Sony MDR-V 700DJ

...them out in my local Sony Centre and was simply amazed by the sound quality. I was used to the Sony MDR-EX71SLW in ear headphones which I used with my iPod Nano, and in comparison to those, the sound from the MDR-V 700DJ had much more depth and clarity. I was also impressed by the look of these headphones, the classic design still looks fresh even today. They felt comfortable to wear, and the materials felt strong and chunky, with an impressive feeling ...
...Needless to say, this first taste was enough to sell them to me, and I have now had them for over two years. I must however admit that they have not had as much use as I had initially intended, or indeed as they deserve. The main intention of use for the headphones when I bought them was to use them to listen to my iPod or phone on the train. The main problem I have with this is that they are simply too big for this function in my opinion, and the ... more

When I bought these headphones I first tried them out in my local Sony Centre and was simply amazed by the sound quality. I was used to the Sony MDR-EX71SLW in ear headphones which I used with my iPod Nano, and in comparison to those, the sound from the MDR-V 700DJ had much more depth and clarity. I was also impressed by the look of these headphones, the classic design still looks fresh even today. They felt comfortable to wear, and the materials felt strong and chunky, with an impressive feeling of high build quality.

Needless to say, this first taste was enough to sell them to me, and I have now had them for over two years. I must however admit that they have not had as much use as I had initially intended, or indeed as they deserve. The main intention of use for the headphones when I bought them was to use them to listen to my iPod or phone on the train. The main problem I have with this is that they are simply too big for this function in my opinion, and the cable is too long. This however is my own fault and I should really have considered this when purchasing them, as they are not really designed as portable headphones, but more as DJ headphones (as the name really gives away!).

In the time I have had the headphones I can't really fault their performance, the sound quality remains outstanding. I have used them to listen to most types of music including mostly electronic, but also indy/rock, and hip-hop, and with all genres they seem to excell. They are still holding together very well and really still look like new, which is testament to the impressive build quality. The coiled chord still coils up properly as well.

There is one rather minor gripe I do however have, and this is concerning the folding up mechanism that the headphones feature. Its a great idea and it means that you can fold them away when not in use, making them easier to transport or store. The criticism I would have is that if you leave them folded for any length of time it can cause the bottom of both of the foam pads that surround the ears to become slightly misshapen. This is because the chord is attached the headphone in such a way that the left hand headphone will not fold round properly to lie flat like the right one does, and the result is that they don't touch each other evenly when folded away. This shouldn't really put you off, as otherwise they are pretty much flawless, but it is a minor design flaw that I fell is worth mentioning.

Other than this they have served me very well, and I would urge anyone else looking for a fairly low priced but descent set of headphones, to strongly consider the MDR-V 700DJs. If however you are looking for portable headphones to use on the go, then I would recommend looking for something slightly smaller. 

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