Customer Reviews

Sony MDR-V250V Monitor Series Headphones with In-line Volume Control

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

First, a direct product link for the MDR-V150:

Sony MDR-V150 Monitor Series Headphones with Reversible Earcups

Now, why should you get the MDR-V150 over these (MDR-V250V)? Simple, the in line volume control will break over time and you will randomly lose sound to the left/right headphones (jiggling the volume control makes it come back, but it will inexplicably jostle itself loose again). These headphones are identical to the MDR-V150 in every way (power handling, frequency response, and so forth) except for two:

1) The MDR-V250V has a volume control (as I've explained, this is actually bad)
2) The MDR-V250V has gold plated connections. I love audio quality as much as the next person, but personally I think the potential issues you'll have with the in line volume control far outweighs any potential benefits from the gold plated connections. In fact, I sincerely doubt the connection within the volume control is going to help your audio quality any, so that's yet another reason to avoid these headphones

Make no mistake, I bought and owned these for a year, but the volume control has been a persistent problem in that entire time. I'm actually here shopping for the MDR-V150 headphones, and as soon as I'm done writing this that's where I'll be headed.

Please save yourself the grief and frustration and avoid these: either get the cheaper MDR-V150 headphones or shop for some slightly more expensive headphones (I'm sure higher end Sony headphones probably don't have this gimmicky in line volume control, but double check before rolling the dice).

For four years I was a paper carrier. I delivered my newspapers in the morning, between 4:00 and 5:30 AM, back when I was in high school. I always had a portable CD player with me, and used these headphones to listen to music while I delivered. In those four years, I had gone through FOUR pairs of these. I loved their sound, and they were fairly comfortable, but after an hour and a half of wearing them, they did hurt my ears. I still use a pair (the last pair I bought). Be warned, both the 1/8 inch connector and the volume control are easily damaged, making either the left or right earphone, or sometimes both, stop working. I tried to repair them, but found very cheap wiring when I went to splice a new connector onto them, which may explain why they failed so easily. This last pair has held up fairly well, but even now, the connector is failing. Be warned, they're fragile and can be uncomfortable.

If you're looking for some headphones for your computer/personal CD player/stereo than these are for you. I got my pair a few weeks ago and i'm really happy with them. I use them on my computer mostly for MP3s and games. They have leather (I think they're leather) earcups that are very comfortable. These headphones have very good sound, especially for their price. The only bad part of these is if the music you listen to has alot of bass it can get distorted a bit. I have only noticed this on my computer, it could be my sound card, not on my stereo or my personal cd player. The cord is a good length for most applications, it's about 6' long and is perfect for computers and ok for personal cd players. The volume control on the cord is odd but useful for when you're listening to someone else talk to you with music playing in the headphones. Oh yeah, the earcups are only 3" (approximately) diameter which is good because if you had the big 6" ones on in public you look ike a real idiot. I think these are a great buy for anyone who loves music.

I got mine in nov 2002 and i have used them primarily at work, which is sitting in front of a workstation for about 8-9 hours a day.

most reviews have been very accurate. these are a bit tight even if you have an avg sized head. after about an hour of listening your ears do pain. i just got used to them and probly they have slackened up over time.

but they are even more painful if you wear spectacles.

also the cushion is pretty cheap and really not very helpful.

the sound is decent. from my experience AVOID ANY HEADPHONES that have a volume controller since this is the weakest link in the chain. my headphones having finally given up at exactly this point. all in all they served me pretty well for 2.5 yrs

hope they made some changes to the model...

These can be considered entry-level headphones with bass emphasis. OK for listening to techno and heavy rock but nothing impressive. Absolute disaster with classical or any music where you'd like to hear the individual instruments and clarity. I would not buy a second pair if mine broke.

Listening to music through these headphones is like listening to music through a blanket. Everything sounds muted, the highs don't extend very far, the lows are almost non existent. Their sound is anything but clear. Dynamics? Forget about it

I'm looking for a $20ish pair of headphones to keep in my backpack at all times. I figured these might do the job...but wow was I wrong.

I found the Sony MDR-XD100, which is actually cheaper, sound much better. Did I mention the build quality sucks? The XD100s are a little more durable but still leave much to be desired. Perhaps that's just low end Sonys in general?

I'm thinking about just dropping the extra few bucks for a pair of Sennheiser PX100s or AKG K81DJs.

My main headphones are the Grado SR-80 and BeyerDynamic DT990s...I know what good sounds like. All my music is either FLAC or 192 Kbps VBR mp3s.

I'm giving these headphones a two star because I've heard worse...and much better for cheaper.

I bought the Sony Studio-Style MDR-V150 from wal-mart for 20 bucks. They start hurting my ears every time I listen for more than 10 or 15 minutes. I thought they'd loosen up after I'd broken them in but I've had them for two weeks and used them every day. They're just as painful.

The review below is right about being suited only for rock or rap. It's also good if you're listening to tinny sounding WMAs or MP3s. Seems like a great deal for 20 dollars, but then you realize you really do get what you pay for. I saved my receipt I plan to take them back.

There are two huge problems with these headphones:

1) They're EXTREMELY uncomfortable. I put them on for the first time and within 2 minutes, my ears hurt from the pressure of the supposed "pads", which aren't very forgiving and make noise against your ears whenever you move your head at all.

2) They seem to be made from the cheapest possible plastic materials sony could scrounge up. For the price and the sony name, I foolishly assumed that they would be decently manufactured. The earcups break off of their flimsy little hinges with any hint of a wrong twist of the them, and if you frequently flip the cups back for studio monitoring, don't count on them lasting for more than a month.

I gave them two stars, generously, because if for some reason you insist upon buying them, the sound is all right, though a little crackly throughout and a tad weak in big bass (but expected for cheaper headphones). If you want an amazing headphone for the same price, I am extremely happy with Sennheiser's HD 202. They're comparable in price and quality to many of the higher end sonys. Though they're not studio monitoring, the Sennheisers are by far the best headphones you can find for this little.

In conclusion, save yourself the hassle of a return. Don't buy these. Even if you think they're comfy and sound good when you get them, they'll break. I love sony stuff and i really wanted these to be consistent with what i have come to expect from sony, but they're really not up to snuff.

I picked up a pair of these tonight at a local store, and the sound quality was absolutely horrible. It couldn't handle high volume whatsoever, and even small amounts of bass distorted heavily.

My head might be a little larger than normal, but ergonomcially speaking the headset was pressing tightly against my ears. I'm going to look for something of higher quality.

I've had these headphones for about three years and used them almost exclusively on my PC for listening to music while I work. They still look like (relatively) new, and deliver adequate sound for my purposes. The inline volume control is marginally useful, but as noted by another reviewer, it went "bad" long ago and now requires fussing to get it to connect. Sometimes one or both channels is just "missing" and you have to roll the volume control up and down to get it to engage.

Pros:
- reasonable price
- pretty good sound quality
- not giant on your head

Cons:
- the in-line volume control will go bad on you, requiring wiggling to get it to work
- ear cups are small... too small? they mash on my ears