First of all, it is to be mentioned I am not familiar with the old MSR7, so I cannot do a comparison with that.
I bought this pair of headphones for the very good reviews in terms of reference sound signature and for the balanced cable (it is the first one I got with balanced).
The first feeling that I got was the headphones do require quite a bit more power than the very easy to drive ones (like the SONY MDR1-AM2).
While it's not what I would call hard to drive, it's a pair where the balanced cable does make sense to be there, unlike the above mentioned SONYs on which I never used the balanced.
So if you have a DAC/amp with not so much output power but a balanced output, this would be the perfect scenario to use it.
Ok, so let's summarize the cons: what I do not like about the MSR7b is the cheap plasticky feel and the fact they creak every time you put them on your head.
I mean for the price, I expect more in terms of quality: the much cheaper Senheiser HD 559 is of much better build quality for example.
Then it's the cables and the cups themselves: every touch on the cable in heard inside the cups if there is no sound or you are listening to quiet passages.
I think it's both the cable that is microphonic and how the connectors are fixed into the cups (without any rubber) that cause this issue.
So replacing the cable with a better one is unlikely to solve the problem completely.
In terms of comfort, I find them very comfortable: light, cups are almost large enough to cover the enire ear, but just barely.
While I can listen to the MSR7b for hours without disconfort, the Senheiser HD5xx/6xx are clearly much better at this aspect.
Then it's the leather cushions: my ears do get hot when the ambient temperature is higher.
Again, at this aspect I prefer the velour pads in the Senheisers or Beyedynamics (which will also last a lot longer).
These leather items will degrade and while the pads are available, I have not seen the headband for sale.
I mention all of these aspects, as despite the sound is indeed very good, those minuses do matter a lot for me,
especially the creaking and relatively small cups for my ear (the lobe of my ear does slightly touch the cushion).
So my 4.5 stars rating is only because of the very good sound quality, as this clearly outweighs the cons.
Getting to the sound quality itself, this is one of the few headphones I feel sounds good and relatively flat without doing any EQ on it.
I especially like the bass on it, it feels very natural, with a lot of body and impact and quite the right amount.
I do listen to EDM and similar genres and do like how the MSR7b reproduces the bass on these genres,
despite some might want a bit more, especially in the sub-bass region.
They do sound a bit bright, especially at higher volumes, but that's pretty much the only region where I would EQ them a bit (lower treble region).
It's one of the few headphones I own where applying some pre-made EQ in Equalizer APO (from referenceaudioanalyzer) does produce
a worse result than no EQ, especially on the bass. This EQ has a -6.1dB on 139Hz, which makes the bass sound dull.
If I move that to 0dB, or even a bit above, the EQ suddenly becomes better than without EQ.
All in all, I do love these headphones and use them on a regular basis.
What I like the most is the very clean and crisp sound, a very good frequency response even without EQ (can be better with as mentioned above)
and the fact they can handle pretty high SPL without distorting (I like listening loud).
For the price (170euros at local retailer when writing), I think it's a pair definetely worth getting, despite the cons.
I bought this pair of headphones for the very good reviews in terms of reference sound signature and for the balanced cable (it is the first one I got with balanced).
The first feeling that I got was the headphones do require quite a bit more power than the very easy to drive ones (like the SONY MDR1-AM2).
While it's not what I would call hard to drive, it's a pair where the balanced cable does make sense to be there, unlike the above mentioned SONYs on which I never used the balanced.
So if you have a DAC/amp with not so much output power but a balanced output, this would be the perfect scenario to use it.
Ok, so let's summarize the cons: what I do not like about the MSR7b is the cheap plasticky feel and the fact they creak every time you put them on your head.
I mean for the price, I expect more in terms of quality: the much cheaper Senheiser HD 559 is of much better build quality for example.
Then it's the cables and the cups themselves: every touch on the cable in heard inside the cups if there is no sound or you are listening to quiet passages.
I think it's both the cable that is microphonic and how the connectors are fixed into the cups (without any rubber) that cause this issue.
So replacing the cable with a better one is unlikely to solve the problem completely.
In terms of comfort, I find them very comfortable: light, cups are almost large enough to cover the enire ear, but just barely.
While I can listen to the MSR7b for hours without disconfort, the Senheiser HD5xx/6xx are clearly much better at this aspect.
Then it's the leather cushions: my ears do get hot when the ambient temperature is higher.
Again, at this aspect I prefer the velour pads in the Senheisers or Beyedynamics (which will also last a lot longer).
These leather items will degrade and while the pads are available, I have not seen the headband for sale.
I mention all of these aspects, as despite the sound is indeed very good, those minuses do matter a lot for me,
especially the creaking and relatively small cups for my ear (the lobe of my ear does slightly touch the cushion).
So my 4.5 stars rating is only because of the very good sound quality, as this clearly outweighs the cons.
Getting to the sound quality itself, this is one of the few headphones I feel sounds good and relatively flat without doing any EQ on it.
I especially like the bass on it, it feels very natural, with a lot of body and impact and quite the right amount.
I do listen to EDM and similar genres and do like how the MSR7b reproduces the bass on these genres,
despite some might want a bit more, especially in the sub-bass region.
They do sound a bit bright, especially at higher volumes, but that's pretty much the only region where I would EQ them a bit (lower treble region).
It's one of the few headphones I own where applying some pre-made EQ in Equalizer APO (from referenceaudioanalyzer) does produce
a worse result than no EQ, especially on the bass. This EQ has a -6.1dB on 139Hz, which makes the bass sound dull.
If I move that to 0dB, or even a bit above, the EQ suddenly becomes better than without EQ.
All in all, I do love these headphones and use them on a regular basis.
What I like the most is the very clean and crisp sound, a very good frequency response even without EQ (can be better with as mentioned above)
and the fact they can handle pretty high SPL without distorting (I like listening loud).
For the price (170euros at local retailer when writing), I think it's a pair definetely worth getting, despite the cons.