Sony MDR-XB700 Review

The Sony MDR-XB700's are a pair of headphones that I picked up more out of an impulsive decision rather than actually researching the headphones.  While I liked them initially, I used them during what I like to call my "bass crazy" phase when I listened to copious amounts of dubstep, electronic, trance music etc.  Today, my music horizon encompasses many more genres requiring headphones that are able to perform well in all genres, whether it's jazz, rock, orchestral or electronic.  The XB 700's from Sony are no doubt bass heavy headphones, designed specifically with the "bass head" community in mind (hence the "extra bass" moniker on the box) and while they may suit many casual headphone enthusiasts or just the average music listener who wants some extra bass punch in their headphones, they will be sure to disappoint if you prefer the balanced sound signature of many audiophile grade headphones. Before I really get into meat of the review, lets overview specs, included accessories, features, build quality and comfort.

The Sony MDR-XB700's come packaged in one of those cheap boxes that I absolutely hate.  You know, the boxes that you are forced to throw away once you have opened them because they are pretty much incapable of holding the headphones after they have been opened up.  I know it's just a box, but I find it annoying the the packaging isn't reusable.  The XB-700's include a "pleather" (synthetic leather) drawstring carrying pouch and that's pretty much it in terms of accessories.  The carrying pouch is absolutely massive, its obviously constructed in this manner in order to accommodate the sheer massiveness of the XB700's themselves.  Even so, there is lots of empty space in the pouch even with the XB700's sitting snugly inside.  There are no spare ear cushions, no 6.3mm adapters included with the XB700's.  Inside the annoying disposable box rests the headphones themselves and the carrying pouch as well as a little instruction manual letting you know how to use a pair of headphones (pretty sad that we have to kill trees just to tell people how to put a pair of headphones on isn't it?)

If you are a spec head, the Sony MDR-XB700s technical specifications consist of the following: Very low 24Ohm impedance (easily powered by your portable device) a 3-28,000Hz frequency response (yes thats a three, as in 3Hz.  Your dog cant even hear sound that that low) large 50mm dynamic driver,  powerful neodymium magnets, 106dB/mW sensitivity (these can rattle your skull with ear destroying bass.  Be careful that you don't lose your hearing prematurely with these on) and a commendable power handling capacity of 3,000mW.

The build quality of the XB700's can be best described as "adequate".  It's not a poorly built headphone by any means, but it's also not the sturdiest built product nor is it constructed from the most durable materials.  Its pretty much 90% plastic if I am honest (not that plastic is necessarily a bad material).  The metal portion located where the headband connects to ear cup is actually an extremely thin layer of metal.  Behind it is just more plastic.  The silver ear cups themselves, are in fact, plastic.  The headband is covered in a soft pleather like material that I like, but the headband itself in my opinion, could use a bit more padding.  The padding is there, but its not enough to be adequate.  The massive "king size" ear cushions are extremely comfortable, yes.  However, if there is one downside to the ear cushions its that they do not let your ears breathe at all.  The result is sweaty ears after only an hour of listening in most cases.  One major annoyance about the XB700's is their incredible tendency for sound leakage.  They do an okay job keeping outside sound from coming in, but sound leaks out of them like a sieve that gets everyone of the airplane/ bus/ train all hot and bothered because they can hear with almost amazing clarity the obnoxious, earth shattering, bass blasting dubstep that you are no doubt listening to with an "extra bass" headphone.  It's almost incredible to me how much these cans leak. There is one upside to this however, your XB700's now do more than you expected: you can use them as a portable speaker system!  I believe that this issue is a direct result of the king size ear cushions inability to keep sound in and I also noticed that the XB700's have three slits or a vent if you will on the ear cup hidden away behind the headband.  Sony claims that the XB700s are closed back headphones, but sound does leak out from this vent.  The flat cord could best be compared to linguini, its the same relative thickness and shape.  I have a love/ hate relationship with the cord.  I like the flat cord style to a certain degree, but the cable is extremely short and connects to both of the ear cups.  Its essentially a Y-cable.

From an aesthetic point of view, the XB700s are absolutely ridiculous.  They look like they designed by Darth Vader or something, with the massive black ear cushions and the black and grey color scheme.  Expect to be looked at funny or pointed at if you wear these around in public, they are absolutely truly massive. Of course, if you don't mind people staring at what appears to be two monster truck tires with your head sandwiched in the middle, thats fine too.  You can however still take comfort in the fact that you wont look as idiotic as your standard brainless teen touting their craptastic Beats by Dre headphones, but thats besides the point.

Size comparison, the XB700's are left

Now for the good stuff: the sound quality.  The XB700s definitely live up to the extra bass moniker on the box.  These cans are extremely punchy and capable of belting out the lowest bass frequencies with absolutely no distortion.  Yes, the bass is a bit bloated in the extreme low ranges but I was overall very impressed with the XB700's bass response.  I thought that the XB700's being so bass oriented was going to result in extremely bloated, muddy, distorted bass but I was pleasantly surprised to hear a surprising amount of bass clarity from the XB700's. The mid range is another story all together and unfortunately it not a good one.  Heres a word for you: recessed. Recessed, recessed, recessed, recessed, recessed! There is absolutely no other way to describe the XB700's mid range! It's so recessed it could practically be non existent!  Then you have the high range on the XB700's that might actually have the potential to be relatively impressive if it was backed up by a non-recessed mid range, but it almost sounds screechy in comparison to the non existent mid range.  If you look at an actual frequency graph for the XB700's you will notice that the XB-700's high range is a bit recessed as well, but not nearly to the degree that the mid range is.  It's unfortunate, with such amazing bass response with the XB700's a non recessed mid and high range would result in an extremely impressive headphone.  Unfortunately, this is not the case.  The XB700's perform very well with a very limited music genre selection. Do not even think for a moment of listening to anything remotely orchestral with them, nor vocal, jazz, acoustic or even rock.  If all you listen to is dubstep, these are the cans for you.  Otherwise, get something much, much more balanced!

Note: The Sony MDR-XB700s have just recently (as of this writing) been discontinued by Sony.  However, a few do remain in stores and they can also be found on Amazon.

CLICK HERE for Sony MDR-XB700 Amazon product page

Audio Technica AD-500 open-backed headphone review

Audio Technica ATH-AD500's

I recently got a chance to perform a headphone trade with a friend of mine, in which I traded my Sennheiser HD 280 Pro's for his open-backed Audio Technica ATH-AD500's for a few days.  This of course gave me a chance to listen to the AD-500's thoroughly, from a variety of sources and with a variety of music.

Right off the bat what most people notice about the Audio Technica ATH-AD500's is how very large they are.  The AD-500's sport 53mm driver units (thats 3mm bigger than the already massive Sony MDR-XB700 drivers) and relatively impressive technical specifications for the price.  Of course, tech specs matter much less in comparison to the actual performance, fidelity and sound the actual signature of the headphones. Nonetheless a 5-30,000Hz frequency response, coupled with 53mm dynamic type drivers and an open air design rather nice.

The build quality of the ATH-AD500's feels pretty standard.  They don't feel as solidly built as Sony MDR-7506's, but the plastic feels to be of high quality and the aluminum "honeycomb" design open air ear cups are a nice touch.  I like the Audio Technica's increasingly popular silver and black color scheme that compliments the color scheme found on many electronics and headphones today.  The cable on the AD-500's is one of the best I have used.  It is not coiled (which in many ways I like) but is still relatively lengthy.  The cable insulation is extremely malleable and easy to move, yet does not crimp.  Its also a relatively thick gauge.   As far as comfort is concerned, the ATH-AD500's are truly phenomenal.  While in many ways I don't care for the AD500's sound signature (I will get into that in a minute) they almost make it up just in comfort alone.  The ATH-AD500's massive ear-cups are generously padded with soft velour.  Supplemented by what I like to call a "floating headband design" these headphones are some of the most comfortable I have worn to date.  The floating headband design is when the headband is designed in a manner that reduces the amount of contact the headband has on the users head, and distributes the weight of the headphones evenly.  It's a little difficult to describe in writing, but examples of headphones with "standard headband designs" are pretty much most of the headphones on the market.  The Sony XB line, Beats by Dre and the Sennheiser HD line all have standard headphone designs, whereas the Audio Technica AD line, and many AKG headphones have the "floating headband design".  On the topic of weight, the AD-500's are extremely light, making them even more comfortable. In terms of cable quality, build quality and comfort the AD500's perform admirably.

ATH-AD500's with "floating headband design"

The area where these headphones failed to impress me however, was their sound quality.  I feel that the Audio Technica ATH-AD500's are very selective headphones.  By selective I mean that the AD500's only perform well with certain genres of music.  The AD500's are very bright headphones, and due to a reasonable deficiency of bass, even despite the large 53mm drivers, they don't perform very well with electronic, dubstep and other bass heavy music genres.  Even with equalization, I was unable to achieve a sound signature that filled in the lack of bass when listening to bass heavy genres.  That said, the ATH-AD500's represent female vocals very well.  Listening to Adele's 21 album and her new Skyfall single, I was extremely impressed with the AD500's vocal performance. However, I still find these headphones far too selective in their representation of certain genres of music.  It's typical for open backed headphones to represent vocals better than their closed back counterparts.  However, I have listened to several open backed Sennheisers (admittedly much more expensive than the AD500's) that produce far greater bass response and impact.


All in all if you listen to a lot of classical music, vocal based songs and maybe even some older classic rock, the ATH-AD500's will serve you very well.  Coupled with their phenomenal comfort and relatively inexpensive price point, these headphones would be very suitable for this type of listener.  However, for those of us who don't have the money nor luxury to own several different types of headphones that only perform well with certain music genres, the AD500's are far from the best choice.  I didn't achieve a sound signature when listening to the AD500's with bass heavy music that was evenly remotely close to what I demanded.  As with any product, it's good for some, and not good for many others. I personally believe the AD500's to be relatively average headphones, but for the price they still aren't half bad. If you are a bass head or just looking for some more bass impact, the Audio Technica ATH-AD500's are not for you. Impressive comfort, vocal representation, cable quality and price point are all positive points of the Audio Technica AD-500's, but they struggle to produce the punch that much of todays modern music demands.

CLICK HERE for Audio Technica ATH-AD500 Amazon product page