yogirl

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $199.00 from guitar center

Summary:
I love the sound quality, as a radio personality it is a must that I can hear myself with total clarity. However they need strengthen the cord, and make the ear pieces stronger. I find myself buying a new pair every year because the cord wears out or the ear piece breaks.

Strengths:
sound

Weaknesses:
durability

Similar Products Used:
none. I have used these phones since I've been in radio 16 years

Marxcel

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.83 of 5, 6.00 votes

Price Paid:  $80.00 from EBay

Summary:
What's Good ? Whats Bad ? Or Best Summed up as WHAT WENT WRONG!? Simply put ... put your ear right next to your loudspeaker, a good one hopefully, turn it up mildly, and listen ... this is what the SONY V900s' sound like. If you've done this, you'd notice overpowering bass, rather powerful, but flat muddy vocal mid range, and slightly harsh treble. Now, move away from the speaker, and the sound is balanced, deep, open, with good response and stereo seperation. If you take the Sony V900s off your ears, set them down, it's the same effect, the crisp, detailed and airy treble appears, nicely laid back vocals, and decent bass. Your first impression of these headphones should be : "FLAT" These are really hard NOT TO RECOMMEND, since they sweep the floor when it comes to loud listening, and at the same time, after you get used to their sound, you can enjoy listening at normal sound levels for very long periods of time, partially due to their excellent comfort. Although, it's not lond before you grab the VOLUME knob and put them to the max.

Strengths:
Excellent Volume and Excellent Sound at LOUD Volume! These Love Loud Music, Alternative, Rock, Trance. They can be driven LOUD with low power portables. Absolutely Excellent sounding on mini-IPOD, no distorion, even with EQs! They DO have an excellent frequency response but notice Weaknesses below. If you love to play your music Loud, or have IPOD, buy these, they wont dissapoint with their power handling! Shure E2C distorts, Sony EX70LP distorts, IPOD earbuds distort.

Weaknesses:
Dominant Bass in 70-80Hz range - FLAT, not enough extension, it's as if you're missing a SubWoofer in your system. Rather Mono sounding in vocal range at all but full volume. Treble slightly flat at below full volume.

Similar Products Used:
Sony E565 , Shure E2C , Sony EX70LP

Imyourzero

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $135.00 from Etronics.com

Summary:
First, let me say that I am not an "audiophile". I've never used a headphone amp and I don't know exactly what to look for in an expensive set of headphones, but I do know what does and does not sound good to me. I purchased the Sony MDR-V900's after reading the user reviews on audioreview.com, although I had originally set out to buy a set of Sennheiser or Grado headphones. Let it suffice at this point to say, I *kind* of wish I had bought some Grados. That's not to say that these Sony headphones are bad, by any means, but as one reviewer pointed out, they do heavily color the bass and although that's what I thought I wanted at first, I am now wondering if I have made a $135 mistake. You see, I have a set of cheap(?) Takstar headphones that came with an old PC sound card that I purchased, and they do a decent job keeping up with the $135 Sony MDR-V900's. They do lack quite a bit of bass, and a bit of detail, but otherwise I can't tell a huge difference. Keep in mind I'm not an audiophile here, but I do have a pretty discerning ear...and I feel as if I've spent $135 for very little benefit. I honestly wish I had bought a pair of Grado SR80's or Sennheiser 280 Pro's instead. Not that the Sony's are bad by any means; it's just that they do emphasize the bass heavily and do not have as much detail as I expected. Maybe my Takstars were that good, but I expected an enourmous upgrade by buying the Sony's and they have left me semi-disappointed. Trust me, that's the LAST thing I wanted to write, as I wanted to justify my purchase...and these headphones would be GREAT for someone who wanted great sound with emphasis on bass and minimal distortion...but I found myself listening to my Takstars and wondering if the $135 was worth the extra bass and detail. In conclusion, I think that I can spend $80 on a set of Grado SR-80's and get extremely accurate/detailed sound and still have good bass response, and save over $50. These Sony's DO do an excellent job of containing the sound (I'm listening to them now) but the extra bass just seems a bit unnatural after listening to the Takstar headphones. Keep in mind, the Takstars have a module that accepts 2 AA batteries and accentuates the bass, similar to a Panasonic "Bass Shaker" model that's currently available, and I actually bought the Sony MDR-V900 with computer video games in mind where extra bass would be desirable, but after listening to several MP3's it just seems unnatural. Truth be known, I don't even use the inline bass-accentuating module on the Takstars anymore; I just plug them into my Logitech Z-680's and kick back. These 'phones really do color heavily the bass and it disappoints me that I want to send them back, because I REALLY thought I'd like them and I really wanted to recommend them. However, I think I will end up purchasing a set of Grado SR-80 headphones as well as a set of Sennheiser headphones (perhaps the 280 Pro's) as I feel after reading the numerous user reviews that they will deliver an accurate sound as well as ample, accurate bass response. I really really wanted to like and recommend these MDR-V900's, and I can to those who favor a heavy bass accent when listening to their music, but to me the bass accent provided by the 50mm drivers is just too heavy and does not sound as accurate as the original recording intended. For those that listen to rock/R&B/rap and play video games, these 'phones may be perfect, but for me they just didn't provide as much of an upgrade from my Takstar headphones as I had imagined/anticipated. I honestly bought them because I thought I would love the increased bass, but after wearing them through a few songs I wish I had gone with a lesser model (perhaps a model with 40mm drivers instead of 50mm; the increased bass was just slightly too much on most music for *MY* preferences). Your mileage may vary; some people may love the increased bass...but I will be returning these because I regret spending $143 for more bass and slightly more detail than my Takstar headphones.

Strengths:
BASS!, detail in music...keep in mind I have never put on a set of Sennheiser or Grado headphones though (that will change soon).

Weaknesses:
As a previous reviewer mentioned, it does sometimes sound like you are listening to music in a tunnel or while ever-so-slightly muffled, although overall frequency response and sensitivity is great. I don't want to give off the wrong impression; these headphones do sound very good; it's just that they have a bit too much bass for me when listening to music and for $135 I think I could have gotten a more worthwhile upgrade in sound (which is while I'll be purchasing Grados and/or Sennheisers shortly).

Similar Products Used:
Takstar closed headphones that were bundled with a sound card and have an inline module where you can add 2 "AA" batteries that provide a bass boost/punch at the appropriate frequencies

Price Paid:  $150.00 from Etronics

Summary:
I will first preface by saying that this is the first pair of quality headphones I have purchased above the under $50 variety, but I have used and listened to other high end units. These headphones are in my opinion an incredible bargain in their price range. Everything I have listened to is reproduced with incredible vibrance and realism. The sound quality is simply superb. And there is no distorsion even at high levels. Others have complained about the bass. I don't think they are in the right market for these phones. The bass does have a little extra punch but it is not excessive. So if you want 100% accurate bass reproduction, look elsewhere. Do not use these for studio monitoring, or to produce a cd. That's not what they are designed for. On the other hand, if you are looking for a nice sound for general listening purposes that is not weak in the low end, this product would work nicely. The highs are of course crystal clear, unlike what you get with most of the low end stuff. I also love the closed design. It blocks out any outside noise, even better than some noise cancalling headphones I have used. You can turn on speakers playing something at a very loud volume a short distance away, put these on and play something else, and you will hear nothing from the outside. I can't count the number of phone calls I have missed while listening on these. The design is also as comfortable as I've ever used. You can listen for hours and almost forget you even have them on. I also purchased these for durability. I have only had them several months and already they have endured some very rough use without any problems at all. I look forward to many more years of enjoyable use with these headphones and I recommend them to anyone looking for a general use, high quality design.

Strengths:
Strong clear response throught entire range. Closed design blocks virtually all outside noise. Very Comfortable.

Weaknesses:
Not suited to high end monitoring applications.

Price Paid:  $108.00 from ebay

Summary:
I have used these headphones in many situations from critical and casual listening to mixing on HD recorder. They are incredibly accurate. I find that they are an excellent value. I have ised them for 3-4 hours at a time when recording without fatigue.

Strengths:
Excellent clarity

Weaknesses:
none for me