MDR 7506 vs M40x

Sony’s MDR7506 and Ath’s M40x are two very popular headphones. These professional-style headphones are made for monitoring your recordings and what experts called “high-fidelity listening”. Which model is best for you depends on your needs, budget, and personal taste but we’re going to show you a quick run-down of each model, how they compare and some of the pros and cons of each.

🎧 The main differences between MDR 7506 vs m40x is their audio profile. The 7506 has very prominent highs and sounds bright while the m40x has more bass. This is despite the fact that the 7506 has a higher frequency range of 10-20kHz while the M40x has 15-24kHz.

Regardless of their differences, the MDR 7506 and the Ath M40X are both high quality earphones. Both are collapsible to be more portable and both comes with cloth carrying cases.

 

Other differences between the MDR 7506 and the M40X

• Neutral sounding: The M40x has a more neutral sound which is better for studio monitoring. As mentioned, the 7506 tends to have a brighter high.

• Cords: The MDR 7506 has attached coils while the M40X has detachable ones. This means the latter can be replaced when the cords got faulty and get potentially lead to a longer life span

• Ear padding: The M40X has a bigger ear pad surface area, making them more comfortable on my ears.

• Weight: Perhaps due to the heavier padding, the M40x also feels heavier on the ears.

 

Sony MDR7506 Review

These professional-style headphones are made for sound monitoring in recording studios, video, radio, and film production. They have a closed-ear design which makes them great for recording studios and a large diaphragm foldable headphone.

Like the v6, the 7506 has a 40mm driver and a wide freqency response.

Pros:

• Portable: It is light weight and fordable
• Noise-canceling: The closed-ear design provides superior noise cancellation and isolation.
• Long cord: Can be a plus and minus. Some like it long for the ex-tenability while others like it short to avoid the messiness.

Cons

• Foam covers: They need to be replaced periodically
• Hot: The headset can get hot after hours of prolong usage.

 

Comparison with MDR v6

Since we are on the topic of 7506, you might wonder about the difference between this and the V6 model.

These headphones are really quite similar, so it’s hard to draw much of a comparison between the two. The V6 is the older model and it’s rumored to be being phased out and completely replaced by the 7506.

It offers a 40mm driver which is going to give you accurate sound throughout the frequency range. This means that you’re going to be able to listen to your music as it was recorded in the studio as opposed to bass-rich headphones.

Like the 7506, the V6 also has oval earpads for increased isolation of noise and a wide, padded headband to make sure you’re comfortable while listening for hours.

However, if you have your hands on both and are trying to decide, here are the specifics:

• Impedance: both are at 63 Ohm
• Sensitivity: both are at 106 dB
• Frequency (low): V6 – 5Hz, 7506 – 10Hz
• Frequency (High): V6 – 30kHz, 7506 – 20kHz

 

Ath M40x Review

The Atn M40X is a another headphone that is well known for their accurate sound quality.

Pros

• Accurate sound: The M40X is a studio monitoring headphone, meaning it is suppose to have a very accurate representation of the audio quality. It is tuned flat so you get exactly how the audio sounds like when they were recorded.

• Sub bass is very good: If you properly EQ the M40x, it can hard a lot of sub bass. This is good for anyone who enjoys listening to things like trap, future bass etc. The ideal range of EQ will be between +25dB at 31Hz. Anything over 70Hz and the audio will start to roll off.

• Noise isolation is good: With this headset on, you will not be able to hear your surrounding sound. Perfect for some cases but might be dangerous if you are walking around in them.

Cons

• Clamping force might too strong: These headphones are designed not to have any sound leaks for monitoring purpose. Hence you should expect the clamping force to be tight and might get hot or uncomfortable after prolong hours of usage

• Floppy design: You need to use both hands to hand this headphone correctly. It is so floppy that it can be hard to control sometimes when you are handling them with just one hand.

• Long cable: The packages comes with a 3M long cable so you need to wear this with you. The shorter cable (1.2m) is another accessory you need to purchase.

 

M40X vs M50x

If you are buying M40X, the next question you might have is what is the difference the M40x and the M50x.

The main difference is the price. M40x is about $100 while the M50x is around $150. For this difference, the audio quality is not significantly better. The only improvement is that the M50x has better ear padding and bigger ear cups.

Other differences

• Additional cable: The M50x comes with an additional short cable which will cost you another $20 if bought separately. This is useful if you don’t want to drag a long cable everywhere you go.

• Audio quality: While most might not be able to differentiate, there are some slight differences in M40x and M50x’s audio output. The former has is more neutral and hence better quality in my mind. The M50x is heavier on the bass side but is richer sounding.

• Weight: The M50x weighs heavier due to the additional padding and the bigger ear cups. The M40x is 40g lighter.

• Design: The M50x has more of a minimalist design

 

Conclusion

Both the Sony V6 and the Ath M40x are great headphones that will last you for years if properly taken care of. Reviews of each are phenomenal and both are supposed to be great for mixing, casual listening to music, or instrumentalists. With the prices being roughly the same, we’d probably recommend going with the 7506 unless you are doing it for studio monitoring.