Customer Reviews

Sony MDR-D777LP Altus Stereo Headphones

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ok, first off: Why do people complain about the bass response on the MDR-777's? These babies have DEEP bass response - but they are not bass-heavy (IOW: perfect). Frequency response is balanced across the entire spectrum, from sub-bass to cymbal sizzle. Midrange is particularly nice - vocals, sax, piano are gorgeous. I was shocked at how much better these sound than my old headphones. CAUTION: These headphones will expose weaknesses in what you thought were perfect recordings. I mark that in the "benefits" column myself ;-)

I agree that the 777's appear flimsy. Sit on 'em once, and you're buying a new pair. Comfort is OK, not great. I like the oval ear cup design; but I guess my ears are bigger than the designers planned for. 2-3 hours is about all I can comfortably manage with these. FWIW: Even my venerable AKG K240DF's are sometimes uncomfortable after several hours.

Overall sound quality of the 777's is fantastic. If you're a jazz or classical lover, buy without hesitation. My musical tastes include dub, electro and other bass-heavy genres, and so far, I'm very impressed - the bass response is bottomless. I love the sound of these headphones!

This is a review based on the $20 I paid and the $30 that these are now going for. First, let me tell you that I have a lot of experience with excellent headphones in this price range. I own or have owned the Sennheiser PX100, Sennheiser EC 150, grado Sr60, igrado, AKG K81dj, Bose Triport (older version). I also own several in ear models such as the Ultimate Ears Super fi 5pro, Denon C-700, Shure E500, Etymotic ER6i, and some ear canal models such as the Sennheiser CX 300, Beyerdynamic DTX 50, Crossroads Mylar X3, Sony EX51, and the bose triport earbuds.


Of course, the best sounding item I own is not the Sony Altus model, it is hands down the Shure E500, but for $20-30 these Sony's are an absolute Gem. Yeah, I can see how other reviewers may have had problems with the build quality. The plastic is a bit flimsy that connects the earcups to the headband, and also when you adjust the headband up and down to get a fit, it seems a bit less durable than the typical sliding mechanism. Keeping this in mind, doing this with care and being gentle may prove to be important for the life of the product. These limitations may be significant if you are known to beat up your equimpent, or toss them in a backpack with a lot of heavy crap like school books, etc.

Onto the sound. I personally like the sound signature of these cans. The mids are forward and involving, great for Jazz and classical music, as well as vocals. Highs are sharp and decent at worst. The low end response is deep but doesn't thump artificially with authority as bassheads may prefer, but the way these are designed it helps combat listening fatigue.

I would say that these are very comfortable headphones, A close second to only my bose triports (the full sized headphones, not the earbuds). I also think these sound better across more genres, and also the relatively short, SINGLE SIDED cord makes them highly portable.

Nevermind the open closed switch. Its a big gimmacky, and doesn't make a tremendous impact either way. Regardless of how you set the switch on each side, the sound is quite good, and I'm willing to wajor you will not find a more comfortable full sized $30 headphone with this type of refined sound. Im wondering if the headband breaks if these earcups will fit into a grado sr60 headband or a bose triport headband.

Comfort ant fit: As I mentioned, these are quite comfortable. I have normal sized ears, and my ears fit within the cushions which is important not only for the seal, but also to get the intended soundstage of the can. Overall though, the feel is quite luxurious and sony clearly did design these with the intent of competing with the Bose triport model.

These are not Active noise cancelling headphones, but block out a fair amount of ambient sounds when you have your music playing. They sound great out of my 6G ipod classic and I highly recommend them if you're looking for a full sized can with comfort and a nice, involving, warm sound signature and you are capable of taking care of your gear.

A more durable portable solution for a few extra dollars would be the PX100, but those are open backed and leak lots of sound. If you are considering the bose triports (either the supra-aural or circum-aural designs) these are well worth the look, at 1/5 or 1/6 of the price!

I have had this product for only a few hours. I purchased the Sony MDR-NC6 headphones between 1.5 to 2 years ago and the sound that I received was above par. It was mostly noticable on the low side. However, these headphones seem to be better suited for classical music lovers. If you are looking to experience the full spectrum or a full range of sound, these headphones are not for you.

Pros:
Good mid and high level sounds
Nice tight fit
Works great as earmuffs
Really keeps out unwanted sounds

Cons:
Open close switches do not seem to make a noticeable difference as far as I can tell
Low (bass) sounds are not the best

Overall:
Good earmuffs with speakers but at a high price.
Not worth the price.

Bought these the day after Thanksgiving sale on Amazon for a great price of 30 dollars in comparison to the original price of over 130 dollars. Got headphones and was not impressed with the sound quality of these headphones. Very low bass and as it is noise cancelling, it also acts as a mini-speaker since it protects so loudly when off the ears. Also within 7 days, the right phone stopped working and I had to send off to Sony Service Center to get fixed. The good thing is that that was a very fast turnaround. Final thought, dont purchase if you are a true audiophile as you will be disappointed, even at the discounted price of 30 dollars. I have had 10 headphones I was happier with.

This is the first pair of high quality headphones I ever bought. I tested them at the Sony Style store in Las Vegas and instantly fell in love. They were gifted to me as a birthday present, and I constantly thank my wife for them. Most of the over ear headphones I get usually tend to hurt my ears after an hour or so of wearing, but I can wear these all day without any problem. Some of the other reviewers claim differently, so I guess it has to do with how your ears are shaped.

The other reviewers claim that the Y connector breaks, but I had these since April 2007 (Dec 24, 2007 right now) and I never had a problem. I use them while mostly at work so they do not get battered as much as if I had them in a backpack. However they do accompany me on the plane as I tend to travel with a fair amount of frequency. They do shut out a lot of the engine noise and screaming babies and they continue to show their comfort as I was able to sleep with them on. That's saying a lot as I don't usually sleep on planes.

When my wife bought these for me they were about $150. Amazon now has them listed at $35. I disagree with most of the negative reviews about this product and consider it a steal at this cost. The only thing that seems more true is that Sony favored the mids and highs on these headphones and not so much the bass. I listen to a lot of classical and jazz guitar so I'm not missing that much. If you are into pop or dance music you might want to look at something that has a little more thump, but the clarity on these for vocals and instrumental is amazing.

As some others in this space have said, they are great while they last. They produce great sound and the open/closed switch seems to make a noticeable difference.

The problem, which is unavoidable, is the durability. If you plan to use your headphones on a daily basis do not buy these as they will not last. I've had mine for about 3 months and the 'Y' connectors on both earpieces have both snapped in two. Since at that point I jury rigged them with tape/wire/fasteners, the small plastic pins that connect the earpieces to the 'Y' connectors have all snapped off so they are now practically useless.

The bottom line: heavy use of headphones requires metal as plastic WILL give out.

My old set of Sony MDR-D55's recently kicked the bucket and was surprised to fine that i could not get another set on ebay. So my search began to find as close of a replacement as i could to my old D55's. That lead me to the D777's, while they are one quite on par with my old D55's they will get the job done. The bass is low on some inputs, but anything with an equalizer should be able to somewhat adjust to this.

I got these against the advice of many, saying that the MDR-D77's were the last good headphone from Sony, but i thought i would give them a try, and so far i am happy with my purchase of ~$100 heaphone. The "open" "close" option does not to do much from what i can tell.

Overall these are a nice headphone for the range, and they are very comfortable, and come with a nice storage bag.

When the box arrived from UPS, I was so excited that I ripped into the box and the plastic that holds the set. I couldn't wait to hear what I assumed was the deal of the century for twenty bucks. I plugged into my sound card (high end studio recording grade) and was astounded by some unmastered tracks that I had recorded a few years back. Then I plugged 'em into my iphone (using a non-included adaptor) and my glee turned to disappointment. A few modern songs that I'd purchased sounded muddy. I decided to get some coffee, sit on a corner under a tree and put some songs through a test. First up, the Rolling Stones. You know what? Every song was clear as a bell and I was underneath and inside the music. Silversun Pickups (released last year) - muddy and hurtful. In fact, most all of the albums that came out in the last five years sounded like crud. It didn't matter if they were wavs, mp3s, or aacs - most modern music was blowing up in my ears like a rattling spaceship ten seconds before destruction. For fun (even though I'm fairly young and listen to modern cds), I listened to the Kinks, Aretha Franklin, Trini Lopez and they all sounded absolutely brilliant. I now know that in the last ten years, mastering engineers have killed the sound of music.

I'm a musician and an audio instructor at a college. These headphones revealed (either in an inferior, but most likely superior audio build) that the squashing of the dynamics in modern music mastering has killed the quality of music in the misguided achievement of making songs "loud". Look it up, it's a real problem. Google "dynamic wars" or the the "Waves L2" and you'll see.

I went back and listened to the 80's, early 90's, 70's. Everything glimmered. Oh, and one modern recording sounded golden "Silver Lining" by Rilo Kiley (and it was an AAC file from Itunes, which is technically compromised goods). I'm going to buy a few pairs to give out to my friends who do music. I'm going to tell them that after their music is mastered, if it sounds bad in these, send it back and do it again. These are the yardstick to measure music quality, because something in the build won't let the music lie. Listen to something old and hear the details. You might cry, too.

Oh yeah, only 4 stars. Sound is awesome and they fit my ears right. It's just that the build is a bit janky.

I've had many headphones, at all kinds of prices, and these are as good if not better than any of them. I love um!! Buy um!!

The sound quality is ok. The bass is a bit weak. But the plastic broke inside of 6 months and then one side went dead. Not worth it.