[Amarphael]

^ Do you still own the W5000? Can you make a brief comparo, Preferably level matched at 1khz, since they're both practicely identical at this point. I'd like to know the differences in stage depth, imaging, transient repsonse, timbre with vocals (women mainly) and piano in higher register notes, and overall lower bass presense.

 

[HiFiGuy528]

You guys know I'm a Sony fanboy.  I have a ton of Sony cans.  I can understand if a headphone is tuned for one or two genre of music and does it very well.  Now before you guys blow my comments out of proportion the 1R isn't a bad headphone, just not a good one at $299 IMO.  here it goes!
 
- bass is bloated and a bit confused, bass bleeds into the mids
 
- mids are lush and warm but a bit un-natural tonally 
 
- treble is rolled off so lacks life
 
- slightly dark and a bit on the veil side.
 
these traits are not of a good $299 headphone from a company that made some of the best on the planet.  i.e. $249 MDR-CD900st.  It's sad that this is starting to be common from headphones manufactures.
 
There!  let the flaming begin. 

 

[roma101]

No flaming from me, we all hear differently. I just happen to disagree with most of those comments. I don't find them dark for example (they're brighter than the M-80 as a reference point but darker than the HD25, which happen to be pretty dark) and find that they have plenty of sparkle without sibilance. I also find the tonality and decay to be natural. The mids are lush indeed and bass is prominent but I find them both to be rather clean, although I can understand in comparison to some other cans people may perceive a warm veil. Definitely a different flavor that not everyone is going to love. I still think, to my ears and as a total package, these are worth it.
 
To each his/her own.

 
Btw I have a feeling you would love the K167. They sound more reference at a very affordable price.

 

[john53]

Quote:

- bass is bloated and a bit confused, bass bleeds into the mids
 
- mids are lush and warm but a bit un-natural tonally 
 
- treble is rolled off so lacks life
 
- sounds dark and a bit on the veil side.

My pair does not sound bloated in the bass and confused,after 150 hours of burn in,but I agree with the other 3 things you say.(except that they don't sound that dark and veiled anymore,they have a good transparency now)
 
My complaints now with these sony are the following two:
 
1: The mids sometimes give me a bit of ear fatique,because of their forward presentation,especially somewhere in the mid/highs,some notes-sounds are a bit strong to my ears,although I feel it more in higher volumes,and is not a problem when listening in low volume.
 
2: The biggest downside for me (and it may sound strange to some of you),is that if you get used to their sound,then other good/reference headphones will sound strange tonally,with grainy treble and thin mids with not good presence. 
Some people who have experience will be able to understand that these other headphones are not bad,and it's just the sony that make them sound like it. 
But if some newcomers have their first good headphone experience with the sony,they'll probably come to the conclusion that many other great quality headphones are not good,because sony makes them sound like grainy,somewhat treble heavy and a bit unatural/thin.
 
Having said that,I really enjoy my mdr 1r now,because they are good in many ways,they have sweet and warm sound,very good detail even if they are smooth on the treble,and a nice and attractive soundstage imaging depth presentation,making music sound magical in a nice way.
 
But I feel like giving an advice to some newcomers who have their first good quality experience with this headphone,that although it has a quite good sound quality,this is not exactly a reference like/neutral tonality,so if you hear some other well known good quality cans,and don't like them compared to the sony,I personally would blame the sonys for this.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

No flaming from me, we all hear differently. I just happen to disagree with most of those comments. I don't find them dark for example (they're brighter than the M-80 as a reference point but darker than the HD25, which happen to be pretty dark) and find that they have plenty of sparkle without sibilance. I also find the tonality and decay to be natural. The mids are lush indeed and bass is prominent but I find them both to be rather clean, although I can understand in comparison to some other cans people may perceive a warm veil. Definitely a different flavor that not everyone is going to love. I still think, to my ears and as a total package, these are worth it.
 
To each his/her own.

 
Btw I have a feeling you would love the K167. They sound more reference at a very affordable price.

 
So slightly brighter than M80 but slightly darker than HD25, that would be the definition of neutral highs to me. Sounds like the warmish midrange would appeal to me a lot on these. Music is in the mids! Doesn't have to be sparkly if you get tons of beautiful in-your-face mids IMO.  I just think there's probably not enough bass for my needs.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

I dunno, something happened to my set the night before but the treble is brighter than it used to be, not quite sure that I am completely in love with that, need to adjust as like John mentioned, other phones may sound shrill and bright after them, so it could be that the treble has become what it was supposed to be. Bass subsided and is much more controlled as well, but that happened well before the treble change.
Hope I am not imagining stuff.

 
The only thing on HiFiGuy list that I can agree with is that mids are lush and warm. Very W5000 like there.

 

[john53]

Quote:

I dunno, something happened to my set the night before but the treble is brighter than it used to be, not quite sure that I am completely in love with that, need to adjust as like John mentioned, other phones may sound shrill and bright after them, so it could be that the treble has become what it was supposed to be. Bass subsided and is much more controlled as well, but that happened well before the treble change.
Hope I am not imagining stuff.

 
The only thing on HiFiGuy list that I can agree with is that mids are lush and warm. Very W5000 like there.

You know Andrew,I actually feel that they get better and better with burn in,the lower frequencies became quite neutral and clean,and highs do seem a bit clearer now.Mids are indeed lush and sweet,nice and very smooth.
Maybe these drivers need some seriously long burn in time!

 

[hduong]

The overall sound signature on these are not too bad.  I just find the treble a bit rolled off and detail a little lacking for a $299 headphone. This is with about 10 hours of use.  They work fine as a portable can.  Comfort is great but only ok when I'm wearing glasses.

 

[gelocks]

Quote:

My complaints now with these sony are the following two:
 
1: The mids sometimes give me a bit of ear fatique,because of their forward presentation,especially somewhere in the mid/highs,some notes-sounds are a bit strong to my ears,although I feel it more in higher volumes,and is not a problem when listening in low volume.

 
THIS!
 
Apart from the increased mid-bass, I still believe there's something weird going somewhere in the mid/highs as you mentioned (and I believe I have already said this before). Sometimes it made some of my songs sound shrill. Other than that, pretty capable headphones. I would definitely not buy them for $300 (that's why the Mad Dogs exist at that price... ).
 
At $200 - $230 this would be a good recommendation! But it still has some competition from AKG, Focal, etc.
 
Quote:

 
So slightly brighter than M80 but slightly darker than HD25, that would be the definition of neutral highs to me. Sounds like the warmish midrange would appeal to me a lot on these. Music is in the mids! Doesn't have to be sparkly if you get tons of beautiful in-your-face mids IMO.  I just think there's probably not enough bass for my needs.

 
Yup... I'm pretty sure there's not enough bass for you on these!
 
Have you seen/heard the AKG167/267? I think those are the ones I'll probably try for what you are looking for but impressions are scarce so far...

 

[HiFiGuy528]

mine is broken in.  I ran it for almost a week non-stop.  The better the audio chain the better it sound, but it's still not a solid recommendation from me at the $299 price tag.

 

[john53]

Quote:

The overall sound signature on these are not too bad.  I just find the treble a bit rolled off and detail a little lacking for a $299 headphone. This is with about 10 hours of use.  They work fine as a portable can.  Comfort is great but only ok when I'm wearing glasses.

 
10 hours are not enough,you should give them many hours of burn in,so the sound will come to a better balance ,from lows to highs.
 
At least this is what happened with my pair.At first it was too coloured/veiled with lack of air in the treble,but now is better. Still a bit coloured in the mids and just a bit lacking in treble presence/air,but it's not that bad to be honest,it's actually quite good. 

 

[john53]

Quote:

mine is broken in.  I ran it for almost a week non-stop.  The better the audio chain the better it sound, but it's still not a solid recommendation from me at the $299 price tag.

 
Do you think that for someone who appreciate a sound signature/balance that is closer to the hd600,srh 840,k550 etc,the mdr 7520 would be a better choise? One studio model I tried once,the 7509 hd,sounded unnatural to my ears,tonality was not so natural.

 

[HiFiGuy528]

Quote:

 
Do you think that for someone who appreciate a sound signature/balance that is closer to the hd600,srh 840,k550 etc,the mdr 7520 would be a better choise? One studio model I tried once,the 7509 hd,sounded unnatural to my ears,tonality was not so natural.

 
MDR-7520 is much better than 7509HD.  HD600 is a clear winner for open back under $500.  AKG K550 is great for $299 and closed back.  Have not heard the Shure yet.  MDR-7520 is worth owning.

 

[john53]

Quote:

 
MDR-7520 is much better than 7509HD.  HD600 is a clear winner for open back under $500.  AKG K550 is great for $299 and closed back.  Have not heard the Shure yet.  MDR-7520 is worth owning.

Thank you very much for your answer.

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiFiGuy528 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
- bass is bloated and a bit confused, bass bleeds into the mids
 
- mids are lush and warm but a bit un-natural tonally 
 
- treble is rolled off so lacks life
 
- slightly dark and a bit on the veil side.

 
 
Quote:

 
My complaints now with these sony are the following two:
 
1: The mids sometimes give me a bit of ear fatique,because of their forward presentation,especially somewhere in the mid/highs,some notes-sounds are a bit strong to my ears,although I feel it more in higher volumes,and is not a problem when listening in low volume.
 
2: The biggest downside for me (and it may sound strange to some of you),is that if you get used to their sound,then other good/reference headphones will sound strange tonally,with grainy treble and thin mids with not good presence. 
 

 
Quote:

 
Apart from the increased mid-bass, I still believe there's something weird going somewhere in the mid/highs as you mentioned (and I believe I have already said this before). Sometimes it made some of my songs sound shrill. 
 

 
These are caca?
 
On to the K267...