[MontyPythizzle]

Just kidding, these things suck.
They sound like a pillow between them and my head....

HD485s are being RMAd because I was being a little rough when messing with the pads and broke a clip that the frame attaches to that holds the driver screen and holds the pads to the frame.
Mailed them today, killing myself tomorrow.

BUT!!!!
Good news, got a Pioneer VSX-401 receiver, has a nice ~10-band EQ on the front, with LIGHTS on the sliderS!!!
Guess why I only got it for 5 dollars? Both the A and B channel buttons were set to on... Came with remote too! Seems to have some pretty good power, but not nearly as clean as my Onkyo HT-R530, could just be the cheap headphone output from my AV-710 and cheap interconnect. (Onkyo usually hooked up optical)

 

[MontyPythizzle]

EDIT: Got the Alt. Out from the AV710 working, and boy does this receiver sound great, about the same OR BETTER quality than the DAC in my Onkyo HT-R530!!!!
Boy these MDR-V150s STILL SUCK TEH ARSE.
Wish my Marshmallow's cord was longer...

 

[MontyPythizzle]

Do you really want me to give a review on these ... things...?
Ok. since I am bored out of my goddarn mind I will make a short review that will blow your minds and defy everything you know about headphone reviews.

Sony MDR-V150

Cons: I bought them.

Sound muddy, even with the 31-band EQ on Foobar with Wolfsen DAC on AV710 to Pioneer VSX-401.

Bass????? Nope. They distort at any volume besides mouse level.

Mids????? Um, I can make out the words, I guess these would be GREAT for listening to the debates.

Highs????? Highs are drown out by the muddy and lacking bass, even with EQ enhancements. With now EQ they sound like I just mutilated a tin can and started tapping it with a rock.

Pads hurt my ears when headband is on small setting.

Pros: They look awzum and make me look coo wit teh broz.
I only wasted 17 dollars on them at Newegg.
Heard they can be modded with KSC75 drivers.


End of review but more below, and great reading material:

I actually BOUGHT these 2 times. First time in about 2002 I thought they sounded GREAT with my ole Sony handheld Walkman radio, and even better with my Sony PCDP. Second time I broke a headset I had and just used these with a microphone. I then got my Logitech over the head headset back and thought "WOW these sound AMAZERING compared to those Sonys", and just used those.

My buddy had some HD485s that I thought looked goofy and thought the whole "wasting" money on the headset scene was gay, and wasn't really worth it. I then traded him a processor and a power supply for them and was just AMAZERED again by the sound of them. Even with just the AV710 amping them from the headphone port they sounded AMAZERING, and boy I just had to try these on my Onkyo receiver with the optical out from the AV710, and boy they sounded FVSCKING AMAZERING AGAIN!!!!
Then I started the whole FLAC thing.... my music server's HDD is crying now.
Going from 80-100MB per CD to 500MB was just amazing, in size AND quality

 

[adanac061]

sony V150's [size=small]THE WORST HEADPHONES EVER[/size]...:

..I'd rather marry a pair of skullcandy.!!

 

[MontyPythizzle]

I mean the whole package looks nice, the silicon-ish cable, the nicely terminations by the cups and plug, but the drivers are just LACKING.
It sounds nice on some songs, but there are very few of those songs, and I am willing to bet a whole lot that my HD485s blow the crap out of these on those songs.

I will sadly probably have to settle for the SR-80s since they are going to end up WAY cheaper than the MS-1s and have the bowl cups, and after being PLEASURED by the circumaural love of the HD485s I don't think I could feel right with the flats on the MS-1s.

Ugh, a bass heavy song just came on, pray for me guys.

Sennheiser support said it was going to be 2 weeks either for the status of my RMA, or them coming back to me. Great, I will probably have to break in another pair.

Even amped these Sonys sound like uber shiz, imagine un-amped no bass, and low treble

 

[MontyPythizzle]

Good thing I bought some Koss' at the same rummage sale as I got that receiver, they sound a bit better, but no HD485s. They are however a close match in drivers to the Sonys.
The driver diaphragms are about identical, but the frames that hold the driver are VERY similar, but the Koss' are a little bit bigger, are the KSC75s an exact fit? If so these Sonys would probably be some pretty good closed cans.

 

[Nagasaki_Kid]

you have a sony v150 and some koss do this http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=122127

 

[MontyPythizzle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nagasaki_Kid /img/forum/go_quote.gif you have a sony v150 and some koss do this http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=122127

Just need some hotglue then I may just dremel the ole Koss driver frame to fit, a little sanding and they will fit perfectly.

 

[JamesHuntington]

Ok. I got to stick up for these. I use mine while I'm sleeping, every night, and they've physically held up for about 8 months now. I can't see sleeping with more expensive phones because these are pretty thin and cheap to replace. I play them very low and I can still hear tons of detail using My Sangean CC radio. Another good quality of these is when I'm listening to TV at night with a 20 ft cable and laying in bed, the detail is very good. Try them in your TV and you will see. I use a Digital Stream signal converter and an antenna. Compared to my Grado sr 60 and my AKG K701, they suck ass, and I really can't recommend using them unless you are worried about ruining your good phones. 

 

[Raguvian]

Oh god I had V150's throughout high school. I can't believe I used them until college, but then again I thought I was so hip and kewl for being the only kid in school with on ears instead of the white iBuds.
 
I actually think the V150's are worse than the current iBuds. Still, even though they were built terribly, they held up to a crazy amount of abuse, including biking and being thrown into my backpack and then being squished with books.
 
I couldn't believe how bad they were when I finally got my MDR-V6's and compared them.

 

[burnliff]

You sleep with them on? Just get a pair of earbuds!

 

[JamesHuntington]

I tried ear buds, but they pull out constantly. Most of the time I pull the V150's off my ears when I'm in deep sleep, but they still stay on my head. Buds come out constantly, even before i fall asleep, and this angers me, making it harder to sleep. There may be another way, a better way, but I sleep like a baby and fall asleep even listening to Death Metal. Lately I've been turning them up a little more before bed, I go to sleep pretty quickly and I still wake from a full nights sleep to my talk radio in the morning. 

 

[Raguvian]

Quote:

I tried ear buds, but they pull out constantly. Most of the time I pull the V150's off my ears when I'm in deep sleep, but they still stay on my head. Buds come out constantly, even before i fall asleep, and this angers me, making it harder to sleep. There may be another way, a better way, but I sleep like a baby and fall asleep even listening to Death Metal. Lately I've been turning them up a little more before bed, I go to sleep pretty quickly and I still wake from a full nights sleep to my talk radio in the morning. 

Try something like the Shure SE series or UM3x if you want to fall asleep with headphones on. I've slept with my SE215's on a lot and since they don't stick out of your ear they don't cause any discomfort when you put your head on your pillow.
 

 

[Lurkumaural]

Quote:

I actually think the V150's are worse than the current iBuds. Still, even though they were built terribly, they held up to a crazy amount of abuse, including biking and being thrown into my backpack and then being squished with books.

I cannot agree that they are worse than current iBuds.  I've been using a year-old pair of buds that came with my iPhone, and have a drawer full of them of varying vintages.  I've bought the V150 a few times prior to starting my Head-Fi journey, and even once after starting.  They are an upgrade from stock buds in my opinion.  Check my profile, I've had some good purchases and some bad ones, and I keep the bad ones in there to demonstrate that I'm not one to dismiss headphones unless I've really given them an intent listen.
 
I'm not here to tell you you're wrong; if your experience is the opposite of mine, let it be known.  I just want the opposite experience to stand in this thread so anyone searching the forum for opinions can see there's some subjectivity.
 
I do agree that due to the design and build, they can break without much effort, but short of a metal yoke or gimbal piece, what else could one expect?  I've had a pair last forever in and out of my backpacks, and I've had a gimbal piece snap in two just wearing a backpack from point A to point B.  Because I like to tinker, I'd really like to explore a tubular metal gimbal to withstand abuse and to carry the right side wiring into the headband for single entry.
 
I do suppose I'm always going to have a pair of these because I like wearing them; maybe it is no longer a rational sort of attachment but an emotional one.  Perhaps the biggest favor I could do for the sound is a driver transplant and some acoustic mods so they are enjoyable to listen to.

 

[Cappuccino]

I think they don't sound too bad for $20 headphones. I mean, before head-fi, I had 4 of these things because I kept breaking them. The build quality is poor, especially the plug, which will bend and stay bent if you pull on it hard even once, but for $20, not too bad.