Quick Impression: Sony MDR-7550 - Page 3

I think I'm most likely attaining the 7550s as my next IEM. The 600s were great but I'm getting upgraditis. I also like the included cable and case of the 7550s more than the 600/1000s, the latter have longer earguides that have bothered my fit and their cases are useless to me. The case isn't a deal-breaker just a little extra, but having a shorter earguide will help tremendously specially since I find myself getting a more consistent fit wearing them straight down. 

I should probably go audition the 7550 (or buy-listen-and-return). If this is indeed "Professional" with a very good, flat response it would most probably be kept. Or else my next IEM would be either the EX1000 or the IE 8 unless another dynamic flagship can come out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cliffroyroycole 

At the same time? Not that I am aware of. I have owned both, though. Returned the EX1000s due to the price to performance factor (not worth $526, which is what I paid via Sonystyle with a 30-day MBG). They were fine, but the fit bugged me and again, I just didn't find them worth the price of admission. From memory, I would say the 7550s are a little more subdued, for lack of a better term, in the upper region, but not in a bad way for my tastes. Even with the EX1000s apparently falling to $369, I would not return the 7550s to pay more for the EX1000s. Just my view. I am sure others will disagree. I also found the 7550s, as you probably know, a preferred IEM over the EX600s, which I am returning today.

From memory how would you compare the 7550 to the 1000 from only the performance point of view disregarding the differences in price?

Also The thing about the 7550 that is putting me off is that the L-plug looks really weak. Many of my cheap sony IEMs with a similar L plug all failed there.

There is a thing called Product Warranty. The included one. Not talking about the extra coverage you buy.

Even after that you can just cut off the plug and give it a new one. Many of the cheaper ones fail is because of the user, not Sony. See how many people would wrap the buds around their iPod and such.

Initial impressions and differences.

Nozzles-7550 is different!  600/1000 both have the 'equalizer'/foam visible from the sound bore.  The 7550 has an integrated 'neck' or ring on the inside.  Can't make out whether it is using the same foam as the others.  Could be for increased durability, no idea on sonic impact.

Plug-Been covered.  1000 has prettiest but weakest design followed by the 600 which is a little better but the cable is unsupported by the strain relief.  The 7550 has the simplest and most 'typical' 90 degree elbow but damned if it isn't solid.  I could plug and unplug it thousands of times w/o issue as long as I don't grab the actual cable.

Vent/Port-7550 and 1000 have the bass vent in the same location on the outer part of the housing towards the cable connector.  600 in on the inner underside of the housing.  

Housing-600 has a plastic hump on the outer part of the shell but has a nice, smooth contour but also on a raised hump or disc.  7500 has a smooth front side to the housing and a flusher overall backside than the 600 but there is a plastic bridge across the middle of the backside that is straight rather than contoured.  The 600 is a black chrome color.  The 7550 looks like the 600 but without the plastic hump on the front making it look like a gloss black Mentos w/ a barrel poking out.  1000 has the best of both and improves upon them.  Smooth, flush front face and contoured plastic cable bridge on the backside.  The 1000 has a tapered nozzle and looks like a gunmetal Hershey's kiss.  Rough eyeball thickness ranking from center to center is 600 (7/16")>7550 (5/16")=1000 (5/16").  No dial caliper, sorry.  Convert to decimal and multiply by 2.54 for cm.

Comfort-1000>7550>600.  It is entirely possible your ears won't notice any differences between the two.  Ranking based on ergonomic design of the housing.

Hanger stiffness-Same for all.  7550 has shorter hanger that so far is less willing to conform than the others.

Cable-600/7550 have same feel.  Euro/Asia 1000 cable has thicker feel.  7550 connectors are gold plated.

DC resistance values: 

EX1000 w/ EX1000 cable = 33.0 ohms

EX1000 w/ EX600 cable = 33.3 ohms

EX1000 w/ MDR7550 cable = 33.3 ohms

EX600 w/ EX1000 cable =33.4 ohms

EX600 w/ EX600 cable =33.7 ohms

EX600 w/ MDR7550 cable =33.7 ohms

MDR7550 w/ EX1000 cable =17.3 ohms

MDR7550 w/ EX600 cable =17.7 ohms

MDR7550 w/ MDR7550 cable =17.7 ohms

*EX1000 cable is European/Asian version.

Sound-Quick out of the box impressions.  More refined than the EX600.  This may be the one.  Still early and I break in my phones like I roast my BBQ, low and slow.  No further impressions for the next few days.

Some bad pics (600/7550/1000 left to right):

Well of course there is warranty, but I would still take the stronger plug from the 600s over the 7550 barring any of the sonic differences in the cables. I'm sure you can make anything last if you are always100% mindful of taking perfect care of them, but unfortunately not everyone can be that committed to something like that all the time. :\

...Hey I find the EX600 plug to be weak. I don't dare playing with it a single bit. Also with phones stepping up at this price, I'm not saying this in an unfriendly tone, but you better take good care of it.

Anaxilus, do you still have the EX600? If so, could you please do a comparison between the rigidity of the EX1000 hangers, 7550 hangers and EX600 hangers? Thank you very much!

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3602 

...Hey I find the EX600 plug to be weak. I don't dare playing with it a single bit. Also with phones stepping up at this price, I'm not saying this in an unfriendly tone, but you better take good care of it.

Anaxilus, do you still have the EX600? If so, could you please do a comparison between the rigidity of the EX1000 hangers, 7550 hangers and EX600 hangers? Thank you very much!

Added.  I'll just update as I see queries so as not to spam the thread.

Cool. Well I think that's about it... I know that the 7550/EX800ST have gold-plated (metal) cable screws while the EX600 and EX1000 have regular plastic screws. I presume that for a Professional, the 7550 would see heavier use and more frequent cable issues and thus, a more durable contact point is used.

Also I'd like to know the housing thickness difference, if it is measurable EX600: 10.4mm thick, measured with my caliper-pen.

Of course I am not familiar with your standards of strong vs weak cables/plugs but it just seems from comparison pictures that the 7550 plug is less beefy compared to the 600 plug. Although these are the japanese versions of the iems, their american counterparts could be different :P

And I'm not saying I don't take good care of my gear, but when I'm in the office, there's really nothing I can do to prevent accidents such as getting the cable hooked to a drawer knob and not realizing when I get up out of my chair in a hurry (happens pretty frequently to me somehow :\). Good thing about the 7550s however is that the driver to cable connection screw is gold plated instead of plastic!

@Anaxilus, could you also compare how the different drivers feel in terms of fit  since the 7550 seems to be more different in shape when compared to the other 2?

^ The middle cable belongs to the EX800, which looks better than the EX600. Wonder if the 800 cable is the same as the 7550

Quote:

Originally Posted by music_4321 

^ The middle cable is the EX800, which looks better than the EX600. Wonder if the 800 cable is the same as the 7550

Uh... In all the greatness of GLaDOS, you're wrong.

Leftmost: EX800ST(7550)

Middle: EX600.

Rightmost: EX1000.

^ Oops, you're right.

From that pic, the 7550 elbow is a better, sturdier engineering design believe it or not.  However, the strain relief on the 600 is better as it is longer and can dissipate stress over a larger area but also worse in that it's actually two pieces.  So the cable actually gains no support from the surrounding material against yanking.  The 1000 is a bad two piece design IMO and puts all the stress at the wrong point if you ask me.  Maybe there is more going on inside than the eye can see.  The plug is pretty though.

It's all good. In the mean time, I shall exit the premises and acquire cake. Also review my dinner options.