gelocks
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Sony has new headphones, MDR-1R
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spaark
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I've only just found this thread and have skipped most of the posts, so apologies if this has already been asked, but for those that have given these a listen, what headphones would you say these come closest to? Just to get an idea of where they stand.
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My silver version arrives tomorrow! Yay!!!
Chummer
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Quote:
Not sure about distributors, but I ordered in the US directly from the Sony Style store and got both cables.
Not sure about distributors, but I ordered in the US directly from the Sony Style store and got both cables.
MrGuzmanWhite
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Hello everyone! This is my first post after having been an observer learning from everyone here about headphones.
The reason for my first post is to share my experience with the Sony MDR-1R that I purchased recently, and also compare it with the Logitech UE6000, that is also a headphone I bought one day after I bough the Sony and have been testing both in parallel.
Before I get into that, few things about my music listening habits and equipment. I listen to music a lot, maybe 4-5 hr daily/average, and maybe 30-60 min of that with active focused listening. Most of the time, these days, I listen to music from MOG, streaming high quality 320 kbps MP3, and the music I enjoy more these days are rock including metal and symphonic rock, indie music, folk, vocalists, and some pop and hip-hop. I rarely listen to Classical with headphones just with speakers.
I have few headphones, a V-Moda M80, an AKG 550, and an old Sony MDR-V600 that was my first headphone I purchased many years ago. I have enjoyed all these three headphones and to this day I use them all. The V-Moda M80 is a nice musical portable headphone that I take always on the go. I like the tonality of this headphone a lot, but I never found it very comfortable, just passable, and has little isolation from exterior noises. The AKG 550 is for me a fantastic headphone, incredible clarity and transparency, and for me it nails all the range, including the bass. It is important to highlight that the AKG 550 improves a lot when using an AMP/DAC that fits its tonality. When I listen to the AKG 550 using my NuForce Icon HDP the sound is clean but the bass is somehow missing. Combining the AKG 550 with the Shiit Asgard and Bifrost the combo is "magical", really all these three pieces synergize incredible well, the Shiit components add warmth and bass extension to the AKG K550 to create a "killer experience" of music listening.
Now back to the topic of this post. After reading so many good comments about the Sony MDR-1R and especially the few comments from Jude who appears to consider this headphone the "new reference of the close-headphone class under $500", I thought I will get one and will use it with my NuForce Icon HDP and iPhone 4. This below is my experience so far.
Sony MDR-1R
This is the most comfortable headphone I ever imagined. On this front it is perfection, could be on my head all day and would not ever notice. For me, it defines the headphone reference of comfort for any manufacturer. In addition is very light, and extremely beautiful, very elegant and classy while having modern lines and details. Pure elegance.
Now the sound (using both the NuForce Icon HDP and the iPhone 4). As much I really, really, wanted to love this headphone, I am actually quite disappointed. For me it is a headphone that doesn't do anything extremely well, while does somethings poorly. To start, the sound is a bit dark, not too much, but noticeable. Second its tonality is not very musical, it relays the music but doesn't make you "feel" the music, so it is a bit boring. But the part that bugs me the most and the reason I will return this headphone to sony is that it gets confused/congested when playing complex music that overlays many tones, like the music you will find in multiple types of rock music. I am not certain if this happens because the headphone is slow, or because it can't resolve the music. The fact is that it sounds "distorted" when playing complex music, and I know it is not the recording because when I play the exact same piece with the AKG K550 or the Logitech UE6000, the quality and resolution is so much better. In addition, I think this headphone has some "grain" in the sound ... something I would expect of a lower price headphone. The soundstage is OK for a closed can, but not impressive, and the spatial resolution just average.
So, in conclusion, I find the MDR-1R totally unremarkable from the SQ perspective, and in ways overpriced at the $300 range. The SQ of the unit I have is well below the $200 mark, in my opinion. I wonder if maybe I got a defective unit?
Logitech UE6000
And now about the Logitech UE6000 ... I bought also this headphone because I was so disappointed with the Sony that I wanted to try another one of the new highly discussed headphones. This headphone has received many great reviews while some people criticize its handling of the bass, being perhaps over pronounced. I am NOT a basehead at all, and as I said I love my AKG K550 that is NOT a bass heavy headphone, neither is the Sony MDR-V600 that I use often.
I found the sound of Logitech UE6000 totally impressive with both the iPhone 4 and the HuForce Icon HDP. This is a headphone, that as opposed to the Sony MDR-1R, sounds more expensive than its price. The SQ of this headphone could easily be in the range of $300-$500, and it costs just $200. Let me discuss first my impression when using the headphone in passive form, without the noise cancelation. The sound is punchy, with pronounced bass that is reasonably well controlled, and most importantly, it doesn't affect the good mids and treble. So it sounds "clear and clean" and competent. The general feeling is of a headphone that enjoys playing the music.
But when I switch-on the NC setting in active form the headphone awakes to a new stage and becomes more musical, the highs sparkle and give vibrance to the music that becomes really alive. Add the punchy but controlled bass and you have a headphone that sounds like a speaker, you feel the music, you enjoy the music, and even when you know it is colored, the music gains soul. Put a good recording and you will hear fantastic voice reproduction (albeit it is not an studio like quality but a club-life music quality), and the fantastic bass really embraces you like you are listening live music, and the treble is sparky to make the music alive, but not strident at all, very well controlled.
It is the music you will hear in a club at night, packed of people and having some musicians playing their heart into the music. Importantly, the music sounds great at medium and high volume, an aspect that is very important as you don't need to crank the volume and hit your eardrums to enjoy the music. By the way, it is a comfortable headphone that I can wear for hrs and in addition, as a "gift", it has Noise Cancelation for the times when I take the plane. I truly did not expect this SQ at this price, and more with the NC option as an extra benefit!
Anyway, I know this is not a "professional" review, just my impressions and experiences hoping that some of you may find it useful. If you have questions, please fire up and will try to make my points more clear.
The reason for my first post is to share my experience with the Sony MDR-1R that I purchased recently, and also compare it with the Logitech UE6000, that is also a headphone I bought one day after I bough the Sony and have been testing both in parallel.
Before I get into that, few things about my music listening habits and equipment. I listen to music a lot, maybe 4-5 hr daily/average, and maybe 30-60 min of that with active focused listening. Most of the time, these days, I listen to music from MOG, streaming high quality 320 kbps MP3, and the music I enjoy more these days are rock including metal and symphonic rock, indie music, folk, vocalists, and some pop and hip-hop. I rarely listen to Classical with headphones just with speakers.
I have few headphones, a V-Moda M80, an AKG 550, and an old Sony MDR-V600 that was my first headphone I purchased many years ago. I have enjoyed all these three headphones and to this day I use them all. The V-Moda M80 is a nice musical portable headphone that I take always on the go. I like the tonality of this headphone a lot, but I never found it very comfortable, just passable, and has little isolation from exterior noises. The AKG 550 is for me a fantastic headphone, incredible clarity and transparency, and for me it nails all the range, including the bass. It is important to highlight that the AKG 550 improves a lot when using an AMP/DAC that fits its tonality. When I listen to the AKG 550 using my NuForce Icon HDP the sound is clean but the bass is somehow missing. Combining the AKG 550 with the Shiit Asgard and Bifrost the combo is "magical", really all these three pieces synergize incredible well, the Shiit components add warmth and bass extension to the AKG K550 to create a "killer experience" of music listening.
Now back to the topic of this post. After reading so many good comments about the Sony MDR-1R and especially the few comments from Jude who appears to consider this headphone the "new reference of the close-headphone class under $500", I thought I will get one and will use it with my NuForce Icon HDP and iPhone 4. This below is my experience so far.
Sony MDR-1R
This is the most comfortable headphone I ever imagined. On this front it is perfection, could be on my head all day and would not ever notice. For me, it defines the headphone reference of comfort for any manufacturer. In addition is very light, and extremely beautiful, very elegant and classy while having modern lines and details. Pure elegance.
Now the sound (using both the NuForce Icon HDP and the iPhone 4). As much I really, really, wanted to love this headphone, I am actually quite disappointed. For me it is a headphone that doesn't do anything extremely well, while does somethings poorly. To start, the sound is a bit dark, not too much, but noticeable. Second its tonality is not very musical, it relays the music but doesn't make you "feel" the music, so it is a bit boring. But the part that bugs me the most and the reason I will return this headphone to sony is that it gets confused/congested when playing complex music that overlays many tones, like the music you will find in multiple types of rock music. I am not certain if this happens because the headphone is slow, or because it can't resolve the music. The fact is that it sounds "distorted" when playing complex music, and I know it is not the recording because when I play the exact same piece with the AKG K550 or the Logitech UE6000, the quality and resolution is so much better. In addition, I think this headphone has some "grain" in the sound ... something I would expect of a lower price headphone. The soundstage is OK for a closed can, but not impressive, and the spatial resolution just average.
So, in conclusion, I find the MDR-1R totally unremarkable from the SQ perspective, and in ways overpriced at the $300 range. The SQ of the unit I have is well below the $200 mark, in my opinion. I wonder if maybe I got a defective unit?
Logitech UE6000
And now about the Logitech UE6000 ... I bought also this headphone because I was so disappointed with the Sony that I wanted to try another one of the new highly discussed headphones. This headphone has received many great reviews while some people criticize its handling of the bass, being perhaps over pronounced. I am NOT a basehead at all, and as I said I love my AKG K550 that is NOT a bass heavy headphone, neither is the Sony MDR-V600 that I use often.
I found the sound of Logitech UE6000 totally impressive with both the iPhone 4 and the HuForce Icon HDP. This is a headphone, that as opposed to the Sony MDR-1R, sounds more expensive than its price. The SQ of this headphone could easily be in the range of $300-$500, and it costs just $200. Let me discuss first my impression when using the headphone in passive form, without the noise cancelation. The sound is punchy, with pronounced bass that is reasonably well controlled, and most importantly, it doesn't affect the good mids and treble. So it sounds "clear and clean" and competent. The general feeling is of a headphone that enjoys playing the music.
But when I switch-on the NC setting in active form the headphone awakes to a new stage and becomes more musical, the highs sparkle and give vibrance to the music that becomes really alive. Add the punchy but controlled bass and you have a headphone that sounds like a speaker, you feel the music, you enjoy the music, and even when you know it is colored, the music gains soul. Put a good recording and you will hear fantastic voice reproduction (albeit it is not an studio like quality but a club-life music quality), and the fantastic bass really embraces you like you are listening live music, and the treble is sparky to make the music alive, but not strident at all, very well controlled.
It is the music you will hear in a club at night, packed of people and having some musicians playing their heart into the music. Importantly, the music sounds great at medium and high volume, an aspect that is very important as you don't need to crank the volume and hit your eardrums to enjoy the music. By the way, it is a comfortable headphone that I can wear for hrs and in addition, as a "gift", it has Noise Cancelation for the times when I take the plane. I truly did not expect this SQ at this price, and more with the NC option as an extra benefit!
Anyway, I know this is not a "professional" review, just my impressions and experiences hoping that some of you may find it useful. If you have questions, please fire up and will try to make my points more clear.
Dyaems
Headphoneus Supremus
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nice review bro. although you can leave the ue6000 to the other thread bro
and musicians and club doesnt really match well =)
and musicians and club doesnt really match well =)
dweaver
Headphoneus Supremus
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That doesn't sound like the 1R at all. It is a brighter headphone vs a dark headphone. The mids are more forward though so maybe you prefer a V shaped signature?
Dyaems
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perhaps we may find the need to say the usual "you need more burn in first" phrase =))
but hey, maybe the 1R sounds dark to him so yeah hehe... and "musical" is a very subjective term IMO
but hey, maybe the 1R sounds dark to him so yeah hehe... and "musical" is a very subjective term IMO
RPGWiZaRD
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Yea I think with the complex music when he described that music sounded almost distorted to him he probably tried to describe the term "smeared" sound when everything kinda floats into each other and the different instruments aren't well separated which tends to easily happen the more forward the midrange is. Then if you further pair such a headphone with a warm sounding amp it tends to further exaggerate it. A SS amp on the bright/analytical side of neutral tends to pair well with these kinds of headphones. To me this is nice when the jazz singer sounds like whispering in your ear and you're engaged/involved into the music.
Sounds like you prefer gently V-shape sound.
Sounds like you prefer gently V-shape sound.
musictang
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My 1R treble and mid only sound open up after 80-100 hours burn, sound great and very sure it is a keeper for me.
john53
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Some more impressions with my new mdr-1r.(I made some early comments in a previous post,but I guess a bit more time is needed to come in a safe conclusion).
The sound is not that natural to be honest.It is a bit more colored than I would like,and treble lacks some "life" and presence.
From midbass through the mids,the sound is very warm and coloured.It's like listening to a heavily tube-like sound (I mean the warm sound you get with tube amps etc) and a bit veiled too due to the laidback highs.
I will give it some time playing music to see if it gets better though,because I also hear some good things,like a smooth overall,non offensive sound,good detail and good imaging.But for the moment,the SHURE SRH 840 sounds clearly better.But the sony is easy to drive too,straight out of the ipod,and is very comfortable with good fit,so I'll give it some more time for sure.But for the moment,sound is not worht the 200euro I paid for it.
Does your pair have this strong chemical smell from the earpads?
The sound is not that natural to be honest.It is a bit more colored than I would like,and treble lacks some "life" and presence.
From midbass through the mids,the sound is very warm and coloured.It's like listening to a heavily tube-like sound (I mean the warm sound you get with tube amps etc) and a bit veiled too due to the laidback highs.
I will give it some time playing music to see if it gets better though,because I also hear some good things,like a smooth overall,non offensive sound,good detail and good imaging.But for the moment,the SHURE SRH 840 sounds clearly better.But the sony is easy to drive too,straight out of the ipod,and is very comfortable with good fit,so I'll give it some more time for sure.But for the moment,sound is not worht the 200euro I paid for it.
Does your pair have this strong chemical smell from the earpads?
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@dweaver, your Momentums lasted a day!! That's not that much burn-in time at all in comparison to what you gave your 1Rs before returning those! Not saying it's bad decision to sell them ('cos I did sell my Momentums too, to someone who really loves them now!!).
So you're going to pick up the MDR-1Rs again?
So you're going to pick up the MDR-1Rs again?
MrGuzmanWhite
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Thanks indeed for your kind feedback. Yes, this is what I tried to describe, thanks a lot for expressing this in a more technical manner. Of course the Sony MDR-1R sounds overall very good, but it is not the SQ I expected at the $300 price point for the type of music I listen to, unfortunately. I love Sony as a brand, and the design of the MDR-1R is perfect, so was hoping for it to me my new headphone.
Maybe it is a question of breaking in the headphone (so far has played just about 15 hrs)?... but I am skeptical that a mayor defect will be resolved by breaking in longer.
If you think that the Sonny MDR-1R doesn't "smear" the sound, has large soundstage and great accuracy for the spatial resolution of sounds (for a closed can), and provides an accurate sound while being alive and vibrant with the music (not boring) I may need to get a new unit.
Perhaps mine is a defective one?
spaark
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Based on other peoples' impressions, the MDR-1R doesn't have a large soundstage.
I doubt yours is defective, but you could get another pair just to be sure. Do a longer burn-in on the current ones first.
I doubt yours is defective, but you could get another pair just to be sure. Do a longer burn-in on the current ones first.
RPGWiZaRD
Headphoneus Supremus
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Quote:
One thing you can test is to make the pads deeper, stuff for example a half piece of kitchen papertowel rolled into a tube underneath the pads per cup to make it deeper, this would probably do what you like to the sound as from my experience with moving the drivers away from the ears, you get less forward/"in-your-face" midrange/less smeared sound, better separation.
One thing you can test is to make the pads deeper, stuff for example a half piece of kitchen papertowel rolled into a tube underneath the pads per cup to make it deeper, this would probably do what you like to the sound as from my experience with moving the drivers away from the ears, you get less forward/"in-your-face" midrange/less smeared sound, better separation.
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