[iancraig10]

'Comparatively' soft with the Sony. Treble is quite extended though on the Yamaha which on this graph, shows 3 humps in each region......

http://diyah.boards.net/thread/536/yamaha-headphones

(I'm Rabbit)

The Sony seems to lack real bass by comparison....

http://en.goldenears.net/4726

 

[Music Alchemist]

'Comparatively' soft with the Sony. Treble is quite extended though on the Yamaha which on this graph, shows 3 humps in each region......

http://diyah.boards.net/thread/536/yamaha-headphones

(I'm Rabbit)

The Sony seems to lack real bass by comparison....

http://en.goldenears.net/4726

 
What are you saying exactly? That the 7506 has softer treble than the 220? Because the 7506 has pretty harsh treble, whereas the 220 has more accurate treble that isn't nasty. And none of this has anything to do with the mid-range resonance in the 220 and FSP.
 
To talk about measurements in any meaningful way, I believe that a comparison should be done of measurements taken by the same person, with the same measuring equipment, using the same methodology...and comparing the measurements to the flat speaker HRTF curve, which is what a neutral headphone should follow. Here is an example.
 
The 220's bass does sound better to me than the 7506, anyway.

 

[iancraig10]

I'm saying that the Sony sounds harder in the treble than the Yamaha.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Music Alchemist]

Sony MDR-7506 owners! Can any of you share your EQ settings? Further, would any be willing to do some serious parametric equalization to get the sound to as close to neutral as possible, then share the settings here?
 
Here are some tutorials on how to do so:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/413900/how-to-equalize-your-headphones-a-tutorial
http://www.head-fi.org/t/587703/how-to-equalize-your-headphones-a-tutorial-part-2
http://www.head-fi.org/t/615417/how-to-equalize-your-headphones-advanced-tutorial-in-progress
 
(I'm too lazy to do it right now.)
 
@iancraig10
By the way, after moving my ears to the front of the pads of the MT220, the mids became much more upfront and dramatically improved the sound -- like going from dull to engaging. Stuffing some gauze under the pads to separate my ears from the drivers improved the sound even more, but only with the right amount. Too much gauze made it sound bloated.

 

[iancraig10]

It is surprising what eq can do for a headphone. Some seem to respond a lot better than others.

And eq'd hd650 is quite amazing. I have used a filter which is in effect an eq unit with them which lowers the mid bass hump and boosts the sub-bass. The result is an amazing clarity that sounds a lot more open than a stock hd650.

I only retired recently but for monitoring in the studio, I rarely used a DT150 without eq. What a disappointment when I heard them at home as they are!!

I use a Spirit Pro nowadays for mobile and even sometimes home use for closed listening and the mt220 is hardly used tbh. I also used the 7506 for monitoring playback. Dt150 are great for performing into.

However, the Spirits are beginning to take over the Sony's position for monitoring playback.

 

[Music Alchemist]

It is surprising what eq can do for a headphone. Some seem to respond a lot better than others.

And eq'd hd650 is quite amazing. I have used a filter which is in effect an eq unit with them which lowers the mid bass hump and boosts the sub-bass. The result is an amazing clarity that sounds a lot more open than a stock hd650.

I only retired recently but for monitoring in the studio, I rarely used a DT150 without eq. What a disappointment when I heard them at home as they are!!

I use a Spirit Pro nowadays for mobile and even sometimes home use for closed listening and the mt220 is hardly used tbh. I also used the 7506 for monitoring playback. Dt150 are great for performing into.

However, the Spirits are beginning to take over the Sony's position for monitoring playback.

 
I've owned two Focal Spirit Professionals. A little too dark for me, and definitely too dark to serve as a neutral studio headphone. Just look at the measurements. Too much bass and not enough mids and treble. Still one of my favorites, though.
 
So do you have any good EQ settings for the 7506? Without EQ, it's killing my ears! I did find some basic settings that helped slightly, but I want to get it as close to neutral as possible. I will follow the tutorials linked above eventually.

 

[iancraig10]

No, I don't eq it.

I guess the 5 khz peak would need shaving off and lower bass raised quite a lot. It doesn't really go that low and I suspect trying to raise it too much might introduce distortions.

What do you use to monitor studio mixes? I don't know of many closed headphones that are that flat tbh.

Just for monitoring, bbc tend to use dt770's but not for anything more serious. Dt150 is nice for playing into since it goes loud without pain but closed headphones are quite a minefield.

I worked in the same job as you. Just retired.

 

[Music Alchemist]

Everyone! I just found the most amazing software that makes this headphone sound worlds better!
 
http://sonarworks.com/headphones/overview/
 
It has a free trial. I posted a tutorial here on how to use it with foobar2000.
 

No, I don't eq it.

I guess the 5 khz peak would need shaving off and lower bass raised quite a lot. It doesn't really go that low and I suspect trying to raise it too much might introduce distortions.

What do you use to monitor studio mixes? I don't know of many closed headphones that are that flat tbh.

Just for monitoring, bbc tend to use dt770's but not for anything more serious. Dt150 is nice for playing into since it goes loud without pain but closed headphones are quite a minefield.

I worked in the same job as you. Just retired.

 
I did not see your edit until now.
 
What job is that? Did I ever reveal my job? I don't remember. lol
 
I am a marketer. I only listen to headphones with music. I have no professional studio experience.

 

[iancraig10]

Oh, sorry. I thought you were a musician. Apologies.

On my site, we have a guy called Solderdude, who calibrates headphoes via active filters that he makes. They really do work well with some headphones. Best so far is hd650 imo. He hasn't made one for the mdr7506. He doesn't like them, whereas I use them for monitoring sonce they are so laser like in the treble.

You should join us!!

 

[Music Alchemist]

Oh, sorry. I thought you were a musician. Apologies.

 
I am a musician; just not a professional musician or studio professional.

 
(I do vocals, guitar, piano, and trombone. I believe we discussed this before.)

 

[iancraig10]

Oh, maybe that's why I thought you were a musician if we've discussed it previously.

 

[RudeWolf]

Great to hear that you liked the calibration effect, MA! Sony is one our favorite models on which to demonstrate our software, because the improvement is so noticeable.
 
We recently reviewed this headphone - pretty sure you might find our finding useful.
 

 
You can find a more thorough review text on our blog - http://sonarworks.com/2015/06/studio-headphone-review-sony-mdr-7506/
 
If anyone is interested in trying out the plug-in we currently have calibration profiles for these headphones - 
 

Spoiler: See the full list -

1. AKG K141 MKII
2. AKG K240 Studio
3. AKG K701
4. AKG K702
5. AKG K712
6. Audio-Technica M20x
7. Audio-Technica M40x
8. Audio-Technica M50x
9. Beyerdynamic DT770 80 Ohm
10. Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro
11. Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro
12. Sennheiser HD280
13. Sennheiser HD598
14. Sennheiser HD600
15. Sennheiser HD650
16. Shure SRH840
17. Sony MDR7506
18. Superlux HD681

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Great to hear that you liked the calibration effect, MA! Sony is one our favorite models on which to demonstrate our software, because the improvement is so noticeable.
 
We recently reviewed this headphone - pretty sure you might find our finding useful.
 
You can find a more thorough review text on our blog - http://sonarworks.com/2015/06/studio-headphone-review-sony-mdr-7506/
 
If anyone is interested in trying out the plug-in we currently have calibration profiles for these headphones - 
 

Spoiler: See the full list -

1. AKG K141 MKII
2. AKG K240 Studio
3. AKG K701
4. AKG K702
5. AKG K712
6. Audio-Technica M20x
7. Audio-Technica M40x
8. Audio-Technica M50x
9. Beyerdynamic DT770 80 Ohm
10. Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro
11. Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro
12. Sennheiser HD280
13. Sennheiser HD598
14. Sennheiser HD600
15. Sennheiser HD650
16. Shure SRH840
17. Sony MDR7506
18. Superlux HD681

 
I actually discovered the software (I think the official name is Sonarworks Reference 3 Headphone) yesterday after clicking your review linked at the bottom of Head-Fi. I was not familiar with the software, and actually thought you were just a user, not the developer/owner, so I looked it up on Google. hehe. Then I found the various reviews on your own site.
 
I read the review quickly, but didn't remember much of it. Guess I'll read it more closely soon.
 
With the calibration activated, it sounds so much better, but I did notice that it needs just a bit more treble in some of the frequencies to sound accurate to my ears. I know I can tweak it myself, but I'm not confident in doing it right.
 
I just bought an M50xBL too and will receive it tomorrow. Great coincidence that it is also compatible with the software!
 
(I did read the entire M50x review on your site closely enough to remember it all. Very cool how it transforms with the calibration.)
 
Hmm... If I ever get ultra-high-end electrostatic systems, I'm thinking I would just pay for you to visit me instead of sending it to you in the mail (which would be far too expensive and risky, when we're talking about five figures worth of gear) for custom calibrations.

 
(Perhaps by that time, your proprietary compensation curve will be even more refined.)

 

[Music Alchemist]

Oh, maybe that's why I thought you were a musician if we've discussed it previously.

 
I've been in orchestras, wind ensembles, jazz bands, metal bands, and so on, and have even performed with Ira Sullivan (who reportedly performed on Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue album) and at the 2002 Miami Orange Bowl half-time show with the likes of Enrique Iglesias and Bow Wow...but I was mainly just in the background and never even got paid, so technically, I'm an amateur musician with a professional level of experience. lol
 
Nowadays I just compose music in my head, some of which I want to release on television series and video games I want to create.
 
I would love to start a digital music store someday too. I have some unique ideas that would make it competitive, even against the mainstream stores like iTunes!
 
(I'm crazy ambitious, I know. I'll have to either do some serious crowdfunding or become filthy rich otherwise in order to attain my goals.)

 

[LNuneek]

   
 
(I'm crazy ambitious, I know. I'll have to either do some serious crowdfunding or become filthy rich otherwise in order to attain my goals.)

Or start out slow, build a brand and fanbase at the grassroots level and count your pennies