Sony MDR-V6 (and family) Appreciation Thread - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by 112jt 

Are there any mods for the v6?

DT250 velour pads are probably the most common mod.

I've heard of V6 being modded by playing with the foam inside the driver to change the bass response. The only thing is I think that foam plug they are removing, was there to keep dust and debris out of the driver chamber.

You should be able to tune a headphones bass response easily by using a little rockwool in key areas to reduce resonances and flatten out the bass.

I love the stock sound so I won't be modding it any time soon.
 

#edit

I almost forgot I shot this video. The bass on these cans is so impressive that it actually extends down to 15hz subsonic. Even without a good acoustic seal, just wrapping them around my Yeti condenser mic you can clearly see the 15hz signal on my waveform and isolating 1 second of audio I can count 15 distinct peaks so it's not a harmonic or other distortion it's picking up, but a clearly audible, sub sonic wave form.

CD700 has way more bass than the CD900. Never heard the 7506 but they are available in some store now.

CD900 will blow the V6.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AUDIOBREEDER 

CD900 will blow the V6.

You kiss your mama with that mouth?

Away...it will blow the V6 away...(no it won't)

i'm interested in the velour pad mod, what's the result of the mod?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seekky 

i'm interested in the velour pad mod, what's the result of the mod?

For me, I lost a little in the bass area and they leaked more sound but it wasn't too bad.  What i gained was ear cushions that were comfortable and breathable.  I could literally leave them on for hours.  If you wear them for extended periods of time,  I think the Beyerdynamic DT250 pad are well worth it.  The problem with the stock Sony pads is the pleather will begin to flake off.  It happens to everyone at some point or another.  For me it was almost exactly a year.  I also got the added bonus of the foam being exposed as the pads became un-seamed on the inside.

Hi-

New to the forum as a poster, but I've been lurking for a while.  Here's what I know about the history and chronology of the "V6 series."  Feel free to dispute; this is just based on what I remember and from Sony spec sheets, Japanese catalogues, and service manuals...

The Japan-only MDR-CD700 and original MDR-CD900 were released in late 1985; the CD700s were a non-folding, straight-cabled variant with a gold diaphragm (it was my first pair of really good headphones I bought in Japan when I was in junior high; sadly I threw them out only a couple of years ago after I discovered that the drivers died); the CD900s were the direct cousin to the V6: foldable, coiled cord, with a CCAW voice coil and samarium cobalt magnet; the part number for the driver varies between the CD900s and the original V6s but they're definitely in the same family.  The MDR-V6 was released at almost the same time as the CD900, but it was an "export only" product and not released in Japan.  In 1987 Sony released the moderately rare MDR-V7, which used an amorphous sapphire diaphragm (non-folding, straight cord), which was also "export only" and seemed to be more popular in Europe than anywhere else.  The MDR-7506 was released a few years later as the "professional" version of the V6, but with a neodymium magnet, gold-plated plug, and better warranty.  Like most Sony headphones, up until the late nineties, these were all MADE IN JAPAN.  At some point in the 2000s, Sony moved headphone manufacturing- first to China, and then to Thailand, and although the original drivers from the 7506 and V6 were slightly different, now they share the same part number.  As someone who has gone through countless pairs of 7506s, I still prefer my old Japanese 7506, V6, and especially the V7.  From my experience, the Chinese batch of 7506s sounded more brittle in the high-mids and there was less consistency between 'phones; not sure if they manufactured any V6s in China.  With the move to Thailand, things seem to have evened out, and my recent Thai 7506 and V6 pairs sound identical (barring small variances in production).  [None of these are to be confused with the actual FAKE models which are all over ebay.]

I should also point out that there were two versions of the MDR-CD900: the original type (folding, coiled cord, shiny, gorgeous), and then a revised Japan-only version that became the MDR-CD900ST, but still called the MDR-CD900 (otherwise identified by being non-folding, with a straight cord to 1/4" plug).  The MDR-CD900ST was co-developed by Sony Music Entertainment in Japan and are as ubiquitous as the MDR-7506 is in America in studios and professional applications.  The current CD900ST has a different driver than the 7506/V6 (according to part numbers) and earpads with less padding.  The MDR-CD700, original CD900, V6, V7, and 7506 all share the same flake-prone earpads; I've tried the Beyer DT250 pads and they're comfy but I still went back to the original Sony earpads. :-)

Like someone else said, I found the MDR-V600 (MDR-Z600 in Japan) an awful replacement for the V6s, which is probably why Sony reintroduced the V6.  I'm also not a huge fan of the V900 (Z900) but they're definitely better than the "HD" version that came out a few years after that.  There were also the sub-series, like the CD777, CD999, CD750, etc., etc., etc., and I'm gathering more info on those.

My listening tests have been purely subjective thus far but of the pairs I own, I rank them this way:

MDR-V7 top! (the high end is, in my opinion, more even than the 7506/V6, and there is a bit more punch in the < 100Hz range; I feel like these are the headphones I could wear and switch over to my studio monitors and whatever I'm listening to would sound the same).

MDR-7506 Japan / MDR-V6 Japan (they *can* be a bit brittle at times in the 5/6kHz range, but this is more due to age and production lot variances; I have two pairs of 7506s that I like, and two pairs that I hate- just a function of time and chance)

MDR-7506 Thai / MDR-V6 Thai (I find them a little like the "disco EQ curve" of the 70s, with a little more ~120Hz and a little more ~8kHz, but still listen-to-able)

MDR-CD900ST (super, super, flat; not as punchy in the lows but they're very accurate; however, with their less-padded earpads, they make my ears hurt a lot faster).

MDR-CD999 (50mm driver, not bad, but still a little "toppy")

MDR-1R (the new ones; 50mm driver, definitely a peak around 200Hz that makes them muddy to my ears, but flatter in the highs- almost boring, but REALLY comfy)

MDR-CD777 (40mm amorphous sapphire diaphragm driver, still a little more high end than I prefer)

MDR-V900 (non-HD)

MDR-V600

MDR-V900HD/MDR-7509

Okay that's enough blathering for tonight.  Thanks for reading-

on the topic of older sony's, do you guys happen to know of more earphones released by sony in the 80s? I have been looking for some I heard years back, I think they were in the MDR series, they were foldable, came with a leather pouch but the earcups were perfectly round, as opposed to oval like in the MDR-V6, the earcup was  also overall smaller and at sort of on ear rather then over ear. They were bright with excellent mids and sounded very good. I have not been able to find them anywhere.

actually, I just found a picture of a Sony MDR-V2 that look very similar to the headphones I am describing... any others that were released in the 80s that have this look? Except a coiled cord, if I remember correctly.

The MDR-V4 or MDR-7504, are what you are describing- round 30mm drivers, coiled single-sided cord.  I don't think they're made anymore; the MDR-7502s, with a "y" cord (from both ears) are still available, though (and they're equivalent to the MDR-V2 you've shown).

I'll let you know how the velour pads sound as soon as I can find a pair in stock that aren't at rip off prices. I refuse to pay more for DT250 velour pads than I pay for DT880 Velour pads. It's just ridiculous to pay $45 for a product that Amazon sells for $30, now if Amazon could just get them back in stock.....they cancelled my last order after 4 days because they couldn't get them in stock.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by noiseboy57 

The MDR-V4 or MDR-7504, are what you are describing- round 30mm drivers, coiled single-sided cord.  I don't think they're made anymore; the MDR-7502s, with a "y" cord (from both ears) are still available, though (and they're equivalent to the MDR-V2 you've shown).

Thanks, I will try those out; now the only dilemma:  to find MDR-V4s out there!!