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SONY 7506 vs AKG K702 Headphones

B

Brian Bowers

As I had posted previously on the Engineering Board, the SONY model 7506 headphone has been my favorite for over 10 years now. I like them because to me, they sound very flat, when it comes to spectral balance, which I need. They're also efficient, can reach high SPL's when necessary, and sound very close to most of the speaker monitoring systems I listen to on a daily basis. I also like the fact that when I am in loud transmitter rooms, they are able to block out most of the noise, as they are a closed cup design. Most mixing boards don't have any problem driving them at all. I don't doubt a lot of other people like them too, as I seem them everywhere. As I have purchased boxes of these over the years, they always sound great brand new right out of the box, with no burn-in time needed. Drivers, ear pads and connecting cables (not the headband one though) are easily replaceable.

I have read many positive reviews lately of the AKG "Premium Class-Reference" K702's and decided to purchase a set. They are immediately going back. I spent about 15 minutes with them, and that's all the time it took for me to decide the listening experience wasn't pleasurable. I felt that the model wasn't capable of even coming close to the SPL's that the 7506 is capable of reproducing, even if I had given them an extended burn-in time. They are very inefficient (impedance is listed as 62 ohms), requiring a lot of power to make them crank. Even with a ton of power, I felt they were still not capable of producing the 7506 SPL. Bass was almost non-existent right from the start. I just couldn't live with that, and I guess I don't have the patience to give it 100-300 hours of burn-in time to see if the bass response improves. The spectral balance was not flat, to my ears. Comfort level was good. I had already known they were an open cup design, but if they sounded great, I was able to live with that.

I thought I would post that info just in case anyone is interested. Obviously these are my opinions, but I'm betting if you're a fan of the 7506, you'd probably form close to the same opinions as I did.
 
Interesting thing is that I would not use the word 'flat' to describe the 7506 at all. In fact, the mega-boosted high-end is what gives them their appeal to people who like them. People with high frequency hearing loss like them because after years of damage, their ears respond to the added highs that are missing in other cans. People also like them because the boosted highs because they make details more apparent, like a magnifying glass. The AKGs are considerably more flat, though they would not be a top choice for me either. I would agree that the 7506 is more efficient. Smaller drivers generally are. I still have a set of 600 ohm AKG K240Ms and a hell of an amp to go with them. Love them, but wouldn't try to use them for basic stuff. The 7506 is a very different animal, designed for all-around use. I will stick with Beyerdynamic for my headphones. What's best is what works best for the job you're doing.

Emmett
 
Agree with Emmett... to my ears those Sonys have always sounded tinny as hell. My current faves for quality, affordable flat-response headphones are the Sennheiser HD280Pros, great sound reproduction, they block out a lot of external noise, and they're only $99. The new line of Audio-Technica cans, especially the M50s, are getting very positive reviews as well. But for production purposes the Sony 7506s are probably at the very bottom of the list of headphones I'd choose.
 
Depending on what I'm producing I use the 7506's or alternate to the consumer version, the MDR-V6. The V6 does have the extra high end that some have commented on, otherwise I believe they are quite similar.

The only thing I dislike about the Sony headphones is the fact that when the ear pads wear out they flake this black powdery stuff, exposing the foam underneath. I found that Beyer Dynamic has a compatible ear pads for the Sony phones which seem much more durable (so far). So, if you consider the Sony models I would pick up a set of the Beyer ear foam replacements.
 
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