Sony MDR-V150 Studio Monitor Series Headphones

A few days ago, I bought a pair of Sony MDR-V150 Monitor Series Headphones with Reversible Earcups for $19.99. After I opened the package, all I could think was, “Wow, that’s plastic-y!”  But not in a bad way. These headphones feel less like something that would come out of a Happy Meal™  and more like something that could be found along with the black box after a plane crash. Okay, so they’re not that tough,  but they feel far more sturdy than the Bose® around-ear headphones.

Looking on Sony’s website, these are given a 4 out 5 star user rating. As much as I love these head phones, I completely agree. They offer excellent sound quality, but not the greatest. I find them to to be very comfortable, but not the most comfortable on the market. Still, I put these on and listened to 3 hours of podcasts courtesy of twit.tv and never found these to be uncomfortable. And if I were going for the most comfortable experience, I would have gotten over ear headphones.

For audio mixing, I can safely say these will give you a more than high enough quality– whether you’re mixing and mastering audio for a video project, running front of house, or setting EQ for a syndicated recording. They even come with a quarter inch adapter.

Sony doesn’t market these as bass headphones, but they provided a great bass level and do very well throughout the mids. For highs they do well but cut off at 17 kHz. I know Sony says these can handle 18kHz, but I can hear 18kHz and these are just unable to play back 18kHz. Do bear in mind it’s rare for someone over the age of 25 to be able to hear above 15kHz.

I think I should go over my favorite and least favorite things about these headphones. For sure, my least favorite thing about these head phones is that they don’t fold up like many higher end options. Still, these are not horribly bulky and I have had no problem rolling up the cord and tossing these into my  man bag.  Now, over to my favorite thing about these headphones– the cord. I love the cord. It’s made out of what I think is silicone and because of that the cord doesn’t tangle. It doesn’t get knots in it or tangle with other cords  Did I mention, I love this cord?

So let’s look a the final grade:

Build Quality: 4 out of 5
These are a very sturdy pair of headphones, but the fact they don’t fold and the lack of a volume control on the unit makes them less then perfect.

Audio Quality: 4 out of 5
The audio is great, but not the greatest.

Portability: 5 out of 5
I can throw these in a bag and pull them out with no cord tangles. These are not bulky surround headphones. And while you can’t just shove them in your pocket, anyone buying these wouldn’t expect that.

Comfort: 4 1/2 out of 5
These are not uncomfortable, but I don’t feel like there’s a cloud wrapping around my head either.

Value for Cost: 5 out of 5
For $19.99, this is a great set of headphones.

Final Grade: 4 1/2 out of 5


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By Mason Pelt • All, Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , , ,