For years, the Sony MDR-7506 headphones were in studios everywhere. I found them to be incredibly bright, but many of my friends used them regularly and loved them. I will say that I still own a pair, and even though the ear pads are a crumbly mess, they are operational and sound the same as they did 25 years ago. I cannot say that about all the headphones I have owned over the years.
The Sony MDR-M1 is the direct descendant/successor of the Sony MDR-7506, but with remarkable improvements. They have a closed-back design with 40 mm dynamic dome-type voice coil drivers, a neodymium magnet, a claimed frequency response of 5 Hz to 80 kHz, and an impedance of 50 ohms at 1 kHz – making them easily driven by nearly any device. I can listen to them comfortably, clearly, and with an impressive frequency response at the minimal setting on my Apple MacBook Pro. The set comes with two detachable cables that have 3.5 mm connectors. One is a little under four feet, and the other is over eight feet. A screw-on stereo 1/4-inch adapter is also included. The user-replaceable ear pads are synthetic leather, and the ear cups swivel for flat packing. Weighing in at 7.6 ounces, these headphones are extremely light and comfortable – so light that I couldn't imagine them sounding like much at all when I picked them up, but I was wrong. The MDR-M1s sound fantastic. The high end is smooth and pleasing to listen to, even for extended periods of time. The bass response is also impressive in a controlled but pleasant way. From Kendrick Lamar to Scientist dub mixes to Tycho to Blue Note recordings from the 1960s, these headphones delivered a pleasurable listening experience.
The closed-back design also makes the MDR-M1s suitable for studio tracking use. They provided decent isolation and kept the click track out of the mics when I was recording vocals and acoustic guitars, while still providing a pleasant representation of the working mix to keep the creative juices focused on making music.
I used the MDR-M1s for some mixing duties in rotation with my usual pairs of headphones, and my impression is that they provide a pretty accurate representation of what was going on in the mix. There is plenty of detail for making EQ choices, setting compression, and hearing any funky business like missed or poor edits. The real kicker is that these headphones are under $300 and deliver an impressive amount of listening satisfaction for that price point. I have been using them now for over a month and have not tired of them one bit. The MDR-M1 will go on my list of headphones to recommend to people looking for something well-built that performs but won’t break the bank, and I will grab them regularly for both pleasure listening and studio use.