BUSINESS UP FRONT
Upon taking the MDR-7510 out of the box, I first noticed how incredibly light they were. Weighing only 261g, these headphones are designed for long, continuous use. The lightweight build is due to the plastic exterior of these headphones. They’re lightweight but feel anything but flimsy. Instead, Sony has created a sturdy and durable casing that will survive well beyond the usual wear and tear, designed with the consumers priorities in mind. The headphones have a closedback ear cup design with thick around-ear cushions to block out environmental noise while providing lasting comfort. The padded headband is adjustable to provide a snug fit for virtually any head size. There is also a great deal of slack provided by the extra long 3m cable, which facilitates clear signal transfer. Included with the headphones is a gold-plated 3.5mm plug and 1/4” adapter, which offers compatibility with a wide variety of studio applications.
CLEAR CUT
The real magic in these headphones shines through in their performance. To ensure that these headphones deliver accurate sound, Sony has incorporated 50mm drivers with PET diaphragms and neodymium magnets, which give an extended frequency response that brings out the deepest bass and crisp treble. As the MDR-7500 series were designed as a monitoring set, I had to try these out on my recent editing work for the soon to be released Mixdown TV. When playing back unedited footage, the first thing I noticed is the wide range of frequencies that these headphones picked up. I had a lot of unwanted noise in my playback that I hadn’t noticed when first filming, and these headphones were able to identify all of the blemishes that could have been avoided during production. Adding to their dynamic range, the sound quality was immaculately clear. As far as an industry standard pair of monitor headphones go, it’s difficult to go past the Sony MDR-7510.
BY MICHAEL EDNEY
