Sony MDR-7509HD Studio Headphones Boston MA

www.sony.com/proaudio

I used Sony headphones many years ago as my primary “cans” until theybasically wore out from extreme use. As I like to try different products Imoved on to check out various otherphones, but always felt the Sony’s wereabove average in terms of clarity.

The MDR-7509HD stereoheadphones have been around for awhile, and are well-regarded by thoseinto headphones, so I was interested inchecking them out. They’re ready togo out of the box: no cord to attach,1/4" adapter already screwed in . . .plug ’n’ play. And, they retain the samelevel of comfort as the somewhat older, but still current MDR-7506.

Tonally, Sony headphones have aparticular character to me—high inmid/upper mid clarity, light on bass. Classical music sounds fine on thesephones, because they’re like puttingthe midrange under a magnifying glass(not a microscope, thankfully), andmuch classical music tends not tohave a lot of low-end energy anyway. They’re also excellent phones for tracking,because the level of midrangedetail makes it very easy to hear what’sgoing on in the mix (especially if you’resinging your head off, or playing a guitarsolo). And, they can handle veryhigh power levels.

However, for bass-heavy genres likerock and rap, I wouldn’t feel confidentthat I was placing the bass accuratelyuntil I felt I had truly “learned” thephones. I know lots of people who lovetheir Sonys for listening to music, butour task here is to examine the soundin the context of mixing. In thatrespect, I would consider the MDR-7509HD as more of a general-purposeset of monitoring headphones than aset optimized specifically for mixing.

More from this roundup:

• Can You Really Mix On Headphones?
  
• Audio-Technica ATH-M50 ($199)
• AKG K 271 Mk II ($299) And AKG K 702 ($539)
• Shure SRH440 ($125) and SRH840 ($250)
• Monster TurbinePro Gold ($299.95)
• Ultrasone Proline 750 ($389) and Edition 8 ($1,499)

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