This post is two things. The first thing is a change in what you are going to be seeing on your dear old Electric Mustache going forward, I decided to expand our coverage from just music and (awesome) photos into products to experience music and create (prob not as awesome) photos. So moving forward expect funny and informative reviews of headphones, speakers, HI-FI's and camera gear! You are welcome!
The second thing is a review of the best pair of headphones you can spend less than $300 on, and by less I mean around $80. That's right, the best pair of cans you can get for less than $300 are only $80 (normally only about $70 but Amazon appears to be out of them so you are stuck with 3rd party sellers for now)! I What are these wonderful creations you might ask? Well first of all that's a silly question because the title clearly contains their name, but since you asked, they are the Sony MDR-V6's. They first came out way way way back in 1985 and have not changed them at all ever since. They have made a few different newer models since then but the V6 have remained unchanged. That is like if they still made a 1985 Honda Civic even though they make a new model every year, but people loved the 1985 model so much they just kept making it the same, tape deck and all.
They were created for studios and DJ so they were made to last, and last they do. I have had my pair since Oct of 2011, and I use them every day and aside from the ear pads wearing out a bit ( the one flaw but not a tragic flaw) I have dropped them a million times and ran the cord over with my chair at least 10 times a day for almost two years and they mostly look brand new.
As for sound quality they were intended to produce a flat, accurate sound with an insanely wide frequency range. That means that you hear EVERYTHING, the highs are crisp, the mids are clear and the bass is just right, not overpowering but very present, "You will hear things in songs that you didn't even know where there!" is a thing that audio nerds say to try and sell you on super expensive gear and it's definitely true. But in this case you get that from non super expensive gear.
There is a small twist to this story though. Also in existence are a very similar pair of headphones also made by Sony, the MDR7506. They are identical in almost every way, same physical design and everything. The only difference is a couple tweaks to the internal magnet and a gold plated connector. Some people say that they are slightly better than the V6's and the equal amount of people say the V6's are better. The word on the street is that the 7506's have slightly less highs and a little more bass so I originally chose the V6's since that is more my style. But I think I am going to pick up a pair of 7506's and do a little comparison so stayed tuned for that update soon.
SCORE: 4.5 Out of 5
