[Catharsis]

Quote:

I usually use and work comfortably while mixing and tracking music with my Proline 2500s. Would the SA5000s be a worthwhile upgrade if I'm looking for a headphone that might be able to go toe to toe with Studio Monitors?

Is it clear and awesome for pops and clicks and all that stuff?  Yes.
 
Is it neutral / does it translate well to monitors?  I would say no.
 
Get DT880/K701/HD600 for that purpose. 

 

[customNuts]

Quote:

Is it clear and awesome for pops and clicks and all that stuff?  Yes.
 
Is it neutral / does it translate well to monitors?  I would say no.
 
Get DT880/K701/HD600 for that purpose. 

Can you tell me briefly how the sony would compare to k701?
 

 

[kiteki]

Eh, these have been selling in Japan at $600 USD for five years or so now.  A quick price check in over 100 online stores and the lowest price is currently ¥45,555.
 
Obviously for $200 it's a different version or a scam Lol, they are probably mass produced in a third world country or something.

 

[c540]

well, i received a message saying they shipped!

 
and then immediately was notified that my order was cancelled by the seller.

 
just called amazon and they confirmed the cancellation and refund because the seller was out of stock...so maybe some of you will still get yours.

 
 
 

 

[loganirado]

already sold out on buy.com
 
Quote:

They go for 195$ on buy.com...really nice price drop, wish my wallet could reach it.
 
http://www.buy.com/prod/sony-home-stereo-headphones-sony-home-stereo-headphones-mdrsa5000-mdr/q/loc/111/90145405.html

 

[Katun]

Don't worry for all of those who missed out. I have a feeling there will be quite a few of these popping up in the FS forums in the next few months...

 
But wow, I even forget they come with a nice display stand! That's a nice extra.

 

[WalkmanMan]

How do these compare to the F1's?
 
TIA

 

[Katun]

Quote:

How do these compare to the F1's?
 
TIA

Oh no. Please don't mention those. I have nightmares every time somebody says that word!

 
(This will be hard...) Well, the F1 will undoubtedly be more comfortable, but the SA5000 will eat the F1 for breakfast.
 
*NOTE* The F1's are the "#1" headphone I've been wanting to try for the longest time, due to their unheard of comfort!

 

[kiteki]

Yeah they come with a display stand and satin packaging, can you guys report back what colour satin you have and which country they're made in?
 
 
P.S. talking about insane $200 deals on 'phones, I just found this!! http://www.ecj.jp/U1301.doit?goods=833061&mk=1

 

[Catharsis]

Quote:

Can you tell me briefly how the sony would compare to k701?
 

If I may be purely objective although I have not heard the K701, it would seem that the K701 would have a much more forward midrange as opposed to the  dry midrange of the SA5000.  The SA5000 has good bass attack with it's mild 100hz hump, but the extension for low bass notes should be much more prominent on the 701.  My objective impressions of the MDR-SA5000 is that it is a very agressive, quick and bright headphone that forces you to take notice of it.  Regardless of the source material, the MDR-SA5000 is consistently "fast sounding", bright and cold.  The K701 being more neutral of the two, has less of a sound "signature" and should sound different depending on what you're listening to. 
 
Lastly, the 701 is much smoother in the upper midrange and lower treble relative to the K701 which is a much more realistic and natural in timbre (not to mention accurate to the source data).  The MDR-SA5000 has a unique colouration up top that seems to feed you upper midrange detail, while attenuating frequencies that would otherwise mask these details. 
 
FWIR, the K701 is still in the competition for one of the most analytical sounding headphones under $500 alongside the DT880 and the MDR-SA5000. 
 

 

[audiogamma]

I got one of the last ones on buy.com... what's a good recable for under $100? I know of APS, but don't want to pay as much for the cable as I paid for the 'phones.

 

[kiteki]

I've heard both k701 and SA5000.
 
Immediate impression is build quality, much much higher on sa5000, it's all metal and a very nice feeling of cold black leather against your face, k701 is like a dirty old carpet on your face and it's made almost entirely out of plastic.
Cable is better on the SA5000, comfort is better, packaging is better, etc. etc.
 
Sound quality they sound nothing alike, the frequency graph is no indication, I let a couple non-audio friends demo them and they thought the sA5000 had "better bass" but they preferred the k701 smoothness (it's very smooth) so it's a more 'pleasant' listen but not as lifelike and revealing as the sA5000.
I then fed some EQ and impulse responses into a bjork track and let them compare again, and then they preferred the SA5000.  Admittedly it's better at EQ and spatial effects, using impulse responses in foobar with the k701's was rather fruitless and not even half as interesting as on the sA5k's.
 
A note of warning is while the sA5k's can be excellent at imaging and soundstage if you feed them correctly, most of the time they're really up-front, and you can even feel like the vocalist is in your nose.  Sibilance, or should I say Pierce, are right up there in the danger zone, but I don't mind them at all, in fact I find the edge and definition really addictive, but at times you close your eyes and wince during a piercing vocal or electronic note that briefly resonates in your nasal cavity or somewhere in your head.
Bass is weak as in close to zero kick but it is _really_ high quality nonetheless, I mean the bass is there in all it's excellence but the bass is really about hearing rather than feeling, you never get a bass-kick or NNNNTHSSD note in your ear out of these 'phones, the only feeling you'll get from bass is in the vibrating leather around your ears.
 
Coming from the SA5k's, the k701 [to me] felt like I found a pair of headphones in an attic connected to a grammophone, they were like some vintage austrian things falling apart with a very smooth character as if I was listenig to vinyl or something.  The smoothness was really something imho and not like any I've heard before, but I kept noticing parts in the music where the details were missing which I previously heard, and I did side-by-side comparisons to confirm this, the SA5k's are better at revealing fine details especially in upper treble or fast accentuated sounds like a violin string or synthetic electronic tracks.
 
End note:  If you want to listen to ballads and feel all warm and fuzzy inside and you love a decayed smooth as carpet sound, k701.
 
If you want exclusive upper-highs and fine-fine detail revealing in a cold, dynamic, addictive experience while at the same time excelling in natural uplifting sound with the right source or eq settings, SA5000.
 
 
Side note:  SA5000's are my favorite headphone's I've heard, and I spent a limited time with the k701's, so of course my above opinions are tinted, but they are all true.
 

 

[Catharsis]

Quote:

I got one of the last ones on buy.com... what's a good recable for under $100? I know of APS, but don't want to pay as much for the cable as I paid for the 'phones.

 
Hmm....HD650 stock recable for that price.....cost me $80.
 
If there's one thing that's utter crap about the MDR-SA5000 it's the y-joint on the cable.  There are several threads on head-fi about the shoddy cable, and how you'll lose sound in one or both channels eventually.  Mine broke about 2 months after owning it and I had Alex recable it with a stock HD650 cable.  Guess what.....it sounds exactly the same as it did before. 
 
My 2 cents. 
 

 

[kiteki]

what Y-cable?  Lol.
 
edit:  and as if these would break, the strain-reliefs are like the best I've seen.

 

[dcpoor]

Quote:

what Y-cable?  Lol.
 
edit:  and as if these would break, the strain-reliefs are like the best I've seen.

so all the people that have had the cables on the SA5000 fail on them were lying and making stuff up.
good to know.