Tom's Views

I owned the  Sony MDR-7509 headphones  for about a year, and played them with many CD players and headphone amps.  So let me review them here because I found them to be pretty fair audio devices in several aspects.  The MDR7509 headphones appear to be very similar to the MDR-V500 and MDR-7506 units I’ve previously owned and reviewed elsewhere in this blog.  But there are some big differences that I generally found to be improvements.  Thus, the following:

The  MDR7509  headphones offer quite possibly the best sound of any headphone pair in their price class.  These are a couple steps up from the MDR-7506 units, and the seem to do just about everything a little better as a result.  They repeat high frequencies with crystal clarity, and seem to favor the low bass frequencies. I’ve used them with portable CD players on several train trips and found them comfortable enough to sleep by.  So to me, the Sony MDR-7509 headphones are likely the best-sounding for the cost that I’ve ever owned (with the possible exception of the Sony MDR-V500s), and I’ve owned many headphones from Sony, Koss, Grado, Sony, and Apple over nearly the past four decades.  Their sound comes close to that of the Sennheiser HD-600 headphones, but these are significantly cheaper.

I found little to gripe about in the MDR-7509 headphones, as it looked as though Sony had improved the ear cushions over the MDR-7506 headsets, so as not to deteriorate so quickly and make such a flaky mess.  The pair I had were used but the cushions showed no signs of wear or degradation. Still though, replacements are still available if needed.

So if $150 to $250 is in your price range for a quality pair of headphones, then I’d highly suggest the Sony MDR7509 headphones.  For this money, you get a fairly flat frequency response and a durable pair of quality audio head gear.

Benefits Of The Sony MDR-7509 Headphones

• These headphones, like the smaller MDR-7506 version, sport foamy, soft ear cushions, coated with a thin, resilient black film that gives them a soft, leathery texture that enhances the comfort level of the MDR7509 headphones.
• The ear cushions have oval-shaped openings that allow them to work well as an ear-surrounding design.  Now everything about these phones is significantly enlarged as compared to the MDR-7506 units.  So the openings in these earphones are quite a bit bigger and a bit deeper as well. The MDR-7509 headphone fit completely over my ears with room to spare.  Therefore, the inner edges of the leathery cushion rims never touch my ears when wearing them as long as I’ve adjusted them properly.
• The rear wall inside the ear cups (the front of the driver speaker) touched my ear but not as heavily as the MDR-7506 phones did.  But again with the overall softness of these cushions and the cloth that covers the driver, this never interfered with long and comfortable listening periods for me.
• These Sony stereo headphones offer fold-able ear pieces.  These retract up inside the headband that shrinks the size of the overall unit down to a significantly reduced size.
• The MDR-7509 headphones are a bit heavier than I was accustomed to.  While they’re about an ounce heavier than the Sennheiser HD-650 headphones (my all-time favorite headphones to date), the MDR-7509 earphones are light enough still, for great comfort. They offer a wide enough range of headband and phone angle adjustments, that they do not press excessively hard against my eyeglasses.   Thus, I never need to remove the glasses while wearing them.
• The headband itself on the MDR-7509 includes malleable stuffing as well that raises overall comfy ness.  Sony coated the wide and flexible headband with a black, shiny material that closely approximates the sheen of the ear cushions.  Like all the headphones in the Sony line that I’ve tried, the MDR-7509 headphones indeed feel as comfortable as they sound good.
• The MDR-7509 headphones are black with silver trim.  They sport a blue and gold “Professional” sticker on the back of each phone just like the MDR-7506s do.  This gives them a undemanding yet lustrous and modern hi-tech fascia.
• They can play quite loud without noticeable distortion, with the wide dynamic range over most of the audio frequency band.  This suits them particularly for widely-varying musical volume levels, such as classical music exhibits.
• For listing to the more constantly-loud pop music, the MDR-7509 headphones can play loud enough to pain my ears without fidelity loss.
• While the connecting audio cable cannot be unplugged from the unit, replacement goes easily with a screwdriver, cutters, a soldering iron, and the skills to use each.
• I found the MDR7509 headphones moderately light; especially after having adapted to wearing the Koss Tech 2 headphones throughout the eighties.
• Thus, I could wear the MDR-7509 headphones for hours at a stretch without discomfort.  The music you’re listening to will bug you before these headphones themselves will.
• New cables can easily be found from numerous Internet vendors.
• The MDR-7509 headphones can be worn with equal comfort either way (left earphone on left ear, or left earphone on right ear).  The angle adjustment on each earpiece probably accounts for this nice feature that I utilize when hearing those cheaper hit compilation CDs, where the stereo left and right channels are mastered backwards from the originally-mastered recordings.
• The MDR7509s reduce surrounding noise pretty well for moderately quiet environments, which is a useful feature of their closed-air design. A metal back plate boxes in the driver speaker in each earpiece, and this helps keep generated sound inside and ambient outside noise out.
• Thus, there’s little audio spill from the MDR-7509s.  So, these are a good choice to listen to when other close-by people wish not to be bothered.
• The MDR-7509 headphones seem quite tolerant of ill-treatment.  I’ve often dropped them on hard tables when done listening, with no bad effects.  They’re not fragile, and so, hold up well in violent listening environments such as studios, DJ gigs, and mobile settings.
• I never got to try these with an iPod, and so cannot comment about how well one would drive the MDR-7509 headphones.
• You may need to cut back the bass response of these Sony stereo headphones a bit with an equalizer.  While they sound pleasant with “flat” music sources, they do tend to thump and boom a bit in the extremely low-end bass range. But this can easily be compensated for with minor adjustments to the equalizer.
• These phones come with gold connectors.

What I Dislike About The Sony MDR-7509 Headphones

As mentioned, I found none too much to legitimately complain about in the MDR7509 headphones.  But here are several gripes I did think of:

• The cables are not as easy to replace as they would have been if made detachable.
• As mentioned, these Sony stereo headphones seem to favor the low bass frequencies somewhat, and this can make my ears hurt a little after prolonged listening.

To sum this all up: I felt that the   Sony MDR7509 headphones   were a good value for the money. These lack none of the features that I expect from a truly great pair of headphones, though perhaps some of them could be improved a bit.  Nonetheless however, I would again buy the MDR-7509.  I only sold them before because I needed the money and already owned the Sennheiser HD-650s.

I’ll add any new information I discover to this post as it comes in, about these earphones.

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

• Other Stereo Headphones Reviews
• Sennheiser HD-650 Headphones Review
• Sony MDR-7506 (MDR7506) Headphones Review
• Sony MDR-V500 (MDRV500) Headphones Review
• Sony MDR-V700 (MDRV700) Headphones Review

References

• Sony MDR-7509 Headphones   on CNET

I owned the  Sony MDR-7506 headphones  for five years.  So I’ve played them with many CD players, headphone amps, iPods, mixing boards, and stereo receivers.  So let me review them here because I found them to be exceptional audio devices in numerous aspects.  The MDR760s headphones appear to be very similar to the MDR-V500 units I’ve also owned and discussed here.  So just about anything I said about the MDR-V500s, also applies to the MDR-7506s.  Thus, the following:

The MDR7506 headphones offer quite possibly the best sound of any headphone pair in their price class.  They image the high frequencies with crystal clarity, and are sparing on the heavy bass; especially once you’ve adapted to listening to the Sennheiser HD-650s.  But the bass level can be adjusted through an equalizer.  Actually, the reduced bass output makes these phones quite nice for iPod listening, since iPods tend to be heavy on the bass anyhow.  I’ve used them with iPods on many a train trip and found them comfortable enough to sleep by.  So, as I see this, the Sony MDR-7506 headphones are likely the best-sounding for the cost that I’ve ever owned (with the possible exception of the Sony MDR-V500s), and I’ve owned many headphones from Sony, Koss, Grado, Sony, and Apple over the past three plus decades.

Given how little these cost, I found little to gripe about except that the ear cushions expire quickly (after only two years).  I’ve had to replace them on my set several times now because they begin shedding bits and pieces of the fake leather coating on them.  But replacements can be had for roughly $10 a pair on eBay and directly from Sony.  So this drawback is minor at worst.

So if $50 to $100 is all you’d wish to spend on a respectable pair of earphones, then I’d highly suggest the Sony MDR7506 headphones.  For that money, you get a fairly flat and durable pair of quality audio head gear.

Benefits Of The Sony MDR-7506 Headphones

• These headphones sport foamy, soft ear cushions, coated with a thin, resilient black film that gives them a soft, leathery texture.  This further enhances the comfort level of the MDR7506 headphones.
• The ear cushions have oval-shaped openings that allow them to work well as an ear-surrounding design.  However, these openings are rather small, such that my ears just barely fit inside.  Therefore, the inner edges of the leathery cushion rims always touch my ears when wearing them.  This might be a problem with other phones, whose ear cushions are not as soft as those in these MDR-7506s.  But this causes little discomfort with this studio monitor grade headset.
• These silky soft ear pads are medium sized in circumference, but not terribly deep.  Thus, the front of the driver speaker touches my ear.  But again with the overall softness of the ear cushions and the cloth that covers the driver, this does not interfere with comfortable listening for long periods for me.
• The MDR-7506 headphones are not heavy at all.  In fact, they’re light enough, and offer a wide enough range of headband adjustment, that they do not press too hard against my eyeglasses.   Thus, I never need to remove the glasses while listening.
• The headband itself on the MDR-7506 headphones includes spongy padding as well that further enhances overall comfort, and matches the sheen of the ear cushions.  These phones indeed feel as comfortable as they sound good.
• The MDR-7506 looks like it sounds, yes.  It’s black with silver trim with a blue and gold “Professional” sticker on the back of each phone.  This gives them a simple yet sleek and modern hi-tech facade.
• The MDR-7506 headphones offer foldable ear pieces.  These retract up inside the headband that shrinks the size of the overall unit down to a small enough size, that it fits in the included black pouch for safe keeping.
• The MDR7506 headphones can play satisfactorily loud, with the wide dynamic range over most of the audio frequency band.  This makes them particularly suited for widely-varying musical volume levels, such as those found in classical music.
• For listing to the more constantly-loud pop music, the MDR-7506 headphones can play loud enough to sting my ears without any noticeable gain in distortion or loss in fidelity.
• While the connecting audio cable cannot be unplugged from the unit, replacement is not terribly difficult with a screwdriver, cutters, and a soldering iron.
• I found the MDR7506 headphones tremendously light; especially after having adapted to wearing the Koss Tech 2 headphones for more than a decade. They’re even lighter than my Sennheiser HD-650 phones, and I thought those were light.
• Thus, I could wear the MDR-7506 headphones for hours at a stretch without discomfort.  The music you’re listening to will wear you out before these headphones exhaust your ears.
• New cables can easily be found from numerous Internet vendors.
• The MDR-7506 headphones can be worn with equal comfort either way (left earphone on left ear, or left earphone on right ear).  The angle adjustment on each earpiece probably accounts for this nice feature that I utilize when hearing those cheaper hit compilation CDs, where the stereo left and right channels are mastered backwards from the original LP or single versions.
• These MDR7506 Sony stereo headphones reduce surrounding noise adequately for moderately quiet environments, which is a useful feature of their closed-air design. A metal back plate boxes in the driver speaker in each earpiece, and this helps keep sound both in and out.
• Thus, there’s not much audio spill with the MDR-7506s.  So, these are a good choice to listen to when other people are close by and wish to be undisturbed.
• The MDR-7506 headphones, despite their lightness, seem quite forgiving of abuse.  I’ve often dropped these earphones on the table or floor when done listening, with no ill effects.  They’re not fragile, and thus, hold up well in rough listening environments such as studios, DJ gigs, and travel settings.
• An iPod drives the MDR-7506 headphones quite well.
• You need not use an equalizer to trim down the bass response of the MDR7506 headphones.  They sound pretty fine with “flat” music sources without such audio alterations being necessary. While a trifle strong on the mid-range audio, they’re not so bad that they require an equalizer; though an equalizer does make them sound really spectacular when you lower the mid-range just a little.

What I Dislike About The Sony MDR-7506 Headphones

As I mentioned earlier, given how cheaply priced these headphones are, I found none too much to legitimately complain about in them.  But here are several gripes I managed to scratch out after considerable effort:

• These phones are not equipped with gold connectors.
• The cables are not as easy to replace as they would have been if made detachable.
• The MDR7506 ear cushions begin flaking and pealing only a year or two after purchase.  They’ve left little black specks in my hair and ears.
• As mentioned, the MDR-7506 headphones seem to favor the mid-range frequencies somewhat, and this can make my ears ring a little after prolonged listening.

To sum this all up: I thought the   Sony MDR7506 headphones   to be a great purchase for the money as well as my particular listening purposes. The MDR-7506 unit lacks only a small number of the features that I expect from a truly great pair of headphones.  So I would happily procure them again if needed.

I’ll add any new information I discover to this post as it comes in, about these earphones.

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

• Other Stereo Headphones Reviews
• Sennheiser HD-650 Headphones Review
• Sony MDR-7509 (MDR7509) Headphones Review
• Sony MDR-V500 (MDRV500) Headphones Review
• Sony MDR-V700 (MDRV700) Headphones Review

References

• Sony MDR-7506 Headphones   on CNET

I owned the  Sony MDR-V500 headphones  for fifteen years.  So I’ve used them with numerous and varied CD players, iPods, mixing boards, headphone amps, and stereo receivers.  So let me review them here because I found them to be exceptional audio devices in numerous aspects.

The MDRV500 headphones offer probably the best sound of any unit in their price class.  They reproduce the high frequencies clearly, not too strong on the bass, especially once you’ve adapted to listening to the Sony MDRV500.  But the bass level can be regulated with an equalizer.  Actually, the reduced bass output makes these phones quite suitable for iPod listening, since iPods tend to be heavy on the bass anyhow.  I found the Sony MDR-V500 headphones to be the best-sounding for the cost that I’ve ever owned, and I’ve owned many headphones from Sony, Koss, Grado, Sony, and Apple over the past 35 years.

Given the relatively cheap price for the Sony MDR-V500 headphones, I didn’t find too much to gripe about in them, except that the ear pads wear out rather quickly (after only two years).  I’ve had to replace them on my set several times now.  But replacements can be gotten for roughly $10 a pair.  So this deficiency is a minor one at worst.

So if $50 to $100 is all you’d want to spend on a decent pair of earphones, then I’d highly recommend the Sony MDRV500 headphones.  For that cost, you get a fairly flat and durable pair of quality audio head gear.

Benefits Of The Sony MDR-V500 Headphones

• I found the MDRV500 headphones extremely light; especially after having adapted to wearing the Koss Tech 2 headphones for more than a decade prior. They’re even lighter than my Sennheiser HD-650 phones.
• Thus, I could wear the MDR-V500 headphones for hours at a stretch without discomfort.  The music you’re listening to will wear you out before these headphones fatigue your ears.
• These headphones sport foamy, soft ear cushions, coated with a thin, highly flexible black film that gives them a soft, leathery feel.  This further enhances the comfort level of the MDRV500.
• The ear cushions have oval-shaped openings that make them work well as an ear-surrounding design.  However, these openings are rather small, such that my ears just barely fit inside.  Thus the inner edges of the leathery cushion rims always touch my ears when I have these on.  This might be a problem with other phones whose ear cushions are not as soft as those in these MDR-V500 headphones.  But this causes no discomfort with this studio monitor grade headset.
• The silky soft ear cushions are medium sized in circumference, but not terribly deep.  Thus, the front of the driver speaker touches my ear.  But again with the overall softness of the ear cushions, this does not interfere with comfortable listening for long periods for me.
• The MDR-V500 headphones are light enough and offer a wide enough range of headband adjustment, that they do not press too hard against my eyeglasses.   Thus, I need not remove my glasses at all while listening.
• The headband itself on the MDR-V500 headphones includes spongy soft padding as well that further enhances overall comfort.  These phones indeed feel as comfortable as they sound good.
• The MDR-V500 looks like it sounds too.  It’s black with silver trim with a red and gold “Digital” sticker on the back of each phone, that gives them a modern, hi-tech appearance.
• The MDR-V500 headphones offer “retractable” ear pieces.  These can fold up inside the headband that shrinks the size of the overall unit down to a small enough size to fit in the small black pouch that’s included.
• The MDRV500 headphones can play sufficiently loud, with the wide dynamic range over most of the audio frequency band that I can hear.  This makes them particularly suited for widely-varying musical volume levels such as found in classical music.
• For pop music listening, the MDR-V500 headphones can play loud enough to hurt my ears without any noticeable gain in distortion or loss in fidelity.
• While the connecting audio cable is not detachable via unplugging it, replacement is not terribly difficult.
• New cables are readily available as well from numerous Internet vendors, even today, nearly two decades since Sony introduced the MDRV500 headphones.
• These Sony stereo headphones can be worn with equal comfort either way (left earphone on left ear, or left earphone on right ear).  The angle adjustment on each earpiece probably accounts for this nice feature that I utilize when hearing those cheaper hit compilation CDs, where the stereo left and right channels are mastered backwards from the original LP or single versions.
• The MDRV500s reduce surrounding noise pretty well, which is a feature the closed-air design that they employ. They use a metal plate that boxes in the driver speaker in each earpiece, and keeps sound both in and out.
• Thus, there’s not much audio spill with the MDR-V500s.  These are a good choice to listen to when other people are close by and do not wish to be disturbed.
• The MDR-V500 headphones, in spite of their lightness, seem quite forgiving of abuse.  I’ve often dropped these earphones on the table or floor when done listening.  They’re not fragile, and thus, hold up well in rough listening environments such as studios and DJ gigs.
• An iPod drives the MDR-V500 headphones quite adequately.
• There’s no need to use an equalizer to cut down on the bass response of the MDRV500 headphones.  They sound pretty good with “flat” music sources indeed. While a bit strong on the mid-range audio, they’re not so bad that they require an equalizer, though one does make them sound spectacular when you lower the mid-range a bit.

What I Dislike About The Sony MDR-V500 Headphones

As I said above, given how cheaply priced these headphones are, I really can’t find to much to legitimately complain about in them.  But here are several gripes I managed to scratch out:

• The MDRV500 ear cushions begin flaking and pealing only a year or two after purchase.  They’ve left little black specks in my hair and ears.
• These phones are not equipped with gold connectors.
• The cables are not as easy to replace as they would have been if made detachable.
• The MDR-V500 headphones seem to favor the mid-range frequencies somewhat, and this can make my ears ring a little after prolonged listening.

To summarize: I found the   Sony MDRV500 headphones   to be decent for my listening purposes. The MDR-V500 unit lacks only a few of the features that I expect from a truly great pair of headphones.  So I would definitely purchase them again.

I’ll add any new information I discover to this post as it comes in, about these earphones.

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

• Other Stereo Headphones Reviews
• Sennheiser HD-650 Headphones Review
• Sony MDR-7506 (MDR7506) Headphones Review
• Sony MDR-7509 (MDR7509) Headphones Review
• Sony MDR-V700 (MDRV700) Headphones Review

References

• Sony MDR-V500 Headphones    on CNET
• Sony MDR-V500 Headphones   specifications