How 'closed' are the Sony MDR7509/6 headphones?

[James Lehmann]

I do a lot of voice-over work and I am considering investing in a pair of Sony MDR7509 headphones - I have come across these or their cheaper little brother the MDR7506 in many studios I work in.

The design of the MDR's is not the hermetically-sealing DT100 'clamp-to-your-head-until-you-sweat' type but they are more than semi-closed, they sound very good, they fold away nicely for travelling (important for me) and they are very comfortable. (They are also expensive unfortunately, but as I only buy a pair of heaphones once every 7-8 years I'm hoping that they're worth the money.)

My question is... are these headphones closed enough for most recording duties in the studio. Is leakage a problem with these Sony's, or would it really only be an issue with an extremely loud and shrill clicktrack for deaf drummers? (which I am never likely to need to use them for!).

Cheers.

[Chad]

I have found the sennheiser hd280's to be realy well isolated, great for click tracks and stuff, and run around $100. To me they sound a little "compressed" compared to the sony's, but for tracking, im not realy that concerned. They also sit around your ear, where the sony's sit on top, and it starts to hurt with the sony's after a while. The high end is a little smoother than the sony's as well.

[zimv20]

i use the 7506s when i do location sound on film sets. i find the isolation sufficient. in fact, i often pull one side off my ear so i can also listen for set noise (and use glares and hand motions to quiet the offender) before it reaches the mic.

[bloodsweatfire]

I have never tried the 7509's but the 7506's I have had for years.
Although closed back, they are not isolation phones IMO, not by a stretch. They are somewhere in the middle but they can't be used for singers who like a loud mix (like me).
They are hard to use for a drummer who needs a loud click also.
For voice-over work they would seem like a terrific choice. I always liked the midrange presence of the 7506's for vocals.

[Tim L]

Originally posted by Chad
I have found the sennheiser hd280's to be realy well isolated, great for click tracks and stuff, and run around $100. To me they sound a little "compressed" compared to the sony's, but for tracking, im not realy that concerned. They also sit around your ear, where the sony's sit on top, and it starts to hurt with the sony's after a while. The high end is a little smoother than the sony's as well.

... Agreed.

[Meriphew]

I use 7506's for tracking and they work great. The bleed is minimal.

[cdog]

If you want to cut out the bleed totally... give these a shot:
HN-7506HD Headphones

[Ruairi]

I have both the 7506 and 7509 in use on every session and very rarely have bleed problems, usually the dying cymbal ring of a drum session with super loud click or on a fingerpicked acoustic guitar session. FWIW I find the 7509 to have slightly better isolation. I find the 7506 to be truer in the low end compared with the 7509, the latter being a little hyped and wooly down there IMHO.

The 7506 should be perfect for voice over work and would generally be my preference all round. Sweetwater had them cheap the last time I bought some, worth a look anyhow,

cheers,
Ruairi

[Jason A]

I do quite a bit of VO myself and I like the 7506's because I prefer to do the one ear on one ear off thing. The 7506's are contoured on the back to do just that. Plus they are light enough they actually stay there.

I like the sound and comfort of the AKG 240DF's. I like the balance of isolation and sound of the Sennheiser 280's. But for me personally tracking, I choose the 7506's.

Just my opinion.


Jason A.

[natpub]

For me, one of the worst problems is click track leakage during the first vocal and acoustic gtr tracks. I use the Sennheiser 280's and have not been satified with their containment of transient sounds like a click. I will have a look at those others suggested here. Thanks!

--K

[James Lehmann]

Originally posted by Ruairi
I find the 7506 to be truer in the low end compared with the 7509, the latter being a little hyped and wooly down there IMHO.

This is interesting! Have I made the classic mistake of assuming the more expensive MDR7509's would sound better than the MDR7506 without doing a proper A/B test? I had heard the reverse, ie the 7506 has a good reputation for bass but with a flattering sound rather than an accurate one.

Ideally I would like these headphones to be good enough for checking mixes on as well as covering normal (ie not super-loud) tracking requirements (for which both models seem well suited.) Anyone else care to comment on the differences in sound quality between the models?

Thanks for the replies so far folks - it's all very helpful!

[Kyle Ashley]

I also agree with Ruairi's post. I use the 7506's to check mixes and effects placements and I never use the 7609's for this. The 7506's sound much more accurate and flat with the 7509's sounding like someone hit the loudness button on car stereo. The 7509's do have a larger cup that fits over the entire ear offering slightly better isolation.

[djs]

havent used the 7509 in a while, so i won't comment on that. but for checking mixes i use the 7506's all the time (in conjunction with my 240's). i mostly use the 240's, but the bass is a little week on those, so i switch to the 7506's to check the low end. i do use the 7506's almost exclusivly for location stuff, as the immpedance and isolation make for much better listining. and i find them to be pretty close to flat.

cdog, thanks for that link. i may just have to pickup a pair of those phones!

[Ruairi]

Originally posted by James Lehmann
This is interesting! Have I made the classic mistake of assuming the more expensive MDR7509's would sound better than the MDR7506 without doing a proper A/B test? I had heard the reverse, ie the 7506 has a good reputation for bass but with a flattering sound rather than an accurate one.

Ideally I would like these headphones to be good enough for checking mixes on as well as covering normal (ie not super-loud) tracking requirements (for which both models seem well suited.) Anyone else care to comment on the differences in sound quality between the models?

Thanks for the replies so far folks - it's all very helpful!

Hi James,

you know I made the same assumption. I had several pairs of the 7506s and needed more quickly for a session but my dealer had none in stock so I bought the 7509s unheard. Kyle's description rings true - kinda hyped up and a lot of fun but I wouldn't check a mix on them. The 7506 are not as flat to my ear as a lot of people feel they are but they are very useful for checking mixes. The lowend is tight and controlled and the top end is very hifi - it is lovely and shiny when the mix is right and hurts like hell if you have too much top in your mix.

One other thing I like about the Sonys in general is the efficiency, you can drive them well with anything including the headphone out on a Powerbook,

cheers,
Ruairi

[nukmusic]

ya, The 7509's suck. The bought and RETURNed a pair a while back. The are very hyped in the lowend, but they do get loud I have been using the 7506's for a long time. i have a very old pair from like 1990(with the cloth earpads, not soft vinyl), but I blew on the the drivers. I most say, the old pair are very much more open(top end kinda hyped, but sounds good) than the new pairs of 7506's I have. But the newer pairs are a bit flatter as far as frequency goes. The only problem i found was with the 7506's being pitch-accurate. I have had problems with singers singing a bit flat using them, try both ears on, one off, mono playback, etc,etc. I use to use them to listen while tracking vocals, only to find later when playing back on Monitors, that the recorded vocal was out of tune. This have happened with a few different GOOD singers, not just one. I have yet to try out new cans because I moved to a new home and startnew studio
http://www.nukmusic.com/studiodesign.jpg

Some folkshave told me to try the Sony MDR V900 and Senn HD280

[James Lehmann]

OK - I just ordered a pair of MDR7506. I think these will be the best complement to my existing 'headphone locker' - I already have a pair of Beyer DT990's which are very comfortable but open and not very accurate (ie great for home listening) , and some Sennheiser 270's which are fully closed but sound awful. The Sony's will fill the gap nicely and provide me with a single pair of 'go-to' cans - the fold-away aspect was also important as I'm often on the move, so they chose themselves really. My only question was if it was worth spending the extra (€110!) on the 7509's but the consensus here seems to be no so I'll give them a miss for now.

Thanks once again for all the contributions to the discussion!

[Brendan]

I've been using 7506s for ENG work for years. I do the one ear technique quite a bit (sometimes they isolate too well as others have mentioned). They seem to be one of the only models that will work for that.

I've actually tried the custom 7506s that Kdog mentioned. I work on a show that's done in the lobby at Madison Square Garden so the network sprung for them. They're about as good as it gets for isolation.

7506s sound great in my opinion. I sometimes use them to check my low frequency energy if I'm working without full range monitors.

I know a pretty well respected engineer that swears he could mix a record with them!