Any thoughts on the MDR-DS5100 surround phones please?

[kathy]

hi all,

ive read a few conflicting reviews/comments on these...and I just wondered if anyone that owns a pair or has extensively auditioned them could give me their impressions.

Im aware that as a set of music headphones they wont compete with the likes of sennheiser etc...but im prepared for a little compromise bearing in mind the virtual dolby digital side of them. i would appreciate comments on how this side of the equation stands up...how good is the effect etc?

at the moment im just considering these, as it would be great to have any kind of surround effect for my dvd's and my xbox/ps2 via the optical input, along with pro logic from tv transmissions.

any comments gratefully devoured

kath

 

[Kenny]

Hi Kathy,

I've been lurking about here for more than a month, joined just now because I have to tell you don't get the Sony 5100's. I tried and tried them, really wanted to like them, but in the end just parked them on a shelf. The sound of surf thundering on a beach becomes a bit of swishing in a bathtub. Making out dialog (what? eh?) can provide hours of entertainment. Was that a violin or an oboe? I suspect a frequency response for the 5100's would look like a drunkard's walk.

There's a newer version (8100), haven't heard them. Won't be trying them.

If I were looking, I'd try the Pioneer SE DIR-1000 competitor, which implements Dolby Headphone instead of "we had one of our brightest students who is only slightly deaf work on our surround sound for more than a week" Headphone: you can find it at www.audiocubes.com if you hunt around a bit (try http://www.audiocubes.com/product_in...roducts_id=338). $200 US plus a little for shipping, the manual will probably be in Japanese but there are only about three buttons to push. I vaguely recollect seeing posts about the DIR-1000 here a while back. I found AudioCubes very pleasant to deal with, by the way.

I'm not looking because I have a standalone Dolby Headphone processor (Lake Technologies Theaterphone HSM6240), and if the Pioneer is anything like that you won't be disappointed.

Hope I've not misdirected you, maybe someone else can offer a quick review on the Pioneer SE DIR-1000?

 

[Kenny]

Oops, sorry a bit off on the price and link for the Pioneer surround phones, that should have been http://www.audiocubes.com/product_in...roducts_id=226
and price $409 currently. Wouldn't you know I'd mess up my first post here. Sigh.

 

[mikeg]

I own the Sony DP-IF5100 system, that includes the MDR-IF5000 headphone, and I think that this may be an earlier version of the MDR-DS5100 headphone, and its system. Although I've used this system over a couple of years, I've found that it's not very satisfactory. The surround effect is very poor, and the quality of sound reproduction is especially poor. Although I still use it at times for both DVD movie watching on TV, and when linking it to my Tivoli PAL radio, it's little more than a toy. I get a much better surround effect, and also much better sound reproduction, by using DVD computer software that includes Dolby Surround. I watch movies on my computer, using InterVideo WinDVD 4 software, and listen using an AKG K1000 headphone. This provides both excellect sound, and an excellent surround effect.