Sony MDR501LP Headphones

 A Special Set of Headphones
I love these headphones. The sound is great. I have a lot of trouble with headphones. I can where them for a couple of hours but then they begin to annoy me. After 3-4 hours most headphones will give me a headache. This headphones, I can use for tons of hours and never even begin to be annoyed by their presents.

They are bulky, but well worth it. I've bought two pairs (one for work and home).

 Comfortable headphones with acceptable sound.
These headphones are very light-weight and extremely comfortable, even over long periods. I've never owned a more comfortable pair. The screw-on 1/4" plug adaptor is very well designed, as is the single sided cord. My only complaint is that the headband design doesn't keep the drivers close enough to my ears for low bass. It might fit some users better though.

 Excellent headphones!
When I saw these headphones, I thought they were a little strange. however, after I tried them, I noticed the excellent sound quality, the comfortable shape, the LONG cord, and the included jack size adapter, I was sold.

First thing's first: These things are extremely comfortable. They have a little ring that goes around your ear, and this effectively takes the pressure off your ears. If you intend to wear these for a long time, if you have big ears, (like me) or both, this is reason alone.

The sound quality is among the best I have ever heard. It has excellent frequency responce, and they can get very loud without distortion. If you are into extreme bass, be careful: If said bass comes from a source like Dynamic Bass Boost or the ilk from portable CD players, it tends to distort at higher volumes. Bass from a Stereo system doesn't seem to produce this problem.

One nifty feature is the screw-on adapter. This will fit into standard and mini headphone jacks, via a little screw-own adapter. The adapter fits over the mini jack, and can only be screwed off. Very useful in my '89 Areostar! The mini jack and the adapter are gold plated, and seem very well built. One problem: the adapter can be easy to lose.

The cord from the headset is a full 15' long, versus the 6' of most headphones. Very nice! Cord is also one cord, and not two little ones joined together, like most other pairs. This is great, since you can't rip the cord down the middle. The cord terminates into the left speaker, also eliminating that annoying v-joint most pairs have.

The foam is thick and comfortable, and the headband does not rip out hair. It is spring loaded, however, which means that it always returns to it's normal size after use. I find this useful, but you never know...

Overall, an excellent product. It seems to have been discontinued, so get a pair if you can!

 Fantastic purchase - but hard to find
These headphones are absolutely great. They provide a very clear, exceptionally full sound The only problem is that I think they're a discontinued item. Sony's website doesn't list them anymore, and they're out of stock everywhere now. Grab them if you can, it's hard to find such a lightweight set with such a great sound quality.

 good sound for the price, nice design, comfortable
This is a good pair if you like the open air designs (which I do). You get ambient noise and an airy "feel" around the ears. I wear them at work and like that I can hear people talk to me(or yell at me, depending on the volume). I compared the sound to my high end stereo at home and they sounded very similar except for the bass, like one might expect. It has a single cord coming out of the left earpiece. The plug fits both 3/4 and 1/4 plugs, the 3/4 size screws in over the 1/4 plug. I'm not a big fan of the foam they use to cover the earpieces, I suspect that eventually it will break down and get kind of ratty. It self adjusts with springs to the size of your head and is very comfortable. (I have an unsually big hat size also)

The box warns that if you play it loudly you might disturb people near you because of the open air design. I don't think it is a problem unless you play it VERY loud or want to use it on an airplane or something.

Overall excellent considering the price range.

 Great Sound, Personal Choice
One thing I also enjoy besides listening to music is headphones. I own over 20 different pairs, and these are one of my favorite choices for when I'm on the road, on a plane, or just at home. I do agree with the other reviewers that these don't leave my ears feeling packed or pushed, a nice airy feel most of the time. The sound is superb, especially with large bands with lots of sound playing. When I try to figure out songs on my guitar, these are usually what I use. I can hear every instrument so clearly, it's so easy to enjoy a quality listening experience. I don't know if any of you customers are metalheads like me, but try putting Fear Factory's Obsolete on while you have these strapped on your head. It sounds amazing with these on.

 Most comfortable, with good sound
I recently broke a pair of headphones I got for free. I scoured reviews searching for the "right" replacement. I wanted to end up with a nice set for under $60. Although the other headphones did have a way to alter the volume right on the ear cups, this set of headphones is the most comfortable pair of headphones I've ever put on my head. After a while, I forget that I'm wearing headphones.

I normally reserve my recommendations, but this one is a great buy if you need new headphones. The sound is good, and the feeling is great.

Not to mention the long cord that prevents you from being so heavily tied to your headphone jack

 Rockin'
These headphones are superb. The 40mm drivers really put out some great sound. Highs are crystal clear and lows have a decent amount of bunch of headphones of this caliber. The design is lightweight and airy, and looks less noticable than the bigger headphones which have muffs around the speakers.

Two small things though: First off, the foam that covers the drivers looks like it might wear off over some time, but with good care little abuse (like pulling on it), they should last a few years.

Second of all, I believe these headphones could be improved if the drivers were reversable, so they could be used as mini-speakers. However, because of the open-air design, a lot of sound does escape despite the drivers facing each other. Not a big deal.

Some technical information not found on the page:

Driver Units: 40mm dia. 40 ohms at 1kHz

Power Handling: .5w

Sensitivity: 104dB/mW

Frequency Response - 12-24,000Hz

Mass: 145g (5oz) w/o cord

Cord: 3m (This is LONG)

 verrry coooool
these headphones are great! I have been using them for hours on end, and they don't hurt my head or ears at all. the cord is extremely long and great for any distance that you might need these phones for. I can almost play jumprope with them, it's that long! :) I guess the drawback of that is using them on the go and having this huge coil that you've wired up in the middle of the headphones cord. longer cord means heavier overall too. back to the headphones... very clear sounds. good reproduction of bass. no distortion at all at high levels, though I'm just a `moderate volume' user. i'm not one of those that turns headphones into speakers! :) one drawback is that the adjustments do not have any notches. that means you rest the phones on your head and then pull down on the ear parts of these headphones... then it stays at the length that you've pulled them down. you have to do this everytime you pick up the headphones!

I wish there were notches to secure the desired position of the earcups. I feel like when I'm tugging on the ear pieces and pull them down to the right length, I graze the foam covering and over time, I think this would weaken the strength of these coverings and they'd fall off. that'll be a few years or so though, with good care.

interesting perk about the gold plug tip to attach to bigger stereo systems of receivers... it screws on the end of the regular male stereo jack. I've had trouble fitting other gold tips on it, since the treads are in the way. basically, I cannot lose the gold plug tip which came with it! I've just never seen headphone plug tips that you screw on. minor issue.

I highly recommend the open-air design. it's cool and smooth. these phones don't look too bulky either. that was something I was worried about since these pictures can only go so far. anyway, they're a great fit! good sounds... I'm not too much of an audiophile, but as an average mp3, cd, md type of guy, it's all good. three thumbs up!