Price Paid:  $150.00 from Fry's

Summary:
These phones are very comfortable and produce a great sound for being open air. They sound great on all my low end devices such as PDA, walkman and computer sound card. I wish I had something bigger to push some more db through.

Strengths:
Comfort. Comfort. Comfort. Very comfortable on the skull.

Weaknesses:
Need more bass but for the price, these phones are sufficient.

Similar Products Used:
None

Price Paid:  $150.00 from Fry's

Summary:
These phones are very comfortable and produce a great sound for being open air. They sound great on all my low end devices such as PDA, walkman and computer sound card. I wish I had something bigger to push some more db through.

Strengths:
Comfort. Comfort. Comfort. Very comfortable on the skull.

Weaknesses:
Need more bass

Similar Products Used:
None

Price Paid:  $250.00 from Sony Entertainment Centre

Summary:
I have been a happy owner of a pair of CD999s since 1991 so whilst in a major Sony store recently I took the opportunity to check out the current range. The flagship F1s made an immediate impression and they are without doubt the most accurate, most dynamic and transparent headphones that I have heard from Sony and way better than my CD999s. Like a few others who have submitted postings, I also felt on first listening that the bass was a tad shy but being so detailed I was prepared to live with that. Being very insensitive and a tough load for a cd player or preamp headphone amplifier I decided to build a dedicated 1 Watt class A low impedance amplifier to see what improvements I could yield. A week later and having spent another $500 in parts adn going completely overboard, my Class A headphone amp/buffer was completed and the results were unbelievable. The bass is now all there and it's as deep, detailed and as dynamic as I've ever heard from a pair of headphones. The mids and treble are so sweet and also clean and with such detail and dynamic agility that it makes it very difficult to go back to listening to speakers. I think I have conclusively proved that these headphones whilst useable from a wide range of sources do really need a dedicated amplifier to get the very best out of them. Even many acclaimed commercial headphone amps will be struggling to deliver enough currents to maintain class A operation at even normal listening levels. The reason for being bass shy when plugged into the headphone socket of a preamp or cd player etc is no doubt due to impedance dipping at LF. Also, be aware that some generic headphone amps use DC blocking capacitors which when driving 12 ohms will roll off the low bass.

In summary, these headphones should be regarded more as small loudspeakers. The open air design with the assosiated low efficiency and impedance does not really lend itself to use with portables, CD/MD players etc..and although these do a comendable job with such devices there are several other headphones in the Sony range that do this far better and for less money. For critical monitoring and / or extended listening however, these are as good as it gets but it's not that cheap when you consider how much more you need to spend on a dedicated amplifier to make it all happen. I can now see why open air designs are still persisted with despite the associated drive problems. If properly partnered with a worthy headphone amplifier then the F1s can provide a level of performance that a sealed can design can only dream about.

Strengths:
Comfort, pristine and detailed sound quality

Weaknesses:
Low impedance, Low efficiency. Slightly recessed high treble.

Similar Products Used:
MDR CD999, Audio Technica ATH-8s

Price Paid:  $70.00 from local audio-video store

Summary:
These pare of cans sound very good, in fact better than Sennheizer 570 (at least for me). I use them for various types of music from classic to rock (Hammerfall in particular) and found MDR-F1 to be simply outstanding. I don't feel that bass is leaking, everything is O.K. Also not least is the fact that one don't need special headphone amplifier to make these phones sound right - it's major plus when thinking about home hi-fi system on a budget. Personally I use them with my Denon 6.5 System and have nothing to complain about. Headphones are build very durable - construction is made of metal alloys, not some cheap plastic and padding is also very durable. Even cable has advantage it's longer then standard 3 meter cable, which come with majority of headphones - MDR-F1 has 3.4 meters cable. And as for comfort MDR-F1 headphones are simply the winner - even much more expensive Sennheizers, Koss, Philips (you name it, cause I've tried lot's of them in store) don't come close in terms of comfort. One can fall asleep in MDR-F1 (and so my wife did). So I think at price paid it's the perfect example of bargain. Very recommended.

Strengths:
very comfortable, clean sound, no need for special amplifier

Weaknesses:
only come in one color

Similar Products Used:
Grado S60, Sennheizer 570

Price Paid:  $179.00 from http://www.millionbuy.com/snymdrf1.html

Summary:
Obviously these are the most comfortable headphones ever made, I've never tried any that even come close. That's one of the main reasons I bought these, I'm tired of getting headaches from headphones (due to pressure on the head) after long periods of listening. The MDR F1s definitely eliminated this problem.

In fact, one day I actually fell to sleep with them on, woke up the next morning, forgetting they were on, and went through half a day walking around with them on, you get the strangest looks... Well not really, but yeah, they're that comfortable.

Also, these things allow airflow to your ear, preventing sweat from forming around the ears, so enough of that.

Another reason I chose these is because I'm into binaural recording and these were recommended from several people in the field. They are perfect for this application, the sound is clear, complete and the freq. response is wide (10-30,000 Hz) and razor flat. I read a few responses about the bass not being strong enough; well it's strong enough for my tastes, I'm not a bass freak, and many headphones i've tried tend to over exaggerate the bass, and it kills the listening experience (for me). These phones have bass, in face from 10 Hz, it's tight natural bass; it's just natural sounding, and I suppose that's due in part to the full open design.

The price, well, I would not pay $300 or even $250, but I got mine for $179, which I think is pretty fair, i'd pay that just for the comfort. No more headaches, earaches.

And unlike other open air designs they are plenty loud on even the smallest portable units.

So, in concluding, these headphones are not for people travelling in publc places where noise is an issue, or people whom crave loud bass. But everybody else, these are a well designed, great sounding set of phones.

Strengths:
comfort, clarity, design, great for binaural recordings, wide range, efficient.

Weaknesses:
price, and not for super-bass heads.

Similar Products Used:
AKG K240 DF