Customer Reviews

Sony MDR-V700DJ DJ-Style Monitor Series Headphones

5 star:		(163)
4 star:		(51)
3 star:		(30)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

The 700s are absolutely perfect for hardcore DJ use and in my opinion only second to Pioneer's HDJ-1000s. And please do note that this is not a trivial fact. Everything in them is designed to suit this purpose, and no other. The bass is such a prominent force in them because that's exactly what you need when cueing songs. I've tested them in indoor and outdoor parties and they are invincible. Beatmatching is a pleasure because you can identify the bassy elements of a song with immense accuracy and definition.

I personally don't think they are for listening, say, with a portable device or at home with a Hi-Fi. They are way to bassy in their overall delivery of sound. But please don't get me wrong: they are not meant to be used to 5 hours of John Coltrane or Debussy, but they are beautiful to any bass oriented genre and the on-off-on-off environment of DJing. For home/portable use, I strongly recommend the Sony 7506s. They are lightweight, extremely comfortable and have a perfect balance of bass, mids and highs EQ-wise. Every situation has its best headphones. DJing: 700s - Audiophilia: 7506s

You should know a couple things before you read this review. One, I'm not a DJ and most likely never will be. I'm just a 15-year-old kid who likes his hip-hop. I'm not sure what difference it makes, other than the single-sided-monitoring feature...after all, regular listeners like good sound, too...but I thought I'd add it, anyway. Also, I've never owned really high-quality headphones until now. Before, all I had was the $20 behing-the-neck kind. So I guess this review is mostly aimed at non-DJs who haven't had expensive headphones before.

So the obvious question is, is it worth this much money? I got these as a Christmas gift, but I knew the price. I know sound quality is the type of thing where you pay a lot for a little, but for an extra $130 I expected there to be some pretty noticeable enhancements. There were. You get a more full sound with these than with cheaper kinds. It's clearer and richer. The way the earphones cover your entire ear makes it so you can hear all the details, so it sounds complete. These aren't amazing changes, but they are definite improvements.

But the biggest change, of course, is the bass. You don't just hear the bass. You can feel it. It vibrates in your ear. If you take off the headphones and press the earcups together, you can feel them shake with the bass. It gives the music more of a vibe, a kick, an extra level of intensity, whatever you want to call it. I was afraid it would overpower the rest of the music, namely the vocals, but the treble instruments and vocals still come through clear.

There's not much of a bad side. My ears hurt from being bent into the headphones sometimes, but that was true with my old ones, and it never bothered me that much, anyway. A slight adjustment fixes it, and you usually can't feel it except when you take the headphones on or off. The only really annoying thing so far is that in some songs the snare drums come out really sharp, so I have to turn the volume down. It seems to have a pretty strong design, so you'll probably be fine if you don't put them under too much stress. Not much of a price to pay.

But $150 is a pretty big price to pay. Listening to music on these isn't a spectacular, life-altering experience. It's a noticeable enhancement. But if you take into account that it extends to every single CD in your collection, it's probably worth it.

Update:[ June 2011]
After the swivel joints broke back in 2000 (around three years of use), I was able to easily put them back using super glue. Since then, I have purchased and used other headphones but still occasionally use the v700 headphones. It's definitely very worn out--the (replaceable) padding is cracked and the fit feels a bit loose--but, they still sound great and the joints have not broken off again. Yeah, after it was literally broken-in, they prove to stand strong with some glue on the joints--I've DJ'd with them, slept with them, and dropped them and I am still using them with joy. It's been with me for over ten years! I got it a few years after I graduated from college (DJ'd with them) and now I am almost 40 with 2 kids and, I still use them! Amazing. Now, I will use them with care.

{Original "review" from 2004]
When I first purchased these headphones back in 1998,I would have given these earphones 5 stars. But after around 3 years of use, the swivels broke. The swivels are made of plastic, so the first place that falls apart is the swivel joint that connects to the cups. Both left and right joints are cracking after approximately three years of moderate use. Luckily, it is still functional even with the cracks. The problem is that it is now a bit looser so it falls off from my head even more frequently. And we all know that these earphones (including the v600) are notorious when it comes to the deterioration of the padding on the ear cups. I just wish that it would last just a bit longer. I have been looking to replace these and I found the new pioneer hdj-1000 to be a possibility. It sounds just as good, it is definitely lighter and stays on the head steadier; and even though the construction is similar in that it is plastic, the swivel joints are built differenly from the V700DJs which makes me think they knew about this SONY's problem and they have found a way to prevent the joints from cracking.

They're not just for DJ's anymore.

Exceeds my expections for finding a pair of headphones at a decent price that are flexible in their use and extraordinary in their fidelity. Great for listening to music on the PC or my portable minidisc player without bugging my housemate in the same room.

They're built for hard working dj's and therefore are very comfortable to wear for long periods. I've gone for as long as a few hours without feeling like my ears were going to burn off. The sound is fantastic, the bass is deep and rich without sounding muffled. Vocals sound great. I'd had problems with previous headphones where it seemed like vocals would get buried in the bass, not with these.

And last but not least and actually it was the reason I decided on these, they're very cool looking. So many of the headphones I was considering had that same old "two hockey pucks between a headband" bulked out style.

Amazon.com's price is very competitive. I actually paid [$$$] for mine at a local electronics store and wished I'd have been patient enough for shipping time. When I listened to them at my electronics store, I couldn't leave without them. Neither should you!

Length:: 2:26 Mins

Sony MDR-V700DJ DJ Style Monitor Series Headphones

I bought these headphones because I heard that they were of a great quality and I expected them to last a long time. I have had them for only one year, and the cable has broken. Granted, I use these headphones every day, but I always folded them up neatly and put them in their storage bag. Well, it turns out that folding them up neatly puts some stress on those super swivel joints everyone's talking about; one joint cracked and subsequently the cable connecting the left headphone to the right headphone broke and I am left with a mono monitoring system. Believe me, I take care of my gear, and I am deeply disappointed that these headphones broke in such a short amount of time.

So these really are the best Dj/Remix headphones out there right now, for this price. As you should know the sound is great, they have huge Drivers 50mm or something crazy so that Bass kicks which is nice when you are spinning records. Now they do have some minor down sides. Those being that the the shape of the actually earphone is round, which is kind of odd and does not give you/me the real comfy fit that you get with oval shaped ear phones. Also the leather on the ear piece has been known to crack very quickly. I have had mine for less than 8 months and the leather is already cracking on them. But otherwise they are a gem and a good buy for anyone looking for a good set of headphones, regardless of if you are "DJ" or not. 100% worth the money.

These are excellent headphones! I had some $80 Koss headphones before these and the Sony's are much better. Their bass is astounding, and mid's and highs are clear and crisp. The only downside I have found is that they squish your ears a little, but if you don't have to wear them for more than 3 or 4 hours at a time, they're very comfortable. The coiled cord, folding design, and the supplied screw-on mini plug to 1/4 inch adapter are neat features. I'd reccomend these headphones to anyone who wants great sound.

I see a lot of glowing reviews around here, but when I buy headphones this expensive, I expect them to last more than a year. The real problem here is that they have lots of tiny plastic joints. This means that all those joints will crack over time, and even with me supergluing it back together constantly, these headphones just would not last. I now have Grado SR-80s, and they sound better and will last much longer, seeing as they lack plastic joints.

I've had these headphones for 3 years
yeah the other review, the guy is right.. the plastic does crack but what do you want it's plastic

my beef is the padding on the earphones, it isn't soft enough.... i mean after a year of use it flattens to a pancake

that added with the idiot who designed a perfectly round shape.. hello our ears are NOT round, and given the tight fit of these headphones they really clamp down on the upper portion of your ear regardless of what setting you put them on......

i don't have an oversized head or anything, so beware you might buy these and if you listen to as much music as i do realize that an hour after you wear them your ears are really hurting.....

SONY if you're going to make the 700 series obviously better than the 600 series, then why do you design oval shaped padding for the lousy model and circular padding for the higher end model

it really does not make any sense........

other than that the sound quality is great, it's like having a stereo for your head, clean treble strong bass

just TRY these on before you buy them....i'd recommend buying the 1000 model or 3000 if you're realy considering blowing a lot of cash