My Sony MDR-V6 Headphones

it appears that Sony has discontinued the replacement ear pads. Some vendors still has them, but I'm sure those are selling fast.

 

Love em. Have used a pair for many years doing live sound, soloing up unexpectedly loud kick drums etc and they're still kicking (so to speak). bought a few other pairs for basement studio. I do notice they have a little less bass than some others- I do a lot of on-headphone mixing in the home studio and do have to be careful not to add too much low end on phones less it sound boomy on other systems. Not extreme tho.

 

Can the Sony MDR-V6 be considered the Technics SL-1200 of the headphone world?

 

To radio/DJ people, absolutely! Nice analogy!

 

the SL-1200 is dead too.

 

I have a V-6 and a V-7. The V-7 is similar, but has a non-coiled cord. It was made in the late 80s.

My V-6 has the replacement Beyer velour pads. Highly recommended.

 

I replaced my v6 for a v900. I considered them a major upgrade and have not looked back since.

Just don't get those v900hd's!!!

 

Is the V900HD the same as the MDR-7509HD?

 

Yeah, they both sound the same but look diffferent, like the original v900 vs. the o.g. 7509's (no hd).

The "HD" adds more extra frequencies and takes out the bass that the original models had. No bueno!

 

Very interesting. I just realized most of my V6 listening has probably been mono from either a Shure mixer or a Sony video camera. Not exactly audiophile sources.

 

I had some V6 I bought back in the mid 1980s.
I gave them away last year after buying some Sennheiser HD800.
I also own some Beyerdynamic 990.

 

The V6 and 7506 are very well suited for monitoring and other pro audio style needs. The frequency response is very flat, especially for a closed headphone. There are very few headphones that would measure as flat and neutral as the V6, and even fewer that can do that at a similar price. Most are going to have peaks or holes in the midrange or upper bass, or a smile curve, or some other quirk in the frequency response.

I'll attach a frequency response graph that shows both the V6 and the Sennheiser HD600. The HD600 is one of the few headphones that I consider headphone neutral. That the V6 comes so close to the HD600 is impressive. A similar FR graph doesn't mean they sound similar (they don't), but it does mean both can be used to make informed monitoring type decisions about the sound. The V6 does have a peak at 9K and that contributes to some of its brightness. I'd like them better for general listening if they didn't do that.

Another impressive headphone for monitoring use is the Shure SRH940. Very similar FR graph to the V6. Has a similar peak at 9K but doesn't take a cliff dive at 10K like the V6 does, but still has some sonic quirks. The SRH940 is around $300 while the V6 is under $100.

 

The SRH940 feels cheap at more than three times the price when compared to the V6.

 

Yeah, I used J.B. Weld on mine, it did the trick perfectly, but I had to give up adjustibility. Small price to pay to keep them on my head for another decade.

 

The V6 never turned me on. About the time they appeared, Sony was perfecting small headphones for their walkmans. There were a couple " Portable" models that I used with my WMD6C, that I felt were superior to the v6, so my fondness for them was never great.

 

I love Senns. What sets them apart on that graph is the Senn is the only one that doesn't shoot way up in the 4k-7k range. For me, that where the possiblity of really nasty and painful thingS happening lurk on the spectrum.

 

i used to have a pair of mid-1990's-ish SONY MDR-V200s
as my primary phones, until i finally got serious
and picked up a terrific NOS pair of early-1970's PIONEER SE-305s for $60 shipped.

best damn phones i've ever had by a massive margin;


http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/MacGyver System/DSCF0970.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/MacGyver System/DSCF0965.jpg

 

Although I'm sure they are great, you must understand why I take any endorsement of Pioneer from you with a grain of salt, right?

 

Sure about this ? some think the ones that say 'Thailand' rather than 'Made in ..' are the bootlegs. I believe I got a pair from the Sony store a few years ago that said 'Made In China'

 

Yeah, I have a 22-year old Japanese pair held together with much superglue and a newer Chinese pair.

I fell victim to a scam where I ordered a pair for about $50 that were obvious fakes, although I was still impressed with how much effort was put into even the packaging to make them look the same. They sounded so bad I chucked 'em, but I thought those were stamped Thailand.

 

Here's a thread that shows how similar the knockoffs look, although at a glance, I didn't see any mention of country of origin. http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=319516

I didn't state in my last post that the Chinese version, at least in my case, are not counterfeit.

 

Here's a photo gallery of a fake pair with "Made in Thailand" stamped on them.

 

I have purchased two pairs in the past six months. The first was from eBay for $39. The second was from Full Compass for quite a bit more. Both are labeled Made in Thailand and both came in identical packaging. If one is counterfeit, they've done an outstanding job.

 

I have a pair of V6's that I bought around '90. Loved them till the second pair of pads wore out. They are now pretty much bare foam.

I got a pair of MDR-V700 used. The sound is nice but they are heavier so I still prefer in-ear type for on the go listening.

 

Bought my V7's in the late 80's. Have put two pair of pads on them. I baby them to death. Best headphones I've ever owned.

About five years ago, I found a set of V6's at a yard sale. $5.00 for the cans, and another five for replacement pads. Love 'em as well.

Better go ahead and buy two more pair of pads before they're history.