Sony MDR-V600 Professional Headphones

The Sony MDR-V600 headphones... Well let's see...

Price: About $100 at the time I bought mine in 1996, I am not certain that they are still that high, but I would think that they are in that range still. I thought at the time that it was money well spent, and still do to this day.

Sound: This depends on what you have them jacked into!!!! If you plug them into a walkman, you WILL NOT get the best that they have to offer. These headphones where designed to work with high power, and high quality applications. Now I am not saying that they are no good for use with a walkman, but let's face facts, a walkman has no power to offer, and no way to equalize the sound (and if it can, then it is not a very advanced system, and not too good at getting the levels just short of perfect). Now in the four years I have owned the V600's I have used them for all kinds of things... tape walkmen, discmen, MD portable units, in-flight headphones (yes these do fit into the jacks offered on most flights, and they do help to cut the jet noise, but they are not the best sounding under that sort of test... however I always used them like that when I flew as anything that made the whole flight better was welcomed!), and I have used them with my home system ( and this is where they shine!).

The sound from my home system is the best that I have ever heard on a set of less than $200 headphones! As this is what I got them for in the first place, I have never been unhappy with what I heard. I have them mated to my Harmon/Kardon receiver, and they sparkle. The bass is deep and strong, the highs are crisp but not head splitting... overall they are THE perfect thing for home user who wants to have top quality sound.

Do they travel well? YES... four years of being dragged about the world and they are just fine! No wear and tear that I can see. The part about these headphones that make them good for travel, is that they fold up into a compact unit that will not take up too much space in your packing. This is something that I am not used to seeing on a large headphone set, but it is well thought out and seems to not be something that would break even if stressed some. I find the whole headset to be rather well built, and not prone to trouble.

Comfort... Very high degree of comfort! When I have worn these for long flights (9 to 13 hours) I have not really had a problem. Not many people will wear anything for that long, but I really did not mind them being on my head. The padding for the ear cups is thick and soft, and very suitable for extended wear, not to mention that it helps to block outside sounds, and increase the quality of what is being listened to. This headset fits on the head nicely, and is adjustable enough for even "Alien" heads.

Features... Gold plated plug's (the stereo jack is really neat, the full size jack will screw off to expose a mini-jack for smaller audio units... it too is gold plated). The whole thing will fold to about half the size when you pop the ear phones inward, very nice feature. Spiral wound cord tends to stay short, but will give enough length to allow you some room to move if you like. The speakers... 40mm, with rare earth magnets... they deliver great sound when driven by the right power source, but even when used in a portable application they deliver good sound.

Now I have seen some less than good reviews on this product, but I think that all factors must be taken into consideration... Alot of the complaints that I have seen,center on the fact that these headphones have a less than good response when used in real world situations, like when they are attached to a portable CD player. Well,it would stand to reason that this would not bring the best out of these fine units as that is not really what they were meant for to start with. When many of us buy something like this, we hear it on a display stand that is set up to optimize the sound... how about asking the salesman to break out a portable CD player and jack it in, so that you will have a better idea of what to expect if you think you will use it more for portable devices. Another word of advice... make the salesperson jack it into a number of different amp's as well. Choose different power levels, and make sure that a few of them will match what you have at home, so that you will have a very good idea of what they will sound like when you get home.

I have many good feelings about this product. I would not dare say that this is the perfect set of headphones, but they will do well no matter what you want to use them for. So if you are looking for a good set of full size headphones, you should think about these. The Sony MDR-V600's is a high quality product, that is well suited for just about any application. The price is up there, but you will get many years of great sound from these things.