For those that dont know- im a professional dj- so the getting the best from equipment is kind of important to me.

I thought it would be useful to write a mini review of these- as i havent seen them mentioned much on here before and as with most things- word of mouth recommendation is far better than the bumph on the back of a box

As my sony 700s have just started to crack again- and im sick of buying them only to have the same problem, ive bitten the bullet and bought some pioneers (sick of sennheisers too but thats a totally different thread there..)

For those that dont know- they look like this:





First impressions- pricey
Second impressions-

Design is uncannily similar to the sonys- but the joints dont seem to have as much stress on them- so theoretically shouldnt crack- time will tell. They seem well made enough (same grey plastic as sonys- but the cups are aluminium) and the backs of the cups are soft padded-for resting on shoulders. Cable is replacable also- which could prove useful in the future
Very comfortable

Sound wise- ive just done a direct back to back on my system at home and they are fantastic- bass is punchy deep and tight- and the treble is nice and crisp without being overly harsh- volume wise they are pretty similar- although the pioneers havent been run in yet. They sound good -forsee no problems with mixing with them. The bass does seem better than the sonys- but at the same time being more controlled

Nice feature is the stereo/mono switch on the side- which (it says) enables both left and right to be heard in the same cup for single ear monitoring.


Im taking both to work tonite- and will do a comparison and post my impressions up here tomorrow sometime after i wake up.Im at my favourite club tonite- 1600 people- its a big place with a very loud and good system- good headphones are essential. Without quiet or poor phones it would be very very hard indeed

first impressions though-definite thumbs up (should bloody hope so for that cash)

Ill post more tomorrow peeps.

i can't wait to hear how these work out for you
i was looking at getting meyself a pair but i went for the 700s instead

the only thing i'm really concerned about is how long they last
i've heard that after some use people have had one side completely die, can anyone comfirm this?

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i have the pioneers and they rock!

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When you start to criticize the times you live in, your time is over. ~Karl Lagerfeld

Tbh I've had my Sonys for a couple of years and not had a problem with em although numerous other people seem to have the old cracking issue with the joints. Having said that I'm gonna go for these if my Sonys do fuck up - I've tried the Technics 1210s and I hated them (sold em after 3 weeks on Ebay) so I'll be interested in how they work

I'm actually going to purchase these Pioneers HDJ1000's next week. Heard alot of good things about them.

better than my Stantons "headphone in the cereal box" type of headphone.

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ok

Very impressed with them- only used them at work once so no extensive observations- but ill post more up as and when.

Did a back to back comparison at full system volume- the pioneers are slightly quieter than the sonys- although as i mentioned before they havent been run in yet- this might make a difference.
Not a huge problem- the sonys are normally at half volume on the headphone dial- these were about 1/8th of a turn more- by no means quiet and still a lot of volume in them

I found that some tracks with parts that can sound harsh on the mid and treble using the sonys did not sound so using the pioneers.
Ear fatigue was non existent at the end of the night- the have quite a warm sound the them- not at all harsh or tiring.


Bass was very controlled and not at all muddy and found it very easy to seperate bass mid and treble in the phones- they seem more defined and clearer. Lots of detail.

They are very very comfortable also

Can recommend them to anyone-especially those who are sick of their sonys breaking and can stomach the price.

Cant comment on the reliability etc as ive only just got them- but i will keep peeps informed

Currently sonys retail for £100 ish- the pioneers for £140Hope that helps a few peeps as ive not seen much written about them

quote:

Tbh I've had my Sonys for a couple of years and not had a problem with em although numerous other people seem to have the old cracking issue with the joints.

To be honest- i think its to do with the constant folding/unfolding eith when mixing or folding them up for taking to or from a gig- it blatantly puts stress on that part of the arms and is what causes the cracking. Stupid really- all it would take is a different material for that part of them- and sony wouldnt have lost yet another customer-

Do they block out the external sound very well???

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Id say that was slightly better than with the sonys- nice big cups that cover your ears nicely.
Seemed to block out a bit more external noise- Certainly no harder to mix with ( except for the adjusting to new headphones bit which is always a pain)

Sometimes I wonder about the obsession with "how loud do these headphones get?" on this forum... that can't be good for your ears, and besides, there are lots of things that influence "loudness" ... efficiency, impedence, not just maximum undistorted spl... is it because everyone is using crappy sources that can't power headphones which causes this loudness obsession??

It was a simple comparison between the two as a point of interest.

Im not an audiophile- my headphones are purely for Dj use- all i care about is that they are fit for that purpose

im far from obsessed with volume- the less the better as far as i am concerned. I would like to be able to still hear in ten years time- its just the club i work at on saturdays we have measured at being 123 dB from the console(yes i do use hearing protection) ..... you see my point?
You cant hear---->you cant mix

the only complaint i have with the pioneers is that they do press against my ears cuz by the end of the night, the cartilage in my ear start to hurt. Ive had the phones for over a year now. I guess its good for keeping out outside sound.

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When you start to criticize the times you live in, your time is over. ~Karl Lagerfeld

quote:

Originally posted by Freak It was a simple comparison between the two as a point of interest. Im not an audiophile- my headphones are purely for Dj use- all i care about is that they are fit for that purpose im far from obsessed with volume- the less the better as far as i am concerned. I would like to be able to still hear in ten years time- its just the club i work at on saturdays we have measured at being 123 dB from the console(yes i do use hearing protection) ..... you see my point? You cant hear---->you cant mix

I guess so -- it's simply a trend I've noticed (not just you... but a lot of dj's seem to first ask how loud headphones get... sheesh, why not just go to www.headsave.com and buy an amp? >_< )