Sony MDR1A Premium Hi-Res Stereo Headphones (Black)

I'm reviewing this MDR1A while keeping a few popular headphones that i also own in mind as this is the only way i can describe how i think this is "good". Within this current price range and below, I currently own V-Moda Crossfade M-100, Audio Technica ATH-M50X, and the Sony MDR-V6. I primarily use my headphones for mobile and PC audio, buying CDs to turn them to lossless digital if i can help it. If not, then MP3s with usually 192 kbps or higher quality. (PC has ASUS Xonar Essence STX sound card.)Impressions and stuff i learned quickly: -Light- a lot lighter than expected, well built, feels comfortable, sound quality is good, looks good without looking gimmicky/flashy. -Sound does leak out but not too bad. Will depend on how loud you play and how tight this fits on your head. -The mid-low to low frequencies sound good without being overpowered and muddying the mids to high frequencies. -Some might consider the sound from this as "warm". -In-line mic sound good on Skype and phone test. Susceptible to recording/picking up noise easily when moving around (brushing against shirt, etc.). -Even though the in-line one-button remote works with Android phones, the music/media control is limited by default. - play, pause, answer/end call works, no volume or skip/reverse functionality. -The Smartkey app that is suggested for the in-line remote to have more functionality does not properly work with an HTC One (M8). I read on the fine print that this app usually only works fine on Sony's Xperia Android phones. -This one seems like it has a few changes compared to previous iterations such as the MDR1R but i haven't tried those so i can't comment on them.I'm not a professional audiophile of any sort. This is just my opinion as a consumer with limited experience. I'm just a consumer who likes to find a good sounding, comfortable headphones that plays sound as accurate as possible. That being said, I think this pair is not the "flattest" sounding that i've used. I still have my old Sony MDR-V6 which i consider as "flat" sounding, meaning it doesn't have overpowered base and/or eardrum screeching treble. Though some might find it weak in the bass.I would consider the MDR1A close (but not the same) to the ATH-M50X in overall sound and comfort. Both are comfortable in part of their big, soft swiveling ear cups. This helps it in adapting to any angles on the sides of your head. This, however, partly weakens the clamping grip if you're using it while lying on your back (the M50X especially since it's heavier).The difference is that the MDR1A's mid-low to low frequency sounds 'better'. I'm not sure if its wider Frequency response spectrum (3Hz-100kHz compared to the M50X's 15-28kHz) plays a part in it. The difference between three to fifteen Hertz for the bass might not be a big deal though. (Also, I don't think 100kHz can be heard by humans anyway.) This smaller spectrum range might also be why the M50X sounds comfortable as it puts out frequencies only within usual ranges, but can sometimes sound "too comfortable". This IS a plus but can sometimes make certain bass heavy parts of some songs sound minutely less punchy. (NOTE: VERY minutely that you might not even notice overall.) But like i said I'm not much an audiophile so... eh.The MDR1A earcup materials is soft, comfortable, and does not muddle the mids and lows (like a lot of "gaming headphones" (Razer Kraken "PRO".... lol)). The main thing/s i can compare between this and the V-Moda M-100 is difference in comfort. I can say that their bass punchiness is comparable to a point. But sometimes the M-100 has the tendency to make audio sound like i'm listening through a box (or boxlike room) meant to make the bass sound better. Half the time it's awesome, but sometimes feeling like listening through a box is not. The build quality on both MDR1A and M-100 are superb regardless of different materials used. The M-100 has good metalic parts that gives it a premium feel and heft and therefore a little bit heavier. The clamping force might be hard because the ear cups don't swivel. The ear cup shape is unique but smaller compared to the MDR1A.The MDR1A has softer ear cups pads and headband. The ear cup pads are angled to be thicker in the bottom to help seal in the sound. As mentioned above, the swiveling helps in making this comfortable. And did i mention the MDR1A is a lot lighter? Because IT IS a lot lighter. Not being able to fold it to be more compact might be a big deal for others.Would i recommend these? Yes. For this price tag? More likely if it was closer to the M50X's price.

Just got these the other day and decided to listen to them before breaking them in just to get a base line for the sound. The first problem with this headphone is that it uses a proprietary connector (it looks like a standard 3 or 4 conductor 3.5mm but the step down right after the pin is smaller than standard) so I had to use the original cables which don't look very good compared to the cables that I was planning to use (made custom cable with parts from Double Helix cable, $180 for cable and connectors, still needed to solder everything together) also the stock cable is way too short for my home setup (need 2.5M or longer). I currently use this custom cable with my Fidelio X1 and it really makes it come alive.So going with the stock cable here is what I think of these: A step or two above my ATH-M50x and Sony MDR-7506, fairly even with my Momentum over-ears and a step above the Momentum on-ear and V-Moda XS. The bass is actually quite good, just a tad bloated, very recording dependent, mids are not bad, a little recessed for my liking, highs are ok, slightly rolled off, doesn't have the sparkle of say a Grado. The sound stage is ok, best of my closed back headphones except for the Momentum over-ear. I'm making this evaluation using a Fiio x3, FLAC files and a few MP3-320 since this is how I will be using these most of the time. Tried these with my other setups (bifrost/lyr2, modi/magni, VX1, TEAC AH01, Xonar STX) and they don't seem to scale up much, come to think about it, the Momentums, M50 and MDR 7506 don't seem to scale up much either.I mainly got these for when I travel as they have fairly good isolation and are comfortable to wear for a few hours at a time. I still like the M50 with Shure velour pad for comfort but they don't isolate as well and the MDR-1A is mush more comfortable than the Momentum over-ear and a little better isolation.Compared to my other headphones: not even close to HE-400i, HE-560, HD-700, Fidelio X1, SRH-1840 and STAX SRD-4/SR-30. I feel they are close to the HE-400 and Momentum over-ear if run of the X3, moving to the bifrost/lyr2 combo the HE-400 is a step or two up IMO and the Momentum a step up. I've changed the stock cable on the HE-400 to silver and did the grill mod which really changed the sound of the HE-400. Also made a custom padded head band and changed the ear pads to the new focus pads.That's it for now, will work on building 2 (4.5ft and 8.5ft) new high quality cables for the MDR-1A to see if the sound changes much

Birthday present really appreciated

I checked several pairs of headphones and these were the best of the ones I tried and the price on Amazon was much lower than the retail stores.