Over the course of the last week, my mate loaned me his Sony MDR-CD1700 headphones so I could properly compare them with my Beyerdynamics, which is an interesting comparison for me because I state both headphones as being bargains at their price point - but perhaps for different reasons - the DT531 seems a genuinely high performer at its price and the MDR-CD1700 is now available (until stocks run out) at less than half of their original cost. It is worth mentioning that the CD1700's reviewed here have already had the foam mod applied to them (removing the foam between your ear and the driver). Comfort.... I'd rate both about equal, but each have their strengths and weaknesses. For starters, the Beyers cable is slightly too short for my tastes at 2.5 meters, which will result in my having to buy a headphone extension eventually. The Sony's on the other hand, are very comfortable in all respects, but you are always aware that you have a HUGE pair of headphones on and the pads are a bit more itchy feeling than those of the Beyers. Generally speaking, both have an extremely high level of comfort, and the Beyers edge it if you dont need longer than a 2.5m cable, otherwise, it is perhaps a draw. Sound.... This is my impression of the sound from my Rega Ear, and EWX 2496. The Sony's are more detailed headphones than the Beyers, and have a warm midrange and on the whole, a very natural tone. The bass is fast, with no overhang or bloat, and for a closed headphone there is a surprising lack of colouration, although however they have very little isolation (they dont block external noise very well). You could almost imagine that they were open. Also, they have angled drivers, so the soundstaging for a headphone is excellent. The Sonys also have a nicely dynamic sound, and its clearly a midrangey phone, that is to say the midrange seems most prominant on these cans. Good for vocals. So is it a victory for the Sonys? Far from it actually, IMO. The Beyers, after listening to the Sony's really impress, with their superior bass clout - its probably not quite as fast as the Sony's bass, but it is no slouch, and the punch, and also possibly depth, exhibited by the Beyers is in a different league to the Sonys. They seem about as bright as the Sony's, but are not quite as detailed or smooth, and seem to have a slight silverish texture to them. The midrange is slightly recessed on the Beyers, especially in comparison to its bass, however, this makes the Beyers sound much fuller bodied than the Sony's for my ears. The soundstage of the Beyers is just as large, or possibly bigger than that of the Sony's, but not quite as accurate. There are times when the Beyer's which are still quite warm sounding do sound a lot more clear than the Sony's. Despite that, I feel the Beyers are the more forgiving of the two headphones, and poor recordings clearly sound better on the Beyers. Yet they dont fall behind on the good ones. I think to summarise what I have just said, I would say that the Sony's are probably the more hifi sounding headphones, are more accurate and neutral sounding. However, for my ears, the Beyers are simply more fun to listen to. Not quite as accurate, or as smooth, but more forgiving, and they definitely have more punch and rythym to the sound. I think both are good headphones, but which one you'd choose would be down to priorities. If bass is not so important in your music, but accuracy and tone is, the the Sony's are clearly a no brainer. However, if you listen to rock, electronic, or pop music (or any bass driven music), I'd have to say that the Beyers are clearly a much better choice. The two headphones are to be fair, probably equally as good, but for totally different reasons.
