I watched this video when it came out. I needed closed backs for HIFI listening. Compared to what I have had and have that I remember in the last few years - Denon Ad-h2000/500(wooden cups) Audio technica M40x, sen 620s... I purchased these. Absolutely awesome. Pro will not spend the ridiculous mark up on colored headphones with boosted highs and lows, Monitors are actually hifi If you want to hear the recording as it was engineered without the coloring of commercial headphones. Been listening to Headphones for over 15 yrs.. too many to remember but these MDR-M1 are worth every Penny! Thanks for the Demo. I love mine. I also have 2023 HD600 and HD650 - that is my comparison.
I agree with you, the M1 is exceptional for its price range. Based on my short experience with them at the CamJam, they are superior sonic-wise to my Senn HD6XX. I appreciate you taking the time to give your feedback!
@@hireality welcome. Thank you for your video it literally was the deciding factor. Just some stats for fun; I was looking at the 6xx vs the HD650 and found that the HD650 uses hand picked and Matched drivers where as the 6xx does not. The HD650 I have do not sound veiled, they sound way better than expected based on past reviews. I highly recommend them only because they are musical open backs. Have a great week!
Absolutely, sub bass / low freq. was definitely present when I listened to my track. And overall, a great sounding headphone, especially for its price. You know, my take on headphone sonic performance is completely different than the usual/mainstream UA-cam headphone reviewers' who all like to differ between the HiFi/Audiophile application versus the Studio application. A headphone sonic performance must come as close as possible to real-life sound we hear. More on than on my upcoming videos!
Bass and sub-bass is flat to neutral. It is present, but not as engaging or immersive as audiophile phones. I actually feel the HD600/650/6XX have more dynamics and articulation. If you are used to high end phones, the Sony MDR-M1’s will seem dull, flat, and lifeless. But everything is present, it’s just that nothing is emphasized. Which, in a mixing and monitoring environment, for portable use may be exactly what you need. However, they still don’t present the same way or articulate like my studio monitors. However, if they excell at anything it is tonal accuracy, without coloration, and tonal balance. These are probably the most flat listening profile you would want on a headphone at all. And are almost flat to a fault. They don’t actually roll off on the bass or treble, they are present, but you have to pay attention to those areas for things to stand out. I would not use them for musical enjoyment, movies, gaming, etc. but they make a great portable option if neutrality is what you need above all other aspects of monitoring. Soundstage is neutral in width, and tonality is not warm or cold, just flat, and it has some null at the bass end which makes it sound not as full or lush, but at the same time it is not overly lean or thin sounding. Like I said - just neutrality all around. Also it’s worth burning these in for 3 days on pink noise as I feel subjectively it helps bring out more of the dynamics a bit. While they have wider deeper cups, and better sealing/isolation, the new angled driver and raised lip on the inner cups are also less comfortable to me than an HD600, or even the 7506, but I may pad swap them later on. Clamp force is too light, cannot be adjusted (i believe the inner headband is a flexible plastic and not metal), and end up always falling off my head as well, despite how light they are they dont hold on to my ears or head. These M1’s are nice as a portable reference set for monitoring and music production, when you need neutrality, but for anything else, I would not use them.
These sound very well-rounded, it's very impressive! Are they worth picking up if I'm looking into closed-backs? I have been searching for a pair for a while.
I would say go for it! I was very impressed listening to the Sony MDR-M1 to my own track; worth mentioning that it wasn’t even connected to an external DAC. Also, the picture/videos don’t really justify the first-person experience of their look & feel (i.e. they look & feel better than the pictures/videos and were comfortable to wear). Hope it helps.
I watched this video when it came out. I needed closed backs for HIFI listening. Compared to what I have had and have that I remember in the last few years - Denon Ad-h2000/500(wooden cups) Audio technica M40x, sen 620s... I purchased these. Absolutely awesome. Pro will not spend the ridiculous mark up on colored headphones with boosted highs and lows, Monitors are actually hifi If you want to hear the recording as it was engineered without the coloring of commercial headphones. Been listening to Headphones for over 15 yrs.. too many to remember but these MDR-M1 are worth every Penny! Thanks for the Demo. I love mine. I also have 2023 HD600 and HD650 - that is my comparison.
I agree with you, the M1 is exceptional for its price range. Based on my short experience with them at the CamJam, they are superior sonic-wise to my Senn HD6XX. I appreciate you taking the time to give your feedback!
@@hireality welcome. Thank you for your video it literally was the deciding factor. Just some stats for fun; I was looking at the 6xx vs the HD650 and found that the HD650 uses hand picked and Matched drivers where as the 6xx does not. The HD650 I have do not sound veiled, they sound way better than expected based on past reviews. I highly recommend them only because they are musical open backs. Have a great week!
I'm listening this through my Sony MDR-M1 !!
How is the sub bass low frequency response? Can it be used for casual listening?
Absolutely, sub bass / low freq. was definitely present when I listened to my track. And overall, a great sounding headphone, especially for its price. You know, my take on headphone sonic performance is completely different than the usual/mainstream UA-cam headphone reviewers' who all like to differ between the HiFi/Audiophile application versus the Studio application. A headphone sonic performance must come as close as possible to real-life sound we hear. More on than on my upcoming videos!
Bass and sub-bass is flat to neutral. It is present, but not as engaging or immersive as audiophile phones. I actually feel the HD600/650/6XX have more dynamics and articulation. If you are used to high end phones, the Sony MDR-M1’s will seem dull, flat, and lifeless.
But everything is present, it’s just that nothing is emphasized. Which, in a mixing and monitoring environment, for portable use may be exactly what you need. However, they still don’t present the same way or articulate like my studio monitors.
However, if they excell at anything it is tonal accuracy, without coloration, and tonal balance.
These are probably the most flat listening profile you would want on a headphone at all. And are almost flat to a fault. They don’t actually roll off on the bass or treble, they are present, but you have to pay attention to those areas for things to stand out.
I would not use them for musical enjoyment, movies, gaming, etc. but they make a great portable option if neutrality is what you need above all other aspects of monitoring. Soundstage is neutral in width, and tonality is not warm or cold, just flat, and it has some null at the bass end which makes it sound not as full or lush, but at the same time it is not overly lean or thin sounding. Like I said - just neutrality all around.
Also it’s worth burning these in for 3 days on pink noise as I feel subjectively it helps bring out more of the dynamics a bit. While they have wider deeper cups, and better sealing/isolation, the new angled driver and raised lip on the inner cups are also less comfortable to me than an HD600, or even the 7506, but I may pad swap them later on. Clamp force is too light, cannot be adjusted (i believe the inner headband is a flexible plastic and not metal), and end up always falling off my head as well, despite how light they are they dont hold on to my ears or head.
These M1’s are nice as a portable reference set for monitoring and music production, when you need neutrality, but for anything else, I would not use them.
These sound very well-rounded, it's very impressive! Are they worth picking up if I'm looking into closed-backs? I have been searching for a pair for a while.
I would say go for it! I was very impressed listening to the Sony MDR-M1 to my own track; worth mentioning that it wasn’t even connected to an external DAC. Also, the picture/videos don’t really justify the first-person experience of their look & feel (i.e. they look & feel better than the pictures/videos and were comfortable to wear). Hope it helps.