SONY MDR 7506 PROFESSIONAL HEADPHONES

SONY  MDR 7506  PROFESSIONAL  HEADPHONES

            There are literally thousands of different headphones on the market today.  Each has its own strengths and weakness, depending on the specific use and job that the headphones in question are being called upon to perform.  Today I am going to be reviewing a set of headphones that are good enough to enhance your music listening enjoyment at home, as well as also being considered to be adequate enough to handle semi-professional studio chores.  The headphones that I am talking about are the Sony MDR-7506 Professional Headphones.  Read on and see if thee headphones have some of the sonic characteristics that you might be interested in looking into the next time that you are auditioning a set of headphones for yourself.

            The Sony MDR-7506 Professional Headphones have a retail list price of $130.00, but they can easily be found selling at a discount for as little as $99.97 at many of the large national musical instrument chain stores or large electronics dealers. I shall now describe some of the characteristics and specifications of the Sony MDR-7506 Professional Headphones, as well as discussing some of their strengths and weaknesses.

            The Sony MDR-7506 Professional Headphones have a Frequency Response of 10 Hz. to 20,000 Hz.  This means that these headphones are able to handle frequencies between 10 Hz to 20,000 Hz without distorting.  Although most music instruments do not produce sounds above or below these frequencies, it is extremely important to be using a set of headphones that will not distort when one is trying to listen to musical passages over extended periods of time, as listening to distorted sounds can very easily fatigue a listener.  It is also important in a recording situation, as one does not want to erroneously think that a track was recorded with distortion, when in actuality it is the headphones themselves that are causing the distortion.

            The Sony MDR-7506 Professional Headphones have a flat versus sweetened frequency response.  Headphones or speaker systems that are used for home music listening often sound different from one set to another.  The reason for this is that many of these headphones or speaker systems are "sweetened" to make the music sound better.  This is achieved via an emphasis in the equalization of the bass and treble response, which makes the music sound fuller or brighter.  However, the Sony MDR-7506 Professional Headphones are flat and unsweetened.  This is important in a studio listening situation, as a flat frequency response permits a more accurate and precise comparison of sounds and levels between musical instruments.  Of course no real professional would ever consider completely mixing a tune using headphones alone, but it is important to use headphones in certain circumstances to get an idea of the balance and blend among different musical instruments and the vocals on a track that is being mixed, and in such circumstances, using a set of headphones that have a flat response is very important.  Using a set of headphones with a flat response is especially important to people who are making home recordings.  The listening environments in many home studio's are not ideal, and if a listening environment is not set up correctly, the sound one is hearing from even a good set of studio monitors can be misleading, specifically because of the acoustical environment the sound is being played in is not ideal.  As such, using a good set of headphones with a flat response can help to pickup on potential problems that might exist in a mix due to poor or inadequate listening room acoustics.

            The Sony MDR-7506 Professional Headphones have a circumaural closed ear design.  This means that the padding of the headphones encircles your ears and forms a seal.  The closed back design prevents sounds from leaking out of the headphones and feeding back into a microphone during live recording situations.  This design also prevents unwanted sounds from getting in to disturb your listening experience, and makes it potentially more enjoyable to listen to music in the home setting, as external noises are less apt to interfere with your enjoyment of the music you are listening to.

            The Sony MDR-7506 Professional Headphones have a folding design which allows for more compact storage.  Personally, I have never been a fan of headphones that have a folding construction design because over time the parts tend to loosen, and the headphones just don't seem to feel right after this process begins.  However, I have a friend who has had 6 sets of these headphones in his home studio for about 8 years, and not one of them has broken or experienced any significant problems due to the folding construction design.  Obviously, these are more ruggedly designed headphones than some others with a folding design construction.

            The Sony MDR-7506 Professional Headphones come with a cord that is 9.8 feet in length, and it is spiraled.  There are both good and bad points to a spiraled cable.  If you are using these headphones for home use, and always put them neatly in their protective soft case, well there should be not problems.  However, if you are in a studio situation, and there are other musicians around who are not as careful as you, a set of headphones with a spiral chord will somehow seem to find a way to get tangled up with other spiraled chords, and before you know it, you are doling with a mess of spaghetti and trying to separate all of the curly wires.  I so remember a frustrating situation that I encountered when I went to someone's home studio and they stored their headphones all together in one cardboard box.  The tangle of the curled wires was a real mess, and it sort of reminded me of the attack of the Giant Squid in 20,000 Leagues under the Sea.  While we are on the subject of wires, this is probably a good place to mention that the Sony MDR-7506 Professional Headphones come with a Stereo UniMatch Plug which permits you to quickly switch between a mini jack and a quarter inch jack.

            In listening to these headphones, I found that the Sony MDR-7506 Professional Headphones felt very comfortable, and they did a good job of isolating the music I was listening to from any other noises that were going on in the room.  The bass was punchy and clear, the highs were clear and undistorted, and the midrange frequencies were very accurate and well balanced. I compared the sound of the Sony MDR-7506 Professional Headphones to a mix I had completed using a pair of Yamaha HS80M powered monitors which are true studio reference monitors in the tradition of the famous NS10Ms, which I have usually found to deliver a very accurate reference for a mix.  I was impressed that the sound, the clarity, and the balance of instruments that I heard in the Sony MDR-7506 Professional Headphones were just about the same as the sound I was hearing through the Yamaha HS80M powered monitors.  To me, this was a very important finding.

            So who are the Sony MDR-7506 Professional Headphones best suited for?  If you are a person who wants to listen to recordings of music which are not colored or sweetened, then these phones are worthy of your consideration.  These headphones are also worthy of consideration for a person who has a home studio or semi-professional recording set up.  The flat response, and rugged construction of the Sony MDR-7506 Professional Headphones make them very suitable for home recording or semi-professional applications, and I dare say for some professional applications as well.

            Well I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my review, but now if you will excuse me, i must get back to my practicing.