Sony MDR 1AM2

 First off lets start with how they fit around your ears. If you have small ears you can position these however you like, but for bigger ears I would try this way instead. When I was looking inside the headphone cushions I saw that they had a bit more space hidden which should fit bigger ears because when I tuck in my ears which are small I still have a lot more space inside the headphones pads. Now lets talk sound quality. These headphones have bass ports which I will show where with photos, kind of like a subwoofer or speakers. Do not try to cover them the bass will sound weird because the air flows through them to produce such great bass that these headphones have. When you put on some songs with a lot of bass you will be amazed by the bass these small headphones. If you EQ the bass it will be a bassheads dream with those songs if you set the bass a bit higher. The bass is excellent on these.

Now for the midrange (Vocals) I like it a lot especially when I watch videos or want to monitor my voice. For songs the vocals are clear and you will know they are there. These headphones are very fun to listen to.

Now for the high range. This is mostly what makes the headphones sound clearer. When I have these on a lower volume I could fall asleep with these on. The high range on a lower volume the headphone has a warm sound signature but when I turn up the volume some of that treble range can break through but instead of being able to sleep with them on they act more excited like most other headphones but much more explosive bass with these. Obviously you should never use headphones on high volume it will seriously damage your hearing.

For soundstage, these are closed back headphones first off, so nothing like an open-back heqdphone but some soundstage is there if you really focus and relax, not a whole lot though. I would say the soundstage is there but not wide, it still feels like its near your ear but these headphones primarily should be for listening to music, videos, and perhaps movies not for soundstage and all that but for voices or narrative for documentaries, and for big explosions for that bass.

For the build quality these are the lightest headphones that I have bought, I was amazed. You could wear these for hours and you might forget that they are on your head. I would be very afraid for these to fall off my head because of how light weight they are. The build is plastic, some of it is a bit rough feeling. The headband may look flat but actually its just a bit of flexible material with a crease and the rest of it is cushion, and whatever material thats inside the headband is 1mm thick compared to the rest of the soft cushioning it’s very comfortable. The pads itself on the inside is great I don’t remember the material but it’s soft. The adjustment part of the headphone I would think is some sort of metal. For the aux port you will need an auxillary cable with the same locking mechanism as the stock cables. Also, this headphone comes with a 3.5mm to 3.5mm auxillary with a mic attached. The mic on this is fantastic for what it is. This headphone also comes with a soft carrying case and a balanced 3.5mm to 4.4mm auxillary cable which I haven’t tried yet but heard that it makes these headphones sound even better than what they already are without it. They also come in a nice cardboard after you take out the cheap paper box it comes with outside of that cardboard and when you open it the headphones are laying in a nice smooth attached cloth on some plastic material which looks nice to be presented with.

Portablity, yes they could be used outside but they are not sweatproof or anything of that sort, I found that the bass ports are sensitive to wind so you will hear the wind when wearing these. I really enjoy using these at home I would buy some iem, wireless earbuds, or earbuds with an ipx rating for outside especially for the summer, not that its okay to wear any headphones in cold weather anyways. These are great, bass way better beyond what the xm3 or xm4 can produce, they say it can do 3hz beyond human hearing which these sound like a mini subwoofer, clean high range, and I love the midrange so far. If you can buy these for $300 Canadian dollars I would do it. I have no idea when Sony will release the MDR 1Am3 or whatever is next for them that is an upgrade to this. All said, try these. I hope you like them, give it time. I’ve had them for a few months and they keep getting better. (Will update if needed.)

These are the most expensive and highest quality headphones I’ve ever owned. And it helps me understand why some spend thousands on audio setups.

My experience with these have been nothing short of shocking and eye-opening. I’m going through all the music I’ve listened to hundreds of times and it’s like I’m listening to them for the first time.

I’ve noticed many things for the first time, such as music sounding different when these headphones are driven by my PC vs by my phone. It’s also noticeable how much lower quality youtube music is than spotify. This wasn’t noticeable with the cheaper headphones I’ve used before.

Definitely one of my happiest purchases.

Excellent sound and comfortable. As described.

I have paired these with an IFI headphone DAC/AMP connected to a computer. I am happy with the sound. The headphones, and especially the ear cups, look smallish, but with just a little fiddling I can get a reasonable fit.

My problem is the (proprietary?) balanced cable is ONLY FOUR FEET LONG! Really, Sony, for $250 you can’t spring the extra 50 cents or so for one or two feet more of cable?

As long as your playback device is close-by it’s not a show-stopper. But every time you get up to stretch or fetch something it really is annoying to have to stop the playback, remove the headphones, scratch/stretch, and then restore everything back.

And if your playback device is more than two feet away, the cable is NOT GOING TO WORK.

I have looked and can not find a longer balanced cable, nor can I find any extension cable. I’ll keep looking on occasion, but I don’t have much hope.

So now I have one more thing to try to remember in the future – make sure the cable(s) are long enough and are NOT proprietary!

These headphones are among the purest you will find. Keep in mind they are not made for Audiophiles, but for Audio Professionals.

If you intend on using these for audio recording, whether music based, film/video production.. these headphones will provide a genuinely pure representation of the entire range of frequencies on offer… IF you have the ear for that kind of thing as well. If you understand what that all means, pre-EQíng and pre-mastering, you will appreciate exactly what these headphones have to offer.

If you are after a specific type of sound or “soundstage” or whatever other buzzwords are popular with self professed Audiophiles, stay away from these unless you are serious about tweaking your EQ settings and being exposed to some hard truths. If you are one of these lazy “experts” that demnds more bass, or midrange, or sense of space or whatever… you’re really just describing a closed range of frequency responses and effects that you prefer. The MDR1AM2 does not cater to you… they will expose the flaws in some of the music you like so much in terms of mixing and mastering that you thought were great with other headphones that “boosted” the bass/treble/etc.. Boosting = Fake/Inaccurate/Unbalanced sound.

The sound is brutally honest.

I have gone through a variety of headphones over the years. I have accepted the minor flaws in a variety of very good headphones for the purposes of gaming, mobile music listening, etc…. but my go to was always my old Sony MDR7506. And I have been reluctant to get another pair of MDR7506’s because of the one structural flaw in its design… the ultra heavy duty, and heavy weighted wire that inevitably loosens its connectivity at the point directly inside the headphone.

These MDR1AM2’s are better than the MDR7506 in every possible way.
More comfortble to wear, a light and detachable cable. Frequency range is so much broader while requiring a fraction of the ohms (16 vs 63) so no need for amp boosting.

Have tried this with normal MP3s… and it demonstrates more of the subtle trash that occurs from MP3 compression that you can usually ignore with most other headphones.

I have also tried it with both recordings in uncompressed 24 bit, 96khz WAV file form and 24 bit 44khz VST instruments (EastWest Hollywood Opus to be specific).

PERFECTION! I have found the headphones I will use for at least the next 10 years, probably longer considering these already cover a frequency range that is beyond realistic human hearing.

Keep in mind that Sony’s audio department does not have a track record of promoting lifestyle headphones, as you may struggle to find proper reviews online. It is obvious by the background of many of the psuedo influencers “reviewing” audio gear these days that they do not truly understand audio at a professional level, and/or are motivated by the occasional endorsements and kickbacks which heavily skew how they approach their appraisals . Sony is known for making hardcore pro studio equipment, and that is the kind of tech you are getting here…. at a disturbingly low price considering what many other high end brands are demanding for their flagship headphones