[acidtripwow]

I wrote up this review but never had a chance to post it on Headwize so here you go.
This is a reivew of the Sony MDR-DS5100 DD/DTS Digital Surround Headphone System.
This system of course uses virtual surround technology and the cordless MDR-IF5000
headphones. You can connect the system using an optical digital connector or
a set of regular RCA connectors. There is also a headphone connector on the front
if you want to use a corded set of headphones. Below are some thoughts.

Voices:
While listening for the first time I really noticed how voices sounded on this system.
There is a distinct "echo" sound to voices as if people are always talking inside a big
empty building. You can really notice it in quiet scenes where there is no music or
other sounds in the scene. At first it was quite distracting but as time went on I really
didn't notice it that much.

Bass:
This system does not reproduce the deepest bass notes in some of the special effect
scenes. Sometimes explosions sounded more like "POP" instead of "BOOM." It depended a
lot on the movie soundtrack though. Movies with better soundtracks like "True Lies"
sounded better overall.

Top end:
The MDR-IF5000 headphones have a top heavy sound to them which means sounds like breaking
glass were reproduced quite well and loud. You could really notice it on a movie like
"Tatan A.E." where they're in the ice ring with the sound of breaking ice all around.

Surround Sound:
This system could produce a full and enveloping surround environment. Pans across the
screen were convincing and moved from one ear to the other with no noticable jumps.
I even noticed sounds that moved from behind of me to the front. I also noticed
sounds that moved diagonally in front of me.

DD vs. DTS:
I found that DTS soundtracks sounded better overall than DD soundtracks. DTS had more
richness and fullness to the sound. Sometimes this difference was very subtle, though.

Corded headphones:
I did try my Sony MDR-V900 headphones with the system. This made a huge difference with bass.
All of sudden it was like someone turned on the subwoofer. This was very noticable on
movies with a lot of deep bass like "Godzilla."

As a side note the system worked well when I moved away from the base unit. I only loss
the signal when I moved behind a wall. I would recommend this system if you want to create
a surround environment but don't want to disturb other people(like the wife). One thing you
should take into consideration though is that this system uses an open type headphone so
people close by will hear sound leaking from the headphones. I would not want to use this
system as my only surround system, though. My Energy Take 5 System with Yamaha subwoofer
sounds much better, but for those times when you can't use your main system then this system
would be nice to have.

Acid

 

[Neruda]

how would you describe the construction quality of the base unit as well as the headphones?

 

[acidtripwow]

The construction quality overall is pretty good. The base unit has some heft to it and the headhones are ok also. There is still a lot of plastic to it but overall it's good.

 

[mbriant]

Would you recommend this setup for audio only listening or is it's forte strictly surround sound?

 

[acidtripwow]

I tried it with some music DVDs and it sounded pretty thin overall. I would stick with movie surround sound with this system.

 

[Gluegun]

Eh, I like using my Beyer DT831's with a Total Airhead, and the demo version of WinDVD 3.0, which has Dolby Headphone...

It's got niiiiiiice imaging/surround sound/soundstage/etc...

 

[Music Fanatic]

This was the oldest thread on the head-fi.org as of 11:23AM (PST) today ... and I find it interesting since we just had postings about the MDR-DS5100 today (although, admittedly, not very kind towards the unit.)