Sony MDR-V6, unchanged for 20 years and still kickin' ass?

[NukesGoBoom]

ive read the Sony MDR-V6 design has not been changed in over 20 years and there are MANY excellent, rave reviews of these cans on mainly amazon but also a few less popular places.

now i have found the reviews on headphonereviews.org and for some reason the Sony MDR-V6 is grouped into the reviews for the MDR-7506 which is very strange, mainly because the MDR-7506 is a completely different set of cans? when i read the reviews, i cant tell if the people are talking about the 7506 or not! its confusing, also the picture listed on the review page is for the 7506...

however, the Sony MDR-V6 are listed and recommended right on the front page of headphonereviews.org, does that count for anything here?

on amazon, i found they were suprisingly cheaper than i thought, $64 with no shipping (or not yet calculated). i did a search on pricegrabber, and the cheapest i found was 80$ including shipping. for once amazon is the cheapest here.

more recent cans like SENNHEISER HD555 go for around $110 or the Sennheiser HD-280 for $80, can these Sony MDR-V6 do as well? these seem to be the main cans for 60-110$ price range.

which of the 3 would be best for running? they all seem to be closed circum-aural which is GOOD for moving?

thank you for your time

 

[MaZa]

MDR-7506 is exactly same as V6, except MDR-7506 has gold plated plug IIRC. No difference in sound.

 

[sgrossklass]

Reportedly the current MDR-V6s (they had been discontinued for a while) don't sound quite as good as older ones; this was tracked down to the earpads being different. While we're at earpads, the more comfortable DT250 ones also fit.

 

[rodbac]

What Maza said, and I wouldn't personally say they "kick @ss"- they're just one of the better "under $100" phones is all.

 

[kramer5150]

They're OK... Nothing to get too excited over in the under $100 class. I'd take an SR60 or K240s over them, but thats just me.

They are SUPER durable though. I beat the snot out of those things for several years, replaced the pads once and they kept on going.

 

[NukesGoBoom]

thank you for pointing out that the MDR-7506 is the same thing as the MKD-V6 except it has a gold plated plug... same sound quality so thats all im concerned about.

good point about none of them being good for running. i wish i had more common sense. ear buds, true, would be good, but god oh how annoying they can become!

so im hearing that the MDR-V6 is mediocre now. im leaning more towards one of the nearest Sennheiser models.

i cant decide between the Sennheiser HD-280 at $82 or SENNHEISER HD555 at $108. the 280 look SO COOL but obviously looks are meaningless, only sound quality really matters, is the 555 really WORTH the extra?

but if looks were not important, if that were true then wouldnt most of us be using grado? LOL


thanks guys!

 

[mrdelayer]

I have the HD280. They're pretty alright for an entry-level headphone. Don't judge them out of the box. They require a looooooooooong burn-in time.

Not having heard the HD555, I cannot comment on it.

 

[LuckyKarma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NukesGoBoom /img/forum/go_quote.gif thank you for pointing out that the MDR-7506 is the same thing as the MKD-V6 except it has a gold plated plug... same sound quality so thats all im concerned about. good point about none of them being good for running. i wish i had more common sense. ear buds, true, would be good, but god oh how annoying they can become! so im hearing that the MDR-V6 is mediocre now. im leaning more towards one of the nearest Sennheiser models. i cant decide between the Sennheiser HD-280 at $82 or SENNHEISER HD555 at $108. the 280 look SO COOL but obviously looks are meaningless, only sound quality really matters, is the 555 really WORTH the extra? but if looks were not important, if that were true then wouldnt most of us be using grado? LOL thanks guys!

I'd go for the V6, I prefer it to both the HD280 and the HD555. It's a much more versatile set of cans.

edit: I missed that these were for running. In that case go for a pair of KSC75 or Yuin PK2! Unless you want to look like this:

 

[uraflit]

i wouldnt recommend closed circumaural cans for running.

try looking at earbuds/clipons instead

 

[LedZeppelin]

I have HD 280 and V6. yes, V6 is good for its price tag. I use HD 280 for classical, V6 for rest. V6 is not as comfy as HD 280, and sibilince in treble, it makes you tired after 3 hours listening. none of these is with HD 280, but HD 280 is too dark too polite in timber, you don't have feeling to involve in the music. for your price range, if you don't mind used one, go for HD 595. it kicks ass too.

 

[commando]

And that's why I listed them as the same on www.headphonereviews.org

I really like my 280s, I use them exclusively at home to listen to anything - dance, jazz, acoustic, etc.They need a good EQ, like foobar 2000 with auto-level button hit to enable subtractive equalization. I boost the bass a LOT, and tone done the harsh treble. With an EQ the bass goes very, very deep.

I've had mine 3 years or so, they've been treated *very* well, the headband is broken on top but they're still usable. For the price 3 years use is fine, for me. When I decide to replace them it'll probably be with V6, for a change.

I use A900 and like them better, but they're not portable at all. I use them at work but feel a little silly with the huge headband.

For running don't get headphones, get IEMs or earbuds. Creative EP630 is what I use - also recommended on headphonereviews.org

 

[tomjonesrocks]

Agree with earlier posters that if the purpose is running none of these choices will be that smart. I wouldn't even want to run with a portable closed like K81DJ, HP460, etc. -- although it is done.

KSC-75 is what I use for exercise but that will only work if you work out in a fairly quiet environment. In a 24-hour fitness or running on a busy road or whatever they wouldn't provide *near* enough isolation. But if you run in the morning and there isn't a lot of environmental noise happening they'd be $10 well-spent. If not I'd have to recommend canalphones or IEMs as others have.

To some earlier comments though I prefer V6 to SR60 mainly because the bass is far stronger and because the SR60 was way too fatiguing for my ears. I liked them but couldn't take them. Then again, there are people out there that say the V6 is fatiguing (they're not at all for me)--I guess every headphone works differently for people.

Now my V6s have been relegated for use soley with my guitar effects processor and they work quite well for that -- but I do think they're a strong overall choice for a first headphone to start with. It's a great thing to buy and then assess what kind of upgrade you want to make. There *are* people that buy V6s though and never buy anything else ever again.

K240 I haven't heard, but it *should* walk all over the V6--it's double the price.

 

[NukesGoBoom]

isnt it true, that the 555 has many of the same things as the 595 without the extras like replacable plug and other such things? or am i dead wrong? i believe i read that on indeed head-fi.org in some post.

ah! someone says the V6 is competitive with the 280 AND 555's? just when i was about to give up on them! impressive now im back to square 1 again!

ive always held a bitter hatred against buds because they fall out, i should probobly look for clips instead. CLIPS have to be the best for running, from what i have read. ive seen some pretty bad reviews on buds, pretty much every bud ive seen.

dude! 595's are like $200 smackers! again, i heard a rumor that the 555's were very similiar to the 595's, only lacking a few of the extra physical features, truth to this? like the replaceable cord and such.

yup the headband problem on the 280's, ive heard that EVERYWHERE, people say after a few months the headband just dies, nothing you can do. i heard some guy was happy with super glueing them back together or something, but man this headband issue is all over the place.

 

[Joshatdot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaZa /img/forum/go_quote.gif MDR-7506 is exactly same as V6, except MDR-7506 has gold plated plug IIRC. No difference in sound.

My very old V6's have a much more "golden" or warm sound, and my newer 7506's have a slight siblent sound.

 

[MaZa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshatdot /img/forum/go_quote.gif My very old V6's have a much more "golden" or warm sound, and my newer 7506's have a slight siblent sound.

But I guess that is because of age difference? And perhaps that is because of different production country?