Sony MDR-XB500 - Cheap discontinued bass and comfort masters

[spwath]

So I just picked these up on craigslist, $20. Can be found used on ebay for $40 ish. New were $60, discontinued now.

Comfort: Comfort masters, huge (huge...) soft pads, very light weight.
Just look, far right. Far left are the larger brothers, XB700. I would love to try those, look at those pads. For reference, the XB500, on far left, pads measure 1.5". No kidding.

Pictured next to HD650


So comfort is good. Isolation is pretty good, but they do have some vents on the back, so not perfect.

Sound- given these were the extra bass linup, I expected terrible. And they are actually OK. Bass boost, but not way to much, and its not just midbass, it goes low, as seen in measurements. I lowered my bounds to 5hrz because of how low these things play. Trebble isn't too much, like many cheap headphones. But some weird things do happen.

Measurements:
Pretty good chanel balancing, up in the higher registers could be measuring inconsistancies too.
Look at that bass... doesn't roll off until about 10hrz.




So I would recommend these, if looking for a cheap bass monster. But things get wonkey in the upper mids/highs. But if you just want bass, for cheap, these are your headphones, great comfort too.


Innerfidelity measurements:
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/SonyMDRXB500.pdf
Full article:
http://www.innerfidelity.com/conten...tra-bass-headphonespage-2#u3mmpKDC0ocfjUsj.97


EDIT: one interesting side note: There is basically no internal volume to the driver chamber, The driver chamber area is only about as thick as the driver itself. Most of the volume is within the pads...

[Guest]

Great review for a product which has been discontinued. But I wonder... What about those thick ear pads during summer? How comfortable are they then? *sticks with regular desk speakers*

[spwath]

Just now, Dutch-stoner said:

Great review for a product which has been discontinued. But I wonder... What about those thick ear pads during summer? How comfortable are they then? *sticks with regular desk speakers*

Yeah, I could imagine them becoming warm. But they are pretty cheap for something pretty good. And I would rather be warm than uncomfortable.

[Guest]

As a person who sweats alot, warm clothing (and headphones) would make me feel uncomfortable. Might also start to smell. And no, I'm not a fat person living in some kind of basement.

[KaminKevCrew]

1 hour ago, spwath said:

Yeah, I could imagine them becoming warm. But they are pretty cheap for something pretty good. And I would rather be warm than uncomfortable.

I've got the XB1000 here at home. The comfort is ridiculous...

[spwath]

2 minutes ago, KaminKevCrew said:

I've got the XB1000 here at home. The comfort is ridiculous...

yeah, those look even more comfortable with even bigger pads

[Dackzy]

I think I saw a pair of XB500 in a shop last week, didn't think much about it. Maybe I should have bought them