[Jeff Guidry]

Quote:

Originally posted by redshifter i have heard that using a gold plug in a non-gold jack can speed corrosion problems. true or no?

Again, using the term corrosion implies that the metal is being worn or eaten away. In the case of oxidization, that is partially true, but the metal is not being degraded in such a way that the surface is being destroyed and rendered unusable. The oxidation is occuring pretty much strictly at the surface, and a little contact cleaner (or even alcohol) will remove this thin film of dirt and oxidized metal to restore normal function.

I have heard the debate of using metal matched plugs and jacks, but I don't think their is much science to those statements. Perhaps if you use a gold jack with a nickle plug, or vice versa, oxidation will occur a bit more rapidly, but this only really matters if you are not removing the cable frequently. And again, a yearly swab of contact cleaner solves these problems quite easily.

 

[Jeff Guidry]

Quote:

Originally posted by Mike Walker Why have I been away from this board for a LONG time? Because it's so damn boring! This thread is a perfect example. After all these years it's still being "debated" as to whether the MDR-V6 and 7506 are the same 'phones? Well if you aren't convinced by the fact that the replacement parts list is IDENTICAL, then I don't suppose it's possible to convince you. Why should anyone try? I own both. The FACT that they sound identical would, of course, be of no interest to someone who has already made up their mind, facts be damned! Next topic? Is the MDR-7506 the same as the MDR-7506? LOL! GEEZ!

Well Mike, periodically there are doubters that come along that have to ask the question. And we as patient instructors can and should answer their questions. Teachers answer the same questions year in and year out, and yes they can get pretty boring. But lets show just a little mercy to our unlearned bretheren, they have the right to ask the questions, no?

P.S. I believe that with any mass market headphone their can be production variances in the line where one headphone can sound noticeably different from another, and this may partially explain why some people like a particular headphone and others don't. An example is the recently released Sennheiser 280, which has engendered wildly different views that may be partially caused by poor QC.

Now, I don't think that the differences between two MDR-V6's and two 7506's, or a V6 and a 7506, would be so different as to make one 'better' than the other. Just a little different, but to some people, these little differences make ALL the difference.

 

[Mike Walker]

Perhaps Jeff Guidry is patient enough to be a teacher. Not me (despite the fact that I come from a family of teachers...father, mother, grandmother, cousins, etc.) I'm too damn impatient! At least I realize this about myself!

Of course there are variations between samples of MDR-V6 and 7506 'phones. But I don't beleive you'll find any more variation between two randomly chosen V6s and a randomly chosen 7506 and V6. As I have written before, driver matching is far more important between drivers in the SAME headphone than between different samples of the same model. In other words, it's more important that my left driver be identical to my right, than that the drivers in my cans be identical to those in yours (I know, just a different way of stating what you've stated).

Perhaps if I can become more patient, I can actually learn to "teach", Jeff. Think it's possible?

Seriously, after Sept 11, I lost interest in day to day discussions of which 'phones are "better" than which others. I know what I like. In fact I OWN what I like. For many months, tiny differences in perceived audio quality just didn't seem to be that important in the grand scheme of things. Does that make sense? I can enjoy music through a really high end pair of headphones and dedicated amp. But I also can enjoy music on am radio!

Take away my headphones, and I'll adapt...learning to accept the sound of something less. But take away my music, and I'll be truly devastated!

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

As I have written before, driver matching is far more important between drivers in the SAME headphone than between different samples of the same model. In other words, it's more important that my left driver be identical to my right, than that the drivers in my cans be identical to those in yours (I know, just a different way of stating what you've stated).

mike,
brow-beating aside, that is what i have been saying. and despite you just knowing they are created equally, what exactly precludes better driver matching with the 7506?

yes i am a doubter, and i don't know if they are manufactured in the same way or not. this is why i started this thread. and frankly, i'm seeing the same responses to this question i have seen everywhere. without any concrete proof either way, and a bunch of people claiming they know for sure. all i asked for was empirical evidence, but there is so little information from sony on this the best we can hope for is educated guesses, and there have been some compelling ones here.

i have gotten a lot of good information out of this thread, if anything, especially macdef's contribution. i dug seeing those frequency graphs. with 9/11 being dragged into the discussion, and tempers rising with no real answers in sight (except for the variance between the same models in the v6/7506 line per macdef), i'll bow out. if anyone has anything concrete to answer my question either way, please go ahead and post it. thank you all for your patience with this subject. i know it has been hashed around to death around here and i was hoping to put the subject to bed once and for all. guess that ins't going to happen.

just to lighten things up, here is sony's response to my question:
Quote:

Subject --------------------------------------------------------------- Speakers & Headphones Discussion Thread --------------------------------------------------------------- Response (Colin) - 09/18/2002 12:41 AM Thank you for contacting us with your inquiry regarding the Headphones. Glad to know that you are interested in our Headphones. I'm afraid we do not have the MDR-7506 online and I suggest you get back to us with the right model number of the MDR-V6. I think it is the MDR-V600 you are talking about. I am forwarding you a page where you can view as well as purchase the MDR-V600 headphone: http://www.sonystyle.com/home/item.j...71x8746&catid= We have a great offer going along with this. If you purchase the headphone online then it will be shipped to you at 1 cent. I will be forwarding a page where you can find details on this: http://www.sonystyle.com/home/promo_...82&promoid=111 The Sony Style Team is available to assist you with further inquires.

 

[Mike Walker]

I didn't mean to "drag 9/11" into the discussion, only to explain my own feelings since then. Do I spend endless hours worrying about infinitessimal differences which may, or may not exist in seemingly identical components? No. And it is my belief that to do so misses the whole point...we're supposed to be enjoying the MUSIC! Components which bring me closer to the music are good. Those which don't, or which merely sound different, rather than demonstrably better, are of no consequence TO ME!

If "driver matching" was better in the 7506 than the V6, then would the replacement drivers have the exact same part number? Think about it! That would pretty much kill driver matching, wouldn't it?

My advice: don't waste so much time worrying about things like that! Our ears are not laboratory instruments! We are merely flesh and blood mortals. Want something to worry about? Ok, here ya' go. I guarantee your hearing acuity between left and right ears varies far more than driver matching between left and right on a pair of high quality headphones! Better send your ears back for a tweak. Or better yet, quit spending so much time trying to pick apart the sound of your components, and just enjoy the music!

If a beautiful, naked girl walked past your window, would you waste time worrying about the clarity and perfection of the glass in your window panes, or just enjoy the view? Our audio systems are our "windows" on musical events. ENJOY THE VIEW!

 

[Tim D]

It just seems you want to know the answer without any particle of doubt left behind. Of course I'd have to agree with Mike Walker that there are so many other "truths" out there that could be toiled over instead. Unfortunately the only way I see your request fulfilled is if some Japanese worker with pics of the manufacturing line "told all" in the making of the V6 vs 7506.

In anycase here is just another educated or compelling guess. Assuming there is more cost, effort, and time in making the 7506 "better". Whether it is by training workers, or workers spending more QA time with assembly, with an improved transducer manufacturing or quality assessment process. It would qualify for a different part number for the sake of efficiency if not sheer sanity. Sony although overly large, is still highly efficient in manufacturing processes although obviously lacking experts in its USA support staff (you obviously can't get a general Sony customer service rep to know every nook and cranny in all Sony products like the question you posed). Even Grado differentiates amongst their transducers in their basement...indeed it is what differentiates their models from one another. To spend more time, man hours, money, making or matching a better transducer pair only to give it the same part ID as the poorer pair made with less time and effort is absurdity. You put a different part ID on a different manufacturing component if it is in anyway different...it makes sense and I don't think anyone could come up with one instance in any manufacturing process where there is a manufacturing process that differs to create a different quality part, only to be marked the same part ID. CPU chips made from the same fab are still differentiated by quality and eventually stamped with differing ID's to reflect it. If there is some slaughterhouse process that differentiates one slab of beef from another, then there is going to be differing identification of the two slabs of beef.

Now lets assume Sony does have a horribly stupid process of making an improved pair of transducers without differentiating the manufacturing part. Sony again would be very foolhardy to NOT boast the claim that the 7506 are indeed better. A boast that Grado would do...a boast that Sennheiser would do, a boast that any company should do in the same shoes. If they made a better set of transducers, spent more time and money to do so, yet somehow keeps so quiet about it, that again is just sheer stupidity. People have fired off the same question again and again, yet have never been able to get Sony to make a very simple answer "yes we do spend more time and money in making the 7506 a better/different pair of headphones". All previous inquiries that ever got anywhere seem to say that they use the same parts and are basically the same phone. There has never been a positive statement from Sony that has ever been retold that they have said anything to support a differentiation process between V6 and 7506 drivers.

And assuming Sony is incredibly stupid twice, one for making two different parts marked the same, and two for never marketing or never seeming to know about it themselves...than I would have strong doubts you'll ever get the truth straight from the source in your lifetime. But if you are still a doubter...well I guess it is up to you to find out for yourself since everyone else is pretty firm and believes one way or another by now (mostly one way). Maybe spam Sony with e-mails linking to this and other threads asking the same common question, and have a header that says "if you don't know, pass this e-mail along to someone who might".

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by jlo mein i dont think sony is going to tell you that they charge $20+ more for a headphone with a "pro" label that is actually the same headphone as a cheaper one...

LOL! Good point, jlo


Redshifter, thanks for posting that email from Sony -- that was a riot

 

[jlo mein]

im surprised the sony reps dont even know what the v6 is....

i went down to a sony store once and started talking with just a standard employee and even he knew what i was talking about when i mentioned the v6's...

 

[redshifter]

mike and tim,
excellent points. in a nutshell (1) we are probably never going to hear the whole story from sony on the v6/7506 question, and (2) most people here agree they are essentially the same headphones based on the evidence. is this proof enough for me? well, like mike pointed out, it doesn't really matter. at the end of the day i'm happy with my v6. my hope was the 7506 might possibly be an upgraded v6, and i was also hoping somehow this 7506/v6 question could get answered for sure, as it has plagued mankind's greatest thinkers for ages. judging from the reply from sony this simply isn't going to happen. it looks like sony does not even know about one of their most famous and popular phones.

macdef,
yeah, it was pretty funny in a sad way. then again, since "it is the MDR-V600 i am talking about", this simplifies the answer greatly. i mean it is sony, they would know what headphone i'm talking about, right? right? so i am 100% sure the 7506 is a different headphone than the v600. there, i feel much better now.

 

[gloco]

hey redshifter, maybe you should reply back to that Sony email with a pic of the V6's or 7506's.

What morons, its only one of their best budget items and they dont even know it exists.

 

[gloco]

double post

 

[redshifter]

gloco,
i already did that. i sent them links to inet stores that sell each one, and pointed out the mdr-v6 is one of their most popular headphones. again, i don't hold much hope they will have anything useful to add, but maybe i'll get another amusing reply.

 

[Vertigo-1]

You should send back a pic of the R10s. And tell him your age. The guy would probably pee in his pants to find out how little he really knows.

 

[dhwilkin]

Quote:

Vertigo-1 said... You should send back a pic of the R10s. And tell him your age. The guy would probably pee in his pants to find out how little he really knows.

Nah, the guy would probably say Sony's a hip company that knows how to use advanced materials like plastic and silver spray paint, not some leftover coconuts.

 

[Magicthyse]

Perhaps redshifter, none of the Sony reps realized this and continued to sell the V6 for a low price. Maybe you have alerted them to this fact!!!

Don't worry, I'll beat back the lynch mob by threatning to glue V700's on their heads

My question would be, is there *any* evidence at all that you're getting more or less what you pay for in an 7506 as opposed to a V6? Different frame material? Detail touches, etc?