MDR-7520 Review - Reviews - Music Tech Magazine

Need high-quality headphones for serious studio work? Sony's new cans might just be the answer. MTM investigates...

Price: £455.00
Manufacturer: Sony
Website: http://www.scvlondon.co.uk

Sony MDR-7520 headphones

Sitting pretty at the top of Sony’s critical listening range of studio headphones, the MDR-7520 offers an appealing combination of comfort, wideband reproduction and excellent acoustic isolation, as well as being lightweight enough for extended wearing. The tech specs indicate frequency response going down to an impressive 5Hz and extending to an equally impressive 80kHz, so we were naturally eager to put them through their paces in our studio and see how they fared.

In the somewhat less impressive box (other models we’ve reviewed, such as V-Moda’s Crossfade LPs, come with a sturdy ‘exoskeleton’ carry case) you get a soft fabric bag, owner’s manual and gold screwthread adaptors. A threaded three-metre coiled cable completes the lineup. The phones themselves are loaded with 50mm HD drivers incorporating liquid-crystal polymer film diaphragms. Sony states they are constructed from a lightweight magnesium alloy to decrease weight and increase comfort, reduce fatigue and help prevent unnecessary vibration. Time, then, to subject them to deep bass and high volumes to truly test their metal…

Beginning with a foray into dubstep that made excessive use of bottom end, the 7520s revealed that Sony’s specs weren’t a work of fiction. Solid, well-defined and very much in-ya-face, they happily and accurately responded to every element of the deep, throbbing bass. Treble response was equally pleasing; no trace of harsh or forced reproduction was evident. Isolation was equally impressive, with only those closest to us noticing that potentially pain-inducing volumes were running through them. Comfort scored highly, too, and our period of testing extended beyond the norm thanks to the pure pleasure of the listening experience.
If you’re in search of high-quality phones for serious studio work, we reckon you should look no further. MTM

10/10 - Superb sound reproduction and easy to wear. Excellent.

Score: 10/10

This review first appeared in Music Tech Magazine issue 103
Filed under Headphones, Reviews

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Sony MDR-7520 Review

10/10 - Superb sound reproduction and easy to wear. Excellent.

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