Sony’s MDR-M1 Monitors Are an Upgrade Over Its Industry-Standard MDR-7506
Sony announced a new higher-end pair of closed-backed studio monitors called the MDR-M1 that are designed to sit between the industry-standard and affordable MDR-7506 headphones and the very expensive open-backed MDR-MV1 monitors.
Sony’s MDR-7506 studio monitors are a mainstay in the industry and have been for quite some time. They are so ubiquitous that they’re commonly seen in pop culture even on television and in movies as the headphones sitting in recording studios or on the heads of audio engineers and cameramen. They are capable of taking a beating and, should they somehow break, are easy to replace thanks to their low $99 asking price.
The much more expensive MDR-MV1 cost four times as much at $400 but are open-backed, which some prefer since they don’t suffer from reflected sound within the housing. But if a sound engineer prefers closed backs for the sound isolation, Sony didn’t have a higher-end MDR option — until now.
Coming later this month, the MDR-M1 Reference Closed Monitor Headphones are designed for musicians and sound engineers to be able to produce and monitor sound in any environment accurately. They aren’t noise canceling, but the design has what Sony calls a “closed acoustic structure” that provides “high sound isolation” that when combined with an in-house driver allows it to replicate audio to a listener regardless of their environment with the same fidelity as when it was captured in a studio.
While the MDR-7506 monitors have what is best described as a “flat” profile with its 10Hz to 20kHz, the new MDR-M1 drivers provide a much wider playback response of 5Hz to 80kHz, which Sony says comes thanks to this new drive that features a combination of a soft edge shape to reproduce low frequencies with sufficient volume and low distortion and a hard dome shape to accurately reproduce ultra-high frequencies.
And, unlike the MDR-MV1 open-back headphones, the MDR-M1 monitors are more like the MDR-7506 headphones with a closed-back design that Sony says helps eliminate ambient noise and sound leakage, which makes them able to accommodate multiple use cases and allows for fine-tuning sound for accuracy.
“The MDR-M1 headphones were created in collaboration with some of the top sound engineers in the industry, including Mastering Engineer of Battery Studios, Mike Piacentini, and Recording and Mixing Engineer of Power Station at Berklee NYC, Akihiro Nishimura, to ensure an authentic and enriching music experience,” Sony says.
“The tonal balance of the MDR-M1 feels very close to the impression of Power Station’s Studio A control room. In recording sessions, it is important to care what musicians or singers are listening to when they play or sing. MDR-M1 gives you the same impression of listening in a control room headphone, which makes it easier to create music by listening to each other. The comfortable design also makes us focus on music in long sessions. I hope MDR-M1 will become the standard monitoring system for any recording sessions.” Akihiro Nishimura says.
The ear cup design differs from Sony’s MDR-7506 headphones and is more akin to what the company tends to use in its consumer-level WH-1000XM4 and WH-1000XM5 headphones. The company says it designed them with comfort at the forefront and are meant to be able to fit snugly while also are comfortable to wear over long periods.
The MDR-M1 includes two cables: one is a replaceable, detachable cable with a stereo mini-plug and plug adapter (stereo mini-plug to stereo standard plug) and the second is a shorter cable that can be used depending on the connected equipment and usage environment.
The Sony MDR-M1 over-ear, closed-back, wired studio reference monitors will be available starting in September for $250.
Image credits: Sony
