Sony MDR-R10 comprehensive review. World’s Best Dynamic Headphone?
Dec 19, 2001 at 1:51 AM Post #31 of 47
"I put off reading it as long as I could"

Why? Afraid of a sudden attack of "headphone inadequacy?" Sorry, couldn't resist!

markl
 
Dec 19, 2001 at 3:48 AM Post #32 of 47
Alright I am adding my thoughts and perspective on the R10's to this thread.

OK bottom line, they are very nice sounding, no headphone is more natural. I would trade my HD600's and my Melos away for just the R10's.

Details are extracted in a sweet untiring way. They are overall very polite and real sounding. Similar to the effect of real life ambience. I was amazed, they are more polite than HD600's but still more real sounding. They were still dynamic but the sound was never strained, very free and open, effortless even.

The bass is my only "complaint". It was there, the sound was there, it just didn't bounce the way HD600 bass bounced. HD600 bass out of a melos will rumble like nothing I have ever heard. Maybe R10 bass is kind of like ETY bass, less impacful. All there but not a physical sensation...

I would pay 500 in a second, it might take awhile but I could probably even convince myself that they were worth a thousand. BUT $4000 is like flying to japan, and throwing money in the faces of Sony execs for no damn good reason.

My last word is screw sony for putting such a high price tag on such a great sounding pair of headphones.
 
Dec 19, 2001 at 4:15 AM Post #33 of 47
I don't think the R10s require much power at all. Keep in mind the age the R10s came out in...headphone amps? I think people were still trying to invent speaker amps and the CD probably wasn't invented either yet. I also have no issues with the R10's natural bass...anybody that thinks it's weak simply hasn't had time to adjust over from the typical overstrong humped up bass response that other headphones have. By far and large, after hearing the R10s for a good amount of time, it was the CD3000's bass response that seemed the most unnatural to me...it was just ridiculously overstrong compared to the R10's bass, and I immediately sold the CD3000s following that revelation. That goes for Sennheisers and Grados as well. To try and want the R10's bass to be as strong as the other headphones...mmm no. You're missing the R10's whole point if you feel you need more bass with the R10s.

I think Yohan didn't quite mean to say STRONGER bass than the HD-600s...keep in mind his English wasn't perfect. Because when I talked to him directly online and questioned him about the CD3000's bass vs. the R10's bass, he said he remembered the CD3000s as having plainly more bass. Given the huge bass quantity differences between the two I'd have to agree with him. When I asked Jatinder about the two as well, he didn't compare them in quantity, which was hard for me to understand at the time, only that the R10s definitely had "much better bass", confirmed by both him and his brother. I later realized, once I caught on to the R10's full strength, that he was referring to the natural way the bass blends in.
 
Dec 19, 2001 at 5:45 AM Post #34 of 47
Quote:

I don't think the R10s require much power at all. Keep in mind the age the R10s came out in...headphone amps? I think people were still trying to invent speaker amps and the CD probably wasn't invented either yet.


What year were the R10 1st released? I know of at least one audiophile headphone amp that was 10 years old.

CD's? They 1st were release in 1982!

Still trying to invent speaker amps? I belive the 1st audiophile systems were 1st release in the 1950's!

What the hell are you talking about?
 
Dec 19, 2001 at 10:42 AM Post #35 of 47
Hi all,

The R10s were released in 1989 and there was/is an optional "headphone amp" to go with them. This headphone-amp connects to a set of speaker terminals on your normal amp. Cost was/is Y50000.

In terms of bass response, I would re-iterate what I said to Vertigo-1 - that the bass on the R10 is very natural and forms an integral part of the music. The CD3000 on the other hand sounds as though the bass, midrange and treble are detached from one another.

An interesting observation is that, although the R10 always sounds very good and will go loud from a standard headphone-jack, the R10 does show up the differences between your components. I've had long auditions at home using the EarMax Pro, X-Cans V2, Sugden HeadMaster and the EAR HP4. Bass from the EarMax Pro is pure heaven on the R10 - but the EMP can sound "closed in". The EMP. Sugden and the X-Cans V2 although very good, cannot compete with the wonderful midrange of the X-Cans V1. Unfortunately, the X-Cans V1 doesn't really have much bass to speak of. The HP4 has something of the bass found on the EMP and still retains the liquid midrange of the X-Cans V1. The HP4 also sounds effortless.

I listen to all kinds of music - from Metallica to Miles Davis to Mozart, and I have a number of CDs where I believe the R10 has stronger and lower bass than my main system. I feel goosebumps down the back of my neck when I listen to it sometimes.

Nothing is ever going to be perfect and every component has its own "presentation style" - and I for one, don't feel as though the R10 lacks bass.

(A further note, I've used Lieder Waal and Siltech MC4/120 interconnects with the R10. Both are completely different but at the same time both are the same. The tonal balance and "amount" of bass/midrange/treble is the same, but the soundstaging and timing is very different. I ended up having the Siltech, but I'm sure that most people would have said that the Waal had "better bass".

Did the Waal have better (or stronger/deeper) bass? or was it just that the Waal swept you along with its timing and musicality especially at low frequencies?

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this one.)
 
Dec 19, 2001 at 11:19 AM Post #36 of 47
Quote:

Originally posted by markl
"I put off reading it as long as I could"

Why? Afraid of a sudden attack of "headphone inadequacy?" Sorry, couldn't resist!

markl


Getting a bit cocky, are we?
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Dec 20, 2001 at 6:26 PM Post #38 of 47
Quote:

Originally posted by KR...


What year were the R10 1st released? I know of at least one audiophile headphone amp that was 10 years old.

CD's? They 1st were release in 1982!

Still trying to invent speaker amps? I belive the 1st audiophile systems were 1st release in the 1950's!

What the hell are you talking about?



I believe Denon made the first production CDP in 1983... am I incorrect?
smily_headphones1.gif


and yes, obviously speaker amps have been around a lot longer than the R10... just like speakers have been around a lot longer than headphones (I believe).
 
Dec 22, 2001 at 1:02 AM Post #39 of 47
Hah! For $4000. I could be lying in a den in Bombay...

I regret not giving the R10s more attention. My first impression was that I might buy a pair if the price was below $1500., but now my mind is filled with doubt. One thing's for sure, it's a completely different animal from both the HD600 and the 501.

The R10s soundstage is more natural. Not really "neat" like the Senn and not really "wow" like the AKG. You definitely didn't hear the violins coming out of your left ear, at least not with the CD I was listening to. There was nothing showy that jumps out and hooks you.

The bass:
It's funny because the RKV filled out the AKGs bass nicely, but I still thought the R10s were just a tad weak in the lower range. In comparison, I think Senns have too much bass pretty much all the time, except for rock music.
 
Dec 29, 2001 at 10:41 PM Post #42 of 47
These headphones are a revelation. It's very very hard to criticize them. There isn't a single area in which they are inferior to other headphones I've owned.

The R10s are incredibly transparent, and will either really let your source and amp shine, or point out their weaknesses. I came THIS close to buying a used Cary CAD 300SEI for my R10s last week, but I pulled out at the last minute. I need to slow down and pay some bills! But I am absolutely SALIVATING at the prospect of the Cary amp with the R10s. Some day....

In the end, the real comparison is not between the R10 and other headphones, but between the R10 and high-end speakers.

One of the things we like to tell ourselves in our little headphone parallel universe is that our cans deliver significantly more value per dollar than speakers in terms of absolute sound quality. We say that our $350 HD600s are roughly equivalent to, I don't know, $1500 speakers. If that relationship holds, we might ask if the R10 delivers the same sonic value as $20K speakers. Having never bothered to listen to speakers that outlandishly expensive, I can't really say, but I highly, highly doubt it.

Good as the R10s are headphone listening for me is still a "second-class" musical experience. The instant I can afford a house of my own (many many moons from now), I assure you all, I will revert back to speakers.

In the meantime, I one happy headphone geek!

markl
 
Dec 29, 2001 at 10:57 PM Post #43 of 47
lol
R10's what you can say


lol

it's like trying to critize um... the Odessey Martin Logans

well maybe bad analogy

but when you get THAT high end

the only thing that you can say
is different amps have different personalites...

ENJOY the R10's
hey when you move into that house
sell me the r10
smily_headphones1.gif
 

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