I want to specify better my statement, the first quality I search in audio equipment is a fair reproduction of human voices. Tone and detail must be adequate to deliver the maximum amount of Musical infos. I don't want to denigrate someone else's tastes, but i really think that the mids of the am2 are very present and central in the soundstage. Closed headphones are so difficult to tune!!! I work as classical tenor in cruise ships and there are no other solution to cancel the subsonic noise while listening to music than a good closed hp with solid bass not intruding into mids. I am always in search for the best closed portable can under 250 euro. I found these Sony to be satisfying because previously i had some issues with these:
Shure E2c
Sony Mdr-ep50, too sibilant
Sony Mdr-ex700, cunfused mids
Sennheiser cx300, too dark
Sennheiser Ie7, perfect, discontinued
Sennheiser Ie8, too boomy
Yamaha Eph100, strange highs
Apple Earpods, a good gift to my wife
Shure Se215, too dark and bassy
Rha Ma450i, unnatural mids
Rha Ma750i, my acid sweat destroys the cable in few days
Creative Cal!, not enough isolating
Akg K271 mkII, boring, boxy
Audio Technica Ath-m50s, too compressed
Akg k167 tiesto 4/5, good sound, buttery contruction, it breaks wit the wind
Rha Ca-200 2/5, the worst thing in my life
Meliconi hp100 1,5/5, ahahahah
Beats Pro 2/5, expensive crap
Akg k550 4/5 thin mids
Sony mdr-1r, poor extension in both extremes
Pioneer Se-a1000 3/5, not bad, not good
Ultimate Ears Ue6000, sonic boooom
Shure Srh940, perfect in every sonic sense, the plastic is a joke, enormous and ugly
Sennheiser Hd25 alu 4/5, too aggressive
Akg K81dj, clamp like a crab
Akg K518dj, less clamp, good for movies
Akg K545, goooood, confused scene
Sennheiser cx3.00, compressed
Sony Mdr-ex650ap, recessed mids
Tdk St-750, sibilant and heavy
Shure se425, peeeerfect, a thief is now happy with mine, expensive
Sony Mdr-100aap, veeery good but the mids are too grainy
Sony Xba-c10, thin
Hifiman Re-400, really bad construction
Skullcandy Crusher, good for the 20 I payed
Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 oe, nothing but the aesthetics
Philips Fidelio M1MKII, good sound, the pads become liquid after a month
VE Monk plus, addictive buds for a beer
Sennheiser Hd598SE, the bass is too diffuse
Audio Technica ATH-CKS550i, strange mids
Akg Y50, too bassy
Marshall Mid Bluetooth, too shouty mids
Philips Fidelio S2, veery good but mine failed cause a short hair went inside the grill
Brainwavz B100, bargain, fragile
Marshall mode, boomy
Audio Technica Ath-E40, difficult to find a seal
AKG K712 Pro, needs a proper, not cheap amp
Koss KSC75, I love this miracle
Sony Mdr-ex110, perfect for gym, only 9 euro
Akg K518le, gym when psoriasis take my ears
Sony Mdr-ex110ap, gym with phone calls
Marshall Mode Eq, very good, i wanted more
Beyerdynamic Dtx350m, sibilant
Marshall Monitor Bluetooth, good headphones, but a little bit aggressive
Akg K845bt, poor battery life, big
Yamaha HPH-PRO500, recessed mids, enormous
Koss KPH30i, perfect playstation friend
Yamaha HPH-MT8, no midbass at all
Koss PortaPro, dark
Koss PortaPro X, dark
JVC ha-s160, flimsy
Philips shl3505 Fixie, dark
Fiio FH1, sibilant
Brainwavz B200, issues with the impedance
MeeAudio Pinnacle Px, my almost perfect set if only the peak wasn't so narrowed to 10k, it become perfect with amp.
The Sony MDR-1am2 doesn't have the biggest issues I don't like: unnatural mids, and sibilance. IMHO there aren't better option for a closed, portable, lightweight, full sized, headphone wit detachable cable under 3-400 euro-dollars delivering realistically human voices... cause i tried another bunch of model but the dt770 isn't portable and have recessed mids, the p7 is too sharp, the h6 has thin mids, the hp50 is too uncomfortable, the m4u 1 is discontinued, the fidelio L2 is opened, the p51 is dark, i don't like the m&d models, the beats makes me laugh, and I can't compare mibe with the momentum 2.0. Anyone has compared these to the sony?