pbirkett
Headphoneus Supremus
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- Jun 12, 2002
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Sony MDR-CD3000 Review
By Paul Birkett
This is my now customary review that I do of all headphones that come into my possession, one of many this year. Quite often in the past, I have reviewed something within just a couple of weeks of owning it, but this time, I have waited. I have had these headphones about 6 weeks now, and all of the initial excitement has died down, allowing me to do an impartial, unbiased review, and indeed, I believe that I will be more honest and uninfluenced on this review than any I have done before. So without further ado….
---------------------------------
Other Equipment
- Musical Fidelity X-Can v3 Amplifier
- VDH The Bay C5 & Soniclink Lilac interconnects
- Terratec EWX 24/96 soundcard (Playing back MP3, MPC Q6+7, CD Audio using Foobar 2000 upsampling to 24-bit / 88.2 KHz & Kernel Streaming).
- Reference headphones: Beyerdynamic DT531.
---------------------------------
Musical Preferences
- 70% Electronica (Trance, Techno, House, Ambient)
- 10% Rock / Indie
- 10% Female Vocal
- 10% Pop
---------------------------------
Introduction
My headphone journey has gone on much longer than I expected, and I have gone through a lot of low cost headphones to try and find the sound that I am looking for, but sadly, up until this date I have failed. The closest I managed to get to my ideal sound thus far was the Beyerdynamic DT531, a headphone which is punchy, detailed and surprisingly good for its modest cost. However, being that they are UK £60 headphones (www.veronica.co.uk) I expected that I could get significantly better and that is what I wanted.
At the time when I was considering a partner for the DT531s, I wanted a headphone that was in some ways opposite to them. I wanted a headphone that was allegedly not too amplifier dependant, the original intention was to run them out of my Rotel integrated amplifier, as I had been doing with headphones in the past. The Sony’s seemed like an ideal match, with their undemanding 32 ohm impedance, and 106 decibel sensitivity. The Sony’s also appealed due to their increasing reputation as the king of electronica, a good thing given my rather overwhelming preference for this genre.
Eventually, as much as I tried to put it off, I was persuaded to join the CD3000 “Liberation Front”
and I plumped for the Sony’s. They cost me the equivalent of UK £240, making them 4 times more expensive than the DT531, so they had quite a lot to live up to I thought, given just how good the DT531’s are for their price IMO.
They arrived in just under a fortnight after ordering them, not bad considering the relative difficulty of getting a hold of them, and they arrived in a huge box, which was surprisingly large considering the contents. When I opened the box, the first thing that struck me was how large and relatively heavy they were.
Plugging them into the Rotel and playing some music, I was impressed straight away, but I did not really read too much into this at the time – I have been impressed with every headphone I’ve owned at first. Obviously this is not a good time to judge headphones. They were not run in and I was obviously on a high from getting them. One thing that did make me grin though, was the sheer size of them, and the way they looked on my head. I looked completely ridiculous wearing them, and because I’ve got a shaven head, it made them look even more imposing, like they was scaffolding on my head, holding these two large grey speakers to my head.
After about a week or so, the alarm bells were ringing for me already. Before I knew it, the comfort was becoming an issue, but more on that later. It was something I was prepared to tolerate though in the cause of good sound. However, there was something wrong. For starters, they did not appear as sensitive as I thought they would be, needing much the same volume on the Rotel as the 250 ohm, 95 db sensitive DT531’s to get the same sort of loudness. This suggested to me output impedance issues, and the sound quality reflected this. Why did they not sound any better than my Beyer DT531s? This could not be right surely….
Naturally, I just assumed they would be better, I mean after all, one does assume the most hyped headphones on headfi and ones costing 4x what I was using should sound not just slightly better, but lots better. So, I blamed the amplifier, after all, this appeared to be the bottleneck.
So I went out and got a Musical Fidelity X-Can v2 amplifier, on the strength of its supposed synergy with the Sony’s. Indeed, the situation improved noticeably, a more euphonic sound, without the veil I perceived on the Rotel amplifier, the bass was faster and tighter, and the output cleaner. However, there were two problems. Firstly, the X-Can sounded unbalanced – a fact which I later found out was common on the v2’s. Not to mention the hiss. Secondly the DT531’s were probably improved just as much by the addition of the amp as the CD3000. So, I had just spent another £100, and the gap between David and Goliath was still no bigger than it was before, however, it did allow the true characters of both headphones to shine through more than on the Rotel – where they both sounded a little samey.
Never mind I thought, I’ll either modify the X-can v2 or sell it and get something else. I decided to get something else given how I perceived the v2 to be a fundamentally flawed amplifier. I was going to go for the Perreaux, but I decided to go instead for the version 3 of the X-Can, seeing as I could actually listen to it beforehand. When I listened to it, I was bowled over, this was so much better than anything I’d had before. And so commences 3 serious weeks of Sony listening where I listened just about every day, where I became intimately familiar with them.
---------------------------------
Comfort
Now, as you all know, comfort is a very subjective thing, and some people find the Sony’s the most comfortable cans around. I’d have to disagree with these findings, but I would say that they are not particularly bad in the comfort stakes, I kind of expected better to be honest. Clamping force is not really a problem, they clamp less than the DT531’s say, but they cannot get close to the comfort of those.
So what are my problems with the comfort? Well, the weight is the main issue with these headphones quite frankly, they are big, and feel big on my head, they feel heavy and give me a sore neck. They are physically fatiguing for me. The headband does help take some of the weight off, and gladly, it does not burn like some of the Beyerdynamic models tend to. The pads are soft pleather type material, and they are not as lush and cosy as a Beyerdynamic pad. They also have a tendency to make my ears sweat. Overall, I’d rate the comfort on a par with the likes of the Beyerdynamic DT880, but each headphones have different faults, but in terms of being annoying, the DT880 and CD3000 are equally annoying to me.
In comparison with the DT531, there is no contest. The DT531s clamp more, but irritate less, with their softer pads and much lighter weight. The DT531 and Sennheiser HD580 remain the most comfortable of all headphones I have ever owned.
---------------------------------
Build Quality and Finish
For such an expensive product, the perceived build quality is only average to me. They are big, clumsy headphones and as such, feel flimsy. The headband which rests on your head does not look like it would last long, the pads do not look hard wearing, and the cups are grey plastic. They do not look as classy and elegant as the Beyerdynamic DT880, nor do they look as robust. They are good looking in a modern way, but their size does feel somewhat over the top for me, but there is no doubt they are impressive to look at.
As seems to be the custom with top of the line cans, they come with their own box, which is not as fancy as the aluminium Beyerdynamic DT880 box, although I have never seen the boxes for the HD600 / HD650 and RS-1, so I do not know how it compares with them, but in fairness, it is quite nicely presented.
---------------------------------
Sound quality
The Sony’s, as most people are aware tend towards the forward side of neutral, and this is obvious from the moment you put them on, no matter which amplifier I have used with them, they always sound bright. They are extremely revealing headphones which reveal every last detail, but also every last flaw in the recording, but it is the way that it presents these details that I feel can make or break these headphones. I perceive the detail on the CD3000’s to be a bit forced, it sucks every last ounce of detail from the recording, and forces it down your throat.
Now, this can be a good or a bad thing, depending on the quality of the source, and also the recording that is listened to. Now, my source, I know has no problems with the Sony’s, because on a very good recording, they have the potential to sound amazing – basically like nothing I have heard before.
Psychedelic trance music is an excellent genre to use on the Sony’s. This type of music is normally very well recorded and produced for electronic music, and the Sony’s nature of dragging each and every detail from the headphone makes them very involving for this type of music. Just play some Infected Mushroom or Hallucinogen to find this out, you’ll not only hear every detail, but you’ll hear the details coming from all angles, in front, to the sides, and behind. Given a good recording, the Sony’s have an uncanny ability to throw a large soundstage completely around you and completely immerse you in music, and the result can be mind blowing.
However, it did not take me long to realise what the Sony’s faults are. They are extremely coloured, and that is a fact you are not too likely to mind if all you listen to is electronica, particularly if it is highly recorded. However, moving the focus away from electronica for a moment, we shall move on to female vocal music. Now, the vocals can come across very well, prominent in the mix, but depending on the recording and the singer, the voice can come across really blasting loud, and the accompanying instruments come across as sounding fake and artificial. When listening to this type of music, I am afraid the Sony’s reveal their true colours, ultimately analytical, cold and hard sounding, although I am prepared to admit, that these faults could in some way be synergy related, but what I would say is that they exhibit this character on all amplifiers I have tried, and many headphones I’ve owned do a better job at the end of the day.
Dido is an example of this, play it on the CD3000, and it frankly seems a little hard and unpleasant to listen to, play it on the Beyerdynamic DT531’s, and initially it seems less clear to begin with, but after a while, it soon becomes apparent whats what, and the Beyer’s render a far more natural rendition of the music to my ears.
Moving on to rock music now, and the Sony’s are more in their element now. Rock can be very involving on the CD3000, most impressive are their air guitar factor and sheer dynamic ability, playing Bring Me To Life by Evanescence, I freely admit I almost felt the urge to get up and dance around the room and bang my head like a mad man!
Also impressive, was more subtle rock music, such as Nine Inch Nails, which is generally well produced and this music goes down an absolute treat with the CD3000, they give a punchy and undistorted bass performance, and the little details are rendered very well, and add to the involvement, and once again, dynamics are particularly impressive. The male vocals of Trent Reznor really come across very well on the CD3000. I am not a big rock listener, but I can sincerely recommend these for rock music, particularly if its well recorded.
Moving on to pop music, the Sony’s again cope quite well with this genre, some of which can be well produced, others not so much, but it manages to drag the details out of this type of music, and generally make it seem somewhat more interesting to listen to, but once again, badly recorded stuff sounds awful.
However, moving back onto electronica for a moment, even some stuff that I regard as well recorded can suffer from the Sony’s demanding nature. For example, Shpongle sounds very atmospheric and it drags all the detail from the recording out and not only presents it, but forces it into your brain, and this is not always desirable, the highs on this album have presented me with fatigue on the Sony’s, being a bit hashy and sibilant, and this carries on through the whole album, and I’ve seldom managed to get to the end of it using the Sony’s.
Now, one thing I have kept mentioning is how badly recorded stuff can be ruthlessly exposed by the Sony’s and I find this to be a drawback to be honest. There are quite a few headphones I have heard which I would describe as somewhat unforgiving, and I think to a degree, this is a fault with headphones in general, but I must say, nothing comes close to how bad the Sony’s can make some bad recordings sound, and even average ones are often done little favours at the end of the day, and sometimes this makes me want to rip them off my head, and I am convinced this is just the nature of the Sony’s. Now, it will often depend on your musical taste what kind of percentage of recordings you have are bad, but in my case, excellent recordings seem to be the exception rather than the rule, many in fact are decidedly average, and the Sony does those little favours either.
The bass on the Sony’s does not seem quite as strong as I expected, although this is hardly a criticism, generally the Sony’s bass is just right, although it is my perception that it does not go quite as deep as some headphones I’ve had in the past, and given a good recording the slam is certainly there, but yet again, bad recordings can often result in very little bass coming out of these cans, and of course, I feel this is more of a problem than I’ve had in the past.
---------------------------------
Final Thoughts
I really wanted to like the MDR-CD3000, I really did, and in some cases I do, but in other cases I am having difficulty listening to them. First and foremost, is there very unforgiving nature, that can render a lot of recordings uninspiring to listen to at best, and at worst, completely unlistenable, as it forces all the flaws directly into your brain, making you acutely aware of just how bad any given recording is. Show these cans a good rock or electronic recording, and the results can be out of this world, however, to do this all of the time would be restricting your choice in music, and I like to listen to music regardless of quality, but I have always had the nagging feeling that they will dictate what I listen to, to some extent at least.
Secondly, they are physically and mentally fatiguing. The hyper detailed presentation is good at first, and make no mistake, the Sony’s *can* groove very well, but ultimately it is the forced way in which they present music that leads to the fatigue. The sheer weight of these things makes them physically tiring to wear too.
If I have learned anything out of this experience, it is that I cannot stand bright highs from headphones, and these headphones have bright highs by the bucketload, and although on the whole they are smoothly rendered and surprisingly easy to listen to considering how bright they are, the fatigue always gets to me in the end. In many respects they are very much like the headphone equivalent to my speakers – a big bold, bright sound that is coloured, fast and detailed, but perhaps a little artificial, but my speakers, unlike the Sony’s are much easier to listen to, and much more forgiving of bad recordings. The louder volumes I usually listen with headphones means a more natural easy going presentation is desirable to me.
Now, although I realise that the brightness is likely to be something of a synergy issue, this does not solve their unforgiving nature or their physical discomfort, and as such, regrettably, whilst I really wanted them to be so, I find these are not the headphone for me. Over the last 12 months, I realise that the Sennheiser style sound is more to my tastes for headphones, as I still rate the HD580 as one of the least fatiguing and involving listens I have had this year, along with the DT531, and it seems very likely that I will dispense with the services of the CD3000s and in exchange, go for the HD650 instead. I suspect I will have none of the physical issues I had with the Sony’s, likely being as comfortable as the 580’s once I have stretched them, and although they are unlikely to have the same initial wow factor, I suspect long term, their easier going, more natural rendition of music will be much easier to live with.
So, I’d say to summarise, that I think the CD3000’s ARE excellent cans in the right situation, and have lots of potential, but the end user IMO will have to live with the fact that he must have a very good source, very good recordings, a synergistic amp, and not mind what feels like half a kilo of headphone resting on their head. If they can satisfy all those criteria, then they will be very happy with them, but unfortunately, as has been proved, they are not for me.
By Paul Birkett
This is my now customary review that I do of all headphones that come into my possession, one of many this year. Quite often in the past, I have reviewed something within just a couple of weeks of owning it, but this time, I have waited. I have had these headphones about 6 weeks now, and all of the initial excitement has died down, allowing me to do an impartial, unbiased review, and indeed, I believe that I will be more honest and uninfluenced on this review than any I have done before. So without further ado….
---------------------------------
Other Equipment
- Musical Fidelity X-Can v3 Amplifier
- VDH The Bay C5 & Soniclink Lilac interconnects
- Terratec EWX 24/96 soundcard (Playing back MP3, MPC Q6+7, CD Audio using Foobar 2000 upsampling to 24-bit / 88.2 KHz & Kernel Streaming).
- Reference headphones: Beyerdynamic DT531.
---------------------------------
Musical Preferences
- 70% Electronica (Trance, Techno, House, Ambient)
- 10% Rock / Indie
- 10% Female Vocal
- 10% Pop
---------------------------------
Introduction
My headphone journey has gone on much longer than I expected, and I have gone through a lot of low cost headphones to try and find the sound that I am looking for, but sadly, up until this date I have failed. The closest I managed to get to my ideal sound thus far was the Beyerdynamic DT531, a headphone which is punchy, detailed and surprisingly good for its modest cost. However, being that they are UK £60 headphones (www.veronica.co.uk) I expected that I could get significantly better and that is what I wanted.
At the time when I was considering a partner for the DT531s, I wanted a headphone that was in some ways opposite to them. I wanted a headphone that was allegedly not too amplifier dependant, the original intention was to run them out of my Rotel integrated amplifier, as I had been doing with headphones in the past. The Sony’s seemed like an ideal match, with their undemanding 32 ohm impedance, and 106 decibel sensitivity. The Sony’s also appealed due to their increasing reputation as the king of electronica, a good thing given my rather overwhelming preference for this genre.
Eventually, as much as I tried to put it off, I was persuaded to join the CD3000 “Liberation Front”
They arrived in just under a fortnight after ordering them, not bad considering the relative difficulty of getting a hold of them, and they arrived in a huge box, which was surprisingly large considering the contents. When I opened the box, the first thing that struck me was how large and relatively heavy they were.
Plugging them into the Rotel and playing some music, I was impressed straight away, but I did not really read too much into this at the time – I have been impressed with every headphone I’ve owned at first. Obviously this is not a good time to judge headphones. They were not run in and I was obviously on a high from getting them. One thing that did make me grin though, was the sheer size of them, and the way they looked on my head. I looked completely ridiculous wearing them, and because I’ve got a shaven head, it made them look even more imposing, like they was scaffolding on my head, holding these two large grey speakers to my head.
After about a week or so, the alarm bells were ringing for me already. Before I knew it, the comfort was becoming an issue, but more on that later. It was something I was prepared to tolerate though in the cause of good sound. However, there was something wrong. For starters, they did not appear as sensitive as I thought they would be, needing much the same volume on the Rotel as the 250 ohm, 95 db sensitive DT531’s to get the same sort of loudness. This suggested to me output impedance issues, and the sound quality reflected this. Why did they not sound any better than my Beyer DT531s? This could not be right surely….
Naturally, I just assumed they would be better, I mean after all, one does assume the most hyped headphones on headfi and ones costing 4x what I was using should sound not just slightly better, but lots better. So, I blamed the amplifier, after all, this appeared to be the bottleneck.
So I went out and got a Musical Fidelity X-Can v2 amplifier, on the strength of its supposed synergy with the Sony’s. Indeed, the situation improved noticeably, a more euphonic sound, without the veil I perceived on the Rotel amplifier, the bass was faster and tighter, and the output cleaner. However, there were two problems. Firstly, the X-Can sounded unbalanced – a fact which I later found out was common on the v2’s. Not to mention the hiss. Secondly the DT531’s were probably improved just as much by the addition of the amp as the CD3000. So, I had just spent another £100, and the gap between David and Goliath was still no bigger than it was before, however, it did allow the true characters of both headphones to shine through more than on the Rotel – where they both sounded a little samey.
Never mind I thought, I’ll either modify the X-can v2 or sell it and get something else. I decided to get something else given how I perceived the v2 to be a fundamentally flawed amplifier. I was going to go for the Perreaux, but I decided to go instead for the version 3 of the X-Can, seeing as I could actually listen to it beforehand. When I listened to it, I was bowled over, this was so much better than anything I’d had before. And so commences 3 serious weeks of Sony listening where I listened just about every day, where I became intimately familiar with them.
---------------------------------
Comfort
Now, as you all know, comfort is a very subjective thing, and some people find the Sony’s the most comfortable cans around. I’d have to disagree with these findings, but I would say that they are not particularly bad in the comfort stakes, I kind of expected better to be honest. Clamping force is not really a problem, they clamp less than the DT531’s say, but they cannot get close to the comfort of those.
So what are my problems with the comfort? Well, the weight is the main issue with these headphones quite frankly, they are big, and feel big on my head, they feel heavy and give me a sore neck. They are physically fatiguing for me. The headband does help take some of the weight off, and gladly, it does not burn like some of the Beyerdynamic models tend to. The pads are soft pleather type material, and they are not as lush and cosy as a Beyerdynamic pad. They also have a tendency to make my ears sweat. Overall, I’d rate the comfort on a par with the likes of the Beyerdynamic DT880, but each headphones have different faults, but in terms of being annoying, the DT880 and CD3000 are equally annoying to me.
In comparison with the DT531, there is no contest. The DT531s clamp more, but irritate less, with their softer pads and much lighter weight. The DT531 and Sennheiser HD580 remain the most comfortable of all headphones I have ever owned.
---------------------------------
Build Quality and Finish
For such an expensive product, the perceived build quality is only average to me. They are big, clumsy headphones and as such, feel flimsy. The headband which rests on your head does not look like it would last long, the pads do not look hard wearing, and the cups are grey plastic. They do not look as classy and elegant as the Beyerdynamic DT880, nor do they look as robust. They are good looking in a modern way, but their size does feel somewhat over the top for me, but there is no doubt they are impressive to look at.
As seems to be the custom with top of the line cans, they come with their own box, which is not as fancy as the aluminium Beyerdynamic DT880 box, although I have never seen the boxes for the HD600 / HD650 and RS-1, so I do not know how it compares with them, but in fairness, it is quite nicely presented.
---------------------------------
Sound quality
The Sony’s, as most people are aware tend towards the forward side of neutral, and this is obvious from the moment you put them on, no matter which amplifier I have used with them, they always sound bright. They are extremely revealing headphones which reveal every last detail, but also every last flaw in the recording, but it is the way that it presents these details that I feel can make or break these headphones. I perceive the detail on the CD3000’s to be a bit forced, it sucks every last ounce of detail from the recording, and forces it down your throat.
Now, this can be a good or a bad thing, depending on the quality of the source, and also the recording that is listened to. Now, my source, I know has no problems with the Sony’s, because on a very good recording, they have the potential to sound amazing – basically like nothing I have heard before.
Psychedelic trance music is an excellent genre to use on the Sony’s. This type of music is normally very well recorded and produced for electronic music, and the Sony’s nature of dragging each and every detail from the headphone makes them very involving for this type of music. Just play some Infected Mushroom or Hallucinogen to find this out, you’ll not only hear every detail, but you’ll hear the details coming from all angles, in front, to the sides, and behind. Given a good recording, the Sony’s have an uncanny ability to throw a large soundstage completely around you and completely immerse you in music, and the result can be mind blowing.
However, it did not take me long to realise what the Sony’s faults are. They are extremely coloured, and that is a fact you are not too likely to mind if all you listen to is electronica, particularly if it is highly recorded. However, moving the focus away from electronica for a moment, we shall move on to female vocal music. Now, the vocals can come across very well, prominent in the mix, but depending on the recording and the singer, the voice can come across really blasting loud, and the accompanying instruments come across as sounding fake and artificial. When listening to this type of music, I am afraid the Sony’s reveal their true colours, ultimately analytical, cold and hard sounding, although I am prepared to admit, that these faults could in some way be synergy related, but what I would say is that they exhibit this character on all amplifiers I have tried, and many headphones I’ve owned do a better job at the end of the day.
Dido is an example of this, play it on the CD3000, and it frankly seems a little hard and unpleasant to listen to, play it on the Beyerdynamic DT531’s, and initially it seems less clear to begin with, but after a while, it soon becomes apparent whats what, and the Beyer’s render a far more natural rendition of the music to my ears.
Moving on to rock music now, and the Sony’s are more in their element now. Rock can be very involving on the CD3000, most impressive are their air guitar factor and sheer dynamic ability, playing Bring Me To Life by Evanescence, I freely admit I almost felt the urge to get up and dance around the room and bang my head like a mad man!
Also impressive, was more subtle rock music, such as Nine Inch Nails, which is generally well produced and this music goes down an absolute treat with the CD3000, they give a punchy and undistorted bass performance, and the little details are rendered very well, and add to the involvement, and once again, dynamics are particularly impressive. The male vocals of Trent Reznor really come across very well on the CD3000. I am not a big rock listener, but I can sincerely recommend these for rock music, particularly if its well recorded.
Moving on to pop music, the Sony’s again cope quite well with this genre, some of which can be well produced, others not so much, but it manages to drag the details out of this type of music, and generally make it seem somewhat more interesting to listen to, but once again, badly recorded stuff sounds awful.
However, moving back onto electronica for a moment, even some stuff that I regard as well recorded can suffer from the Sony’s demanding nature. For example, Shpongle sounds very atmospheric and it drags all the detail from the recording out and not only presents it, but forces it into your brain, and this is not always desirable, the highs on this album have presented me with fatigue on the Sony’s, being a bit hashy and sibilant, and this carries on through the whole album, and I’ve seldom managed to get to the end of it using the Sony’s.
Now, one thing I have kept mentioning is how badly recorded stuff can be ruthlessly exposed by the Sony’s and I find this to be a drawback to be honest. There are quite a few headphones I have heard which I would describe as somewhat unforgiving, and I think to a degree, this is a fault with headphones in general, but I must say, nothing comes close to how bad the Sony’s can make some bad recordings sound, and even average ones are often done little favours at the end of the day, and sometimes this makes me want to rip them off my head, and I am convinced this is just the nature of the Sony’s. Now, it will often depend on your musical taste what kind of percentage of recordings you have are bad, but in my case, excellent recordings seem to be the exception rather than the rule, many in fact are decidedly average, and the Sony does those little favours either.
The bass on the Sony’s does not seem quite as strong as I expected, although this is hardly a criticism, generally the Sony’s bass is just right, although it is my perception that it does not go quite as deep as some headphones I’ve had in the past, and given a good recording the slam is certainly there, but yet again, bad recordings can often result in very little bass coming out of these cans, and of course, I feel this is more of a problem than I’ve had in the past.
---------------------------------
Final Thoughts
I really wanted to like the MDR-CD3000, I really did, and in some cases I do, but in other cases I am having difficulty listening to them. First and foremost, is there very unforgiving nature, that can render a lot of recordings uninspiring to listen to at best, and at worst, completely unlistenable, as it forces all the flaws directly into your brain, making you acutely aware of just how bad any given recording is. Show these cans a good rock or electronic recording, and the results can be out of this world, however, to do this all of the time would be restricting your choice in music, and I like to listen to music regardless of quality, but I have always had the nagging feeling that they will dictate what I listen to, to some extent at least.
Secondly, they are physically and mentally fatiguing. The hyper detailed presentation is good at first, and make no mistake, the Sony’s *can* groove very well, but ultimately it is the forced way in which they present music that leads to the fatigue. The sheer weight of these things makes them physically tiring to wear too.
If I have learned anything out of this experience, it is that I cannot stand bright highs from headphones, and these headphones have bright highs by the bucketload, and although on the whole they are smoothly rendered and surprisingly easy to listen to considering how bright they are, the fatigue always gets to me in the end. In many respects they are very much like the headphone equivalent to my speakers – a big bold, bright sound that is coloured, fast and detailed, but perhaps a little artificial, but my speakers, unlike the Sony’s are much easier to listen to, and much more forgiving of bad recordings. The louder volumes I usually listen with headphones means a more natural easy going presentation is desirable to me.
Now, although I realise that the brightness is likely to be something of a synergy issue, this does not solve their unforgiving nature or their physical discomfort, and as such, regrettably, whilst I really wanted them to be so, I find these are not the headphone for me. Over the last 12 months, I realise that the Sennheiser style sound is more to my tastes for headphones, as I still rate the HD580 as one of the least fatiguing and involving listens I have had this year, along with the DT531, and it seems very likely that I will dispense with the services of the CD3000s and in exchange, go for the HD650 instead. I suspect I will have none of the physical issues I had with the Sony’s, likely being as comfortable as the 580’s once I have stretched them, and although they are unlikely to have the same initial wow factor, I suspect long term, their easier going, more natural rendition of music will be much easier to live with.
So, I’d say to summarise, that I think the CD3000’s ARE excellent cans in the right situation, and have lots of potential, but the end user IMO will have to live with the fact that he must have a very good source, very good recordings, a synergistic amp, and not mind what feels like half a kilo of headphone resting on their head. If they can satisfy all those criteria, then they will be very happy with them, but unfortunately, as has been proved, they are not for me.
