[roguegeek]

I've been doing nothing but praising the MDR-1R for a while now. Recommended it left and right and gotten into heated conversations defending it against it's competition. And all for what? For me to come to the sad day of me selling it. I just feel so bad seeing it sit there not getting the attention it deserves now that I am not traveling as much. No worries, though. I'll continue to fight the good fight and continue recommending the 1R.

 

[TsKen]

A little update..
 
Got my MDR like 2 month ago.
 
Thought they sounded like crap and muffled up right out of the box. Thought I made the wrong purchase, but the comfort was just unbelievable so I kept them.
 
Played 50 hours on it on pink noise, sound slightly improved.
 
I stopped paying attention and used them mainly for comfort.
 
Then I found out about the dynamat mod and applied it to the headphones.
 
It made the bass sound more sharp and less muddy and made the sound overall more clear. Eventually overtime the headphones sounded a LOT better the more I use them.
 
Overall I'd prefer them over the M4U, Logitech ue 6000, M50s, Aurvana Live and senn 518.
 
By far THE best headphones i've ever purchased(personal preference).
 
Unless you spend more than 500 you will not find a all-around headphone that brings in everything including comfort,portability and sound.(Comfort is just uncomparable. Absolutely no headphones have this level of comfort. Sometimes i forget they are on my head)
 
 
Dont be disappointed about the sound right out of the box. Let it "burn in" and perform the dynamat mod on it. It's definitely worth to be able to listen to a great headphone for 8+ hours without getting a headache.

 

[sonyannoyed]

Hello all,
 
I got these headphones a year now... I am annoyed at best. The headphones' sound is just too colored, too warm. You really notice it in comparison to other headphones, even cheap loudspeakers(!). Not exaggerating now. Lately when I did some audio editing I made all the editing and sound effects wrong because the phones played it too warm. But when I put the records on a device with natural sound playback - it sounded wrong! I was disgusted with the results, coming to the conclusion the phones colored the sounds too much.
 
You could say now "it's all my fault", because in that case I'd need studio headphones - but actually I never thought that it could be THAT MUCH of a difference. And that these headphones utterly fail. After reading all of these raving reviews about the headphones, praising how awesome sound engineers and people from the music industry tweaked these headphones unto its limits - it is a real disappointment. A JOKE. A big bad joke. Nothing else.
 
If I could sell these phones for even half the price I would. Now I'm a bit angry because they weren't that cheap, but even more because they utterly failed in audio playback. Sorry, if this came to harsh... but... I am angry. Does anyone know if there is a way one can change the sound signature back to natural playback? Some mod?

 

[CharlesJohnson]

Sony's mdr headphones have always seemed pretty warm and boomy to me, with strong, authoritative bass but an uncontrolled one, This issue is even more prevalent on the xb series. But what I will recommend is this mod:http://www.head-fi.org/t/665529/dynamat-mod-for-sony-mdr-1r named the dynamat extreme aimed specifically at balancing the frequency spectrum. Should be easy and quick to do.

 

[Pedro Oliveira]

Hello all,

I got these headphones a year now... I am annoyed at best. The headphones' sound is just too colored, too warm. You really notice it in comparison to other headphones, even cheap loudspeakers(!). Not exaggerating now. Lately when I did some audio editing I made all the editing and sound effects wrong because the phones played it too warm. But when I put the records on a device with natural sound playback - it sounded wrong! I was disgusted with the results, coming to the conclusion the phones colored the sounds too much.

You could say now "it's all my fault", because in that case I'd need studio headphones - but actually I never thought that it could be THAT MUCH of a difference. And that these headphones utterly fail. After reading all of these raving reviews about the headphones, praising how awesome sound engineers and people from the music industry tweaked these headphones unto its limits - it is a real disappointment. A JOKE. A big bad joke. Nothing else.

If I could sell these phones for even half the price I would. Now I'm a bit angry because they weren't that cheap, but even more because they utterly failed in audio playback. Sorry, if this came to harsh... but... I am angry. Does anyone know if there is a way one can change the sound signature back to natural playback? Some mod?

Didnt like them very much too... Too colored, too muffled on the vocals and lacking bass impact. They are beautifull and the soundstage is nice but the over ear momentums kick them in the head in terms of build and specially in terms of sound quality, much clearer, much better bass, better in everything IMO of course.... Unfortunatelly i had to let the momentums go as well... Too small pads for me and due to that the seal and the confort were really not the best.... :'(
So sad.... Loved the sound on the momentums and everything was screwed by the small pads.... At least my hd25s dont fail me on that regard despite not being the most confortable of cans.....

 

[sonyannoyed]

Didnt like them very much too... Too colored, too muffled on the vocals and lacking bass impact. They are beautifull and the soundstage is nice but the over ear momentums kick them in the head in terms of build and specially in terms of sound quality, much clearer, much better bass, better in everything IMO of course.... Unfortunatelly i had to let the momentums go as well... Too small pads for me and due to that the seal and the confort were really not the best.... :'(
So sad.... Loved the sound on the momentums and everything was screwed by the small pads.... At least my hd25s dont fail me on that regard despite not being the most confortable of cans.....

Damn, you are so right. Before I bought the Sony I checked lots of headphones, some Sennheiser and behold they were more natural in signature, even the cheaper ones. I am so double-stupid... Additionally I confirm that the Momentums were too small for me either. Sigh... but some of the 500 or 600 series were comfortable.
 

Sony's mdr headphones have always seemed pretty warm and boomy to me, with strong, authoritative bass but an uncontrolled one, This issue is even more prevalent on the xb series. But what I will recommend is this mod:http://www.head-fi.org/t/665529/dynamat-mod-for-sony-mdr-1r named the dynamat extreme aimed specifically at balancing the frequency spectrum. Should be easy and quick to do.

Yeah, I am not satisfied with the bass in the MDR either. It's somehow "poltery-rumbling" - actually quite uncomfortable to listen to on the long run
 Will check out that link you posted...

 

[Pedro Oliveira]

Damn, you are so right. Before I bought the Sony I checked lots of headphones, some Sennheiser and behold they were more natural in signature, even the cheaper ones. I am so double-stupid... Additionally I confirm that the Momentums were too small for me either. Sigh... but some of the 500 or 600 series were comfortable.

Yeah, I am not satisfied with the bass in the MDR either. It's somehow "poltery-rumbling" - actually quite uncomfortable to listen to on the long run

 Will check out that link you posted...

Try a amperior.... I know they are not very confortable and that they are on ear but soundwise they are amazing and will be an amazing portable as well.... The best alternative to the momentums os the b&w p7 but those are of course to expensive.

 

[sonyannoyed]

Try a amperior.... I know they are not very confortable and that they are on ear but soundwise they are amazing and will be an amazing portable as well.... The best alternative to the momentums os the b&w p7 but those are of course to expensive.

Seems like the amperior are discontinued, but will surely check out similar ones. I'll definitely reconsider On-Ear headphones after the MDR experience though. Having previously thought that Over-Ear would the best for long wearing comfort, it turns out it's no that much better.
 
You know what's funny: when I put the MDR on, they are cool and comfortable. After half an hour or so it heats up more and more. And then it's like the inner warmth of the closed ear pots makes the padding loose and it's starting to cling stronger to the ear, or "hang" unto the ear (you can feel the headphones on your ears out of a sudden) - the padding is not as good anymore and it gets more and more uncomfortable. It is a level of inconvenience I didn't reckon at all. It allows to wear these up to a max of 45min-60min, and then you want them off your head. That said, it would be much less depressing if the audio playback wasn't that warm-colored... "warm playback for warm ears" - how nice is that

 
Maybe well-padded On-Ear or open Over-Ear would be more preferable.

 

[Pedro Oliveira]

The amperior is discontinued but many stores still have them and at great prices....
Where are u from and what types of music do you listen to?
The mdr 1r is fairly confortable but still my ears touched the drivers a bit.... The soundstage is not bad but i lile powerfull and clear sound and the msr 1r to my ears are not clear and not powerfull. Its lile a muffled hd598. In terms of on ears, the on ear momentums are quite confy, althought they are a bit bassier than the amperiors, they are not so hifi as the over ears,
the bass is stronger and may leak a bit to the mids but overall i liked them, nice soundstage... the amperior isolates better but looses on soundstage.... There are good portable over ear, the problem is that they are not cheap. The p7 for example is good but 400 euros is too much for me. I dont go beyond 200 euros for a pair, even my over ear momentums costed me 160....

Nad viso hp 50, the new focal spirit one S seems to be a improvement over the original spirit one and has bigger pads....

 

[sonyannoyed]

I'm having the same price limit with nothing beyond 200$. If I'd pay more, it should be a headphone until the end of life... didn't find such a thing yet, even though I tried some expensive ones in the local electronic market. Actually on amazon.de I can still find some amperior models.
 
Now that you mention the Focal Spirit - I recall it having a clear natural sound (one of the best in the local market), but the earpads of the classic model were a bit too small. Interesting that the "S" line has enlarged their pads. Then it should be tested. Will look for some reviews...

 

[Pedro Oliveira]

I'm having the same price limit with nothing beyond 200$. If I'd pay more, it should be a headphone until the end of life... didn't find such a thing yet, even though I tried some expensive ones in the local electronic market. Actually on amazon.de I can still find some amperior models.

Now that you mention the Focal Spirit - I recall it having a clear natural sound (one of the best in the local market), but the earpads of the classic model were a bit too small. Interesting that the "S" line has enlarged their pads. Then it should be tested. Will look for some reviews...

Yep the focal spirit pro, classic and the fisrst spirit one all have small pads. The new spirit one S is the only one with bigger pads. Original retail price is 179 if i recall so everything looks good....
So i assume you are european right? I know a place in spain that sells new silver amperiors for 139 euros new. I know that they ship to portugal but i dont know if they sell outside of Portugal and Spain....

 

[Malfunkt]

Hello all,



You could say now "it's all my fault", because in that case I'd need studio headphones - but actually I never thought that it could be THAT MUCH of a difference. And that these headphones utterly fail. After reading all of these raving reviews about the headphones, praising how awesome sound engineers and people from the music ind

The MDR-1r were never intended for use for studio applications. Sony has a long track record of making studio headphones, some of that technology is in the MDR-1r but that's where it ends. The tuning for a consumer can is completely different than a more flat tuning.

There are a number of threads on head-fi about the perfect studio can.

They may not be perfect but right now I'm using my HD650s for mix work. They are much better than all the other headphones I've used. They are so much more speaker like, and if you have to make an adjustment on your master you'll be able to make some slight tweaks to the whole mix. Not a huge deal.

I am by no means a pro though.

So ignore Dj headphones, even sennheiser hd8 and the like.yes, even sennheiser hd25 and Amperior, these are not meant for studio mix work. They are fine for tracking, ENG (electronic news gathering), but you'd never rely on them to give you an accurate picture of tonal balance throughout the spectrum.

Also, many reference cans you wouldn't use for studio work either. There is nothing wrong inherently in tuning a speaker to present a different signature other than losing accuracy sometimes for the sake of enjoyment.

I myself am very interested in the MDR-7520 and have heard nothing but praise by those here at have used them for serious studio applications. Get someone like that, and also a decent DAC and amp and you are set.


Oh and maybe a pair of studio monitors.

 

[Malfunkt]

Oh and for those interested on how flat tuning affects the sound spectrum. Here is a good video example


[VIDEO]http://youtu.be/sj69-mWHV3E[/VIDEO]

In this case they use a process to recording the headphones playback and compare with the original source. These M40x appear to be even flatter tuned than my hd650s and than the more expensive M50x.

One might get the m50x more for enjoyment, and there may be other qualities that the 650 has over the m40x. But now I'm curious.

 

[sonyannoyed]

Yeah,  recall the ATH-M50 are great in sound signature. Listened to them in a hifi shop. Similar good are the Shure 440. The only downside on this headphones are the shallow earcups. It's about 1-1.5cm cavity maximum and if you have somewhat offstanding ears it presses uncomfortably against your ears. One of the main reasons why I turned to the Sony MDR - because the cavity was large enough. But still, the Sennheisers 500 or 600 series would still have been better than the MDR, because its cavity would have been the same size and the sound signature was better. I bet it was the nice look of the Sony MDR, which made me buy them 

Don't trust the look...
 
When I activate the WOW SRS HD Sound (anyone knows what that is?) on my laptop and the slider of "SRS Definition" to the maximum, the sound quality of the Sony MDR is better though. But this seems to me like "cheating", as it doesn't represent the default quality of the headphones. But then again, I don't know if the electronic shops activated these "features" as well on their systems... anyways it doesn't change the fact, that the sound was much more neutral on the Sennheisers (which I had direct comparison at that time).

 

[MrVillians]

First time poster, but long time reader. I pretty much want these headphones the sound signature and comfory is there; however, I won't fork over 180 for these cans if they have QC issues. Have the jack rattle and creaking issues resolved or should I pass?