Sony MDR-7506 Reference Headphones

[Helicon1]

The last review I did was on studio reference monitors. This one will be about the Sony MDR-7506 Studio Reference Headphones.

I am lucky enough to own a studio that has great separation and isolation between the control room and the studio rooms. So I am able to monitor tracking sessions through my monitors if I choose. But I find myself more often than not using my headphones for the initial setup and when I'm setting levels, EQ, and compression. I can just hear any problems much more easily with the phones. I always check the monitors too, but the headphones help a great deal.

Many home studios are one room setups, and there is no other option but to use headphones to monitor tracking sessions. The type of headphones you use is very important to the sound of your final product. Also, there is the problem of a room not being suitable for monitoring with speakers when mixing. Many rooms don't have the proper acoustical properties and acoustical treatments to afford a suitable monitoring environment. They might be very bass heavy, and may cause unwanted reflections and standing waves which prevent the engineer from hearing what is really coming out of the speakers. In these instances it is critical that you have a good set of headphones that are consistent and have a nice, flat frequency response.

The 7506s are some of the best headphones I have ever used. They are important tools for me at all stages of the recording process, from initial tracking, mixdown, and mastering phases. Their frequency response is outstanding, and their sound is unbelievable. They are simply the cleanest, most accurate phones I've ever heard.

They are not cheap. You can find them new for $99 at most any mail-order music company and if you're lucky, you may find them on sale for $10 cheaper. They are worth every penny. I own only one pair, and I dare anybody else to touch them. The other headphones in my studio are mostly mid-priced AKG headphones that do a good job, and provide a little more isolation because of the design of the earcups. This is important in the studio rooms to prevent headphone bleed from getting into the mics.

If you are in the position of having to mix with headphones, be sure to check your mixes on as many different systems as possible. This is good practice with any mix, but you especially need to do it if you mix on cans. Also, be aware of some of the problems that can develop when you mix on headphones. Phasing is hard to detect with headphones because they provide a totally isolated stereo picture. So be careful and minimize this by not recording everything in stereo. Any parts that you do record in stereo should be panned hard left/right to prevent phasing.

After you have used the 7506s for a while, you will become more accustomed to their sound and know more about what your mix needs without having to run out to the car to play your mix back after every little change. This is true of any monitoring device.

Just an aside here:  Next time you watch the special features on a DVD, check out what the director/producer/soundman is wearing on his ears. Nine times out of ten, they will be the Sony MDR-7506s. They are industry standard for both recording and film studios.

I hope this helps someone in their quest for better recordings.

[john]

Good review Chris!

Thanks!