So recently I’ve gotten kind of fed up with how my usual JVC ear-buds start hurting in my ear canals after an extended period of time. One of my usual hobbies is sitting in a coffee shop (usually It’s a Grind Coffee House) for hours on end on my laptop working on things, such as this blog. (Sad life)
While I’m working though, I’ll usually like to have music on, jamming away in my own little world with some type of cold mocha in front of me. Recently, however, my usual cheap, tiny ear-buds have begun to hurt my ears; I can’t have them in for over like half an hour now. So I decided it was time for a new investment…
At the behest of a friend who knows a bit about headphones, he recommended several to me and sent links to each. The Sony V6’s caught my attention the most due to their price.
They were originally about $109+tax on Amazon, but lucky me, they happened to be on sale for about $70~ with free shipping. I was pretty stoked about the sale, and after some brief research and reading a few reviews, it seemed this would be the best bang for my buck. I didn’t want to spend a copious amount of cash on headphones either…
What I’ve used my entire life for on-the-go music. Not gonna lie, these little suckers aren’t bad at all. For such tiny ear-buds they deliver fantastmal sound quality. I love them to no end, though they can be quite fragile; I snap them on accident sometimes and end up having to replace them. Beyond that they’re excellent in durability and sound quality. Fairly cheap at around $14~ a pop too.
Absolutely eccentric when these arrived a day early in the mail. Upon opening it up and taking the headphones out, I was kinda surprised.
They’re actually a little smaller than I expected. My main requirement was that the ear-buds be big enough to fit over my ears comfortably (eliminating the ear-buds pain problem) and that they deliver equal or hopefully better sound quality.
So far the former has been solved, though the latter may take some time.
I’ve read a bit about a “break-in time” for these headphones, or all of them in general. Apparently it takes a bit of listening to get the headphones to sound as clear as they should be.
Currently, the V6’s don’t sound bad by any stretch of the imagination, though I haven’t listened to them for long. Less than 10 hours as of yet. My biggest quirk is that the bass isn’t as strong as I’d like them to be, though I’m hoping with some time that’ll solve itself.
They also isolate noise quite well, almost too well. I guess it’s not being used to these, but having these giant cuffs over my ears, I feel like I lose my sense of outside hearing completely. My first time having these on, I kept looking over my shoulder to see if anyone was behind me because they immersed me so completely.
Another little quirk I’ve read on these is that the ear-pads disintegrate rather quickly. Apparently after just a little bit they start getting sticky, flaky, etc.
I mean hey, new out of the box they look beautiful, but only time will tell how they’ll turn out. This doesn’t bother me as much ’cause if it does happen, I can just replace the ear-pads…right?
The thing that scared me the most with these headphones based on the reviews was that many complained about it being too tight on the head. Some made it sound like they would only fit you if you your head was the width of a baseball. I was kinda weary – I’m a pretty big guy, and therefore would have a larger head, so it would suck not having these fit or be too tight to listen to comfortably.
One reviewer described the headphones as “great sound quality, if you don’t mind having your head in a vice grip every time you have them on!”
Fortunately, either I have a smaller head than most, or said reviews were just over-exaggerated. I found no problems with fitment upon taking them out of the box.
They do have the standard adjusters on each side that allow for different fitments and heights/widths, so I dunno what all the controversy about them being tight was about.
I was a little concerned about the audio jack in that I was afraid the head would be too thick to plug into my iPod, since it has a thick case surrounding it. Fortunately, though, there was no problem. It goes in all the way, and works just as it should.
Sony also includes a bigger stereo jack that you could put into a speaker or somethin’, but I’d never use that…
The cord itself is also pretty darn long; my guess is that this is standard fare for most studio headphones, since the cord is coiled and extendable quite far…
Last but not least you get a nice little carrying pouch for when you’re on the go. The headphones fold in nicely and fit without much issue, though the strap at the top isn’t very effective at staying closed…
Nothing fancy, gets the job done in an unremarkable fashion.
Funny thing, perhaps its just me not being used to them yet, but my first listen on these things yielded a dull headache…nothing severe, it was just the music that gave me a sort of jabbing pain in my head. Guess it’s just me not being used to them yet.
Overall the Sony MDR-V6’s are a pretty good set of headphones. They’re my first pair, and have generally met most of my requirements. To be fair though, I haven’t had the most exclusive time to work with them, so perhaps the sound quality will improve with some time, perhaps not.
