[HotIce]

The reason why they are used in studios is because there is something they do well, and that is provide decent value for the buck. They are not the best alternative, but rather a more economic one when you need multiple pairs such as is common in studio use. They are also used a lot by professionals when they are specifically needing to focus on speech/vocals because of the very pronounced leanings towards high frequencies.



As far as research goes listening to the majority and being swayed by the fact that they really are used by professionals leads people away from possibly finding better alternatves for themselves. After all like you said they were designed 30 or whatever years ago, they became almost a tradition, but a lot of time has passed since and better HP's have been put on the market in a similar price range. Especially HP's that are more useful and accurate in the studio environment as well as having handy features like removeable cables.

There is a reason why certain HPs do use coiled cables, instead of fixed ones.
If you need to move around, you are likely to be welcoming a cable which gives you freedom, and at the same time does not unroll into 10ft wire laying around.
If you listening anchored into a chair, a shorter, fixed length, cable can be less bulky. But for people like myself who moves around (couch, bed, or chair that is), the coiled cable saved both the amp input, and the HP cable inlet, a few times, which would have been pulled hard w/out a stretchy cable.
Granted, going on the subway with an iPod and the 7506 cable is likely not a pleasant experience, because the cable is bulky WRT 3ft of straight cable.

About the sound, as I tend to repeat in every post I make, subjectivity is rule. Or, "de gustibus non est disputandum". Hence the "listen by yourself" suggestion I give every single time.
But it is when you mention that sound professionals, which are people strapped to an HP 8h/day, do not care of finding better alternatives, either you have an hidden agenda, or you have met the wrong professionals.

 

[_js_]

The reason why they are used in studios is because there is something they do well, and that is provide decent value for the buck. They are not the best alternative, but rather a more economic one when you need multiple pairs such as is common in studio use. They are also used a lot by professionals when they are specifically needing to focus on speech/vocals because of the very pronounced leanings towards high frequencies.

As far as research goes listening to the majority and being swayed by the fact that they really are used by professionals leads people away from possibly finding better alternatves for themselves. After all like you said they were designed 30 or whatever years ago, they became almost a tradition, but a lot of time has passed since and better HP's have been put on the market in a similar price range. Especially HP's that are more useful and accurate in the studio environment as well as having handy features like removeable cables.

Over the years I found the opinion of the seeming majority is wrong in most cases. It's the few critical (often over critical seeming) and detailed opinions that were much more useful in discerning the actual truth about the quality of a given product. I learned that the hard and pricey way, but no product is perfect anyways it's about wether the pros outweigh the cons, and for me the cons of the 7506 in this day and age make it a purchase I won't be making again.

 
LNuneek,
 
A lot of people say this about the 7506--that they have a "very pronounced" (or similar phrasing) leaning towards high frequencies, or a midrange hump, etc., but I very much disagree with this assessment, subjectively, and objectively, frequency response graphs of the 7506 do not agree with this assessment.  This isn't to say, subjectively, that people don't find them "harsh" or edgy or whatever, because many do.  But as you point out, the majority consensus is not always correct.  But in terms of monitoring and studio use, I think that they are nicely neutral, by and large.  For the price, anyway.  But we can agree to disagree.
 
What I'd really like to know is what alternatives you would recommend instead!  This is a serious, earnest question!  I'm really interested and totally willing to explore other options for a closed-back, accurate, neutral studio monitor headphone.  Let's hear your recommendations, please!
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[Jim McC]

  Has anyone stuffed the ear pads to give their ears more depth? If so, what did you use, and how did it work out?
 
Does anyone that wears glasses find that the clamping pressure is too much?
 
Thanks.

 
Anyone ?

 

[HotIce]

 
Anyone ?

 
My ears are low profile, so for me the 7506 is a wear all day long thing.
But before going mods, have you checked the BeyerDynamic velour pads for the 7506?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/313962-REG/Beyerdynamic_942704_Padded_Earcushions_for_DT250_DT280.html

 

[LNuneek]

The reason why they are used in studios is because there is something they do well, and that is provide decent value for the buck. They are not the best alternative, but rather a more economic one when you need multiple pairs such as is common in studio use. They are also used a lot by professionals when they are specifically needing to focus on speech/vocals because of the very pronounced leanings towards high frequencies.



As far as research goes listening to the majority and being swayed by the fact that they really are used by professionals leads people away from possibly finding better alternatves for themselves. After all like you said they were designed 30 or whatever years ago, they became almost a tradition, but a lot of time has passed since and better HP's have been put on the market in a similar price range. Especially HP's that are more useful and accurate in the studio environment as well as having handy features like removeable cables.

There is a reason why certain HPs do use coiled cables, instead of fixed ones.
If you need to move around, you are likely to be welcoming a cable which gives you freedom, and at the same time does not unroll into 10ft wire laying around.
If you listening anchored into a chair, a shorter, fixed length, cable can be less bulky. But for people like myself who moves around (couch, bed, or chair that is), the coiled cable saved both the amp input, and the HP cable inlet, a few times, which would have been pulled hard w/out a stretchy cable.
Granted, going on the subway with an iPod and the 7506 cable is likely not a pleasant experience, because the cable is bulky WRT 3ft of straight cable.

About the sound, as I tend to repeat in every post I make, subjectivity is rule. Or, "de gustibus non est disputandum". Hence the "listen by yourself" suggestion I give every single time.
But it is when you mention that sound professionals, which are people strapped to an HP 8h/day, do not care of finding better alternatives, either you have an hidden agenda, or you have met the wrong professionals.


Well there you go again attempting to make it a personal issue about me, something faulty with me as a person, or my thinking, motives or experience because I don't think the 7506 is beyond criticism. You are the one with the agenda and some silly need to try to discredit me as a person. It's like you are fueled by some extroadinary personal attachment to this particular HP and it's history and feel the need to defend it. Maybe it makes you feel superior to feel like you are attached to that history through ownership and me criticising them somehow makes you feel less superior. In turn you have to put some personal fault into me as a person in order to protect this shallow attachment to the storied legendary mythical perfection that is the great 7506. Haha get over it. It's just a $100 range product, and not a necessity. It's just a HP dude!

I was using them for studio use and know perfectly well what the purpose of a coiled cable is.

The coiled cable isn't perfect. What happens when it gets stretched is it doesn't have a strong enough memory in the materials to go back to the nice coils. When I used them I used them stationary at a desk. I wasn't moving around all over the place and stretching the cord out beyond what is normal for use at a desk, but nonetheless the coiled cable would find it's way getting bent out of shape and tangling up to the point where it did what I descriibed above. For your information a lot of professionals and everyday people had the same issue.

Further more you act like you know so many professionals. If you really did you would know these facts: professionals do not use the same gear. The 7506 is NOT used by every professional. A lot of professionals who started out using the 7506 no longer use them. There are whole generations of professionals that never used them. There are plenty of professionals that do not regard them as worthy enough for studio use and do not recommend them at all. Well, maybe for session musicians and vocalists to wear during recording and tracking, but not for mixing at the desk. Most professionals have multiple brands and models of headphones that they use for differing purposes and to get a different perspective on the sound meaning they are often not relying as heavily on the 7506 as you imagine. Also most professionals rely on speakers in treated rooms, not headphones, for the real accuracy of their work.

As far as their durability is concerned, well the cable is it's achilles heel. It's true that there are replaceable parts for it, and I do know that professionals are often replacing those parts or doing mods to make them more durable. I don't find the 7506 any more durable than most HP's on the market in actual real life practice. In fact I found them to be the least durable pair of studio cans I have owned or used.

Actually, go quick and make a thread on Gearsluts and find out exactly how many professionals would recommend these as the best studio headphone. Also ask them if they ever had or heard of complaints about the 7506. Ask them if there are better alternatives. Will you get a couple recommendations for the 7506? Yeah, maybe a few from bedroom producers and semi professionals for the most part, but it will never be a community or even thread wide resounding recommendation for them from professionals at every level of the game.

AFAIK gearslutz is the biggest and most easily accessible way to communicate with actual real audio professionals where you could read the liner notes on an album and be able to find some of those people posting and interacting.

 

[HotIce]

And who ever said "everyone" is using them? Argument you based 90% of your whole post above.
In any case, you seem to have much more time than myself writing long dissertation about nothing, so I am off leaving you push for you upcoming (on these screens) Gear Du Jour on GearSluts.
BTW, "a few bedroom producers" is a nice one, which matches the 30 years of continued production and even competitors producing parts for it.
If I ever end up building an HP, I hope those few bedroom producers will dedicate my product a similar attention.

 

[LNuneek]

LNuneek,

A lot of people say this about the 7506--that they have a "very pronounced" (or similar phrasing) leaning towards high frequencies, or a midrange hump, etc., but I very much disagree with this assessment, subjectively, and objectively, frequency response graphs of the 7506 do not agree with this assessment.  This isn't to say, subjectively, that people don't find them "harsh" or edgy or whatever, because many do.  But as you point out, the majority consensus is not always correct.  But in terms of monitoring and studio use, I think that they are nicely neutral, by and large.  For the price, anyway.  But we can agree to disagree.

What I'd really like to know is what alternatives you would recommend instead!  This is a serious, earnest question!  I'm really interested and totally willing to explore other options for a closed-back, accurate, neutral studio monitor headphone.  Let's hear your recommendations, please!

Thanks in advance.

Like you said it's subjective, but to me when the highs are to the point where it can be fatiguing and even piercing at times, it's not helpful for what my purposes were. Case in point, I was mixing music a few times with a lot of high frequencies in it. I was unable to distinguish what the problem frequencies in the high end actually where in the 7506 since to my ears much of the high end is generally too much or too harsh in the 7506. When I took the mix to my main speakers and every other speaker or HP I could it was obvious there was a problem. On the 7506 those frequencies just blended in with the rest of the highs. At that point is when I realised they weren't as revealing as I thought. Problem areas are more hidden. It's counter intuitive, but nonetheless it was an issue for me. You don't realize things about speakers and HP's until you have to fix a sound or mix a bunch of sounds together, etc. and do comparisons with as much other speakers and HP's as you can.

For me personally I had better experience with both mixing and durabilty with Audio Technica M series headphones. I have had much better durability experience with the mdr cd900 st, but I don't like the sound signature nor the overly compressed sound of these. The compressed sound makes it difficult to get levels right between different sounds since much of the sound is brought right to the surface. The cable is straight and reinforced at the plug, so that's a plus in my books. Sennheiser HD 280 turn good results and are durable. Mdr 7509 I feel is over rated and not worth the price. My mixing results on those were ok, not great. I actually preferred the 7506 to those. I have tried or owned various other studio pairs but these I have the most experience with. I also owned many consumer oriented headphones, but for years mostly just stuck with more studio oriented HP's.

Besides the durability issues I had with the 7506, the only other durability issues I've had with studio headphones is common wear and tear. Basically needing to replace pleather pads after years of use.

 

[LNuneek]

And who ever said "everyone" is using them? Argument you based 90% of your whole post above.
In any case, you seem to have much more time than myself writing long dissertation about nothing, so I am off leaving you push for you upcoming (on these screens) Gear Du Jour on GearSluts.
BTW, "a few bedroom producers" is a nice one, which matches the 30 years of continued production and even competitors producing parts for it.
If I ever end up building an HP, I hope those few bedroom producers will dedicate my product a similar attention.

I work from home and set my own hours, so yeah thanks for noticing I have the flexibility to take a few minutes when I like.

You mean nothing like basing all your responses to me based on one simple issue. I did not blindly accept the authoritah ov teh grate 7506. Haha, I can obviously read between the lines. Everything you said was based on "you" or 30 years blah blah. 30 years doesn't make them beyond reproach or criticism, nor does a lot of people using them. So are Beats the best headphones and beyond reproach cause they sell the most and are endorsed by some of the biggest names in the music industry? By the standards you set out for me they basically are. They just got some more years of production to finally reach the god like quality of the 7506 I suppose.

Also, if you ever make a HP don't hope for bedroom producers, hope for blind faithful mindless followers with WAYYYYY too much brand loyalty to see greener pastures.

 

[_js_]

Isn't it unwise to mix using headphones? Isn't the concensus to use good studio monitors?

Anyway, I auditioned the hd280's in a store and they seemed like a reasonable choice to me, but there were way too many headband plastic cracking reports in the Amazon reviews, so it scared me off them.

The AT M50's were, IMO, just awful. What other AT monitors HP's are there?

And just for info, here is Ken R's 7506 review:

http://kenrockwell.com/audio/sony/mdr-7506.htm

And here's an excerpt to boot:

"Why is the MDR-7506 so popular today, and why has it been so popular for at least the past thirty years?

Because it's small, light, rugged, sounds pretty good, is extremely sensitive for use with DSLRs, iPods and portable digital and video recorders, reasonably priced, it does a good job at isolating outside noise, it leaks very little sound to the outside, folds for carrying, and you even can flip over the earpieces to use just one side at a time held to your head if you're singing in a studio with live performers.

Whew. For just under $100 brand new, Sony can't pump out the MDR-7506 fast enough. These are exceptionally popular in TV and DSLR video; next time you see a video cameraman, he's probably wearing a pair of these to monitor his audio — honest.

These MDR-7506 excel for field use to be sure that your audio is clear, that you have no noise or rumble and that no one is cursing quietly in the background. The MDR-7506 are the best and most abuse-proof headphones there are for making sure you got good audio while you are still recording it.

At under $100, the MDR-7506 are swell for enjoying music, especially from iPods and iPads, and are tough and fold for carrying and isolate outside sound, however they don't have the sound quality of more expensive headphones. Specifically, they do have a moderate midrange peak, but have unusually clean, deep and extended bass response without any booming.

35,000 audio professionals each month can't be that wrong, and these are well built to take a beating, so they last quite a while being sat on out in the field. The gimbal pivots are stainless steel, and the plug is metal, not crappy plastic like far more expensive headphones from Beyer and Ultrasone.

The MDR-7506 are designed to be repaired, and even include a profusely illustrated parts list inside the box as a "service manual." "

 

[Jim McC]

 

   
Anyone ?

 
My ears are low profile, so for me the 7506 is a wear all day long thing.
But before going mods, have you checked the BeyerDynamic velour pads for the 7506?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/313962-REG/Beyerdynamic_942704_Padded_Earcushions_for_DT250_DT280.html

 
Yes, I have read about those pads. But if they're firmer than the stock pads, that probably won't work well over my glasses frame.
 
Also, it looks like the actual opening for the ears is smaller. Is that right?
 
Thanks.

 

[HotIce]

 
Yes, I have read about those pads. But if they're firmer than the stock pads, that probably won't work well over my glasses frame.
 
Also, it looks like the actual opening for the ears is smaller. Is that right?
 
Thanks.

 
Sorry, not owning those, I cannot answer your question.
If you have big ears, or protruded ones, I can see the 7506 being in needs of some mods, or just look for something different.
FWIW, one of the biggest "ear space" HPs I have tried are the DT880. I can fit an amp in there

 

[LNuneek]

Isn't it unwise to mix using headphones? Isn't the concensus to use good studio monitors?

Anyway, I auditioned the hd280's in a store and they seemed like a reasonable choice to me, but there were way too many headband plastic cracking reports in the Amazon reviews, so it scared me off them.

The AT M50's were, IMO, just awful. What other AT monitors HP's are there?

And just for info, here is Ken R's 7506 review:

http://kenrockwell.com/audio/sony/mdr-7506.htm

And here's an excerpt to boot:

"Why is the MDR-7506 so popular today, and why has it been so popular for at least the past thirty years?

Because it's small, light, rugged, sounds pretty good, is extremely sensitive for use with DSLRs, iPods and portable digital and video recorders, reasonably priced, it does a good job at isolating outside noise, it leaks very little sound to the outside, folds for carrying, and you even can flip over the earpieces to use just one side at a time held to your head if you're singing in a studio with live performers.

Whew. For just under $100 brand new, Sony can't pump out the MDR-7506 fast enough. These are exceptionally popular in TV and DSLR video; next time you see a video cameraman, he's probably wearing a pair of these to monitor his audio — honest.

These MDR-7506 excel for field use to be sure that your audio is clear, that you have no noise or rumble and that no one is cursing quietly in the background. The MDR-7506 are the best and most abuse-proof headphones there are for making sure you got good audio while you are still recording it.

At under $100, the MDR-7506 are swell for enjoying music, especially from iPods and iPads, and are tough and fold for carrying and isolate outside sound, however they don't have the sound quality of more expensive headphones. Specifically, they do have a moderate midrange peak, but have unusually clean, deep and extended bass response without any booming.

35,000 audio professionals each month can't be that wrong, and these are well built to take a beating, so they last quite a while being sat on out in the field. The gimbal pivots are stainless steel, and the plug is metal, not crappy plastic like far more expensive headphones from Beyer and Ultrasone.

The MDR-7506 are designed to be repaired, and even include a profusely illustrated parts list inside the box as a "service manual." "

Yes, it's best to mix in a treated room with speakers, but in some cases you have no choice. For instance a lot of people work on their music at night when they have time away from their day responsibilities. They don't want to disturb their household, but want to work. The best solution is headphones. Surprisingly you can get really good results with headphones. It's not uncommon for a producer who is time crunched and is very busy and in demand to do something like mix a record in headphones while on a plane heading towards another recording session. Another situation is when you just need to do a quick preliminary mix to fine tune at a later point on speakers.

Also headphones can help you notice little things that you may miss on speakers. They have their uses.

I'd also like to point out that where I live the 7506 isn't as competitively priced. They go for around $129-140 here. This puts them in a slightly different price bracket for me. They don't represent as good of a value as to people in the US for example who typically pay somewhere in $80-90 range.

 

[_js_]

I just lost a whole long post because my #^**}{% phone browser re-freaking-loaded this page for no reason! Grrrrrr!!!!

So, all I'll post for now is that the cord on the 7506's is in fact replaceable. EVERYTHING on the 7506's is replaceable, in point of fact. And these are durable cans, to boot. Just check out the Amazon reviews. Many there are that testify to this. Currently there are 1,881 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars, and many of them are from music industry professionals.

If someone doesn't enjoy music through the 7506's, there's no arguing that--and they would be in good company here on head fi--but you can't easily say that they are bad studio monitors! They are clearly in the top three or so at any price. I think they are a bargain at $80-$90 and easily worth $130+

 

[HotIce]

FWIW, given sound subjectivity, here's another link for thorough test of $150 price range HPs:

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-150-over-ear-headphones/

 

[_js_]

FWIW, given sound subjectivity, here's another link for thorough test of $150 price range HPs:

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-150-over-ear-headphones/

Wow! That's impressive! Great showing for the 7506's! Thanks for the link!