Sony has new headphones, MDR-1R - Page 136

 

 

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That explains it very well. 

XBs are actually overly confy, lol. 

Edited by SmOgER - 3/16/13 at 11:13am

Second replacement arrived today. No cosmetic defects this time, but it has the jack rattle problem again. I'm starting to get the sinking feeling I'm going to have to go through a dozen replacements before getting an acceptable unit. 

 

Amazon said they are going to remove MDR-1R from the website and contact the manufacturer, though I doubt that's going to change anything. So the decision now is to deal with the cosmetic defects of the first replacement, or look into getting a different headphone altogether. It sucks that the one headphone that has the perfect balance of comfort, sound quality, and portability is crippled by horrible quality control.

Edited by acti0n - 3/16/13 at 11:41am

 

I wonder if it's a regional thing. I'm in the US, but I imported mine from Japan because I wanted the silver/brown version. Mine has absolutely no signs on creaks or cracks. No signs of the plug rotation or rattle either. It would kinda make sense the Japanese versions may have been addressed first.

I think it's more likely that it's just a common defect and you got lucky. I went through 3 units, and 1 was perfectly fine.

 

Could be. Though, I have heard of a lot of new owners reporting it didn't exist at all. The mystery continues!

regarding the sound signature:

 

I also think the bass could be better - but then found out, that if you crosslisten to music of many different styles the Sony always remains in a comfortable bass strength. As I then slightly -upped some bass frequencies on the EQ - (really not much) - the bass or pressure soon became too strong and listening got uncomfortable on some tracks.

 

E.g. if you listen to rock/pop you may want minimum more bass, but if you change to electronic music the default setting is way sufficient and any -upped bass frequencies may result in ear fatigue.

 

Guess, that's what Sony tried to achieve: a consistent, comfortable listening experience through a wide range of music and for longer listening times without ear fatigue.

On my pair without jack rattle, I'm starting to notice creaking in the left cup. I think it's time to throw in the towel and the look for something else. Perhaps the DT770 or Custom One Pro?

I used to tweak the sub-bass by +5db @ 30hz. That made the MDR1r a more fun sounding can. Now that I have a FiiO E11, pairing it with iTouch 5gen on Rock EQ setting seems to be the best configuration for me.

I've got creaking on my right :(

 

Have you tried them with the Creek headphone amp?

Blah.  Was going to pull for a pair of these but these quality control issues kind of scaring me off. 

 

I mean what if you didn't get them from Amazon and had a defective pair, doubt Sony or other retailers would be so forgiving to keep sending you new pairs...??

 

Seemed like these were the perfect closed, comfortable and balanced option out there too.

 

If you go onto ebay and look for a pair on there that people are flogging off. Some are offering return policies, or 1-2 year warranties. The warranties usually cost an additional fee, but you'd still be getting them for cheaper than you would on Amazon.

oh snap maybe they do! i only have the mdr 1r BT and they definitely do not need them

I might be paranoid, but I think the jack is starting to loosen up and rattle on this too.

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Looking at the other photos in that link it strikes me that just like the Z1000 the MDR-1R has no damping material behind the driver whatsoever. This is odd considering it's plastic?

 

Hmm modding opportunity...

 

 

The other conclusion could be: the MDR-1R driver begins to distort at low frequencies once EQ'ed with more bass (exactly like the Z1000 does) and the THD is fatiguing your ears.

 

I think that is more likely considering that the Momentum is almost ruler flat to 20hz and doesn't give people headaches.