Sony MDR-1R luxury headphones: First Look

Hey, I'm Justin Yu, headphone editor for CNET and this is a first look at the Sony MDR-1R over ear headphones. The 300 bucks are the definitely luxury purchase, but if you're shopping for a headphone that sounds as good as it looks, the 1Rs are worth considering. The full size caps on the side here enclosing cushioning your ears with plush leather, but you may wanna stop by your local distribution to try them on first. Steve Guttenberg actually reviewed these headphones for CNET and he found them very comfortable, but I try them on as well and felt that inside of the cups pressing against my ears, which got pretty irritating over long listening sessions, but regardless no headphone is universally comfortable and at just 8.5 ounces, the 1Rs are definitely lightweight. The cups themselves padded horizontally and vertically for extra comfort and even though the gun metal yokes are plastic, this still feels pretty enable to withstand abuse to an extent. The 40-mm driver design inside the headphones is unique as well. Sony positions then at an offset angle instead of firing them directly at your ear and that's the design that started in 80s and still continue in this model today. Sony also claims the diaphragms inside. It can deliver frequencies up to 80 kilohertz. That's 3 times higher than most high in the headphones. In terms of accessories, the headphones come with 2 47-inch long cables. Those terminate in 3.5-mm plugs at each end. One cable has an Apple compatible remote with a microphone for making calls and the other is just a plain wire. So in terms of sound performance, our reviewer, Steve Guttenberg, compared them to the Sennheiser Momentums and the Bowers and Wilkins P5 on-ear headphones, he found the Sony's to be much more refined and spacious with a really natural sound quality that should complement whatever music you pump through them. With a beat and more base on those competing models, they're also great for watching movies. You could check out more details from Steven's full review on CNET, but that's gonna do it for me. I'm Justin Yu, you just took a first look at the Sony MDR-1R. Thanks for watching.