[davidsdiego]

Has anyone done another recent comparison between the Sony MDR-7506 and MDR-V6? I recently obtained the MDR-V6 and I'm quite impressed with them. I believe they compare to my Grado SR225i; however, I know they are both different kinds of headphones.

 

[Doorbell]

  Has anyone done another recent comparison between the Sony MDR-7506 and MDR-V6? I recently obtained the MDR-V6 and I'm quite impressed with them. I believe they compare to my Grado SR225i; however, I know they are both different kinds of headphones.

Yes, well sort of. 
 
My 7506 are a little less than a month and a half old and my v6 are a couple hours old. 
 
Right off the bat the main difference is that the 7506 are sonically top heavy. Very bright but smooth. The bass is somewhat boomy at times but never consistent enough for me to think this headphones is balanced (you can probably blame this on shotty mixes). The V6 is flat. Thats basically it. Nothing special, just flat. The highs aren't fatiguing, the mids are a little grainy (burn in will probably fix this) and the bass is tight but not overwhelming. I'm not sure which I prefer. The 7506, because of the brightness, are lively and entertaining. The V6 on the other hand (so far) is more forgiving on bad mixes or albums plagued by the "loudness war".
 
Sorry to bump so many threads referring to the V6. I just like reading different peoples take on them. Everybody seems to have a different opinion on these headphones. 

 

[davidsdiego]

Yes, well sort of. 

My 7506 are a little less than a month and a half old and my v6 are a couple hours old. 

Right off the bat the main difference is that the 7506 are sonically top heavy. Very bright but smooth. The bass is somewhat boomy at times but never consistent enough for me to think this headphones is balanced (you can probably blame this on shotty mixes). The V6 is flat. Thats basically it. Nothing special, just flat. The highs aren't fatiguing, the mids are a little grainy (burn in will probably fix this) and the bass is tight but not overwhelming. I'm not sure which I prefer. The 7506, because of the brightness, are lively and entertaining. The V6 on the other hand (so far) is more forgiving on bad mixes or albums plagued by the "loudness war".

Sorry to bump so many threads referring to the V6. I just like reading different peoples take on them. Everybody seems to have a different opinion on these headphones. 

Thanks for the insight! Despite the terrible durability of the Sony MDR-V6 ear pads (mine ripped after a month), they are still great headphones.

I decided to invest in the Audio-Technica ATH-M40x and I hate to admit, that in my opinion, they are slightly better than the Sony MDR-V6. It seems the nuances in music are more prominent in the M40x.

I haven't tried the legendary Sony MDR-7506 or the newer Sony MDR-7510 yet.

 

[Tadgh]

-nvm-

 

[TreblaX]

Oh gosh I just finally had a listen to the MDR-7506... I can tell why they are used for mixing and mastering! But sadly, I got a headache within 3 minutes of listening. The treble is elevated, and makes details pop out, but also made vocals sound very thin with no body behind them. It works for some music types, but "answer to the master" by def Leppard was not enjoyable lol. There's a string of cymbal crashes that had me reaching for my volume controls to turn it down... When I EQ'd the treble down, it was an enjoyable experience. Comfort is above average, borderline amazing, and the build was a bit better than my K240's and UE6000. I'd say on par with my ATH-WS77. For listening to like... Electronic music it was good... Just do not listen to rock lol.

 






You should've bought Senal SMH 500/1000 (especially SMH 1000 if you want detachable cords)

Senal SMH 500/1000 is basically a sonically pain-free alternative to V6/7506.

I own the SMH 500, it only cost $39.

I took out the pads for cleaning and I noticed that the whole driver is covered with this paper-cloth hybrid material.  I think that material covering the whole front driver is what causes SMH 500 & 1000 to sound smooth & pain-free compared to V6/7506.

I didn't buy them. The DJ at the wedding I'm at is using them, so I asked to see them for 10 minutes before the dancing starts.

I can't find anything online about the annals. How does the smh 500 compare to the 1000? Are they really better than the mdr v6s? Any info about these would be awesome.

 

[maximuslt]

What do you think, should pay and buy MDR-cd900st ? The sound is much better ?

 

[LaCuffia]

I currently have the MDR CD900 st and I think it is much better than the 7506.  I didn't have the 7506 for very long, but it's thinner sounding than the 900.   The 900 doesn't fold like the 7506 but it's more comfortable though.   The clamping force is not tight like the 7506, and if you get the Yaxi ear pads from Japan (either protein leather or micro fiber), it's even better.   Those pads are a bit bigger and go over the ear.   So soft too. 
 
But it depends if you like a neutral sound.   The CD900 has a good low end though.  It's not light in that department like a lot of neutral headphones. 

 

[deafdoorknob]

me no like da 7506 >.<

It is definitely more a tool than a strictly linear headphone, esp the midrange which has a harsh sibilant colouration which gives voice a sort of telephonic quality.

and if you decide to switch pads, be sure to retain the fabric/foam pads of the original as they seem to make the mids more palatable.

it's very "medicinal"/clinical to me

 

[scrypt]

  why did so many studio engineers and producers use those headphones and those speakers?

 
East Coast veteran studio voles I've toiled with attribute the ubiquity of NS-10Ms to Bobby Clearmountain. Once revered for his impossibly successful mixes, he used to heft his own pair of speaks to every room he worked. Eventually, studio owners aped his taste and he was able to leave said speaks in his flat or possibly his manse (never been there myself; he might have resided in the Pittock Mansion for aught I ken).
 
I'm not sure who specifically popularized the V6, but they're still used in more studios than you'd imagine would tolerate their Silent-Hill-ready keening.
 
Reasons that everyone used the same equipment? I can think of two:
 
(1) Musicians and producers didn't like being surprised when they moved from studio to studio (or from their demo-strewn homes to studios in those days of physical media hoarders).
 
(2) Using the same equipment meant having the same point of reference in every situation. Owning better speakers meant not compensating for the curiously shrill yet boxy flava of the NS-10Ms, which would have spelled c-h-a-o-s to my fellow voles by violating the assembly-line consistency that people mistook for professionalism. 
 
Not to worry, of course; people have had to stop buying new pairs of those ebony/ivory speaks. Yamaha populated the world with so many of the bastards that the species of tree from which they were Eli Roth'd no longer exists.
 
Whinemeal, I still own B&W DM 602 S2s, which sound much better than the Yamahas but were the British equivalent in studios back when you were still the protein smoothie that your father nearly avoided wolfing down. But enough about our illustrious genealogies. Where's my grass-fed bratwurst?

 

[ds9kicks]

me no like da 7506 >.<

It is definitely more a tool than a strictly linear headphone, esp the midrange which has a harsh sibilant colouration which gives voice a sort of telephonic quality.

and if you decide to switch pads, be sure to retain the fabric/foam pads of the original as they seem to make the mids more palatable.

it's very "medicinal"/clinical to me

I just got a brand-new pair of these (7506), and they are definitely not flat. The post that I am replying to cites the midrange having a "harsh sibilant coloration", but I find that when people use vague descriptive-sounding words, they are substituting for lack-of-perception of distorted frequency response. So what he or she was referring to is the very ugly and huge boost in the upper midrange. I notice other posts earlier in this thread referring to this boost as well (in a far-more precise manner). These phones are unlistenable unless you turn the eq way down (like 15 dB) in this section around 2k. Also the upper bass is significantly elevated, not in a pleasing way. For now I'm going back to my V600s, which are far flatter, except that they need the bass turned way down (I have a 12 dB attenuation at 75 Hz, 2-octave bandwidth so it helps with the low-mids being too strong as well.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

For now I'm going back to my V600s, which are far flatter, except that they need the bass turned way down (I have a 12 dB attenuation at 75 Hz, 2-octave bandwidth so it helps with the low-mids being too strong as well.

I had the V600 and got rid of it after a short period of ownership. There was something in that headphone that made me want to you-know-what: Overblown upper bass response shelf that extended well into the middle of the midrange, making everything sound boxy and honky (this means that the entire 150 Hz to 1 kHz region is way overboosted). And the entire treble range is recessed quite severely in the pair that I had. In my case, no amount of EQing could have saved it.

Unfortunately, the major closed-back-headphone manufacturers are locked in the trend of making most of their products bassy and boomy, by emphasizing the mid- and upper-bass response that also bleeds well into the midrange as well. Not quite as severely as the old V600, but disturbing to me nonetheless.

As for the 7506, I still have a pair, but I admit that it has its flaws. It adds harshness to some (but not all) of the recordings that I frequently listen to.

 

[ds9kicks]

Yes I agree they need substantial eq. I could not fix they 7506s with eq, they are too horribly colored. It depends on whether you're using a parametric eq (like Equalizer APO), where you can set any frequency and bandwidth. Here's what I wrote in another thread:

Scratch a lot of what I said in a recent post (in this thread). I bought a new pair of 7506s thinking they would be an improvement over my V600s. They are not; the upper-mids are emphasized beyond belief. I found that what I needed was different eq settings for my V600s, which are now sounding fantastic driven by my Schiit Magni Heresy. But they need substantial eq: -8 dB at 95 Hz (2-octave bandwidth), +4 dB at 11.5k (1.5-octave bandwidth). I can finally crank my music without any listening fatigue. Very flat sounding after these adjustments, a far cry from the horribly-colored 7506s (formerly V6).

I'm using a brand-new pair I got on eBay for a substantial price due to them having been discontinued for quite a few years now (to replace my 20+-year-old pair)

 

[ScareDe2]

I am not super blown away by the V6, but in my sweet memories from the late 90s, my dad bought me a pair of headphones, and I think they were the 7506. I liked the sound of these, but the pads disintegrated, and I ended up throwing them in the trash can, lol. I was young. However, during the time I used them, I really liked them. I recall the sticker also came off, and they were foldable. I believe they were branded as Sony. So, the 7506 is my bet. I am probably going to try them again.

I recall the opening drum part of the song I Am One by The Smashing Pumpkins was pounding nicely.

I think I still have the V6 so if someone is interested in a trade PM me.