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I went with the Bose about the time these Sony’s came on the market. I’m disappointed not to have the best noise cancelling (Sony seems to win this on all the reviews) but I don’t think I could put up with the emphasis on bass I’ve read about ( though I can’t know without trying them ), and I’ve read consistently about Sony poor phone call quality which isn’t mentioned here(?) Reading about the poor device switching I’m happier with my choice now but would still love to try the Sony’s to find out for myself what they’re like
 
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Nope 1975 in Japan. Released in the US on May 14, 1976. Trust me I know my headphones. I own the second pair that was ever made. I even own the rare silver editions which go for over 5k on eBay.

Are you absolutely sure? The MDR-7506? Not the V6 or one of the earlier iterations?

"MDR-7506 release date" search engine results seem pretty unambiguous.
 
Are you absolutely sure? The MDR-7506? Not the V6 or one of the earlier iterations?

"MDR-7506 release date" search engine results seem pretty unambiguous.
Correct it’s all over the place but the 7506’s were released in 1975. Trust me I have the second pair ever constructed.
 
Correct it’s all over the place but the 7506’s were released in 1975. Trust me I have the second pair ever constructed.

Can you provide a source? Or a picture of your headphones with a purchase date...?

I'm just confused why everything online would contradict what you're telling me. Are you 100% sure it's the 7506 you're talking about?
 
I fly twice a week for work and I have never heard of flight attendants having issue with Bluetooth headphones.
Air Canada trans-Atlantic and European short haul flights that I take frequently have these rules. I think I read somewhere US domestic don’t have that rule.
 
Can you provide a source? Or a picture of your headphones with a purchase date...?

I'm just confused why everything online would contradict what you're telling me. Are you 100% sure it's the 7506 you're talking about?
OMG Yes! MDR-7506’s. Production date April 4 1975, serial number 000002. Also, they were released with a straight cable and not a coil. The coil was introduced in Japan in 1998 then in the US in December of 1989.
 
OMG Yes! MDR-7506’s. Production date April 4 1975, serial number 000002. Also, they were released with a straight cable and not a coil. The coil was introduced in Japan in 1998 then in the US in December of 1989.

Again, I just can't find anything that backs this up. I'm sorry man - I'm not trying to be awkward, I'm just curious because what you're telling me goes against everything documented.

Can you photograph your headphones?
 
I’ve owned both the Sony’s and the Bose. I agree that the Sony’s sound slightly better but I had two major issues with them. First was the lack of dynamic switching. If I was near two of my Bluetooth devices and wanted to switch between them, I had to go to the Bluetooth settings of the connected device and disconnect it! Crazy.

The second was the size and look. With the Sony’s, I felt self conscious wearing them out and about due to the sheer size. I don’t know if the Bose are smaller but, for some reason, I feel less ridiculous wearing them in public.
 
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Again, I just can't find anything that backs this up. I'm sorry man - I'm not trying to be awkward, I'm just curious because what you're telling me goes against everything documented.

Can you photograph your headphones?
I’m an audiophile and my father is a Grammy award winning master engineer. Here’s what I’ll tell you, the V6’s which are the 7506’s sister, halted production in the early 90s due to a wire issue. The 7506’s were conceived by Hidako Iwasaki in 1974 and produced in Japan in early 1975 with a total production run of 31. Then in May of 1976 they were released in the US with a total production run of 76, hence the year. The were produced sparingly through the years and only given to prominent DJ’s and talk show hosts until the early 90’s..January 4 1991 to be exact when Sony decided, because off all the feedback, to go into full production and the US was shipped 1,500 units. Sears, Douglas, Highland were a few of the stores that carried them during this time frame. The response was amazing. Then in the summer of that same year, Sony produced over 25,000 units and the MDR 7506s outsold Koss in its first year. The V6’s are also Sony’s second best selling headphones up until 1999.

Just because the correct info isn’t on the internet, it doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
 
When quoting price, please remember you have readers outside of the US. Yes, the USD is the default global currency (for now), but it would be a courtesy to indicate the currency on the price in your articles. $349.99 USD. Amazon in Canada has them for $448 CAD.
 
I replaced my XM3 ear pads with the QC35 Ear pads and it’s better just the same as QC35 for all those complaining about comfort.
 
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According to Amazon reviews and many forum posts, these Sony headphones have major issues in cold weather. Both the touch sensitivity and the battery are affected in lower temps.
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There is that third party app that turns the QCII’s into the garden of Eden though. But I won’t mention any names here today.
What app?
 
My Dad has a pair of these and they’re great.

Biggest advantage is USB-C. It just makes charging them so much more easy and painless. I have an older (and cheaper) pair of Sony’s, which are also decent, but the ancient micro-USB charging plug is a pain.

Hopefully Sony will be rolling out USB-C across their entire headphone lineup as they update each model.
 
I don’t know what the Sony does, but if you plug in the wired audio cable to the Bose it turns off Bluetooth
If you plug the audio cable into the Sony and then turn the headphones on, they'll be in airplane mode. Full NC but no bluetooth.
 
I can say, without any doubt, that these are the best headphones I’ve ever owned in the over the air category. I first put them through the paces when I flew from NYC to Dubai. My entire flight was filled with peaceful bliss. No ambient noise whatsoever. And the bass, OMG. Either way, this is def worth the money.
 
Tested the 2's along with Bose and H9i's... went with B&O. Great sound, very good NC and hands down best comfort out of the three. That being said, you can't go wrong with either of these.
 
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I’m an audiophile and my father is a Grammy award winning master engineer. Here’s what I’ll tell you, the V6’s which are the 7506’s sister, halted production in the early 90s due to a wire issue. The 7506’s were conceived by Hidako Iwasaki in 1974 and produced in Japan in early 1975 with a total production run of 31. Then in May of 1976 they were released in the US with a total production run of 76, hence the year. The were produced sparingly through the years and only given to prominent DJ’s and talk show hosts until the early 90’s..January 4 1991 to be exact when Sony decided, because off all the feedback, to go into full production and the US was shipped 1,500 units. Sears, Douglas, Highland were a few of the stores that carried them during this time frame. The response was amazing. Then in the summer of that same year, Sony produced over 25,000 units and the MDR 7506s outsold Koss in its first year. The V6’s are also Sony’s second best selling headphones up until 1999.

Just because the correct info isn’t on the internet, it doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

Wow, that's really interesting! If there's a detailed article somewhere I'd love to read more about the history.

Just a word of advice though: perhaps in future you should be less abrasive from your first response when I just said in passing that they were good headphones, especially if it's a little known fact. Something like "little known fact about them being released in 1991" followed by what you just said would have been nicer, rather than "get the facts" without anything further to back it up.

Mind you, as an audiophile I suppose you're mandated to say everything with an air of pretension, but it could do wonders for future conversations.
 
Tested the 2's along with Bose and H9i's... went with B&O. Great sound, very good NC and hands down best comfort out of the three. That being said, you can't go wrong with either of these.

The H9i’s are in quite a different price category aren’t they?
 
Interesting review but why it’s published now even this model was released almost a year ago, in summer 2018?
 
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While this Sony does indeed have better noise canceling than the Bose QC35, comfort-wise the Bose wins hands down, especially on longer flights.

I don’t think there’s a clear winner overall. If Sony can up the comfort and make multi-device connections a thing, it would be a no-brainer in favor of Sony.
For comfort that’s is an opinion, I have used the Sony MX3’s for long haul flights and they are very comfortable. And it depends, paper wise Sony wins. The app sucks still but everything else is great. Modern, USB-c, fast charging, great travel case, LDAc audio support, and very comfortable. My ears have plenty of travel room. The QC35 are also like 2 years old, we need to wait for the QC45. I compared the MX3, QC35 and surface and Sony’s were the best in all catagories. Worth paying full price
 
Thanks for the detailed review! I’m going to check these out.
 
Amazing how Sony can include some as basic as USB-C yet Apple is still releasing products with a connector that was outdated 5 years ago.
 
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