Sony’s authentic MDR-7506 mannequin might as effectively be etched onto the Mount Rushmore of wired studio headphones. The easy black cans with the blue sticker are comparatively impartial sounding, constructed to take a beating, they usually’re shockingly inexpensive at solely $100 retail. These items have mixed to make them a staple of studios all over the world for many years. I’ve been rocking the identical pair for about eight years and, apart from having to exchange the earpads a few years again, they’re nonetheless going robust.
What the 7506s will not be, nevertheless, are premium studio screens. They’re a bang-for-your-buck proposition. Adequate for many conditions however usually outclassed by dearer {hardware}. With the brand new, $250 MDR-M1, Sony is trying to play on the larger finish of the market.
These are pro-grade studio headphones via and thru, however they borrow closely from what has made the 7506s so enduring. For those who’re a musician, audio skilled, or simply somebody trying to get extra out of your music, the brand new mannequin take all the pieces we love concerning the cheaper mannequin up a notch.
Correct Studio Headphones
a frequency response chart of the MDR-M1s subsequent to the MDR-7506s doesn’t instantly reveal a lot; they each have barely boosted low finish with a dip round 4K within the midrange. For those who’re acquainted with the nice and cozy however nonetheless vivid sound signature of the unique mannequin, these do this factor however with much more readability.
{Photograph}: Terrence O’Brien
The largest distinction is that the M1s have a a lot higher general vary than the 7506s. The M1s will share much more audio at each the excessive and low ends; The place the 7506s have a frequency response of 10 Hz to twenty kHz, the M1s declare a spread of 5 Hz to 80 kHz, which is effectively past the vary of human listening to in each instructions.
This prolonged vary interprets into higher sound at both finish of the spectrum. A port helps management bass and preserve issues from getting too muddy within the low finish. I discover transients on devices within the decrease register a contact sharper with M1s, and on the excessive finish issues are crisp with out ever getting overly vivid—a criticism I’ve heard lodged in opposition to the 7506s occasionally.
{Photograph}: Terrence O’Brien
