Sony Professional MDR-7506 Headphones Review

THE BASICS

Price: £72, 95 (Amazon)
Suitable for: Digital pianos, Guitars, Stereo systems, TVs, laptops, iPhones, iPods, MP3 players,iPads, most phones/tablets. (Anything with 3.5mm jack or 6.35mm jack)
Cord Length: 3 metres (oxygen-free copper litz wire)
Sound Quality: (frequency response) 10Hz-20kHz (impedence) 63 Ohms
Rating: ★★★★

 

    These headphones were actually a Christmas present however I wanted to let them run their course a little bit before actually reviewing them. My original intentions were to use them for my digital piano (as unfortunately not everyone appreciates Mozart at 7am…) however for reviews sake and to get a real appreciation for the quality of these headphones I’ve listened to them on my iPhone and laptop including a range of music and YouTube videos. I have to say these headphones really BEAT others on the market at a fairly reasonable price, pun intended. I do own a pair of Dr. Dre Beats headphones however I have to say I was extremely disappointed to find that they actually weren’t worth the money AT ALL. Beats headphones are extremely overrated, they have a huge advertising and marketing campaign and are renowned for their ‘look’ – you can just tell when somebody is wearing a pair of Beats headphones. Although my Beats aren’t the top of the range they are still an expensive music accessory and I’m not as impressed as I hoped to be! Anyway enough about Beats because I am actually meant to be reviewing the Sony Professional MDR-7506.
  Before jumping straight in and splashing the cash I feel it is important to DO YOUR RESEARCH. This is the key in finding the perfect pair of headphones whether the Sony MDR-7506 are the headphones for you or something else is more ideal, research is key. As I had a specific use in mind I simply started with a google search: ‘best headphones for Yamaha digital pianos’. I found an extremely helpful blog post (link here) that reviewed various pairs of headphones and it was easy to see which were most suitable to your budget without over complicating things with too many specialist technology terms. Once you think you’ve found a suitable pair look for reviews online and then look at the reviews on the place you’re buying from and other suppliers to get a good range of reviews. There is a point however where the amount of reviews can get ridiculous, you can scroll for hours getting a repetitive strain injury and find that one terrible review on page 47 – we’ve all been there. Don’t let a couple of bad reviews dishearten you, obviously it is more of a problem if there is a recurring problem with the headphones you are looking to buy as this may be a design/manufacturing fault. At the end of the day reviews are generally down to what the person is comparing it to. If previously they’ve been the owner to £300 headphones that feel like duck feather pillows on your ears, that transport you to some magical place with the solid bass and the crisp soprano notes then anything less than that just won’t be satisfactory. On the other hand if the person is used to those cheap, crappy earphones you can pick up from the pound shop (that we’ve all fallen victim to when your reliable earphones seem to miraculously disappear) then they are going to feel as though they have been transported to a completely new universe trying a more expensive set of ear candy. When investing in the Sony headphones I honestly spent a ridiculous amount of time scrolling through amazon reviews and read nothing but praise! I’m not disappointed at all, I don’t feel like any of the reviews were untrue or exaggerated in the slightest.

   Sound quality. We all know we want something that sounds good but what actually is sound quality? Sound quality is (according to Wikipedia) typically an assessment of the accuracy, enjoyability or intelligibility of audio output from an electronic device. So in simple terms we want our headphones to sound as good as possible and play back to us an accurate, detailed and defined version of the song we wish to listen to. So when we listen we want to be able to pick out the drum beat, bass line, guitar riff, synths etc etc. Even to an untrained musical ear we want to hear the definite sound of each instrument so that we hear what the composer heard when they played back their song in the studio. Obviously a variety of genres will benefit differently from this feature. I have to say I think the sound quality of the Sony MDR-7506 is of really high quality for the price and has a really professional finish. The Sony MDR-7506 are a closed back pair of headphones. This means they are good at blocking out sound from your environment and transfer less sound to the people around you – the sound is more enclosed to just you – this is useful if you don’t want to be that really annoying person that blasts their music on the back of the bus for everyone to hear. This will really help you stay focused on your music and allow you to feel relaxed and you won’t be distracted or disturbed. When buying your headphones, especially if you are looking for a pair for your digital piano you may really want to consider whether open back or closed back are best for you. Something you’ll need to take into account is ‘soundstage’ which has to do with how close/far the music feels from you. You tend to get better soundstage on an open back pair of headphones but you can read more about that on the previously linked blog post above. Another thing you may see when looking to buy headphones is ‘frequency response’. This is referring to how the headphones pick up the different frequencies from bass notes to a higher register. The lower the starting number the more bass notes the headphones will pick up and obviously the higher the last number the more treble sound is picked up. Another thing linked to sound quality is ‘Impedance’ which is measured in Ohms. The higher the impedance usually the better the sound quality and the less chance there is of that annoying hiss/buzzing sound in the background; the Sony Pro MDR-7506 are 63 Ohms.
   These headphones come with a 3.5mm to 6.35mm jack adapter that screws on to end. This is

obviously very useful because you aren't limited to just using your headphones for your digital piano, amplifier/guitar or stereo because they have the classic 3.5mm jack that most phones, iPods, MP3s, iPhones, Macs, iPads and laptops have. This means great sound quality on all your devices – one size does fit all! The fact the jack screws onto the end could be seen as a negative or a positive. The negative side is if you lose it or break it, it’s probably going to be difficult to find a replacement that will fit exactly so your headphones will be limited to only 3.5mm devices. However the jack is probably better and is designed specifically for the headphones meaning the overall product quality is higher than the ones you find on eBay/Amazon for about £3 that only have good quality sound spanning 2 octaves from C to C. For the better quality this will hopefully be a more sturdy addition to the headphones unlike some cheap ones I have seen on amazon which have actually split into two pieces!
    It’s not all about the actual performance of the headphones, if they aren’t actually comfortable to wear it doesn't matter how good the sound quality is. This was one of my main reasons for investing in this new pair. My last pair of headphones that I used for my digital piano alone were SO uncomfortable to wear – they would give me headaches after wearing them for long periods of time! My Beats which I used for listening to music on my iPhone were also quite uncomfortable. They weren't the right size for my head and couldn't be made any smaller, they would move around and slip down all the time and just weren't right when you were trying to listen to music. My new Sony headphones though are the complete opposite the closed back and plenty of padding as well as leather padded overhead part are really comfortable. They are perfect for listening to for prolonged periods of time such as long haul flights, all night revision sessions or serious piano practice.

In a nutshell I am really happy with my investment in the Sony Professional MDR-7506. At a reasonable price of £72, 95 on Amazon I feel they do exactly what they say on the box and are exactly what I needed. I would definitely recommend these headphones for anyone who doesn't want to quite break the bank and want a professional high quality sound. Whether these headphones are the ones for you or another pair are more ideal I hope this has helped you in taking the plunge and buying a vital piece of technology for any music lover! Feel free to ask any questions down below or share/recommend this on your social media to help someone out! Let me know if you’d like more reviews like this.

Jaz Bishop xxx