Sony - MDR-7506

Potentially very different. I say "potentially" because it really depends on the headphone itself and the quality of the driver, among other things. But in short: open back headphones let the sound go out in every direction. Yes, they're aimed in one direction - your ear - but sound (air pressure waves) technically goes out in all kinds of directions, just not as strongly. The result: the sound is unimpeded and just... goes. With closed back headphones, the driver is still pushing out the sound in all kinds of directions, but that air behind the driver is getting stopped by the closed back. This creates a number of issues, since the sound bounces back more and the air pressure impacts the driver, for example. (Give it a try: get a pair of Grado SR60X's. These are open back. Listen to them. They sound pretty good, albeit a bit treble-heavy. Then cover the back of the driver with your hand to make it a closed back. Boom: instant crap.) Closed backs have to account for this in the design and tuning, which is why the sound is more "closed". Think about it this way: imagine a violin playing outdoors or in your living room. Nice, open sound. Now go to a sound dampened studio and do it again. The sound changes, sounds more intimate and closed. Because the sound reacts differently to the environment around you. Headphones sort of mimic this... most of the time. If you're not to familiar, you won't be able to tell much of a difference short of A/B testing. But remember, that's just one aspect of all this. Build materials, size of the space, the type of driver, the amount of power it takes, the sensitivity of the drivers, the sonic properties of the driver itself.... Not to mention the shape of your ear, the contour of your ear canal, whether you have ear wax, the way the headphones fit on or around your ears, the materials of the ear pads... these all affect sound, individually in in small ways, but hugely when combined. As a note: both of those you mention are decent headphones, great for audio engineering. (I've been using the MDR 7506 for my video work for years.) I don't love either for music, but know some who do. Theyre not bad, though, just a bit too sharp for my taste. They're both GREAT EQ'd.

For being budget friendly the Sony MDR 7506 have been doing the job. Don't have monitors so this is what I have been relying on for past several years.

Sony 7506. They're lightweight and comfy, and the earpads are only a few bucks to replace. They're actually completely dissemble-able which helped for that time someone maliciously ripped the cable out of mine so I soldered a 3.5mm jack to where the original cable was, so now I can change cables when I want. Well, the point is they're good, old school headphones that stand up to some shit and accept repair. Sound profile is polite and doesn't fatigue my ears.

Yeh avoiding ear fatigue is pretty important to me. They don't have a giant bass hump in the EQ curve like some mainstream modern sets do, as they were designed to have a flat response aimed toward studio work when they came out like 35 years ago. Bought mine in 2017. I have worn these a crazy amount of hours. Replaced the foam this year. I feel like my head is a little above average size. They might work for your big dome.

1. Sennheiser Momentum 4 - Magical. Don't know how they pack in the sound quality there. Sometimes I trash the EQ settings just to try to make them sound bad. I baby them though, so my number 2 is 2. AKG K361 - Cheap, sounds great, and comfortable as heck to my head and ears. Never offensive, easy to drive, good durability. I'll carry and use these without a care while the M4s would stay in my work bag. When I'm at home, though, I generally use my number 3, the 3. Fiio FT1 - Does the same thing as number 2, just with a little more style, cost, and weight. I love the wood. Driving it through 4mm balanced on my Fosi K7 sounds sweet and rich. I got these to replace #4, the 4. Audio-Technica M50x - This was my go to for seven years before last year. Built like a tank, I went through a set of pads on it. For a long time this was what I thought headphones were supposed to sound like. I'm glad I mixed it up. Speaking of mixing, let's talk about number 5. 5. Sony MDR-7506 - I got these because I wanted to see what the fuss was about. I get it. If you can make your music sound great on these, you can make it sound great on anything.

I find that the Sennheiser HD 280 Pros are good for tracking, but the Sony MDR-7506s are good for mixing.

I wear Sony MDR-7506 and have never had any issues with feedback. Mine aren't wireless, but I'm sure I'd be able to find a wireless pair that is similar.

Sony M1 and MV1 doesn't need amp. MDR-7506 will do if you want affordable. They are all studio level clarity and accuracy.

Classic Sony MDR-7506, AKG K361 from your list. Wire usually has better sound than wireless (convenient and noise cancelling). I would not risk sweat on them for light running, the smell stay on earpad during your long study session.

Probably the Sony MDR-7506s

Any closed over-ear headphone that sounds substantially more accurate than the S4R without going to exotic ultra-expensive vintage Stax? Maybe too much to ask for compared to those I put above it. The ESP-9 is awesome but HEAVY. DT1350 is on ear. Heck, the Koss practically is too with the shallow Koss pads. ER4S tier is too high a bar obviously for over ear closed. My headphones ranking goes something like: Stax 009 ER4S Stax SRS-2170 Koss ESP-950 HD580 Koss ESP-9 DT1350 Ollo S4R 1.1 DT990 Pro Sony MDR-EX15 (hard to rank these, actually) KRK 6400 K701 HD25 Ixos MOS DJ1001 Airpods 4 ANC Koss Sporta Pros and KSC equivalents Koss ProDJ100 Sony V6 & 7506 (bit too bright and glassy) Harman Kardon ANC Fly (too muddy but ok utility ANC headphone)

I was a long time user (25+ years on one pair) of the Sony MDR-V6 that have a lively sound, are comfortable, and most of all, they're inexpensive! The MDR-7506 are the alternative but are about 10% more expensive. I recently switched to the HD25 after hearing about them for so long and find mixing on them a bit easier due to the boosted mids vs the Sony. I'd rather listen on the Sony because it's more of a fun listen but mixing (especially because I do a lot of 4 deck mixing in Traktor) is easier on the HD25.

Sony MDR-7506. Super transparent.

I find the top end to be hyped on MDR-7506's. Used them for more than 20 years too. YMMV.

No... I hate Bluetooth earbuds. I've never had a pair last me more than a year. One earbud will stop charging, or stop responding, or similar. On the other hand I've had a pair of sony mdr 7506 that I inherited from someone else and have used daily for going on 10 years.

Sony 7506 - old school bad boys that hold up being chucked in a rucksack when I'm not at my desk

I am very fond of DT770s for long hours (they're also OK to use with glasses). For noisy environments, like working in the same room as a drum kit or loud amps, the closed DT770 Ms have great rejection, but are of course a bit more clammy and clampy, and a little more honky. But on the other hand you can hear what's happening without having them overly loud. These two are my friends, and over time you adjust to their sonic profile. I have a couple of pairs of MDR 7506s as well, but don't really like them, and let others use them instead.

Sony mdr-7506s are very accurate

Fantastic headphones if only they had a detachable cable they would be perfect

mdr-7506. they've been around since 1991 for a reason, they're that good.

Yeh avoiding ear fatigue is pretty important to me. They don't have a giant bass hump in the EQ curve like some mainstream modern sets do, as they were designed to have a flat response aimed toward studio work when they came out like 35 years ago. Bought mine in 2017. I have worn these a crazy amount of hours. Replaced the foam this year. I feel like my head is a little above average size. They might work for your big dome.

The cheapest headphones I recommend are Sennheiser HD 280 or Sony MDR7506 and both are around $100 but well worth it over any $50 set.

It is hard to find ANC without Bluetooth. The Audio Technica ATH20 30 40 50 series have a good padding design. The pads are better on the 40 or 50. The Sony 7506 studio headphone is solid too. These will passively block noise quite well.

Unfortunately any earphones with good isolation will be pretty tight on your head. No way to avoid that. Softer pads might make them more comfortable. The 7506 is very often used for dialog recording. They have a bit of a midrange peak, which makes it easier to hear problems with dialog recording. But IMHO they are not flat enough, so I would never use them for music. (In fact I own a pair, but I haven't used them for many years ... I don't even remember where they are.) I much prefer the Sennheiser HD280 Pro. They, too, are rather tight on the head. Although IIRC the 280s may have somewhat larger pads than the Sonys, so the pressure is distributed over a larger area.

I'm not crazy about the "Guitar Center" chain store, but I wandered into one recently and they had a big display with all of their headphones plugged in so I could try them all for fit, audio quality, isolation, etc. They probably had at least 50 headphones lined up for consumer testing in a permanent display. I don't usually recommend Guitar Center as a first stop for purchasing but it's hard to beat a display / test center like that to help you figure out what you like. (I bought the trustworthy Sony MDR-7506. I'm not recommending them for DJ-ing. But I use them for everything because I love the audio quality and sound profile: these headphones make me happy when I listen to music!)

Been using the MDRs for the past 20 years 👍

Still love my Sony MDR-V6 headphones wired or plug them into a bluetooth receiver. Have the Sony MDR 7506 headphones also and they sound great, but they just don't have the range of the MDR-V6 headphones.

I've had a pair of Sony MDR 7506's for 10 years, they great sound for the price range and extremely comfortable on my head. I also have ATH M50x cans and they're really solid too. I use the Sony's more for listening to music and when I'm mixing recordings, and the ATH's when I'm recording guitar parts. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MDR7506--sony-mdr-7506-closed-back-professional-headphones https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ATHM50x--audio-technica-ath-m50x-closed-back-studio-monitoring-headphones ETA: these can also be found for a lower price on reverb.com if you don't mind buying used gear.

Aiaiai but if I was on a budget I'd go with some Sony MDR 7506s. They're not quite "industry standard" but it's close.

Sony 7506. They're lightweight and comfy, and the earpads are only a few bucks to replace. They're actually completely dissemble-able which helped for that time someone maliciously ripped the cable out of mine so I soldered a 3.5mm jack to where the original cable was, so now I can change cables when I want. Well, the point is they're good, old school headphones that stand up to some shit and accept repair. Sound profile is polite and doesn't fatigue my ears.

These are my favorites and they hold up really well

I've used them for years ( practice ) never had an issue ( I understand they are not suitable for protection )

Probably not "the best", but Sony MDR-7506 is pretty much an industry standard. Helps that the cushions are compatible with ClearCom. There's also a Yamaha set that is clearcom compatible. I don't remember the model. There the ones that when you open the headphone case you say "ewww" and are disappointed that you didn't get the Sonys. In-house, I use them because they are good enough and the price is right. I need them at the board, plus 2 more on the control side, I need 6 in the headphone amp and 1 on the drum riser. I'm not paying more than a hundred bucks a pair.

You'll get better answrs on r/headphones... but on value long term, try a used Sennheiser HD 560S or Drop HD 58X. Open back, comfy, detachable cables, and easy to fix, so they outlast most ANC models If you prefer closed? Sony MDR-7506 is a tank. No amp needed

xm4's are great value and don't listen to people saying here they are worse. They are just for someone with different needs like anc, wireless connection. The sony mdr7506 sound amazing, because they are studio monitors which became standard in that category over 20 years ago, BUT they don't block any noise louder than quiet pc fans and have heavy, annoying cable. You might also just tweak the xm4's eq to your preference, lower the bass and 6khz region for example to ensure that sound representation is better.

You'll need wired headphones for podcasting. You can edit with guaranteed, consistent audio quality and zero audio lag which prevents your voice from sounding delayed to your ears. The Sony MDR 7506 is timeless reasonably priced. There's a reason they're the industry standard.

Good recommendation. For $150 he could score the MDR-7506 + Sonarworks SoundID Reference which will smooth out the unusual tonal balance. Then he can turn off the SoundID Reference and use them raw when editing vocals, and listening for glitches. The MDR-7506 pushes frequencies forward which tend to be fatiguing or sibilant, which can be really helpful for editing.

I really hate that Andrew Schepps got everyone interested in these headphones. They're really terrible as far as sound and comfort goes. I have a pair and never touch them. As far as what I've used a lot, the most comfortable for long sessions are by far Beyerdynamic DT 770s. They're also waaaaaaaay less harsh and fatiguing than the 7506s.

Sony MDR-7506. Industry standard for 40+ years

AKG K240s or Sony MDR-7506s would be my suggestions for the <$100 price point.

I'm a big fan of the Sony MDR 7506, sound is clear, they're light and comfortable for long use. Every time I mix with someone else's headphones, it sounds compressed in comparison. Your desire for more bass may rule it out. You can also replace the pads easily at https://www.brainwavzaudio.com

Sony MDR7506 - some of the top guys in the world use them & they're only $100

I replaced the ear pads on mine with velour pads from I think beyerdynamic as I recall. But I use the MDR 7506 for the artist vocalist and use M50X (which is *more* uncomfortable than 7506) as the engineer when tracking, for the superior isolation. For production and mixing and listening, I use AKG 712 pro (open back). They are incredibly light and comfortable, although they have some faint squeaky mechanical noise when you move your head from the way the headband is designed. They just don't have the isolation. Once the 7506s are broken in, they do feel a bit softer, but still sweaty until you change the earpads.