I wrote to ES labs to ask how they feel their R-10 compares to the Sony original.
Response below:
There is still a difference in sound comparing esr10 and the original, mostly due to the cellulose driver we use vs the bacteria-synthesized driver used by Sony. While people usually report a 80-90% similarity between the two which I agree with, I reckon esr10 is the best replica as far as a third party manufacturer can get. They have similar soundstage, tonality, euphony, rich mids, treble smoothness and transparency. And the differences mostly are in the slightly more 3D realism of imaging and treble being more piercing on the original. Also esr10 outperformed mdr-r10 in the bass region in terms of quantity and impact. A lot of non-sponsored users of esr10 have written their review and maybe you can have a look at them on our review article page with the aid of google translate.
Response below:
There is still a difference in sound comparing esr10 and the original, mostly due to the cellulose driver we use vs the bacteria-synthesized driver used by Sony. While people usually report a 80-90% similarity between the two which I agree with, I reckon esr10 is the best replica as far as a third party manufacturer can get. They have similar soundstage, tonality, euphony, rich mids, treble smoothness and transparency. And the differences mostly are in the slightly more 3D realism of imaging and treble being more piercing on the original. Also esr10 outperformed mdr-r10 in the bass region in terms of quantity and impact. A lot of non-sponsored users of esr10 have written their review and maybe you can have a look at them on our review article page with the aid of google translate.