v900 for dj/studio use?

[skyskraper]

ok so im looking around to buy some new cans for studio work and dj'ing. so this means they have to be closed and tough as hell. now i was about to pull the trigger on the 7506's and pick them up but i noticed the v900's have come down in price to only 40% more then the 7506's. now in the past ive heard hugely great things about the 900's from dj's and producers. they say they have brilliant sound, quite flat response, and that they are nearly indestructable.

what are your takes on them? are they really a repackaged 7509 like ive been told? would i be better off saving some money and getting 7506's?

i currently use technics rpdj1200's that are on their last legs. looking for something that i wont need to replace in three years time...\

nb: the cans i get will be used with a variety of different sources. ranging from mackie mixers to behringer mixers to digidesign interfaces to m audio interfaces to urei dj mixers to pioneer dj mixers, so they need to be fairly versatile and consistent in their temperament with various sources....

 

[commando]

I wouldn't buy any of the MDR-Vx00 series after owning the horrible V700. You can surely do better, but i'll let others recommend strong cans: I don't have a lot of experience there. I do remember reading a guy said he had V6's for 10 years until his wife ran them over with her car!

 

[skyskraper]

ive been throught the ringer with the crappy v700's in the past too. however the design of the v900 is completely different and doesnt have the bunky swivel joints, piercing midrange with muddy bass, or overly sprung head band...

 

[nierika]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyskraper however the design of the v900 is completely different and doesnt have the bunky swivel joints, piercing midrange with muddy bass, or overly sprung head band...

I'm gonna have to disagree and say the v900s have the muddy bass with less bass extension than the V6/CD900ST.

 

[sugarkang]

the v900s, for djing at least, are far better than the v6.
the v6 are overly bright, and cannot reach high levels without distorting.
the v900s can go really high without distortion, which is really helpful if you're djing at a party or a loud club and need to hear yourself mix.

sound quality wise, i think it's far better balanced than the v6.
i've never heard the v700, but i really liked my pair of v900s.
i just sold them recently to a friend after owning them for 6 years.

reason? bought sennheiser 595s. i no longer dj.

 

[skyskraper]

sorry i should have made it more clear that i had *heard* it didnt have the bass and mid range issues of the 700. i have yet to have come accross a comparison amongst people i know and online (although havent really searched online YET) between the v6's and the 900's

nierika: would you advise away from them? or you simply feel that the 900's don't perform on par with the v6's?

sugarkang: so, no complaints from you with the 900's?

 

[sugarkang]

no complaints from the v900s?
i have a couple of minor ones:
1) when you try to "fold" them up, it feels like the hinge may break sometimes. i'm making it sound worse than it really is. if you're not a total idiot, you won't ever break them.
2) from what i recall, they are low impedance cans, but sound really weak driven by my soundcard or an ipod (3g). you'll need amplification in either scenario. on the other hand, i had an old sony boombox, and it was great out of that headphone out.
3) they are heavy. heavy of course is subjective, but much heavier than senn 595s.

sound wise, i really liked them a lot.
they are comfortable but not SUPER comfortable.
you will probably feel fatigued after 2 hours wearing them.

i never really wanted to sell them, but my friend was so hard up for my cans.
and then that gave me a reason to upgrade to the 595s. had he not wanted these, i would have never sold them, since i was never actively trying to sell them.

my opinion is that the bass is quite good. there is no extra boom in the 150-200hz range or anything, and hits really low. when i djed, i did trance and hip hop. when i listened to DJ quik saying "here's some bass in your face" it was low bass, and it actually hit like i was expecting it to. people can talk about neutral sound and hating on bassheads as much as they want, but if DJ quik says here's bass in your face, and you're getting really weak output, then i wouldn't call that an accurate headphone.

i'm not just a basshead hip hop head either. i had woofers in my car, and i do know what soggy, overbearing bass is all about. these cans are not that. they do EXTREMELY low bass accurately when listening to hip hop. my main music is acoustic, and indie rock, but i currently have a lot of thelonious monk and miles davis in my playlist. the v900 does it all very well. i am slightly biased towards bass, probably more so than the average head-fier. but lemme just say this... you know when you have an old cd, and it gets remastered? well, on the old cd, i'd turn up the bass. on the new remastered cd, i would leave it flat. i'm not a TOTAL basshead

the v900s are nice. don't let anyone tell you otherwise. try them for yourself, but make sure you're either amped or going through a decent headphone out. they're great for sealing out sound too. in fact too good. i couldn't hear my phone ring when i had them on, so that's another reason i went with the senn 595s.

i've heard both v6s and v900s extensively, and my opinion is that v6s really suck. most people on this board disagree with me though. so take that for what it's worth. most people on this board also think that audio cables make a difference in sound, which is absolute horse doo doo.

 

[skyskraper]

hrmm interesting. heavy is not so big a deal for me as long as theyre comfortable at the same time. on average theyd be used 30 hours a week. i dont find weight to be as big a deal as fit.

im trying to track down a pair to try (im in perth, western australia). but its a pain because the hifi stores sell open back sennheisers, music equipment stores want to sell me koss or numark headphones, and dj equipment stores want to sell me v700's or hd25's. they can't understand that i don't want open back headphones, i dont want numarks or koss's, i have used and disliked the v700's in the past, and that the hd25's are too uncomfortable to use. oh the traps of being in the most isolated capital city in the world....

 

[Imyourzero]

Ugh. I bought the V900's a few months ago and couldn't send them back fast enough. They did have some good qualities:

They ARE comfortable.
They ARE easily powered (they sure didn't sound weak from my Audigy 2).
They DO isolate well.
They DO go very loud without distorting (I never got mine to distort!)

However, they have an extremely colored, bass-heavy sound that I just didn't like. The V900's made songs bassy that shouldn't be bassy. The overemphasized bass makes them sound muddy like nierika pointed out. I don't see how you can put "V900" and "balanced sound" in the same sentance.

The V900's were my first "high end" set of headphones (the first headphones I ever owned that cost more than $30). I bought them because I game a lot on my computer and I was looking for a headphone with plenty of bass. Well, I certainly got that...but the downside is that they are not very good for listening to music due to all the bass. I wasn't a member of Head-Fi at the time but if I had been, I probably would have gone for the Beyer DT 770's for a headphone that does bass. I ended up buying Grado SR80's after sending the V900's back and the improvement in overall sound was incredible. Everything was much clearer and more detailed, and the constant bass exaggeration was gone. I was left with deep, tight, controlled bass which I preferred much more. I currently own the HD 580 and HD 595, both of which are far more balanced than the V900 and make listening to music a pleasure, not a chore.

Unamped, the HD 595 has more bass than the SR80's did but I've also found it to be a very revealing headphone. You had better have a good source and not be listening to low-bitrate MP3's with them...

 

[commando]

Rather than getting headphones that go really loud, perhaps try and get ones that isolate better, even if you have to mod some yourself. Tinnitus is stalking you...

On the plane a couple of days ago I wore earplugs and headphones, I just turned the headphones up a bit more. Worked well.

 

[nierika]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sugarkang i've heard both v6s and v900s extensively, and my opinion is that v6s really suck. most people on this board disagree with me though. so take that for what it's worth. most people on this board also think that audio cables make a difference in sound, which is absolute horse doo doo.

sugarkang I have also owned the V6s and V900s, and if you think the Sony V900 has extremely low bass you might as well think cables don't make a difference in sound!

skyskraper: The V900 might possibly be one of the worst purchases you could make for studio work. I used to own a pair and used them mainly for DJing. The bass is boomy with poor extension, and the quality I remember most is the reverb inside of the earcups that would make it seem as if you were listening to a delay of the mix. It's like a refined V600 (which are in need of a total overhaul, not a refinement). You can get the V6s for significantly less than the 7506s (around $70) and they are the exact same thing minus the gold plug. If you're willing to spend as much as you would spend on a pair of V900s, the Sennheiser HD 25-1 is the best DJ can available and a better studio monitor than any of the previously mentioned Sony cans (unless you don't want supra aural cups, which I usually can't stand but the replacement velour ear pads make them very tolerable). Most of the circumaural cans above $100 will have some kind of issue:

Ultrasone HFI-500 DJ1 - these might be an option
Beyerdynamic DT-250 - 80ohm has the rolled off highs and the 250 ohm isn't driven that well with DJ mixers
AKG K271 - picky with amplification and not sure if the form factor would work well with DJ use
Sony CD900ST - needs more amplification than most DJ mixers can provide

 

[commando]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nierika AKG K271 - picky with amplification and not sure if the form factor would work well with DJ use

I don't think they'd be durable enough myself.

 

[skyskraper]

ive got to run to school. thanks for the responses. very interesting indeed. perhaps i should bite the bullet and just seperate the functions of production and dj'ing.........

i wanted to try out the ultrasones but didnt have time last week when i was in melbourne, do many of you have experiences with these?

 

[Jasper994]

What about using an IEM?

 

[sugarkang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nierika sugarkang I have also owned the V6s and V900s, and if you think the Sony V900 has extremely low bass you might as well think cables don't make a difference in sound!

here is some reading for you:

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/...ples/index.php
http://sound.westhost.com/cables.htm

all of this reminds me of when my old roommate used to INSIST that there was a difference in taste between marlboro cigarettes manufactured in the US vs. those made in asia. he was absolutely positive there was a difference and that US ones were superior.

i blindfolded him, and he was ABSOLUTELY sure that the asian ones tasted better. hah.

the most cables can do is block out interference.
they do not somehow magically create better sound.
i suggest you blindfold yourself and have someone switch out cables.
also, you need to change your audigy as a source before you can state any opinions about "color"

with regard to the v900s being too bassy, it'd be better for skyscraper to test it himself. for DJing, there is no better headphone than the v900. they flip so you can hear in one ear, and they go much louder than the v6. as a strictly DJ phone it's going to be much more useful than the hd25 and v6.

for sound quality, yes other phones will be better. but keep in mind his ORIGINAL POST. he wants phones for DJing, and that would automatically leave out all open cans. 595s are useless for djing.