[bixby]

  Thanks Mike F and Bixby. I should be getting a JDS C5 amp soon, a move up from the PA2V2 (which I use out of an iPod Nano 5g). I also go out of my laptop when I'm working, either directly or through the PA2V2. But so far it's a pretty consistent issue, and one I don't face on my IEMs. It might not be relevant, but I also have a fairly good aftermarket car stereo without these issues. I should have mentioned that my 7520s are Sony B-stock, though they came with a manufacturer warranty and guarantee of 100% perfect working order.
 
The point about comparison is compelling. I had noticed that there was often a period of adjustment when first putting on the 7520s. An initial feeling that they were boomy and claustrophobic, followed by my conscious effort to note the parts I was hearing, the various frequencies, textures, and melodic lines. During this attentive listening that initial sense often evaporates. The problem is that it keeps coming back and nagging me. Like you said Mike, this leaves me unsure as to whether it's not just a subjective response on my part.
 
The process is like going to read in a little room with a table, chair, and a weak lamp. The first thing you notice is the low ceiling and weak light, and you think, I can't read in here! You sit at the table and pull out your book, and eventually you forget the room size and the low light. But every time you set the book down and look around, you're reminded, not to mention when you get up and leave the room.
 
Still, there are other times when the 7520s amaze me. Even with the tracks that give the boominess, the rest of what's there in the sonic field is much richer than with my IEMs. So it's occurred to me that they might just be more advanced and capable than whatever was used to record the albums I'm listening to.
 
In any case, I'd still love to A/B someone else's 7520s with mine, in Berkeley. A latte and a scone and some listening?

can I ask the obvious question?  Any chance these are mp3 files?  Sometimes lower bit rate mp3 or even high bit rate ones can sound pretty warm and rolled off.

 

[Darner]

@latenlazy: PMed!
@bixby: Yes, they're mp3's but I have the same recordings in FLAC and A/B'd them w/o much difference, and none in regards to the boominess issue. But If I meet up with latenlazy I'll now be sure to have both versions on my iPod. So thanks for the reminder. I'll take both the PA2V2 and the JDS C5, which I just received.

 

[bixby]

 

well, that rules that out.  Let us know what the comparo reveals

 

[Sappy]

In case anyone from Germany is looking for this headphone, I just bought one of eBay Germany for a little less then 240 Euros. It doesn't include the original packaging but should be new. One more is left: Link
 
I just sold the B&W P7 because of comfort issues, my head is getting really sensitive with headphones for a while now. Don't know if the 7520 will be what I am looking for but I will have to try to know. 

 

[starfly]

  In case anyone from Germany is looking for this headphone, I just bought one of eBay Germany for a little less then 240 Euros. It doesn't include the original packaging but should be new. One more is left: Link
 
I just sold the B&W P7 because of comfort issues, my head is getting really sensitive with headphones for a while now. Don't know if the 7520 will be what I am looking for but I will have to try to know. 

Hope for you it's not fake!

 

[Sappy]

  Hope for you it's not fake!

 
don't make me nervous is there any way to proof its authenticity?

 

[Mike F]

don't make me nervous is there any way to proof its authenticity?

If it's of any comfort, although there are plenty of fake 7506's and 7509HD's around, I haven't come across any reports of fake 7520's.

 

[dudlew]

Well, Mine finally arrived.
 
I decided I will just burn them in eventhough its a used pair. So I have a cd (yes a CD I still use those from time to time

) on repeat and will leave them that way for the rest of the day/night and see what happens either later tonight or tomorrow. I did do a quick listen off of my cell phone and it definitely seems to have the added bass depth and presence that i was missing with the 1R, but i did not get the chance to do a direct comparison. Once I do that I will let you know my impressions.

 

[groovyd]

   
don't make me nervous is there any way to proof its authenticity?

 
It sounds real good.  That should prove it

 

[dudlew]

Ok.... So I have had these phones now for a day and have listened to them for a bit. My initial impressions are these....
 
Build: The swivel mechanism sought of snaps from time to time... not by any means break, but there seems to be nothing to make them smooth, so the build up of pressure makes them make a sought of snapping sound. Otherwise very solid. 
 
Comfort: 1R is more comfortable but it is not bad. positioning of phones on your head seem to make a difference to the sound. esp to the bass.
 
Sound: after being accustomed to the 1R, the mids now seems recessed..... the highs extend a bit more, there is more detail retrieval and the bass is finally at a level that I like. Listening to Splender's 'I think God Can Explain' The highs are clear and well extended, the bottom end fills out nicely and there is a good overall sound.  
 
Just my brief observations thus far.

 

[Darner]

 

  ...  positioning of phones on your head seem to make a difference to the sound. esp to the bass ... mids now seems recessed.

 
I agree somewhat with these observations. Maybe I have medium ears, but there's enough space to choose various position of the cups (high or low, forward or back) and it does change the sound. Also, the mids seem to me slightly washed out, so that distorted guitars that I'm used to having a sharper sound to them have a softer, wave-breaking-on-the-ocean kind of sound. Maybe this is something like "recessed mids," I'm not sure. I'm also not sure that the 7520s aren't just more transparently revealing what the track sounds like, as some posters have suggested on this thread at various times. It could be the phones when it comes to these things, or it could be me.

 

[dudlew]

   
I agree somewhat with these observations. Maybe I have medium ears, but there's enough space to choose various position of the cups (high or low, forward or back) and it does change the sound. Also, the mids seem to me slightly washed out, so that distorted guitars that I'm used to having a sharper sound to them have a softer, wave-breaking-on-the-ocean kind of sound. Maybe this is something like "recessed mids," I'm not sure. I'm also not sure that the 7520s aren't just more transparently revealing what the track sounds like, as some posters have suggested on this thread at various times. It could be the phones when it comes to these things, or it could be me.

 
 
 
Well it is said the 1R has an emphasized mid range.... so maybe the 7520 is closer to neutral..... Havent heard any cans higher up the range or that may be considered neutral to really compare them to. The sound is growing on me though. 
 
 
What songs are you referring to with regards to the guitars? Name a few bands as an example.... or do you mean in general?

 

[Mike F]

   
I agree somewhat with these observations. Maybe I have medium ears, but there's enough space to choose various position of the cups (high or low, forward or back) and it does change the sound. Also, the mids seem to me slightly washed out, so that distorted guitars that I'm used to having a sharper sound to them have a softer, wave-breaking-on-the-ocean kind of sound. Maybe this is something like "recessed mids," I'm not sure. I'm also not sure that the 7520s aren't just more transparently revealing what the track sounds like, as some posters have suggested on this thread at various times. It could be the phones when it comes to these things, or it could be me.

 
I, for one, think that this is probably the case. I'm comparing them to the older 7509HD. The 7509HD seems more 'open' and apparently more detailed in the mids and highs, (as well as less bass - less bass presence and less extended) but comparing tracks reveals to me that although the 7520 has a 'darker' presentation in the mids I think that if anything it's actually even more revealing, and certainly more neutral.
 
I've been listening to this on them recently:-
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTpt49GAIWM
 
The 7520's really give you that feeling of 'being there' with a huge and very believable live sound.

 

[Darner]

...  What songs are you referring to with regards to the guitars? Name a few bands as an example.... or do you mean in general?

 
I mean older death metal, which is one thing I've been listening to a lot lately. I tend to go through months-long genre switches. These days, it's the inestimable UK band Bolt Thrower. They're so good, I'm still going after 20 years of listening to them. Another thing I've heard said over various forums regarding guitars is that if you get used to a given distorted guitar sound on lesser headphones, which reproduce sonic textures that are overly harsh (i.e. harsher than the recordings actually are), then going to better headphones can give you the feeling that the guitars have become tamer. This may be true of other genres that don't feature distortion, but it seems especially the case in music like metal, where harshness can be an aesthetic virtue. Metal guitars after all are kind of like modulatable broadband noise generators. And I definitely did a lot of listening (years) on $15 IEMs before I figured out I could do better.
 
That brings me to the point made below, which seems correct. So it may be a matter of being willing to hear things from a new angle.
 

  ...  comparing tracks reveals to me that although the 7520 has a 'darker' presentation in the mids I think that if anything it's actually even more revealing, and certainly more neutral.

 
Amps make a difference, too, but I'll hold back on that point until later. I'll check out the link Mike F suggested when I get my headphones and computer together.

 

[Audio addict19]

I got mine yesterday and have fallen in love with them, but to the people who swap pads, where can you find and buy the originals? I need to buy another set soon so when these pads die i have replacements.