Sony MDR-V150 Monitor Series Headphones with Reversible Earcups

I've owned this pair of headphones for about 8 years now, and they still don't disappoint, especially now that they have had just the smallest bit of modification, which brought out that wonderful upper treble. They are as follows:
 
1.) A small circle of SilverStone 4mm acoustic foam in each cup.
2.) Small 1mm perforations in the felt spaced .25cm apart.
 
Just these two small modifications brought out thunderous bass and forgiving voicing in the midrange, making these headphones great for a wide variety of music and recordings. With the 4mm foam, the driver has just the right amount of clearance. The thick stock felt can either be replaced with a thinner felt or perforated to allow a little more HF to make its way out of the driver.
 
Durability-wise, everything is very rugged, save for the nickel-plated 3.5mm jack, which seems to lose its coating after a while, causing intermittent connections. A polishing wheel and a little solder was a cheap fix for me. The ear cups are a little hollow-sounding stock, but hey, they're cheap.
 
These are a must-have, especially for the price, ease of modding, and fairly decent audio quality to begin with. For 15-16 extra bucks, you can have a great set of dynamic headphones with punchy bass, a smooth midrange and laid-back treble.

I have a quite mixed feeling about these. I own the white versions which are just the same. But I have to say, these headphones are okay for casual listening and portability. Even though they're portable, I still use my massive Philips SHP2000 wherever I go.
 
Build Quality
 
The build quality is cheap. What would you expect from a £10 pair of studio monitors? It's going to be mainly made of plastic. The headband is plastic and has the Sony logo and "Studio Monitor" written on the top. on the sides, it consists of plastic with the Sony logo on the driver housing. There is 2 metal screws near the hinges that hold the headband and the driver housing hinge together. The extension is plastic and it has numbers! I like it when companies add numbers on their extensions. The breaking point of these are near the headband. They're held in by a pathetic plastic nib that fits only one way inside a slot and that broke after 3 weeks. Now that part like to pull a hair strand every time I take them off. Just a bit of tape can fix it. The cable is thick and rubbery, and I prefer that over my SHP2000's very slippery cable. And the cable length is at 1.8m which means it is just 0.6m longer than average portable headphones. On the end of the cable, it has a 3.5 mm jack which is prone to fail after a year, and mine has. It can be easily fixed with another 3.5 mm jack from eBay and some basic soldering skills. There is a lot of creaking with every hinge and these rattle a lot.
 
Comfort
 
Talking about comfort, these are not comfortable for extended hours. The ear pads are made of this really crappy thin plastic with sponge inside. I know this is supposed to be very cheap headphones but I've seen better. They don't feel nice when they touch your ear. Your ears start to sweat after a few minutes and it's not pleasant. The headband is okay however, as it doesn't put too much pressure on my head because it is really light. The ear cups do swivel left, right, up and down, which does make the headphones just a bit more comfortable. There's nothing much to say about the comfort. You get what you give (sometimes).
 
Sound Quality
 
What do £10 pair of Sony studio monitors sound like, you say? Let me tell you something. They sound nothing like Sony. Sony's sound signature mainly is about the Bass and Treble with recessed Mids, but these are an exception. The sub bass is quiet, making EDM "not fun" to listen to but the punchy bass is still present. The Mids are somewhat overpowering as it makes the Treble washed out. I can barely hear claps and hihats on most of the tracks I listen to. This makes the music boring to listen to (Depending on what Genre you listen to). Vocals stand out more then the track, and if you do like vocals, this might be good with Vocal tracks. The sound signature is way off Sony's standard which is supposed to be more of a "V" shape.
 
Conclusion
 
In conclusion, the Sony MDR-V150 is a mixed bad of good and bad aspects of cheap low end headphones. I don't recommend them for Studio Monitoring because they don't give you the "True to the recording" sound which studio monitors are supposed to do. If you don't care about the best sound quality if your outdoors and you just need something that can be powered from a mobile phone, there a better options. The Sennheiser HD 201 are £18 and they sound more neutral but with barely any punchy bass. The Philips SHL3000 are at £20 and they sound better with deep, punchy bass and crisper treble while retaining most of the Mids, but it's your choice. I personally don't like these a lot but it's still staying in my possession because I used to master my music with these until I switched to my Philips SHP2000.

These were the very first headphones I bought when I was in primary school.
I remember saving up a few weeks to get this pair but unfortunately the cable broke after a few years of use.
Fast forward +15 years, I now have a job and starting to get into the headphone world...........so addictive.

I just received a pair from ebay not long ago. Be sure to look for a reputable reseller as there could be fakes going around.
I can't say whether mine are fake or not. The box, papers and headphones all match up saying that it was all done Thailand.
The details on the headphones also match up well with photos I've seen online. I guess the only way to tell for sure is to open them up (which I won't be doing for now).

When I first plugged these into my Samsung Note 10.1 and listened to a bit of FLAC, I thought the sound quality was quite horrible so I stopped listening for a while.
I would say that the sound stage was very closed and SQ muddled. That's as far as I can describe it due to my limited experience in expressing what it sounds to me.

Next I connected it up to my Schiit Modi / Magni stack and the first few minutes it sounded the same as my Samsung Note.
However after 10 minutes of listening, I started to get use to the sound signature and dare I say....started to like it again.
Call it nostalgia, it brought me back to my childhood when these were my favourite and only cans.
 
I found that these work quite well with female vocals and acoustic, I like the flat response and neutral sounds it gives.
Though these cans are relatively bass light, I think they do well for what they're worth.
I don't find that these work well with fast paced music or anything that has a lot of things going on.
To me the SQ just falls apart when challenged and becomes muddled and incoherent.

With regards to portability, they're great to throw around in the bag and not feel bad about treating them without care.
But they do confuse with a 2m long cable which is a lot of cable to stuff in your pockets.

For me, I will be using these in the office as they provide some isolation but allows me to hear chatter and phone calls.
They are quite comfortable and light, so they can be worn for a long time in an air conditioned room such that the pleather won't steam up your ears.

Lets face it, for $30 AUD budget there will be some pros and cons.
I wouldn't spend anything more that, and there are better contenders around that price range - like for instance the AKG K420 which I have are my current budget favs.

I would only recommend these to anyone who are looking for a pair of cans that can be thrown away after a beating.
Or anyone that wants to have a nostalgic experience if they once owned these.
Overall I'm happy with this little toy, hopefully I can keep it in good condition

H.M