YAMAHA HPH MT220 VS SONY MDR 7520
Both of these are were just plugged into a focusrite forte for now. They both share a lot of the same qualities with each other and best a lot of headphones I have had. Pretty much of all the closed headphones I have had, I prefer these two. I caught on to the yamaha because of gelocks, and caught on to the sony because of M-13.
BOTH
These two headphones sounded similar to me at first and their differences didn't jump at me right away. My wife and my brother had a tough time telling them apart right away. There were times when while I was trying to make notable differences I had to quickly switch between headphones to confirm my impressions. There were also those times when I had to look at the headphone that wasn't on to tell which one I was listening to.
They
both are more edgy and detailed, better bass, less treble roll off,less smooth and more spacious than the
momentum
less bright and sibilant, less distortion, smaller soundstage, and more mids than the
d2k
less dry, less bright, more detail, less spacious/airy, tighter bass than the
dt900
less spacious, tighter bass, fuller mids, clearer highs, better details, more fatiguing, than the
x1
stronger attack, less transparent, less clarity, less depth, more dynamic than the
lcd2
better everything than the
l1 besides airiness
better mids, less spacious, equal or better detail, less detail perception (the he400 seem more detailed because of the presentation but they are not more detailed to me) less sibilant, less fatiguing, less distortion than the
he400
These both have bass that reaches pretty deep and the impact is very satisfying with both. One of the statements I have read here on head-fi that keeps getting stuck with me is that if you hear the bass right away then it is a bad sign. Well these both have that bad sign. I for one love it.
The highs on both have very good information but they don't seem to be the brightest of headphones either. They both are what I would consider to have reference style tuning and are quite balanced and accurate of what the recording is in terms of eq. So in short, EQ'ing/Mixing on these are ideal.The detail on both are really good and they have the edgy quality too them where they don't soften things and render the attacks and volumes accurately while remaining very listenable.
I keep hearing people comment on the spacious sound of these two. That is an impression that I am having difficulty with. It could be my song selections. I am listening to a lot of modern synth based music, and little bit of acoustic based modern music some of which is FLAC, a couple WAV files, and a lot of HQ320kbps mp3's. I would say that the instrument seperation on these to are near identical to me right now.
Attack and punch are awesome on both!
Now let's seperate them.
BASS
I have already stated the similarities. I will try not to repeat myself here but its hard not to. The 7520 bass is almost as loud as the mt220 but is better textured and a tad tighter. Overall I can hear more bass details with the 7520. This does not mean that the mt220 bass isn't awesome and tight because it is, its just that the 7520 is exceptional to me in this regards. I have heard people say that the dt990 bass is tight.
These both put those to shame easily. While listening to bass swells and the gritty texture of the bass lines, I am picking up more details on the 7520. This wasn't noticeable at first until I played one song that made it undeniable. There was absolutely no denying which bass was cleaner after that...the 7520. The mt220 bass is a little louder in the mix and reaches its tentacles into the mids slightly more at high volumes(which I am guilty of doing a lot). But again the 7520 is cleaner.
ATTACK
The mt220 has the advantage here. As soon as you put them on you notice its snappiness. But this isn't by a large margin either but it's definitely noticeable. The drums and impact of the 7520 is all that you could ask for with the mt220 just adding a little more and being a little faster like as if it was a just incase measure. The mt220 is a very exciting headphone. I have heard people call both dry or lifeless until amp x etc. That is far from the truth for me. With my humble focusrite forte these things are both lively and punch while keeping a good balance.
MIDS
Now this was the hard part for the mt220. I mentioned in my review of it that the mids sounded slightly(with emphasis on slightly) recessed on some songs and clearly not recessed on others. I attributed this to their accuracy. Compared to the 7520 the mids sound less forward and also less clear and transparent(not by a lot). The 7520 takes the lead here not just because they are more forward but also because they are more transparent and detailed. The mt220 mids are more balanced. If I was in a studio using these as tools I would use the mt220 to eq a track (raise/lower mids, vocals etc) and the 7520 to tell me if the track had too much reverb in the vocals and if the pitch was right. Both to me sound as if the instruments were on a black background<===I can't describe that well so I will leave it alone.
HIGHS
The 7520 is the darker of the two but not by a whole lot. If the 7520 were my point of reference for listening I would say the mt220 is slightly north of neutral. The information in the highs are great on both and the details are great. Not the smoothest here as far as texture goes because they both remain to render the edge of the instruments well. Of the two the mt220 is the more sibilant but not to where you would call it a sibilant set of cans.
SOUNDSTAGE
This to me is the more obvious difference. Despite me previously stating that It is hard for me to call them both spacious( either because my mind isn't trained here or because of my song selection) The mt220 takes the lead here. The 7520 is a little less panoramic than the mt220. There is less air to the sound by a tad on the 7520 but neither would I call airy or soft or any similar adjective. The mt220 is a little wider. I will leave it at that because I don't wan't to talk more about something that I don't know much about.
DISTORTION
Both of these joints can take volume like a champ. The 7520 being the winner because of the housing. The looser housing on the mt220 vibrates more at high volumes. The 7520 has a higher volume tolerance.
LOOKS
In total subjectivity and IMO the mt220 looks better. I love its design.
FEATURES
The features go to the 7520 for the removable chord and pouch. I love the sturdy cord attachment on the sony. The yamaha lacks this and comes with a music editing cd but nothing of value to the average consumer. I need to check this cd because it could be a useful HQ eq tool but that will have to wait. Both have swappable pads but because of the narrow shape on the 7520 I think you would have more options with the mt220...ie the alpha pads may fit on the yammie and not the 7520.
COMFORT
The 7520 is the more comfortable headphone. I love the way it fits. I wish both headphones had the driver further away from the ears though. The mt220 is not bad at all but the swivel in the cups make it less snug.
OVERALL
The 7520 gets the win for me in detail, transparency, clarity and mids. The mt220 is not far behind with balance, soundstage, and attack on its side. This is photo finish close guys, like as if you had to check the video or photos of a race to see who won. To have both is not sensible to me. I love them both and both have become awesome hp purchases. The differences above look easy to make a call but in person they aren't as easily distinguishable, atleast not to my noob ears. One of you veterans would probably be able to hear it right away. If you already have the mt220 you would like the 7520 no doubt. If you already have the 7520 you don't need the mt220 and almost vice versa. If you can find the 7520 at a good cost then go for it. Both have the fidelity and qualities to put to shame a lot of other headphones in ,below, and above their price range.
I am stuck right now because I don't want to part ways with either though it doesnt make sense to have both.
If i am off in my assessment of the beloved 7520 then please feel free to gently correct me because am probably the less experienced here.
Forgot to mention:
Both sound good from an iPod!!!
Update: If I had to keep one it would be the mt220 because of its attack, the highs, and the soundstage.
The soundstage of the mt220 definitely beats the sony.
Overall though, the FSC just didn't stand out to me, it wasn't special sounding or anything. Of all the headphones I've tried in the last two months, headphones that stood out to me in terms of sound are the Kef M500, B&W P7, Philips L2 and of course the 7520.
