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Sony MDR-DS7500 - World's first HDMI lossless 7.1 surround decoder/headphones - Page 2

post #31 of 245
1/22/12 at 1:31am
May I ask where you purchased these from and which Pioneer model you had before?
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post #32 of 245
1/22/12 at 1:49am
^^ Post 16.
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post #33 of 245
1/25/12 at 11:16pm
I bought these back in November.

I too had the initial problem where I had all my inputs connected to the AV Receiver and the HDMI out connected to the MDR receiver with no Audio coming through the headphones

After managing to translate the manual i managed work out that I needed to goto the HDMI settings through the AV parameter on the Pioneer receiver (SC-LX85) and change the HDMI -> Amp to HDMI -> Through which passed the audio through the receiver to the headphones.

One thing I have not been able to do however is to get the DTS HD light or Dolby Digital True when watching a Blu Ray.
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post #34 of 245
1/31/12 at 5:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by OC2000 View Post

I bought these back in November.

I too had the initial problem where I had all my inputs connected to the AV Receiver and the HDMI out connected to the MDR receiver with no Audio coming through the headphones

After managing to translate the manual i managed work out that I needed to goto the HDMI settings through the AV parameter on the Pioneer receiver (SC-LX85) and change the HDMI -> Amp to HDMI -> Through which passed the audio through the receiver to the headphones.

One thing I have not been able to do however is to get the DTS HD light or Dolby Digital True when watching a Blu Ray.

I had the Pioneer SE-DIR800Cs, which were excellent in their own right.

Hmm. You can't get the lights to light up on the headphone amp? Mine lights up just fine. I probably have the advantage being that I'm not passing it through the receiver but using a Matrix switch. If you're passing it through the receiver and it's not lighting up you're probably not getting a a lossless signal out of it, just a lossy one. You might have to do what I'm doing and buy a HDMI Matrix switch in order to pass a true-lossless signal. I had the same exact problems you did.

Hey Roger, you get yours yet? I'd love to hear your opinions on it.
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post #35 of 245
1/31/12 at 10:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveFi View Post

Hey Roger, you get yours yet? I'd love to hear your opinions on it.

Not yet. Slow boat!
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post #36 of 245
2/7/12 at 6:49pm
Thread Starter 
That's one slow boat. They must be paddling with one oar!

I'm really interested in some other views on this thing. I'd like to get some input on what other people's fav. modes/settings are, etc.
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post #37 of 245
2/21/12 at 9:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveFi View Post

The particularly amazing thing about this movie is its low-end, and I had I had no problem turning the LFE up almost all the way. The headphones were more than adequate to the task, even duplicating that "seat shaking" feeling you'd get when the bass would hit that really low end. I'd feel that sort of "rattling in my bones" sensation- they'd actually vibrate on my head!!! Sweet!

These are awesome phones. Well up to the task of one of the punchiest action movies out there.

I received a set today, and the bass is indeed great. It goes full steam down to 30 Hz, and only a little rolloff at 25.

What disturbed me was the LFE was cranked, but I had not noticed because the display only appears when you push the LFE button on the phones. I guess I did that while unpacking. Set back to minimum (which is full LFE effect), they sound just right. These are great movie headphones coupled with their Cinema processing mode.

Have you found any content that shows any real difference between PLIIz and PLIIx?
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post #38 of 245
2/24/12 at 9:03pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Dressler View Post

I received a set today, and the bass is indeed great. It goes full steam down to 30 Hz, and only a little rolloff at 25.

What disturbed me was the LFE was cranked, but I had not noticed because the display only appears when you push the LFE button on the phones. I guess I did that while unpacking. Set back to minimum (which is full LFE effect), they sound just right. These are great movie headphones coupled with their Cinema processing mode.

Have you found any content that shows any real difference between PLIIz and PLIIx?

As far as I can tell you can only boost the LFE and Center channels in the CINEMA mode, otherwise everything is relatively flat. Have you found a way to boost LFE otherwize?

Now as far as PLIIz goes there really aren't that many 7.1 channel discs out there so I can't honestly say I noticed the difference. On the discs I did try which was 7.1 which I owned, (like Transformers: Dark of the Moon) it sounded pretty much the same as a good 5.1 disc. That said, Dark of the Moon has such an amazing soundtrack it's not to be missed.

Can you manually put these things into PLIIz and PLIIx modes? If you can I don't know how to do it. Actually I haven't really figured out much to do with these headphones other than to turn on CINEMA, STEREO (TALK) modes (and one other). I'm still not even sure what's the best way to watch a TV show on them yet.
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post #39 of 245
2/24/12 at 9:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveFi View Post

As far as I can tell you can only boost the LFE and Center channels in the CINEMA mode, otherwise everything is relatively flat. Have you found a way to boost LFE otherwize?

No. But my main interest was in the Cinema mode.

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Now as far as PLIIz goes there really aren't that many 7.1 channel discs out there so I can't honestly say I noticed the difference.

PLIIz works with 5.1 sources, too.

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Can you manually put these things into PLIIz and PLIIx modes? If you can I don't know how to do it.

Yes. Push the Matrix button. You will see the little green LED show which mode it working.

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Actually I haven't really figured out much to do with these headphones other than to turn on CINEMA, STEREO (TALK) modes (and one other). I'm still not even sure what's the best way to watch a TV show on them yet.

For TV I would not use the Cinema mode, as it adds too much of an echo to dialog. That's one are area were Dolby Headphone is superior.
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post #40 of 245
2/24/12 at 9:52pm
Thread Starter 
Ah, I didn't see the MATRIX button, it's only on the transmitter which is kind of inconvinient. Thus far I've only been using the controls on the headphones.

For that matter what does COMPRESSION do?

Head-Fi.org Review

That might be of interest for folks following the thread.
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post #41 of 245
2/26/12 at 12:25am
Hey guys. That was my very amateur review. Glad to see you are enjoying these headphones. In my case I've used it as my receiver so my cable box and my PS3 are HDMI ins on the MDRDS7500 receiver and in that instance I get no problems with the DTSHD or the TRUEHD lights lighting up. Have you tried watching any sports in 5.1 mode with these. I happened to catch the Australian open with these and it was totally incredible. I am really happy with these. I do wish there was a different method than the "strap" power on method since it adds unneeded pressure to your head compared to the wired Sennheiser HD650s which are incredibly comfortable headphones, but these Sonys are really good overall. Nice to have lossless audio in a headset finally. I feel bad for those guys buying the RS220s from Senn as they just aren't up to par in my personal opinion. Hope you are enjoying your headsets.

Take care,
George
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post #42 of 245
2/26/12 at 6:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveFi View Post

For that matter what does COMPRESSION do?

Head-Fi.org Review

That might be of interest for folks following the thread.

Thanks for the link.

I'm not sure I agree about >>clear crisp highs<<. I find that running DH into my HD600s or even using the Pioneer SE-DIR3000 are better in that respect. The Sony's excel on the bass side, however.

I also find little value in its ability to process HD audio. The sound from 7.1 is "virtually" indistinguishable from 5.1, and the VPT processing is rather excessive on echo, obliterating any sonic advantage that HD lossless might provide. I was expecting Sony would have updated their VPT algorithm's sonics after all this time. It's great for movies as it has been for a decade. But now we have higher expectations...do we not?
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post #43 of 245
2/26/12 at 2:57pm
Thread Starter 
From what I deciphered in the manual the COMPRESSION is used for delay/sync purposes. With the default settings, COMPRESSION on gives a wider/echo type sound. Has anyone else found this to be true? I think you can change the delay by simultaneously holding down the COMPRESSION and INPUT button (or maybe a different button)? I'm reticent of fooling around with the settings too much as it's pretty good as-is.

I guess there is little reason to turn the PLIIz setting off in CINEMA mode.
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post #44 of 245
2/26/12 at 3:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveFi View Post

From what I deciphered in the manual the COMPRESSION is used for delay/sync purposes.

Compression and A/V Sync are separate functions. Yes, they use the same buttons but otherwise have nothing to do with each other.

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With the default settings, COMPRESSION on gives a wider/echo type sound. Has anyone else found this to be true?

Compression is just reduction of the dynamic range peaks. Not sure why anyone would want this for headphones.

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I think you can change the delay by simultaneously holding down the COMPRESSION and INPUT button (or maybe a different button)? I'm reticent of fooling around with the settings too much as it's pretty good as-is.

I would not use Compression.

However, maybe A/V Sync might be useful. To access Sync mode, hold the Compression button for >3 sec. Then use the Matrix (+) and Effect (-) buttons to adjust audio delay. Use Input to cancel the Sync mode.

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I guess there is little reason to turn the PLIIz setting off in CINEMA mode.

Nope.
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post #45 of 245
2/26/12 at 9:02pm
Thread Starter 
OK, so AV-Sync changes timing if there is a delay/sync problem from the headphones to your video source?

Also, the translation of COMPRESSION in the manual is more literal to what I described (maybe a mistranslation), adding more echo, etc. Turn it on and see what you think.
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post #46 of 245
2/27/12 at 12:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveFi View Post

OK, so AV-Sync changes timing if there is a delay/sync problem from the headphones to your video source?

It's the same as the global audio delay you find in AV receivers. Sometimes extra video processing delays the image, and adding audio delay can match them up again.

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Also, the translation of COMPRESSION in the manual is more literal to what I described (maybe a mistranslation), adding more echo, etc. Turn it on and see what you think.

It is not adding any echo. It may be making echos easier to hear because it raises the low-level content, like reverb or echos, etc.
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post #47 of 245
2/29/12 at 1:12pm
Thread Starter 
So what do you find your favorite settings are? For CINEMA mode I keep both the LFE and Center on the 4th bar (out of 5).

What I am curious about- when watching a TV show with the CINEMA mode off, do these headphones automatically use something like Dolbly Headphone or do I always have to use CINEMA mode to gain that effect?
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post #48 of 245
2/29/12 at 4:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveFi View Post

So what do you find your favorite settings are? For CINEMA mode I keep both the LFE and Center on the 4th bar (out of 5).

The calibrated positions for those controls are at the minimum settings. I had inadvertently increased the LFE and it was distorting madly on some soundtracks because they did not design the DSP correctly to handle gain! On top of that, there is abundant bass even at the minimum position. I see no reason to mess with the LFE or center levels. If dialogue is not loud enough, turn up the volume.

Quote:


What I am curious about- when watching a TV show with the CINEMA mode off, do these headphones automatically use something like Dolbly Headphone or do I always have to use CINEMA mode to gain that effect?

There is no Dolby Headphone in there. Cinema and Game are the only VPT modes.
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post #49 of 245
2/29/12 at 5:45pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Dressler View Post

The calibrated positions for those controls are at the minimum settings. I had inadvertently increased the LFE and it was distorting madly on some soundtracks because they did not design the DSP correctly to handle gain! On top of that, there is abundant bass even at the minimum position. I see no reason to mess with the LFE or center levels. If dialogue is not loud enough, turn up the volume.

So you are saying just to leave the LFE/Center channels alone on the default settings? (1st bar) OK, I'll give it a shot.

As far as no DH without CINEMA/GAME mode on, that's what I thought. And that's a bummer because I watch a lot of TV shows. Well, these cans is what I have now and will have to do I guess in CINEMA mode.
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post #50 of 245
3/1/12 at 12:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveFi View Post

Arrived today, wow. 2 Days from Japan to my door (Boston burbs). Could be a record.

Will give opinions later.

Dave, did you have to pay any import tax at customs? $500 is final price?
Furthermore, have you mentioned any minor hissing at high volume levels. Thanks.
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post #51 of 245
3/1/12 at 4:54pm
Thread Starter 
No, I did not have to pay any customs taxes, also I don't notice any hiss either.
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post #52 of 245
3/3/12 at 1:05pm
DaveFi,

On ebay, it is usually $479. Then you have to add on shipping for about $54 so the total comes out to about $533.

Therefore, I just ordered it from ebay for $533. I have been looking for a good 5.1 wireless headphones to watch my large collection of blu-ray movies without waking up my wife. I was about to buy the Sennheiser RS220 but luckily I found your thread on the MDR-DS7500 and read your review and immediately go to ebay to do the order.

I cannot wait for it to arrive to my home. From Japan to California, USA ... it will take a few days.

Thanks for the review.
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post #53 of 245
3/8/12 at 3:55pm
Thread Starter 
No problem. Only thing I've noticed is they are a bit heavy, you might want to have something to put behind your head (ie, a pillow) for extended viewing- either that or use a recliner if you have one. They are a lot of fun though. I use a cheap videogame chair that cost ~$100 I picked up in BJ's Warehouse some years back. It leans backwards and is the perfect height to allow head reclining.
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post #54 of 245
3/30/12 at 4:57pm
Hello all,

I've been looking for info about these for a long time and all the opinions here were very helpful.

I would like to know though how does the interference fare with the MDR7500?

I've used several wireless headphones, I started with a Sennheiser RS110 (back in 05) and it had horrible background noise and would frequently suffer from interferences so I gave up on it. I later bought the DIR2000 by Pioneer and that was the definitive product for me, it was perfect in every way. To my shock the new model the Dir3000c seems to suffer from RF interferences which turned me off from buying it, since the Dir2000 is no longer in production I'm looking at alternatives and the Sony MDR7500 seems to be the one I'm most likely to like.

How does it perform for games? I mostly use these for games so any extra opinions would be great.

Thanks.
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post #55 of 245
4/3/12 at 11:10am
Neil
Here is a piece of its full review that can answer your question.

"SIGNAL STRENGTH AND DISTANCE TEST - TRYING TO CAREFULLY LISTEN AND WALK OUTSIDE LISTENING FOR MICRO DROPS AND INTERFERENCE

I have now had these for about 3 months as of March 31, 2012 and have used them thouroughly along with short doses of my buddy's RS220s. The signal is absolutely perfect even when I am downstairs and for reference I have 2.4ghz phones in the house, Wireless N internet, and my rear speakers downstairs on my receiver have a wireless transmitter which operates at 2.4 I believe. I tested the signal in detail about two weeks ago when I played a blu-ray on dts hd-ma and went from upstairs where I was watching the movie to downstairs in my basement and the signal was really strong. I was specifically looking for the micro-drops or drops that people on this forum were talking about with the rs220s. I then went to my front yard for a sec and it was still good. I think that was 30-50 feet distance at some points through drywall and wood framing in my house and no micro-drops, no drops at all. This has been a real awesome experience so far with this headset. I still find that I lean towards my Senn HD595 for the absolute best comfort in a wired solution and the HD600 650 700 800 obviously should be similar/better but for wireless I found the Sony's to be so much better than my buddy's RS220s. I may be biased since I think I like them better because they support hdmi and lossless transmission (note there may be some interpretation differences between losslesss input vs dsss output to the headset and I contacted Sony to get an answer if it actually transmits or downgrades to 16/48 when it transmits). If the Senns supported all the features and signal distance/strength of the sony and multiple headsets options of the Sony then I would likely have gone with the Senns due to the comfort and wider earcups and soundstage similar to my HD595."

For the full review, click this.
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post #56 of 245
4/3/12 at 2:35pm
Thanks!
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post #57 of 245
4/4/12 at 3:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveFi View Post

I had the Pioneer SE-DIR800Cs, which were excellent in their own right.

Hmm. You can't get the lights to light up on the headphone amp? Mine lights up just fine. I probably have the advantage being that I'm not passing it through the receiver but using a Matrix switch. If you're passing it through the receiver and it's not lighting up you're probably not getting a a lossless signal out of it, just a lossy one. You might have to do what I'm doing and buy a HDMI Matrix switch in order to pass a true-lossless signal. I had the same exact problems you did.

Hey Roger, you get yours yet? I'd love to hear your opinions on it.

Hi. I just received my Sony MDR-DS7500 today which was purchased from
"shopping-in-japan" throughout eBay. I hooked the HDMI cable from my OPPO BDP-83 directly to the Sony passthrough and connected its HDMI out to my Outlaw Audio 990 Pre-amp. I played both Hellboy II: The Golden Army [Blu-ray/English DTS HD Master Audio 7.1] and The Incredible Hulk [Blu-ray/English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1]. The Sony passthrough shows DTS green light only. Can someone explain why DTS-HD MSTR light does not light up when playing these blu-rays? I hate to assume that I received a defective product shipped from Japan. The sound was nonetheless awesome. I'm wondering if the sound would be better if the passthrough would show DTS-HD MSTR was decoded. Is it possible that my set-up is flawed? I appreciate your help and hope that I do not have to contact my Japanese seller for replacing my possibly flawed Sony passthrough.
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post #58 of 245
4/4/12 at 4:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveFi View Post

I had the Pioneer SE-DIR800Cs, which were excellent in their own right.

Hmm. You can't get the lights to light up on the headphone amp? Mine lights up just fine. I probably have the advantage being that I'm not passing it through the receiver but using a Matrix switch. If you're passing it through the receiver and it's not lighting up you're probably not getting a a lossless signal out of it, just a lossy one. You might have to do what I'm doing and buy a HDMI Matrix switch in order to pass a true-lossless signal. I had the same exact problems you did.

Hey Roger, you get yours yet? I'd love to hear your opinions on it.

Hi. I just received my Sony MDR-DS7500 today which was purchased from
"shopping-in-japan" throughout eBay. I hooked the HDMI cable from my OPPO BDP-83 directly to the Sony passthrough and connected its HDMI out to my Outlaw Audio 990 Pre-amp. I played both Hellboy II: The Golden Army [Blu-ray/English DTS HD Master Audio 7.1] and The Incredible Hulk [Blu-ray/English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1]. The Sony passthrough shows DTS green light only. Can someone explain why DTS-HD MSTR light does not light up when playing these blu-rays? I hate to assume that I received a defective product shipped from Japan. The sound was nonetheless awesome. I'm wondering if the sound would be better if the passthrough would show DTS-HD MSTR was decoded. Is it possible that my set-up is flawed? I appreciate your help and hope that I do not have to contact my Japanese seller for replacing my possibly flawed Sony passthrough.
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post #59 of 245
4/12/12 at 4:10pm
Hi Guys,

I am thinking about buying a wireless headphone, and I was wondering if this headphone worth the extra $300 over Sony MDR-DS6500 currently selling under $200? Has anyone listened to 6500 and now owning a 7500 that can comment on sound quality improvements? I am not audiophile, but I can tell the difference between PBr tweeters on a pair of Paradigm Signature speakers and non-PBr on Studio bookshelves.

From what I can see 6500 only has optical input, but it is also a 7.1ch headphone. The only differences between 7500 and 6500 seem to be HDMI 1.4 vs. optical input, PLIIz vs PLIIx, and 3D on 7500. Is there any other major difference other than SQ?

Thank you so much...
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post #60 of 245
4/13/12 at 12:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lost! View Post

From what I can see 6500 only has optical input, but it is also a 7.1ch headphone. The only differences between 7500 and 6500 seem to be HDMI 1.4 vs. optical input, PLIIz vs PLIIx, and 3D on 7500. Is there any other major difference other than SQ?

These newer decoding options do not add anything vital based on what I heard from the 7500 in terms of fidelity or spatiality compared to Sony VPT from their earlier generations (Model 5000). The real question is how the phones themselves sound. I'd expect them to be comparable, and for the price, the 6500 is a real bargain.
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AVS › AVS Forum › Audio › Receivers, Amps, and Processors › Sony MDR-DS7500 - World's first HDMI lossless 7.1 surround decoder/headphones