Did Sony Change the Sound of the MDR-7506 Headphones?

[adamr316]

I got some Sony 7506 headphones back in 2005. Recently I tried on a different pair Sony MDR-7506 phones and two things caught my eyes/ears:

- The coiled cable on the new pair has a solid black color compared to the dark gray on my old pair. It feels and looks a little different too, glossier and more of a "plastic" look.

- The new pair of headphones doesn't appear to have the upper-mid boost I've grown accustomed to.


Please correct me if I'm hearing things. I have listened to an old OLD pair of the 7506 model and they sound like my 2005 headphones. Those old ones are falling apart but they have that more open, upper-mids boost that the 2007-era ones are lacking. Maybe the new pair are defective?

 

[Pharao]

I don't know these headphones (I'm an AKG guy), but it's not unsual that new headphones need time until they reach their full potential. It's called 'burning them in'. The difference in sound of new headphones compared to used ones may vary from not noticeable to drastic. When I bought a second pair of K141s I didn't recognize their sound at all, until they slowly started to develope the same characteristics as my old ones...

 

[JordanBlock]

I think my current pair is from around 2007-2008 or so, they don't look or sound any different from my pre-historic set.

There are fake 7506s out there, maybe you got a counterfeit pair?

 

[sonidista]

The 7506's successor (7509) has a different frequency response (10-80,000 Hertz or some crazy sh** like that) but I think optically they're the same but that might just be a little off topic...

 

[adamr316]

Well the newer ones that I didn't like the sound of were at a music studio. I had never seen a pair like that. Maybe they are fake but I know the studio got them from a legit dealer.

On top of the audio quality and cable type/color being different the zip cord bag itself had a different feel to it. Even when my headphones were new I don't recall the bag being so "tight".

I also tried on the 7509s at a different facility and they actually sounded like the newer 7506 'phones. A flatter frequency tone for sure but not one that sounds "right" to me.

I'm going to post some pictures of the different looking headphones. Maybe someone can help me get to the bottom of this.