Sony MDR7506 Professional Large Diaphragm Headphone

Sony MDR7506 Professional Large Diaphragm Headphone

Sony MDR7506 Professional Large Diaphragm Headphone

If you've read down far enough to find this review, you probably already know that these are the professional studio monitor headphones used by pretty much anyone with a mixing board - from Celine Dion to Slipknot, from NFL broadcasts to The Howard Stern Show, these are the way most recording artists and studios hear every note and nuance. If you're not already convinced, read on. 

Most new 7506 owners are awed by their headphones before even hearing them, at least by the packaging. The headphones themselves rest on gently tousled silver silk behind a clear plastic window emblazoned with a large gold "7506". The presentation alone gives the potential buyer the feel of buying a giant engagement ring, but the theatrics end once you open the box. Getting down to business inside is a very serious schematic diagram documenting the complete parts and assembly list of the fifty or so pieces that go into making this single pair of headphones, a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter (the screw-on type, a must for live use), and a pleather carrying pouch. 

The 7506s are visually almost an anti-climax to the packaging. The design is very basic and straightforward without any tricks or frills, but simplicity is part of the appeal here. Every detail has been engineered to work simply and simply work. The steel band size adjustment snicks into place confidently at each numbered groove. Both earcups rotate vertically a full 180 degrees on their hinges with ease. The 1/8" plug has an all-metal casing with a real rubber sleeve, as you'd find on actual pro audio music cables. The more deeply you look into each element of the design, the more you'll appreciate how much Sony also looked into it. 

Putting on the 7506s is also an easy affair, thanks to their eight ounce weight and modest profile. They're actually small enough that you could get away with wearing them in public, but you wouldn't hear much else - the closed design combined with cushy stuffed vinyl pads and secure, if not tailored, fit means the ambient sound isolation borders on noise-cancelling. The earcups can also be folded upwards against the inside of the headband for portability - so portable in fact, that you could place a folded set of 7506s in a child's lunchbox *with room to spare*. 

But if ever a good thing came in a small package, it's the big sound of these headphones. Ruler flat response, deep sound stage, and sniper tight accuracy means every aspect of the source signal comes to life and is revealed in full. Bass notes come through with such authority that you find yourself occasionally making note of your feet, to see if you can feel the bass in the floor. Instrument placement is at once obvious - parsing out where each instrument and sound is in a mix is instantly clear. Previously hidden and obscure sounds and passages in various tracks stand out so well that entire songs are made new again. There just isn't any sound that the 7506s can't reproduce exactly as you'd hear it with your own ears. 

Those of you who like to tailor your sound with extra helpings of bass or volume have also been accommodated - On the low end, using even the most basic bass boost the 7506s can faithfully reproduce subwoofers-in-the-trunk neighborhood-wide bass *in your head*. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't heard it myself. Volume-wise, a low impedance matched with a high power handing capacity means these headphones are easily driven by an iPod or Walkman, yet can easily achieve volume levels that could liquefy your inner ear without even the implication of distorting. Plainly speaking, whatever you want the 7506s to do, they'll do it with ease. 

Keep in mind that revealing everything requires a good source. Plugging these into a cheaper portable or poorly EQ'd equipment will quickly make any and all limitations evident. This includes cheap computer audio hardware and low frequency/bandwidth MP3s. Uncompressed file formats suddenly seem a lot more practical when you can hear the constraints of highly compressed MP3s. 

"Audiophile" sites and reviews have had a hard time coming to grips with these headphones. Being that they're a consumer brand product available at any common music store at a fraction of the price of most other high-end models, the "elite" image and price tag that goes along with it just aren't a part of the 7506's game. It's reflected in some reviews, some saying they're "too bassy", others "too bright", but how exactly is this possible if you're using a decent source and the same headphones the musicians/engineers used to create the recording? You're hearing the music exactly as it was heard in the studio, exactly as it was meant to be heard. Only the 7506s can make that promise. 

If you're creating any kind of recordings and find yourself crossing your fingers that you're hearing it as it's actually being recorded, or just a music lover who feels it's time to hear the music as it was meant to be heard, you're only a hundred dollars away from the Sony MDR-7506. Five stars and my highest recommendation to Sony's masterpiece.

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