Sony MDR-V500DJ Monitor Series Headphones with Swivel Earcups Reviews

• Muddled high-end for this price!? NO WAY!

  
  By A3MN5FMEN5Y4R9 on 2003-03-01
  Well, I embarked on finding a new set of travel headphones after my last long plane ride. The earbuds just weren't hacking it, even though the pair I have are quite good. The jet engine noise finally got to me.

  I have an old pair of Sony MDR-M77 headphones which are quite good, but I wanted something new. So, I studied what was available and settled on the MDR-V500DJ headphones. After purchasing a pair, I regret my choice and I am returning them.

  When I got these headphones, I immediately plugged them into my iPod and picked a favorite cut from XTC (Mayor of Simpleton). As I listened to the song, I kept wondering what was wrong, Then, it dawned on me, the treble was entirely muffled. I grabbed the MDR-M77 and did a A-B test with several tracks. Same result. The MDR-V500DJ has little or no high-end. Just as a sanity check, I grabbed my Sony MDR-V6 phones and did the same test. I consider the MDR-V6 one of the best headphones ever made by the way. Yeah, the bass was definitely richer than the MDR-M77, which seem bright in comparison, but both were much closer to what I expected than the MDR-V500DJ.

  I thought it might be the iPod, so picked a coupled of CDs (MFSL Dark Side of the Moon & Bernstein in Berlin-Beethoven Symphony no.9) to try in my portable CD player. Same result. While the MDR-M77 was the brighest of the three, the lack of high end on the MDR-V500DJ made neither CD sound good. Once again, the MDR-V6 was the best and most balanced of the three.

  Still seeking the perfect lightweight headphones, I went to a local Magnolia Hi-Fi to try a better comparison. I tried both noise cancelling models from Sony, several Sennheiser models, the MDR-V600, MDR-V500DJ, and MDR-V300. First of all, forget the noise cancelling models. None of them sounded as good as MDR-V500DJ. The MDR-V600 was the best of them all and reminded me of the MDR-V6 (which I understand they replaced). The MDR-V300 is definitely better than the MDR-500DJ by a long shot, and I would say the MDR-V300 is comparable to Sennheiser HD-212. I am going to try them side-by-side at home soon.

  Although many of the Sennheiser phones sounded good, they seemed over-priced compared to the MDR-V600. The only one that was close in price and quality was the HD-280. By the way, the HD-280 was uncomfortable and put a lot of pressure on my head.

  Unless you like listening to bass only, do not buy the MDR-V500DJ headphones.
  
  

• great sound / hurt the ears

  
  By A3VTLJCJNSZPPY on 1999-11-28
  i've always been skeptical of sony sound products, but these are really great sounding - with a lot of range and not choking on big bass beats. my only complaint being that they dont cup the ear like i had expected. listening to music for more than 7 hrs a day while coding a website can make your ears a lil sensitive.
  
  

• Pros and Cons -

  
  By on 1999-12-22
  There are some pros and cons to these headphones. Most importantly though, the sound quality is quite good. Strong Bass performance and clear, smooth sound. Bass is strong and defined without being overly agressive.

  The headphones don't cup your ears quite as well as a lot of other headphones; for instance, I doubt you could listen to these too loudly on a plane or a train without others around you noticing. Although I found them generally comfortable to wear, they don't grip your head that well - if I lean forward, they fall off.

  What I do like though, is the fact that these can be folded up so if you need to put them in your bag like I do, then they won't get crushed and they won't take up so much room.

  All in all I feel positive about these, but they are a little on the expensive side.
  
  

• Too quiet for their intended use

  
  By A3T767O02CHFN1 on 2003-01-09
  Let me begin by saying that these headphones are advertised as "for DJs/for studio use." Given this, one would expect Sony to be targeting their DJ audience with these headphones.

  Which they most certainly did not!

  While the audio quality of these headphones is quite impressive for the price (surpassing the similarly priced v600s, if you ask me), the fact that these are designed for DJ use bothers me because they lack in volume. Even with both headphone & master volume maxed on my mixer (pre-amp), I find myself struggling to hear what's happening on the channel B while channel A is playing over the speakers.

  Kick in the extra cash and get the v700s, which outperform these in every way possible and are much better suited for live performance use. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a set of headphones for home use, these are a reasonable consideration.
  
  

• Sound is OK, uncomfortable to wear

  
  By A2I3FY9NRB455E on 2006-02-01
  The sound is fine enough (maybe a little lacking in substance) and it seals off any outer noise very well. However, my biggest complaint is that I can't really wear them for more than an hour at a time. They pinch quite tightly around my ears and if I'm wearing glasses as well, it's downright uncomfortable. I'd say they were the opposite of cushy. In hindsight, I should have spent a little more and gotten a pair of headphones with the double headband.
  
  
• Was made in Japan, now made in China
  By ALZ5OIJES3ZLJ on 2006-01-10
  I bought these headphones about 4 years ago, and the sound was really good. It was full, round, and rich. The construction felt good, a bit heavy maybe, but was worth the sound quality. After 4 years the problem with the joint that seems to happend to everyone with the VX00DJ headphones, happened to me. It cracked from stress and the phones rendered themselves useless.
  
  I had been using these exclusively for four years and knew their sound quality well, so I thought it would be a good buy. I was sorely mistaken. The first thing I noticed was that the insulation on the cord was of a cheaper quality. Then when I used them, I noticed the sound was not the same. They sounded tinny and weak. Not at all the quality it used to be.
  
  So off I went to return them. I mentioned to the guy at the store that these weren't the same phones as what I purchased 4 years ago. I was informed that Sony used to make them in Japan, and now they're made in China. So in my opinion, DO NOT BUY THESE HEADPHONES.
  
  Find something better.
  
  
• Very quiet
  By A1G9L2BT6DTE95 on 2000-07-19
  I bought one of these and one of the 300 model to test and compare. Although these were the more expensive model, and sounded better, volume was very low. The 300 was able to reproduce sound much louder despite the settings on any volume controls.

  However, if you're a moderate-level user, and you're looking for supurb sound quality, it's here.
  
  

• Decent headphones, dont forget their power requirments
  By A19G2FZZ6WXFAH on 2005-03-17
  I bought these headphones because I wanted fuller base and sturdy portable design. The MDR-V500DJ is definitely built well, but when you use them with a notebook or cd player or mp3 player they sound cheap and thin. The cd players and all just don't have enough power to push those 40 mm drivers. These headphones have an impedance of 40 ohms making them useless unless you have a preamp in your sound card, an external preamp or a good size home theater amp. The non-professional headphones that will work with your smaller devices have an impedance of around 20ohms or so. I would recommend Panasonic RP HT355 Ear-cup Headphones. They don't fold, but they sure do give a lot fuller bass response and cost about half as much.
  
  
• Great headphones, but a little heavy
  By AL464PBZ5P6FZ on 2005-04-19
  I purchased these headphones 2 weeks ago from the Sony Store. When I tried them on at the Sony Store, they were very comfortable and blocked out most of the noisy background of the shopping center. The sound was pretty clear, warm strong bass, but not loud enough. It was probably because my Network Walkman wasn't powerful enough to drive the 40mm drivers. They also seemed a little too heavy for portable usage (running after the bus), but 1-2 hrs should be o.k. After trying them for 10 mins, I decided to purchase a pair, and so far no regret. If you have a lower budget and a Sony fan, check out the MDR-V300.
  
  By the way, these headphones actually block more noise and sound much better than those expensive noise-cancelling headphones (including the $150 Sennheinser PXC250, but probably not the $300 Bose Quiet Comfort 2). So, don't waste your money on those.
  
  
• They fill the need.
  By A19KQ1SFKJSUA6 on 2000-10-11
  Good - Loud, Crisp Sound, Fairly Comfortable, Tough Bad - Big, Heavy, Large Heads Only

  I bought these as a replacment to the flimsy plastic headphones that came with my Discman. They definintely serve as a good replacement set for desk listening. They are quite bulky and "DJ" feature of the ear pieces makes them awkward to carry around in a bag. They do a great job helping me tune out the world around me. The cushy ear pads fit comfortably around my ears to seal them off from most outside noise. The bass is almost two much for my little brain - caused heavy brain vibration. The heavy duty construction is a strong selling point for these babies. You can break them with normal use and occasional drops. The do fit fairly snug on my bald head. However, even with my fairly large melon, I have to keep them on one of the smaller settings. The above metioned construction makes them heavy and they tend to slip quick. To prevent this slipping you have to have the cross piece rest directly on your head. Those of you with an afro or fluffy hair may want to consider another set of headphones.
  
  

• O.K.
  By A1HYTAL4ELL38M on 2006-12-29
  these headphones are alright. they are well made. I had a pair of stanton Dj pro 3000's with better drivers but their cunstruction sucks they broke at the adustment band. These phones are not as capable of producing the same sound but they are built better therefore I recomend them.
  
  
• goods headphone, easy to handle
  By A36N1O0SXOBN23 on 2007-01-11
  Like the swivel technigue, fits pretty well, use it more for gaming than for playing music, which means that after some hours your ears start to hurt a little bit, but I guess that's with pretty much every headphone the case. It has a good full body volume sound and the price is very resaonable.
  
  
• easy listening
  By A10LGDT0XD857Y on 2007-01-11
  Nice product, confortable, excelent for personal use, at home or at studio fits quite well, people complains about not sounding hard enough at while playing at open and noisy spaces, but if you're using it for your self its very enjoyable.
  
  
• Too fragile
  By A2IG6MJZRQDRTE on 2008-02-13
  My pair broke just after one year... I will never buy sony products again... they are just not good quality.
  
  
• The Sony MDR-V500DJ are great!
  By A1GETA3HYJ7ZQ8 on 2008-04-06
  Before I bought the Sony MDR-V500DJ I had heard that they hurt your ears a lot, that usually made me not want to buy them. It is true that at first the headphones hurt my ears, but it's only in the beginning. Afterwards, your ears get used to the headphones and my ears didn't hurt.
  So I would greatly recommend the headphones because they have some good quality sound, specially if your into loud techno like myself. The bass and the rotating earcups are great, they are nice to wear around your neck.
  
  Overall the earphones are great.
  
  

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