MDR-ZX700
5
5
4
4
Excellent Vintage Sound
As others have described, the sound quality is very pleasant and reproduction true to a vintage sound. Very comfortable. Note the cord length and connector type. You probably need an extension and an adapter if you are using 1/4" plugs like in most studios.
August 22, 2012
worth your money
the sound quality on these is worth every penny put into them however for people with big or protruding ears there can be comfort issues. the padding on these make no pressure points ANYWHERE, they are very comfortable to wear in tat manner , however inside the cups of the headphones is a web like plastic crossing that im guessing id to support the headphones. now these are very sturdy headphones. . . i mean these don't feel flimsy or weak at all however for people with big ears like myself the plastic on he inside can hurt after a while. my right ear sticks out more than my left ear does (idk why) so this causes discomfort to my right ear after about an hour . all i have to do it kinda position the ear cup a bit crooked to fix it then i can continue to use these for maybe 5 hours longer before i need to do the same thing to the left side. im still giving these a 5/5 cause they work well sound good and the comfort doesn't really bother me when i have the ear cups a bit crooked , it just feels a bit awkward at first but i kinda get used to it. here is a tip for people who will or might have gotten these. 1. even though it may look like the headphone were made to sit a bit in front on your head ( just the design makes it look this way you will understand if you buy these) just put the head ban right on the very top of your head anyways. 2 move the ear pads over your ear backwards till the pad sits on your ear completely and the speakers are behind your ears. (this wont make to bad a sound difference) i hope this has helped you guys out there like me.
April 14, 2012
Sound easily worth more than the $120 price tag
A little over a month ago I purchased these headphones in my first attempt at upgrading how I listen to music and to double as monitor headphones for my beginning interest in recording guitar. After loving them I returned them for a pair of V6 after a couple of days due to nay-Sayers. Can't say I had the V6 for even 36 hours. After taking them out of the case and just feeling them I was filled with regret, and despite letting the V6 burn in for the night I knew what I had to do. So it was back to the store for the V6 to purchase another set of ZX700s.
While the casing is essentially plastic, the padding on these things is soft. I'm not talking soft, I'm talking SOFT. Many people who hadn't actually had them in their hands figured it'd be similar to the V6 and have similar problems (namely flaking and falling apart). Arguably this could still happen, but having held and felt both headphones Sony has really stepped up their game with the padding on these compared to the V6. It doesn't feel cheap and ready to flake off at any moment (V6). These also don't seem to have a pressure point at the top of your head (middle of the headband) like the V6 did out of the box. The longest I've worn these headphones straight is 7 hours, the second day I had them, and there are no pressure points at all or any discomfort. I've almost forgotten about my computer speakers since I bought these.
Only having these for a month I can't really tell if the plastic will hold, but it feels sturdy and I have faith in Sony products in general. They aren't a company I really associate with selling products that fall apart. Accidents will happen, and these have taken two falls off my desk onto carpet as well as had a Shure SM57 mic dropped on them with no resulting damage. They were laying on my bed and I just wasn't paying attention to where I was tossing stuff. Being pulled off my desk was just due to the short short cable. These are really meant to be mobile cans I believe. Extension cables are cheap, and the fix to my problems. Though now I have to deal with the reverse of a short cable, a 4.2 meter cable (after extension) which is horrendously long. Though I no longer have to worry about pulling them off my desk, them pulling my head off when I move my chair, or the cable being physically ripped out of the headphones when either of the previous occur. I mean I had these things plugged into the front of my computer (which puts the audio-jack a little over head-height and about a foot away) and I couldn't move my chair more than a foot or two with out reaching the limits as 1.2m is ~ 3 feet. These would be perfect for listen to music on some sort of portable device in your pocket though. I still wish they would up the price and at least put a detachable cable like the ZX1000s, if not allow them to fold as well. Jack the price up to $200, still worth it. Though I could not see the price jump to the ZX1000s worth it, despite a better frequency range. We're talking $120 to $580 (the cheapest I found the ZX1000s). Where are my ZX800s or 900s that are the innards of the 700 in the case of the 1000s?
Sound wise at first the ZX700s ride the line with harsh treble and the bass is really punchy and tight. As with everything that has moving parts a burn in changes everything. After 5 or so hours the trebles mellow out nicely. The Bass slowly becomes less punchy over the next 10 hour so hours probably and you get to where, with certain recordings, you can feel the speaker diaphragm vibrate in the headphones. Though you don't get the, in my opinion horrible, vibration of the entire physical headphones. Which the V6 did, sadly, do in my short time with them. While I am a little saddened by this change in bass as in past experiences this lead to the bass taking over the entirety of the sound when this happens. These headphones broke the mold, though I still think it kills the mids, the bass never fully takes over covering everything else. I have to remember I didn't dish out $400+ for these headphones and they're closed back. Listening to a song which is highlighting a bass guitar it seems very natural sounding. Kick drums and the like still present themselves as tight and punchy. Arguably these are what monitor headphones should be and do their best to represent the sound as recorded. From song to song you can clearly hear the difference in the mixing. One instrument may be quiet compared to another in one recording, then another the opposite. Mostly I think I just notice that drums and vocals are usually boosted over guitars in mixing.
I really have no regrets in purchasing these headphones in an attempt at getting a foot into the "audiophile" door. These sound great plugged straight into an iPhone or on-board sound for a PC. Using a higher quality audio-source leaves you with a blatantly better sound. So I'd say these have room to grow if you're just starting out like myself. I picked up a PreSonus FireStudio Mobile for recording purposes, and using it as my sound card the increase to 24-bit/96Khz output is remarkable. I'm sure audiophiles will scoff, but my only tube amp is the one I plug my guitar into. While it may be faint, I can finally hear the difference between 320Khz and FLAC audio-files. The latter gives a more robust sound, and the bass just... well you can feel it like you're sitting in the room with the instruments. Just plugged straight into the PC I can't tell these differences. Though I am dealing with on-board Realtek sound straight into my PC.
Trying my best at audiophile jargon, these have a medium or maybe a little more sound-stage. After burn in you definitely get decent center. The sound doesn't seem to fully wrap around the head, leaving a little bit of an empty spot at the very back of the head. Separation is great on these things. I can sit back and focus on one instrument easy. In my last pair of headphones (Audio-Technica ATH-2; yes "ATH-2" is not a typo those things are older than me) instruments of similar frequencies were hard to tell apart, say a band with 2 guitars, and with the V6 I REALLY had to focus to pin-point the difference. Over-all the headphones give a rather balanced sound, but I've read in other reviews (and generally agree) that the low-mids seem more prevalent than the rest of the spectrum. This leads to a little boost in the bass I think with out getting the over-powered bass that engulfs the sound.
With these I have had those time to time moments of hearing things in a recording I've listened to hundreds of times that I've never heard before. Where a guitar goes "silent", but you hear in the background behind the drums that they didn't mute their strings enough or hit a string when doing so that leads to a sound. Actually highly entertaining to find these little imperfections.
I reckon these will give headphones in their price range (namely the favored Audio-Technica ATH-M50) a run for their money easily. Tried to track down some M50s in stores, but couldn't find any. So I ended up purchasing these for $40 less. I can't imagine the M50s being better than these sound wise honestly.
May 30, 2011
Absolutely blown away! Audiophiles take note.
I just bought the MDR-ZX700 to replace my MDR-V6s for use with my MP3 player commuting around New York on the train, and am completely blown away!
These are the most musical-sounding headphones I've heard in ages -- true high-end audiophile sound at a price that won't break your bank account.
Bass is deep, clean and accurate without being overly boomy. Highs are so smooth and bright without being harsh or edgy. They practically transport you to the performance space.
The closed design offers the just the right amount of sound isolation so you can enjoy your music with minimal interference minus that claustrophobic feel you get artificial noise cancelling headphones.
Last but not least, they might just be the most comfortable pair of headphones you've ever worn. Even the headband is pillow cushioned. The cups cover your entire ears so there's no pinching eve after long uses.
Simply incredible headphones.
Buy these & thank me later.
May 9, 2011
