As far as prices go, I think the R10 commands a higher price in part because of its reputation. It's not that the reputation of the Qualia is bad per se, but rather the reputation of the R10 exceeds the Qualia. It's older, and there are more examples of it floating around on the collector's market, more people have heard it, etc. Also because the R10 is older it will command a higher price when you find it in mint condition, even though the Qualia is probably rarer.

 

It will be interesting to see how much the Qualia will fetch in, say, 10 years. It's an extremely fragile headphone---one of the most delicate I've ever used---and there have been reports of some people snapping the carbon fibre headband in two! I'm sometimes scared to even use it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by zardon 

How do you rate the qualia compared to the other hyper detailed phones you own muppetface?
Do you think they suit a specific genre?

 

The Qualia is still one of the best imaging headphones I've heard. It's pin-point accurate, exceeding the HD800 and Stax in my opinion. Like the HD800, the biggest weakness of the Qualia is that it sounds somewhat artificial because it's almost TOO detailed. Also with the Qualia, it has an uncanny sense of air between notes, and they hang suspended with a delicate beauty.

 

I'd say it's well suited for many genres, but perhaps weakest with harsher or heavier music like hard rock and some heavier sub-genres of metal, etc. It excels however with music that relies on ambience, finesse, complexity. I like it with folk, alternative, western and eastern classical, ragas, pop, atmospheric electronica, etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuppetFace 

 

The Qualia is still one of the best imaging headphones I've heard. It's pin-point accurate, exceeding the HD800 and Stax in my opinion. Like the HD800, the biggest weakness of the Qualia is that it sounds somewhat artificial because it's almost TOO detailed. Also with the Qualia, it has an uncanny sense of air between notes, and they hang suspended with a delicate beauty.

 

I'd say it's well suited for many genres, but perhaps weakest with harsher or heavier music like hard rock and some heavier sub-genres of metal, etc. It excels however with music that relies on ambience, finesse, complexity. I like it with folk, alternative, western and eastern classical, ragas, pop, atmospheric electronica, etc.

A friend of mine really prefer the Qualia for hard rock and heavy metal though.  The speed and fast transient response really enhance the musical enjoyment for him.  He thinks it surpassed even the almighty L3000 & HP1000 for rocks & heavy metal.

 

Like you said, a user must have a perfect in order to get the most out of his or her Qualia and a medium size headband is likey too big for 90% of the users out there.  Speaking of Qualia vs.R10, I found the two phones to be on the same level with a very slight edge to the R10 due to the warmth and refinement of the R10.  OTOH, the Qualia improves at larger scale compared to my R10 in a balanced drive configuration.  Like you said, nothing touches the Qualia if imaging, resolution, and speed are what he/she is looking for (well maybe except the Stax SR009).  Muppet, have you tried different upgrade cables for your Qualia?  What do you think about the R10?  Has the "King" arrived in your listening room?  With your impressive headphones collection, it is time for an amp upgrade, isn't it?