Sony MDR V500DJ Studio Open Air Headphones
Sony MDR V500DJ Studio Open Air Headphones
USER REVIEWS
[Feb 23, 2010]
lordatomdoom
Casual Listener
Get the grado sr60's instead- same price, but much more dynamic. These headphones are "flat" sounding! No bass at all! |
[Jan 21, 2005]
soupnazi
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
lots of bass
Weakness:
A little heavy Unrealistic mids and highs 1st higher quality headphones I have owned, so I have nothing to compare to except other reviews. I do not agree that these can not handle bass. I found the mids and highs to be unrealistic. Dialogue has very tincan sounding when watching a movie. Comfortable but a little heavy after a while. Similar Products Used: NOTHING |
[Dec 25, 2003]
H4V0C
AudioPhile
Strength:
great for gaming and watching movies on a portable
Weakness:
the bass is really distorted, it can't take the low basses of hip hop music I got these headphones for christmas that i really wanted, these are perfect for games but not much good for a music enthusiast. The bass really sucks, i used it on one of my cd players that kicked in a WHOLE bunch of bass but the earphones couldnt take it, it was extremely distorted and the bass wasn't crisp. If you want to use these headphones for gaming, this is a great choice, other than that... dont get them |
[Aug 02, 2003]
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Looks and folding capability Good build quality for this price
Weakness:
Sound Value A sonic travesty. Unlike the higher-end MDR-V700DJ which actually delivers decent dynamics, impact and bass, the V500 has nothing. It's a limp-wristed, scratchy pretender of a DJ phone. I'm not a DJ but I have tried these out of a mixing (not DJ, studio) console. No dynamics to speak of, and early to distort. Similarly a huge disappointment with portables compared to things out there for the same price. It does look nice enough, modelled after the bigger brother the V700 yet not as big nor heavy. Comfort is marginal, not so different to HD497/212. The folding system is an exact copy of the V700, but it works less well on the V500 as the earcups are so much smaller. Mine now rests in pieces, ready for DIY modifications. I took great pleasure in mangling the drivers which would have been considered low end for a £25 phone, let alone something that retails for £50. All things considered, I would have to say they are the worst phone I've listened to for the price. Avoid. If you want something flashy and reasonably good, save for the V700. If you want something really good, save for the HD25. Similar Products Used: Own/owned: Sennheiser PX200/PXC250/HD212/497/280/25/600/etc, Sony MDR-V700/CD1700/CD3000/etc, Grado SR60/80/325/RS1, Beyerdynamic DT250-80/770Pro, Audio-Technica ATH-EM7/W100/W1000/A100/A900/A1000/W20 |
[May 16, 2003]
dhrto
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
attractive design, handy folding mechanism, decent sound
Weakness:
mid bass a little lacking, design feels a bit fragile, unsuitable for long continued periods of use due to pressure on the ears, resulting in pain. First, the price is in Euros I got these for my birthday. Tried 'm in the store before, since I was planning on buying them. First, the design is very attractive. They don't look so big and clumsy like those from other brands and they fold up nicely for easy carrying. The sound is they produce is OK. I say OK, because I did expect more for the money. The range is excellent. The low bass is excellent. The mid bass is somewhat lacking: a bit dull. It lacks a bit of punch. The mids are good and that highs are also OK. I also tried some other models in the store. The Sennheiser's in the same price range definately sounded better. However, the design was not that great, and in the end, that also matters. The V300's sounded very cheap. It was like having loudness turned on on the amplifier. The low and high's were definately overdone, leaving the mid's untouched. The V700's sounded better. Of course, they are also almost twice as expensive. The mid bass sounded excellent, with enough punch to 'em. The high's also sounded a bit better. One thing to keep in mind: These headphones are not really meant to be used with portable audio devices. They need a decent amplifier or HiFi system to do them justice. The V500's sound like crap with my portable MP3-player, while they sound excellent (relatively speaking of course) with my Technics amplifier. Similar Products Used: Sony MDR-V300, Sony MDR-V700, Sennheiser HD 212 |
[Apr 05, 2003]
Karl
Casual Listener
Strength:
nice base, folds into a nice size, pretty good bang for your buck
Weakness:
none For those ordinary joe listeners who want a good and reasonably priced headphone, these are for you. I don't know why anyone would give these headphones a bad rating. Everyone loves the v700dj's, and I have no clue why they don't like these. These headphones have a nice base with a relativley nice treble. Sure the V700's are more money and are a little bit better, but they're a lot more expensive. If you want good quality discman headphones, these are the ones for you. Similar Products Used: v600, v700dj |
[Apr 01, 2003]
John Martin
AudioPhile
Strength:
Excellent range, ultimate gaming device.
Weakness:
Earcups are too small, bass response too slow. I bought this set exclusively for gaming, due to their 10-25,000 Hz response. The simulation one recieves with headphones capable of this range is one of 3D stereo. This effect is most apparent in games like Counter-Strike, where hearing or not hearing super-high range clicks and near-subsonic thumps can mean the difference between winning and losing. Similar Products Used: Sony V6, Stanton DJ Pro 200, Grado SR80 |
[Jun 19, 2002]
freesey
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Look, Feel(for the first bit), reversable ear cups, and they fold up real nice too
Weakness:
Price, sort-of muddy slow response to music; the weight and ear cups together really hurt your ears after an hour so give em a rest for a bit; The headband kinda hurts too; its got a rubber material over it, but I have a big head so I can feel the metal strap through it Well I own these and I hate to admit it but I thought theyd sound a little better for 100 bones; I wish the bass response was a little faster and they sound kinda muddy - I never intend to use these for music listening only - I bought these for a LAN party - and I must say they sound perfectly good for Counter-Strike and Quake III and whatnot so I have no problems there. They arent open air like the title claims up above somewhere; they are closed with ear cups about the size of your ear so with prolonged use itll start to hurt actually. Similar Products Used: I think they were the 300's before my dog ate them....god I miss them |
[May 14, 2002]
rkt7233
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
look nice and good treble
Weakness:
weight, bass, ez to distort/blow bass, bass,bass I was verry disapointed in these ''phones, I had a pair of MDR-V300''s (sounded twice as good), when they broke I went up to the 500''s, they have verry little bass at all and the treble is good. They sound like they are going to blow at the same volume level as the 300''s rated at 1/2 the power handaling they crush your hread and are heavy. Similar Products Used: sony mdrv-300 |
[Feb 13, 2002]
dj chEX
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Clean trebles, fair midrange, nice durable cord
Weakness:
Lack of low range accuracy, high price, cheep ear pads, uncomfortable, hard to use for mixing, small ear cups, and over priced I totally agree, these headphones do not perform what they are designed to do (djing, remix use). I found the bass to be too shallow and inacurate to monitor beats when mixing and i found the ear cups to be too small for sealing off outside noise. Finally i did a sine test on Sound Forge and found out the sound begins to get distorted at around 50-60 hz range w/ ~1MW power usage. Simply these headphones are not ideal for what they are supose to do, save some cash and buy a decent set of koss for $20 or get some real headphones like sennheiser. Similar Products Used: Sony MDR-V700, MDR-7506, Sennheiser HD-200, Koss porta PRO, audio technica |