Impressions of Pioneer se mj751

[Jimsonite]

Impressions of Pioneer se mj751

 
 
I bought these headphones, not because I’m that into bass, and not because it had great reviews, but I just felt like it, on the very superficial notion of liking the design and having a positive experience in the past with Pioneer in the audio department. So I wondered if the criticism in here would be equal to my experience.
 
Of course it should be taken into account that I’m by no means impartial, or an audiophile, I just try to give an impression of what I heard when I put these headphones on. Like I wrote, I do like the design, and I hear with my eyes in some regards, partially at least, preconceptions and all, and I wanted to like them, so here is what came of it.
 
One thing to be noted is the comfort, the padding is not really soft, and there are some clamping force, that do lighten after some use. To say they are uncomfortable is not really right either, the artificial leather is just hard but does the job of fitting to the ears fine enough, no more and no less.
 

 
 
With that out of the way, I will focus on the sound. My comparison is based on a limited number of headphones, I have the Sennheiser Urbanite on ears, HD8 dj, HD 435 Vegas, and soon to come, the Urbanite over ears. The importance’s of this information is just to communicate my references in headphones, because im biased to the sound I know.
At first the sound felt very limited in regards to its soundscape, and when switching to other headphones they felt lacking, even though the bass was punchy, and the vocal was upfront and clear. I also felt that the construction of the two drivers, separated the sound in an unsatisfying way, making the bass seem to separated from the overall soundimage.
 
Maybe I just needed to burn them in, or what is was, but the aforementioned defects seemed to dissipate with time. The sound became more wholesome, even though the soundscape did not widen much, but this is in fact not something I dislike for certain genres of music. I guess it depends on which music-stiles you listen to, but now after some weeks I find these exceptional for guitar-driven music. An Album like the Great cold distance by Katatonia is quite exceptional, also Chevelle; Hats off to the Bull shows the Pioneer Se mj751 strong points, the punch and impact is just what this music-stile has to offer for me. The punchy bass which may lack some detail in comparison to the Urbanite and HD8 DJ, compliment the guitars better, and gives the sonic impact a more coherent soundimage. And taken to account that the vocals still are clear and focused, these headphones are very satisfying.
 
They are also fine with club/dance/trance, beat-driven music, but on the same level as the Urbanite and HD 8 DJs, and it has a more limited soundscape compared to the HD 435 Vegas. The bass is still punchy and makes most genres an interesting listening experience though. The stereoseparation is also not as distinct as the Urbanite, and I really like stereoseparation in regard to the placements of instruments, left, right effects, but this is just something that has to do with my preference in the soundimage. The HD8 DJ has are distinct more uniform soundimage and not as clear stereoseparation, but this may be due to the fact that I just acquired them and haven’t got an amp to drive them yet, but still this is just meant a an comment to define the terminology that I use, that may suffer to the fact that I just try to describe the understanding I have of the headphones, not being an audiophile.
 
As a last note I can revisit my take on the design. I like the glossy finish, even though it is prone to grease up with fingerprints, but this is really to be expected. The Pioneer se mj751 also has a detachable cable, which is nice if it were to brake, but I really think the earpads is the worst problem in regards to longevity, they are already a bit hard and may crack, and I wonder if it will be possible to exchange them with new one, don’t know if it is possible to be honest. Some of my older, though really cheap headphones have suffered from this, but only time will tell I guess.
 

 
 
So in conclusion, these are excellent for tight guitar-driven music, and have a nice punchy bass impact that may not be as clear/detailed as other headphones. They do have some faults, but I’m glad I bought them, and I do listen to them as much as my other headphones. Also I found it fitting to make a review/impressions thread which has a more positive take on the Pioneer se mj751 headphone.