Just received today my Sony MDR-1RNC headphones. A little about me so you know my biases. I am unapologetically an audiophile. Will spend more for the fractional improvement. I strive for neutral uncolored, but musical, reproduction of the music. I don't like tubby bass. I don't like shrill or edgy highs. I strive for balance. When it comes to headphones I am utterly unforgiving with what I expect sound-wise and comfort wise. But I am not a snob....The best buy ever for any headphone is the the Koss KSC-35. I own about 10 of these. Use them for working out, etc. .... great on the go set of cans for plugging into a nano or iPhone. At home I listen through VAC tubes and Magico speakers, and still spin vinyl on a Clearaudio Innovation table.
I have on my biz travels listened over the past few years to about 20 different "travel friendly" "noise canceling" headphones. I bought the PSB m4u headphones, and while they sounded great....it was like wearing a submarine on my head. None has reached the level of enjoyment and accuracy and isolation of my Etymotic ER4p headphones....until today. Enough about me.
When I put the Sony cans on today, before turning them on or plugging them in, I thought immediately, "wow, these feel good. they are really comfortable. thank you sony for giving a rip about something feeling really really nice around my skull."
Then I plugged them into my iPhone and played some Rhapsody songs....HORRIBLE. First thought...I'm sending these back. Then intuitively without reading the instructions, I reached for where I would want and expect an on-off switch to be. Viola...the power turned on (thank you sony engineers for ergonomic genius...from on/off switch, to simple but perfect instruction manual). Wow with the digital amp, NC, etc etc at play (thank you Sony I don't want to figure out what level of NC or amplification or equalization to activate), the sound became so so so so so so much better. Tight bass. Articulated highs. Pronounced mids. And above all, a soundscape...not a miniature in-your-head version of the musical event....rather a full-on, big bodied, spatial event. Thank you, Sony. Only watch-out....their amplification and EQ does boost the highs in a way that may be a bit un-natural sounding to some. But it is pretty neutral nonetheless. My verdict on running these with "off" switch....I'd rather Sony said to only run it with amp/etc on....it sounds that bad with it off...but I see benefit of being able to listen last resort if batteries run out. And I ran amp (head stage) in front of Sony's amplified signal.....verdict...sounds best without anything in-between. They made these to sound best turned on, plug-and-play with an iPhone. Without the amp on, even through an outboard headphone amp, they don't sound quite right.
My skepticism remained. I pulled out my Headstage amp (newest version) and Etymotic ER4P phones. Dialed those to their best sounding as I have had them 10 years. Then...switched to simple iPhone feed straight to Sony's......Sony's equaled the sound (almost) of the Etys driven by LOD Headstage...Etys win on harmonics and tone. Sony's win on impact, range and spatial cues (you are there). Etys equal detail and small presentation. Sony's equal big presentation and everything laid out before the listener.
I won't be selling my Etymotics. They are that good. But the Sony's are oh so incredible. Sony has packaged something in a user-friendly, simple, straightforward package. No muss, no fuss. I am impressed. And I am very picky. I will be keeping these. If Sony's aim was to cancel noise (yes, better than anything I have experienced on that front, and I have listened to just about all NC cans the past year), reproduce all the frequencies, and keep it easy and simple, I give them an A+. Nicely done. My favorite thing that I was most worried about was the NC levels they reference (train, office, etc.). It's automatic....their software does it for you. They should state that fact in their marketing materials. I was pleasantly surprised I don't have to slide a switch based on environment I'm in. It does it automatically. They state negative 25db noise reduction....I'd say that is very conservative. And all the while...a transparent, full-on, sweet encompassing sound. Very nice.
Nicely played, Sony.