[starfly]

  That concern me a bit. It seems that the ear pad is $51 each? Will other ear pads like the 7506 will fit the 7520? There are so many ear pad choices for the 7506, V6 if it will work.

Well I'm assuming it's $51 for a set of earpads, so two earpads, one for each side.
 
And yeah, I was wondering the same thing if the 7506 earpads would fit the 7520. Because some places sell sheepskin earpads for the 7506, which could be really comfortable. Nobody around here happens to have a 7506 AND a 7520/Z1000 laying around huh?

 

[Twinster]

I was just online chatting with B&H store regarding the Auray Genuine Sheepskin Earpads for the 7506 & V6 and they confirmed it din't fit on the mdr-7520. Too bad they look good for $30 /pair.
 
 

 

[starfly]

  I was just online chatting with B&H store regarding the Auray Genuine Sheepskin Earpads for the 7506 & V6 and they confirmed it din't fit on the mdr-7520. Too bad they look good for $30 /pair.
 
 

Too bad. Oh well, my makeshift cloth mod still works fine. If I only I can somehow get a pair of replacement pads here I could complete the mod But no hurry, this works for now.

 

[TheBoss]

i remember reading in some british forum that abbey road stockpiled these headphones because theyre that good as studio monitors... but im not sure if theyre z1k or the 7520

 

[TheBoss]

Here's the 7520's with other company.....

thank you for impression and thorough review.


have you also tried the sony cd900st headphones?
in the world of sony closed studio headphones the cd900st (based from reviews i read... ) is the undisputed king of detail retrieval without sounding harsh.

im really wondering if 7520 finally equal or surpass the legendary cd900st in overall sound...

i tried years ago to acquire cd900st but i got turned off by the price (due to unfavorable $ - ¥ xchange rate) and got distracted by high end IEMs (i also own a sony IEM that belongs in the 75XX series family.

 

[starfly]

@third_eye,
 
I see you have the HD800 and AD's, which are considered very neutral headphones (correct?).
 
How would you say the 7520 compares to these in terms of neutrality? Just as neutral? I personally don't have any high-end reference so I think the 7520 sounds neutral, but I honestly could never know for sure Woud like to hear your opinion on the matter.
 
And another comment on the 7520, last night while lying in bed, I was listening at very low volume and even then the 7520 sounded very good and very detailed. I guess that's due to the high sensitivity of the drivers. Just really good headphones for the money.

 

[third_eye]

have you also tried the sony cd900st headphones?
in the world of sony closed studio headphones the cd900st (based from reviews i read... ) is the undisputed king of detail retrieval without sounding harsh.
 

 
I haven't heard the cd900st but I know hifiguy528 has had both, I'll try and get his take on it. The cd900st are right at $200 on Amazon so maybe I'll pick one up to try out..

 

[third_eye]

  @third_eye,
 
I see you have the HD800 and AD's, which are considered very neutral headphones (correct?).
 
How would you say the 7520 compares to these in terms of neutrality? Just as neutral? I personally don't have any high-end reference so I think the 7520 sounds neutral, but I honestly could never know for sure Woud like to hear your opinion on the matter.

 
I only auditioned the AD's for a weekend and then sent them back. The HD800 is the neutrality king but is very amp picky, it will sound quite lifeless and boring with many amps. I would say the 7520 is very neutral even when compared to these bigger guys. One of the key differences on the HD800 for example, is the huge sound stage and a more out of head experience.

 

[starfly]

   
I only auditioned the AD's for a weekend and then sent them back. The HD800 is the neutrality king but is very amp picky, it will sound quite lifeless and boring with many amps. I would say the 7520 is very neutral even when compared to these bigger guys. One of the key differences on the HD800 for example, is the huge sound stage and a more out of head experience.

Great, thanks, now I know what a neutral headphone sounds like and what I've been missing all those years. The Shure SE530 that I've used for so long (and still use on commutes) is anything but neutral

 

[yates7592]

   
I haven't heard the cd900st but I know hifiguy528 has had both, I'll try and get his take on it. The cd900st are right at $200 on Amazon so maybe I'll pick one up to try out..

I own the 7520's and would agree they are amazingly detailed and neutral (to my ears at least). The bass response is just right for my monitoring needs. But I would also be very interested to read a comparison with the cd900st......these headphones have always intruiged me.

 

[runswithaliens]

  I think I'm gonna try to mod the standard earpads that come with the 7520. The mesh on it is a bit too rough in texture. Will try to replace it with different fabric, and I think I might have found just the thing, an old hiking t-shirt that's extremely thin and fairly soft to the touch. Shouldn't filter the sound too much and if anything it should only filter the high frequencies, which wouldn't be the end of the world.
 
So a bit of thread and a needle should do the trick

 
Thanks for all the great information on these headphones Starfly.  I am trying to understand the comfort issue you describe. Is it because the pads aren't deep enough and the cloth on driver grills is touching your ears, or are you talking about the cloth on the pads themselves that is touching your ears?  I have read that the Sony MDR-1R has shallow depth for the earpads causing comfort problems with the grills so am wondering if these are the same.

 

[starfly]

   
Thanks for all the great information on these headphones Starfly.  I am trying to understand the comfort issue you describe. Is it because the pads aren't deep enough and the cloth on driver grills is touching your ears, or are you talking about the cloth on the pads themselves that is touching your ears?  I have read that the Sony MDR-1R has shallow depth for the earpads causing comfort problems with the grills so am wondering if these are the same.

The pads are indeed not deep enough, but that wasn't really causing the comfort issue. It was the texture of the cloth, which is a bit rough. Because my ears were constantly touching the cloth and it was a very loose weave of a nylon-like fibre, it would itch my ear. But now that I cut out a piece from an old hiking t-shirt and stuffed that in there, no issue what so ever and they're perfectly comfortable. And the headband is very soft and comfortable as well and the clamping pressure (with the standard pads) is just right. (When I tried out the Z1000 pads on the 7520, which are a bit thicker, I found the clamping pressure a bit too high).

 

[gelocks]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/801002468-USE/sony_mdr_7520_professional_studio_headphones.html
 
Holyyy...
Buy this please!!
I don't want to keep spending money!!!! LOL

 

[grizzlybeast]

This headphone is like the most hidden gem. It keeps coming up when I do some deep searching for my next portable headphone. 
 
The thing that keeps me from the rest is either a small ear cup that my ears don't fit in(momentum, kef) a lack of mids, clarity, a lack of bass or something else. 
 
I am sooo hoping these don't suffer from those issues and think I might be able to stop searching.

 
I do however hope these have more bass quantity than the first version of the mad dog(haven't heard 3.2), or the k550, and atleast the quantity of the german gmp 8.35d. How would these fair with acoustic and instrumental hip hop? 
 
I emphasis acoustic and instrumental because it sounds different than mainstream hip hop and is a heck of a lot more musical imo. It needs the same tonal balance to be presented right as a faster kind of Jazz would but with the sub bass needs of hip hop. 
 
an example is like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvaseB2CWIc
 
I don't know if the sub bass is mixed right or that its the best quality but if it comes through on the 7520 I'm good. 

 

[TheBoss]

  This headphone is like the most hidden gem. It keeps coming up when I do some deep searching for my next portable headphone. 
 
The thing that keeps me from the rest is either a small ear cup that my ears don't fit in(momentum, kef) a lack of mids, clarity, a lack of bass or something else. 
 
I am sooo hoping these don't suffer from those issues and think I might be able to stop searching.

 
I do however hope these have more bass quantity than the first version of the mad dog(haven't heard 3.2), or the k550, and atleast the quantity of the german gmp 8.35d. How would these fair with acoustic and instrumental hip hop? 
 
I emphasis acoustic and instrumental because it sounds different than mainstream hip hop and is a heck of a lot more musical imo. It needs the same tonal balance to be presented right as a faster kind of Jazz would but with the sub bass needs of hip hop. 
 
an example is like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvaseB2CWIc
 
I don't know if the sub bass is mixed right or that its the best quality but if it comes through on the 7520 I'm good. 

 
 
Sorry man but I don't think you can get deeper sub bass with these headphones.
 
I've seen graphs for the japanese version of 7520 (z1000) and bass starts to fall off cliff at 70hz.
 

 
Knowing that 7520 is a serious monitor headphone... i think it belongs in the same class as other serious closed-headphone monitors such as akg k271 and shure srh441.
clean  sub bass but sure won't go that deep.
 
i know this is full size only headphone sub-forum... but if you want clean/tight/deep sub-bass and clean mids to satisfy your genres (noted above) but want to stay in Sony professional brand... get the IEM version in the Sony 75XX series family.