[lee730]

ah, you have UERM, so you see what i mean. i once had a quick listen and UERM struck me as darn neutral sounding, actually really neutral no joke unlike some other makers who claim to have neutral sound but in reality are far from it.

what killed mdr for me was upside down stage, trebles and bass bass bass everywhere... It really made singer voice go behind drum which pissed me of finally

But for some genres that might be not problem and bass quality and quantity is real good, if only it could have less intrusive impact for mids.

 
Hmm not sure if I can agree on this? Where you using the Sony hybrid tips though? Those destroy the presentation IMO. Makes it unnaturally narrow and stretched. In doing so it also emphasizes the upper mids and lower treble region making it fatiguing. Using large V-moda bas tips fixed this. The presentation was more so focused on depth in this case with a decent balance between head staging and sound staging.
 
Overall I really liked the MDR-7550 just they didn't get used any longer with my other IEMs. But I found them to be a rather balanced sounding IEM. At $200 or less they are a very good value IMO.

 

[TheBoss]

"wrong stage", "upside down stage"
 
I think that is a pretty heavy loaded claim...  smci.jp should immediately pull ex800st/7550 post haste and the engineers behind the ex800st/7550 should commit the "honorable" thing if it's verified.
 
This is Sony Music for crying out loud!  They just don't make something unless they get it right.  For 3 decades they only made 3 phones: the one with CBS Columbia + Sony joint; the CD900ST; and now the 800ST/7550
 
I can understand the other claims ("overpowering" bass, bass "intrusion", "clarity" issues)... and my best guess is it comes from inherent design/platform of using one dynamic driver to handle all freq. ranges.  Even (before I traded my TF10 for 7550) I was initially skeptical on why ex600/800ST/7550/1000 family of dynamic drivers are angled

 
 
 
Now i'd really like gintaras to hear legendary CD900ST and see if Sony Music messed in that department too...
 
 
 
ok... here's what I think
it's either gintaras:
 
1) got a bad or real banged-up 7550 sample
 
or
 
2) Sony Music has dun goofed for real ("wrong stage", "upside down stage")
 
or
 
3) the Chinese pirates has started to flood the market with fakes

 

[kimvictor]

7550 is very unique. It has a very musical signature, which makes them very enjoyable, despite them being technically lacking(only in terms of treble and clarity). They are really a iem that I enjoy, more than H-200.

 

[kimvictor]

Sony did mess up in calling them "studio monitors" though. While they are natural sounding, they are not flat or of reference quality. They are more musical than EX1000!

 

[lee730]

  "wrong stage", "upside down stage"
 
I think that is a pretty heavy loaded claim...  smci.jp should immediately pull ex800st/7550 post haste and the engineers behind the ex800st/7550 should commit the "honorable" thing if it's verified.
 
This is Sony Music for crying out loud!  They just don't make something unless they get it right.  For 3 decades they only made 3 phones: the one with CBS Columbia + Sony joint; the CD900ST; and now the 800ST/7550
 
I can understand the other claims ("overpowering" bass, bass "intrusion", "clarity" issues)... and my best guess is it comes from inherent design/platform of using one dynamic driver to handle all freq. ranges.  Even (before I traded my TF10 for 7550) I was initially skeptical on why ex600/800ST/7550/1000 family of dynamic drivers are angled

 
 
 
Now i'd really like gintaras to hear legendary CD900ST and see if Sony Music messed in that department too...
 
 
 
ok... here's what I think
it's either gintaras:
 
1) got a bad or real banged-up 7550 sample
 
or
 
2) Sony Music has dun goofed for real ("wrong stage", "upside down stage")
 
or
 
3) the Chinese pirates has started to flood the market with fakes

 
Or the IEM doesn't compare at all to his own gear and in that it highlights the flaws for him even more.... I don't understand the upside down staging though....

 

[Gintaras]

  Gintaras, BTW, are you part of the TFRM tour?

 
no, i am not tour member.
 
@Lee, i explained this i guess. i feel sometimes drums are getting in front of the singer voice, really sounds a bit weird, cymbals are similarly going back stage, guitar reefs are too polite and lack rough energy, on some tracks i felt guitars sounding more like violins. clean and detailed bass comes in such a quantity that i feel it subtracts something from mids. i compared MDR to 1p2 and detail loss on MDR became even more apparent.
 
concerning upside down stage: i describe this as wrong placement of instruments and singer. i never saw singer singing from behind drums, even Phil Collins who is a drummer when he sings in concert his voice projects forward of the stage, not behind drums... cymbals are normally delivering airy sparkling and project forward, on MDR cymbals often project backwards and are rolled off way too early. grainy background also reduces air and space between and around instruments on MDR.
 
that said MDR is interesting sounding IEM but i cannot get over coherency issue where singer looks like hiding behind drums on some material. i also wish voices sounded more warm and intimate.
 
i will experiment with fit and tips but i believe James444 copy is very good and he provided better tips too so i doubt there is anything technically wrong.
 
one issue which i mentioned it could be MDR7550 is not for me.
 
as concerns gear i used, these were Cowon S9, Colorfly C3 BH amped, and RWAK100. for some reason C3 perhaps gave more pleasing results while RWAK has too much rough energy perhaps. S9 was worst of all despite that S9 pairs great with RDB+v1 or H200. i know James mentioned Sony likes amping so perhaps i will throw in T1 into RWAK chain to see how this can change things.
 
i will also try roll tips again and perhaps that might help, lets see, but tips James using look well good enough.
 
as concerns MDR vs. H200 i find H200 overall more pleasing to my ear thanks to tuned up mids. i can agree that bass is just better on Sonys, but not mids and not trebles. H200 trebles sometimes can sound rough but no too strong or too early roll off and not background placement here, so overall result is bit more pleasing. yes, i find H200 stage depth being washed a bit but i still get good sense of depth and imaging. with MDR i get deep enough stage but i felt images were not stable sometimes.

 

[Sushiglobster]

Hello, sorry to bump this old thread, but couldn't find anything recent in regards to the 7550.
 
I just purchased them and I'll be coming from the HiFiMAN RE0 headphones. How big of a difference will the 7550s be compared to the RE0s I've been using for the last 2 1/2 years?
 
pretty excited to get them. The 7550 are my first real...more high-end headphones. 

 

[kimvictor]

  Hello, sorry to bump this old thread, but couldn't find anything recent in regards to the 7550.
 
I just purchased them and I'll be coming from the HiFiMAN RE0 headphones. How big of a difference will the 7550s be compared to the RE0s I've been using for the last 2 1/2 years?
 
pretty excited to get them. The 7550 are my first real...more high-end headphones. 

 
No problem bumping. I check my reviews almost everyday for comments.
 
RE0 would be a less colored phone. 7550 are bit more bass heavy and romantic sounding phones. Major difference, I think, would be bass. 7550's bass awes me with depth and impact. People regard EX1000 to have one of the best bass in all iems, and 7550 is not an exception.

 

[tseliottt]

  I was tempted to write a much longer post, but decided against it.
 
All I'll say is that I strongly disagree with Gintara's 7550 assessment — I find the 7550 quite a bit better than he does.

 

  Even the guys at the ER4 (aka the gold-standard non-custom/universal of monitor-class IEM's 20+ years running) thread are raving about these 7550s

 
ER4 has a reputation of being very analytical and bass lean that some are buying/re-buying 7550s to complement their ER4.  Reason is for a bit more forgiving for music without straying from their (love it or hate it)  signature... and of course... shallow insertion).

 
This exactly. Have to disagree with Gintaras. I've been looking for something to compliment my ER4 for years and years, and I finally found them in the 7550s. I'm a stickler for detail coming from etys, and the 7550s don't lose too much detail given how luscious the bass is.
 
I actually prefer the 7550s to the ex1000s since they're not as bright, and just about everyone (including joker) raves how great the 1000s are. So maybe the sound sig just isn't right for Gintara.

 

[Gintaras]

Tselliot, no problem, this is exactly why many companies make IEMs because IF all of us would love only one IEM there would be no industry 

 
on a serious note, i concur i tried to love 7550 very hard but could not, perhaps you right they are not for me. i concur 7550 is made and sounds better than some popular offerings but for me they could not enter into truly high-end world.
 
i am ready to stand corrected and given 7550 price and superb bass characteristics i can see why and what people love in them.

 

[lee730]

  Tselliot, no problem, this is exactly why many companies make IEMs because IF all of us would love only one IEM there would be no industry 

 
on a serious note, i concur i tried to love 7550 very hard but could not, perhaps you right they are not for me. i concur 7550 is made and sounds better than some popular offerings but for me they could not enter into truly high-end world.
 
i am ready to stand corrected and given 7550 price and superb bass characteristics i can see why and what people love in them.

 
Then again Gin, since you are coming from the 1Plus2 it is only natural you would see all the flaws and weaknesses of the 7550. I could not keep them due to this. But if I didn't have an IEM that is clearly superior to it to compare to that would be a different story. I feel they are a very good IEM otherwise. They just don't hold a candle to the gear I have now .

 

[kimvictor]

7550 does have flaws when compared to UERM. It's technically not the best iem in the price range. Something like H-200 or BA200 would be. But it's just the fun and romantic sound sig that makes me enjoy them a lot.

 

[tseliottt]

  7550 does have flaws when compared to UERM. It's technically not the best iem in the price range. Something like H-200 or BA200 would be. But it's just the fun and romantic sound sig that makes me enjoy them a lot.

 
Hmm... As much as I have told myself the 7550s were the heir apparent to my ER4, the BA200s have piqued my interest. How would you compare them to the 7550s especially in terms of bass (especially sub-bass), detail, separation, and tonality? I've read review that have ranged from the bass being plentiful to non-existent.
 
edit: And are they as similar to the um3x as everyone says? Because I have owned those, and easily preferred my ER4 over them.

 

[kimvictor]

   
Hmm... As much as I have told myself the 7550s were the heir apparent to my ER4, the BA200s have piqued my interest. How would you compare them to the 7550s especially in terms of bass (especially sub-bass), detail, separation, and tonality? I've read review that have ranged from the bass being plentiful to non-existent.
 
edit: And are they as similar to the um3x as everyone says? Because I have owned those, and easily preferred my ER4 over them.

 
K. This is based on a short demo of BA200. Bass quantity and quality wise, 7550 is much better. Nevertheless, BA200 has better detail and separation and more flat sound sig. 
 
Haven't heard the UM3X.

 

[Gintaras]

listening to H200 and having listened to RDB+V1 on my trusty Cowon S9 i can only assert both IEMs sound much more interesting and emotionally involving compared to 7550.
sorry dudes, i wanted to give 7550 a try today but again same old story, five minutes listen and 7550 goes back in the box 

 
why the heck.... i may ask because i love Sony bass approach and find 7550 bass one of the best i heard.... but that's all, kill me burn me but i cannot.