Sony DJ Headphones MDR-V700DJ, Back View.
We owned the Sony MDR-V700DJ headphones for a few years in around 2004 and we review them here. We used them with many CD players, iPod Nanos, headphone amps, and mixers at our mobile DJ gigs. Indeed, the ruggedness of the MDR-V700DJ is obvious. But how they sound is far less complimentary.
Due to their solid construction, they’re an excellent choice for the novice listener; a well-put-together and durable starter pair. They worked well for listening to the other CD player as we cued the next song.
But they’re sub-state-of-the-art for serious high fidelity music listening in our view. These were not very comfortable besides. Either the ear cups pressed too hard against the ear lobes, or the headband flattened the hair. Plus, it left a depression on the top of the head that lasted the rest of the day. Loosening the headband did little to stop this.
For the mobile DJ however, who does not wear these full-time during a gig, the MDR-V700DJ is comfortable enough. Just don’t listen for long periods, as the head band can grate and grind on your head. Also, the ear cans can leave your ears feeling like you tied them up in a tourniquet.
The MDR-V700DJ offers unimpressive sound as compared to other headphones in their price range. We paid approximately $120 for ours from (RIP) Circuit City electronics store. They reproduce the high frequencies shyly, and seem too bassy. True. You could set the musical low end with an equalizer. But no such adjusting completely balances out the raspy harshness of sound we heard in these professional DJ headphones. The excess boom and thump happens a lot when listening to iPods.
We found the MDR-V700DJ to be among the worst-sounding gig headphones for the cost that we’ve ever tested. Given this high cost, there was lots to grip about. But unlike the MDR-V500s (which we liked much more), the MDR-V700DJ ear cushions did not wear quickly. At six years of DJ gigging, our set showed no signs of ear cushion flaking.
Replacement cushions for these professional headphones are available on eBay and Amazon. Check out the eBay listing for the Sony MDR-V700DJ DJ headphones for deals on parts as well as a complete headset.
Built for the most rigorous and abusive mobile disc jockey jobs.
They have gold connectors. These reduce dropouts and static clicks and pops.
They reduced surrounding noise adequately, which is a feature their closed-air design. They used a metal-looking plate that encloses the driver speaker in each earpiece. This plate helps keep program sound in, and outside noises out.
Little audio escapes these phones while wearing. So they’re good to listen to, in order to avoid disturbing close-by other people.
The black ear cushions sport circular-shaped openings, that give these headphones a decidedly high-tech, space-age look.
The headband includes resilient, soft padding that helps mitigate the rather limited overall comfort level.
The unit looks nice and feels substantial, which is probably what enticed (misled) us into buying them initially. Well, that, plus the good Sony name too. These headphones appeared mostly dull silver / gray, with the headband and ear cushions done up in black.
These headphones offer “retractable” ear pieces. These could fold up inside the headband, and that shrinks the size of the overall unit. When retracted, they are not much smaller than when fully extended. This is a hold-over feature from the MDR-V500s, that are smaller in size to begin with. Those older phones retracted more completely than these, the MDR-V700s.
The MDR-V700DJ plays sufficiently loud, with fairly wide dynamic range over most of the audio frequency band. This suits them well for widely varying musical volume levels such as found in classical music. However, they lack the fidelity required for that level of audiophile listening. Much better for mobile DJ applications.
For pop music, they play loud enough to irritate the ears, without noticeable gain in distortion, or loss in faithfulness.
You can wear this headset with equal comfort either way. E.g. Left earphone on left ear, or left earphone on right ear. It’s easy to set the correct angle on each earpiece. The hinges on each speaker allow for simple “reversing” of the stereo channels when you must. So there’s no need to switch audio cables around. Just reverse these headphones on your head instead.
The MDR-V700DJ headset is solid. So it can withstand lots of abuse. We’ve often dropped them on hard tables or floors. Yet they held up quite well. They tolerate rough handling, such as at DJ gigs and mobile studio sessions.
Normally, this would be a bad thing for most products. But the fact that the MDR-V700s are going obsolete is a good thing in our view.
They are rather heavy; definitely heavier than the Sennheiser HD-650 phones.
Thus, we could not wear them for hours at a stretch without excessive discomfort developing. Perhaps thirty minutes of listening was all we could bear.
They sport foamy, but hard and rough-to-the-touch ear cushions. Rather than expensive and soft leather, the coatings on these ear cushions felt like hard, cheap plastic. But then again, this construction helps make the V700s so durable.
An equalizer to roll back the bass response is essential, we feel. These phones sound too boomy and muffled with “flat” music sources like portable CD players and radios.
The rigid ear pads are round and of medium-size. But they’re not deep enough to completely clear our ears. Thus, the front of the driver speaker touches our ears. Further, it presses into them hard. This leaves the outer ear aching after prolonged wearing.
You cannot easily replace the cables. Detachable cables would have made more sense, like those on some Sennheiser headphones.
These Sony earphones favor the bass and low treble frequencies. But this often made our ears hurt and ring after listening for long times. Yet in a mobile disc jockey gig, the venue noise would offset any harsh sound of these headphones. So, the sound quality is less of an issue on the road.
Their head adjustments are inadequate. Even at the smallest setting, with each ear cup fully retracted, these phones fit too loosely. They often fall off if we rocked or walked around while wearing them.
Thus, we had to remove the specs while jamming. If we did not, the eyeglasses would become bent and distorted, requiring straightening after each listening session; not good to repeat very often with today’s thin-framed eye ware.
These phones looked way better than they sounded. I.e. Lots of brawn, but little brains, to speak of, so to speak. But this may not be so bad for pop and hip-hop musical genres. Indeed, these types of music apparently, are the sorts that the MDR-V700DJ plays well.
We found the Sony MDR-V700DJ mobile disc jockey headphones to be decent head gear for our DJ gigs. But they’re missing many of the top-rate features of a perfect earphone. These include above-average sound and comfort. So we would steer clear of them in the future. Thus we rate them at 50 out of 100.
You can still find this Sony product on eBay and Amazon. Check the links below for an up-to-date list of vendors who sell them, along with the repair parts.
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