Customer Reviews

Sony MDR-SA3000 DJ Stereo Headphones

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Originally, I was disappointed with the SA-3000's. The sound was thin and the bass was non-existent. It didn't matter the source, straight out of the ipod, laptop, or even a home audio amp.

It wasn't until I bought a dedicated headphone amp that I heard the true potential of the cans. They are phenomenal. I paired them with a Headstage Arrow, and now everything sounds great. The high are present, the mids are not hollow, and you can just melt into the bass. I don't understand how the SA-3000's get such a low score, while the SA-5000's get such a high score with nearly identical drivers. Maybe the halo effect of having spent $400 on a pair of headphones?

I bought these headphones because I will soon be moving to an apartment and wanted to use headphones as my primary way for hearing things. After listening to them for a few days now, I've come to the conclusion that these headphones are not for everyone, and here's why.

Upon taking them out of the box, one finds that they are EXTREMELY delicate. These headphones are not to be used in an environment that they will face a lot of movement and hostility. They have a somewhat cheaply made feel for so called "Super Audio" headphones, and I expected more from Sony. My faith was then somewhat revived when I plugged them up to my computer. Wow. These headphones have a quality that you won't find in your average store-brand headphones, in the way that they can bring out detail. I have gone through several different types of audio and video, noticing subtle differences and additions that I've never noticed before. That is where these headphones have strength, in revealing more depth in audio. Classical music was a real treat to hear, as well as acoustic songs and live video such as TV and movies. In it's haste to bring out that layer of depth to sound however, it's second biggest weakness is exposed; SPL (Sound Pressure Level) and Bass quality. These headphones are not designed to handle music that is very common today, such as hip-hop and rap. I found them to distort very easily on moderate volumes when listening to that style music, and several other bass intense applications. These phones are meant to show one a deeper layer of musical clarity and precision, and there it succeeds. Make sure that you have some really quality music equipment to really get any pleasure out of these.

I found the headphone's very comfortable to wear for long periods of time (1 hour or more), and never felt like taking them off due to them being uncomfortable.

Overall, I'm displeased with my Sony MDR-SA3000's. The poor quality build and low SPL bass distortion are enough drive me insane. Unless you're going to listen to acoustics or light listening, and will never take these from the desk, and have a wallet deep enough to afford such crap, stay away and invest your money elsewhere.

My experience with these headphones has been nightmarish. The nightmare began, when I had to replace the first pair after the bracket that hold the earcups in place collapsed on the right side. When I sent them back under the warranty, Sony had the nerve to charge me a "flat labor fee" of $24.00. I called customer service and asked them what labor was involved since they were just sending replacement headphones, but of course I got no satisfactory answer.

After receiving the replacement headphones, I thought the situation had been resolved when only after a month, I noticed a distortion in the sound coming from the headphone on the right side. Upon examination, I discovered that an electical short was in the cord itself. So, I had to send these pair back and now I'm on the third pair!

My advice to anyone thinking about purchasing a pair of these poorly designed headphones is to steer clear of these puppies or you'll be sorry!

I bought this one an year ago... but it has been horrible.
The design is so silly. It is really weak. After a month I bought it, one side started not to sound. So, I replaced it via Sony customer care service.

Now... one side is making buzz...

horrible horrible... don't buy this.

It sound production is very good, but it is so difficult to move with around due to the wired connection