What is the difference between the MDRV6 and the MDR 7506 ?

I finally broke down and bought a pair of 7506s and V6s about 5 or so years ago from Amazon. I would love a couple pairs of the original V6 but I’m sure that will never be available to me. I toured with George Strakis (Whitney Houston’s FOH engineer) for a few years and he carried V6s from the 1980s. I think he had 2 pair. He swore by them. I always figured the 7506 and V6 sounded the same since all the internal part numbers are identical, at least currently. They do NOT sound the same. The 7506 is very flat. The V6 has a nicer bass response, just a bit more. Kind of where you would want to equalize the 7506 to be. Why? I can’t figure it out. I’m not going to open them to see if there is something different inside to cause this. I have since purchased at least 5 more pairs according to Amazon but I know its more because I’ve bought at least 4 pairs for clients and friends and I have 3 pair here and my son has a pair, plus the 7506s which I keep in the doghouse of my QL5 for guests. There is a youtube channel that tests the response of headphones. They aren’t precise tests but they are good at showing comparisons, and they confirm the differences I found. Both models have a small null in the upper mids, which I tend to mix in if I’m mixing on cans alone. No worries, its easy to account for it. Its even on the response chart. For general listening and cueing things up during live events, these are my work horses. I’m shocked to see them selling “used” on Amazon for such a high price. I only paid about $75/ pair on Amazon brand new.

I've been using and enjoying the V6 for years. How does it compare to the expensive Sony MDR 7520? Should I leave well enough alone and keep my money?

Have you been using a mid-grade or better headphone amp with your V6's, or straight from the computer/interface? The 7520's and V6s both have low impedances, meaning you can get them loud with consumer devices like iPods, or straight out of the computer jack. And a $390 headphone is going to sound a whole lot better than a $99 pair. That said, if you have NOT been amp-ing your V6's, I would spend $100 on a good headphone amp (do some research) instead. Not only will the sound detail increase, the bass will finally sound as it should, and it think you would be happy saving $300. I have expensive cans too, and they sound great. But once I hooked up my V6's to a good headphone amp, I was blown away. Save your money. My head-phone amp was only ~65-70. I wouldn't go above $120, because the quality wont increase. Also, if you buy a $24 pair of Beyerdynamic replacement ear pads that fit the V6's, comfort will go up 100x. Hope that helped. Bravo audio made my solid state headphone amp and I love it. Fiio makes good stuff, do some research!

The voice coil is an electromagnet attached to the diaphragm or "cone" of a large or small speaker. Down the middle of this electromagnet is a permanent magnet, but it's attached to the frame of the speaker or headphone. When electrical impulses from the sound wave energize the coil/electromagnet, it make the electromagnet either the negative or positive pole of a magnet temporarily. This magnetized coil reacts to the permanent magnet and moves. This moves the diaphragm and causes air pressure to push against your ear drum. We hear this as sound if the diaphragm moves fast enough. The diaphragm needs to move back and forth about 8 thousands times a second for us to hear voice, about 30 times a second for us to hear bass and about 15,000 times per second for us to perceive high frequencies. The lighter the coil/diaphragm, the faster it can move. But the coil also has to have enough windings to make a strong electromagnet, which means weight and thus less response. Making an excellent coil is a major part of good speaker design.

Do these headphones have a true, flat sound or do they boost bass/highs/mids/anything? I need headphones for monitoring that reproduce true.

I know this comes late to answer the original question, but for anyone else wondering, the output is definitely not what I would consider flat. The boost to the bottom end is definitely mild compared to something like Beats or a V-Moda. though I would not consider these to be as precise or flat as the beyerdynamik DT770's that they replaced for me. However, they were $70 and fall comfortably into the "good enough" range that as long as nobody's paying you actual money for studio mastering services, they'll work fine. One thing I will say in their definite favor is that they get absurdly, ridiculously loud without distorting. You could sort of throw any job at these headphones and they'd do a respectable job at it.

Sony MDRV6 Studio Monitor Headphones with CCAW Voice Coil

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