what would you do? Xone-XD40's VS Sony MDR-V700

[desliefaith]

HI Guys...

a little help..my knowledge of tech is limited.
I'm going to buy my first set of "real" headphones...
I was suggested the Sony V700's, (in my price range) and before settling came across the Allen & Heath XD40's.
Any suggetions on which one is statistacally better and which one would you go for?

Thanks!

http://www.xone.co.uk/xd40/ VS http://www.sony.co.uk/product/hps-ex...-dj/mdr-v700dj

[rt24]

For the love of god do not get sony mdr-v700s. I tried to upload a pic of mine but I am having a hell of a time. Basically they look like they have been run over by a truck. One side is hanging by a wire, the other side is all crunched. Sometimes one side works, sometimes both, sometimes none.

Now granted...I did buy them on ebay which I am pretty sure they were used. Regardless, while the sound is pretty ok, these things will break very fast. They are really cheaply made.

Anything but the 700s lol.

[photojojo]

Headphone review (read the comments)

Headphone recommendation thread

Headphone roll call thread

[mmauve]

I'll just break down my first hand experiences after owning 3 pairs:

1.) The built quality is quite simply the worst I have ever dealt with, hence owning 3 pairs. Out of the dozens of different headphones I've owned, the V700 hands down takes the cake on horrible durability - WITHOUT hard usage. The achilies heel is the hinge on the cups, which WILL crack, and in turn, either snap off or loose significant flexibility.

2.) The leather ear pads are hyper sensitive to skin oils, sweat, and other elements. Within about 4 months, you'll notice a significant change in their comfort and sound isolation since they will not comfortably comfort to the sides of your head. Basically, the pads will loose their "cushioning" and become flat, the leather will be hardened, and eventually crack.

3.) The sound quality is questionable. I base this on the simple fact that they cater heavily to DJ usage, and as such, low end frequency response is what they deliver the most. The problem with having all that low end punch is that it drowns out the mid and high frequencies, creating an overall muddy sound quality which makes listening to music in detail quite a chore.

I highly advise against the V700. When they came out, they were a solid choice, but since then the industry has moved on, and better products have come out. If you have an equally priced, way better alternative to the V700, I highly recommend the MDR-V6 or MDR-7506 from Sony.

If you want quite possibly the most rugged, bad ass, great flat response headphones which can be used for studio or DJ use, and are comfortable as hell to wear - hands down my vote goes to the Sennheiser HD-25. I love my pair, have had them for 6 years and they feel and kick like they were right out of the box.

Thats my $0.02

[sine143]

You can probably get the xone cans for as little as 150 from unique sqaured, if they still have the buy it now, Or best offer available.

[diezdiazgiant]

ive had a pair of mdr600s (i know not quite the same) for years and ive got say they have held up and do the job. the swivel on the right earphone did bust and i had to use electrical tape to rectify it, but it does work, the fidelity gets the job done and frankly it has stood the test of time with nearly a decade of abuse.

that being said - go for the xones if you can. i only say this as sony is a really shitty corporation. ive never had anything from them that didnt break in some way, and business tactics are questionable. i remember buying a minidisc player from them back in the day and the software they included to transfer data also happened to leave my computer wide open to hackers/viruses - i ended up having to buy a new computer because of thier shit DRM software. thier headphones obviously wont cause such a compromise but i will never recommend thier products...

[myrobotlove]

http://www.skratchworx.com/reviews/headphones_2010.php

[thictool]

A&H all the way. I used this Sony series for years and had to replace them twice a year.

Sony drivers do sound amazing, but A&H sound just as good and the Driver mm is about the same.

In this senario you get what you pay for.