Sony MDR-7506

By, Alexander J

The Sony MDR-7506 headphones are the best pair of headphones I have ever tried. They blow away the competition and make consumer headphones seem like a waste of money.

I have a collection of headphones ranging in prices and the 7506 always comes out on top. While I do not have the most amount of experience with sound, I have taken a Sound Engineering class, mixing and mastering audio to the best of my ability. I used the Shure SRH440 headphones as well and both my peers and myself agreed that the 7506 were superior in detail retrieval and comfort, both of which are very important when trying to pick apart the same clips of audio for hours.

I am no expert, however if you do not believe me, believe The Wirecutter. The Wirecutter published an article entitled “The Best $150 Over-Ear Headphones,” in which the Sony MDR-7506 placed first three years running. A panel of audio and tech experts tested over 110 headphones based on Amazon and professional reviews alike. The article states that the 7506 “offers more reliability, more comfort, and better sound than many headphones twice its price.” The author Lauren Dragan continues, saying, “speaking from experience, nearly every recording studio, radio station, and the like has a pair attached to the mixing board or sitting in the recording booth,” and that “every one of our panelists ranked this pair as the top choice.”

Analyzing audio through the 7506 is incredibly easy. The flat and even frequency response ensures that the sound you are hearing is exactly what the audio sounds like, with no boosts in the low end for a bassy response popular in consumer headphones or boosts in the high end to try to fool the brain that it is hearing more detail. Eclectic music lovers have no fear, every genre I have played through these headphones sound amazing.

I use these headphones for gaming when I am unable to use my +$1000 surround sound system and they sound amazing. I am able to hear any compression used in the audio for games and even the effects put on each and every sound. Many gamers feel like accurate imaging in games is the most important aspect in a headphone for gaming and the studio monitor roots of the 7506 excel in this area. I have never heard better imaging in my life, not even with my surround sound system. The fact that this kind of sound can be achieved in an $80 pair of headphones is mind-boggling.