Sony MDR-7506 Replacement Drivers

[Bo Deadly]

I torched my Sony MDR-7506 phones so I bought a new pair. But I thought I could use the old ones at the workbench so I also got some replacement drivers from China via Ebay.

The replacements look pretty good. They're ~35 ohms instead of the usual 65 ohms:

The one on top is a Chinese replacement.

Here is the response of my old phones with Chinese replacement drivers:

and here is the response of the new genuine Sony phones:

This is a QA400 audio analyzer driving an NJM4556 in parallel style headphone amp into an SM57 and API style mic pre. So a lot of the response is dictated by the rig. But clearly there is a difference.

But most important, the new 100% genuine  phones have more bass. And strangely they isolate ambient noise much better. Whatever the problem is, the new 100% genuine Sony phones sound better for sure.

 

[emrr]

Nice save. 

 

[Whoops]

Hi,
thanks for the tests.

I use Sony MDR-7506 headphones for some years now.
I like their sound, specially because there's no "bass boost" like in other modern types that make the bass sound artificial and exaggerated.

The high mids have a bump, some people find that a bit harsh, but I used them for such a long time that I got used to that and know how they translate to other systems.

I normally have to replace my drivers every 2 years, I never har this problem with any other type of heaphones but after a while you loose the bass and the High mids start to get distorted. For rock music sometimes I don't notice they are starting to get bad until I  do a Jazz mix or something with a Grand Piano and I notice they distorted on some chords. Time to change the Drivers for new ones and everything is good again.

I always buy Sony original replacement drivers,
may I ask you why did you buy chinese drivers instead of the original ones?

 

[bacteria]

After 15 years of loyal service the right driver is gone!!
Right after two weeks i changed the cable from left to right with a new one.  :'( :'( :'(
So i think i'll buy a new pair of headphones but nice to know the chinese driver on ebay are not so creepy..

I always buy Sony original replacement drivers

Can i ask you where do you find them??
Can't find support in the sony website and can't reach the drivers on the authorized part distributors websites: Encompass and UED.

 

[Whoops]

I think I ordered the replacements from Thomann, but I can't see the item in their website now.

The part number is:

Sony 154249131

http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/140018-Sony-1-542-491-31

It seems its cheaper nowadays to buy a completely new pair than 2 replacement drivers

 

[bacteria]

I think I ordered the replacements from Thomann, but I can't see the item in their website now.

The part number is:

Sony 154249131

http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/140018-Sony-1-542-491-31

It seems its cheaper nowadays to buy a completely new pair than 2 replacement drivers

Yeahh and then to Europe the price goes up or the shipping is unavalable.
57$ from UK whaaaaat!!??
Now i'll continue the search but i think the best option will be to buy a new pair and keep these with chinese driver for unprofessional use.
Thank you very much!!

 

[Whoops]

Yeahh and then to Europe the price goes up or the shipping is unavalable.
57$ from UK whaaaaat!!??
Now i'll continue the search but i think the best option will be to buy a new pair and keep these with chinese driver for unprofessional use.
Thank you very much!!

yes, it seems it's the best option being the replacement drivers so expensive

You could also try you local Sony repair service, maybe you can get a better deal locally

 

[damien]

Hi DIYers, I purchased a pair of replacement drivers on aliexpress for my good old but beaten up 7506 from 1998. There's not a lot of alternative to replace them. Either the genuine which are the same price than an new 7506 at BH, or the very cheap ones with the plastic casing or the ones with the metal casings.
The ones I purchased are the 60 Ohms with metal casing, they rate at 58 and 59 Ohms and are priced at 20USD. They fit right in the older versions of the 7506 with the flat drivers' clips.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002259225293.html


The sound is decent, but defintely not like the genuine Sony. Low end is fine, mid frequencies are a bit shy and the top-end is more pronounced and is harsh.
They will fit perfectly the bill for a backup recording headphones or for DJing in clubs if you don't want to break or lose your expensive headphones. But for mixing or analytic listening, I won't use them, they are harsh in the high frequencies and will definitely fatigue your ears. No idea if they will last for long or just break after a while. I'll update about it.

I had 5 different 7506 over 25 years and they are not made equal, there was some revisions and the ones from the late 1990 were shy in the top end and I really liked that. From 2005 the hi frequencies were more pronounced but still pleasing and precise. I'll buy a new pair from BH or sweetwater as a replacement, I hope the sound will not be much different from the ones from the mid 2010s.

 

[Tubetec]

I swapped out a single driver in a set of Bose noise cancelling phones with a China replacement ,
Even though theres was some small difference in the measured resistance of the voice coils , they sounded fine , customer was happy , why anyone would want to use noise cancelling phones for critical listening , I dont know .

I have two sets of Mdr 7506 for more than 15 years , the higher than average sensitivity of the Sonys for me is a great bonus , as you have much more headroom in the driving amp .

 

[Whoops]

I stopped buying replacement drivers for the Sony MDR-7505 some years ago when the price for replacement drivers was almost the same as a new set of headphones, which are quite cheap anyway, just 82€ for a new pair..

I noticed that for my usage the drivers last 2 years, after that they loose Low End (which is great when new) and start to distort in some Mid and high mid frequencies. So every 2 years I buy a new pair, I consider them a Consumable product.
I have always 2 sets, the newest one is always in my studio to help me out in my mixing and mastering work, the older pair is on my backpack that goes to Live gigs, where I don't need as much detail just solo/PFL checking.

I remembered now that it's been 2 years since my last pair, so time to order new ones.

 

[Tubetec]

Id happily take the older set off you if you have them to spare Whoops ,
One of my pairs did have some distortion at one point seemed to depend on spl and frequency range involved , but its usually not that noticable .
Its the solid construction I really like about the 7605 , and as I mentioned earlier the sensitivity is much higher than a set of Beyers or AKG's , when your dealing with loud guitarists in the studio its hard to beat .

 

[Whoops]

I have 2 or 3 older sets, for those ones I’m going to change the drivers with some China ones so that I can leave those sets for musicians monitoring while tracking as in that scenario a perfect match with the originals is not critical. I just don’t trust the China drivers for my personal monitoring/reference

 

[Whoops]

I’m not a moderator but just to let you know that your post needs to go on the “Black Market” section as the forum rules don’t allow it to be posted in any other section

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I just don’t trust the China drivers for my personal monitoring/reference

There's a good chance the original ones are also made in China...

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I can't help being schocked by the need to replace the drivers so often.
I have several AudioTechnica and AKG headphones, I never had to replace the drivers.
I had one set of Sony 7506, I didn't think a lot of them, sold them for 40 bucks.
I much prefer the ATHM50.
Anyway, I made clear in other threads that I don't use headphones for critical listening,only for cleaning tracks.

 

[Whoops]

There's a good chance the original ones are also made in China...

My reference to “China Drivers” comes following the conversation around here about unbranded counterfeit drivers for the Sony headphones being sold from China in Aliexpress.

It’s not related at all to the Sony original drivers being made in a factory in China or not which probably are.

Anyway, the Sony MDR-7506 are my favorite headphones from many different ones that I tried. I can mix on them and great very good results without any problem. The strong advantage on the 7506 is that the Low end is very trustable as they don’t have bass boost. They work very well for me.

As for the reasons why the drivers don’t seem to be up to the task after 2/3 years (with my usage) I don’t know. It’s a drawback for sure, but they’re cheap enough so it’s fine for me

 

[user 133392]

Do you suppose that over time the magnets discharge?

I had a pair of Koss 'phones years ago I had to trash because the low end got weak and distorted despite them not having been used in years.

The biggest problem I have with the 7506's is the pads splitting.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Do you suppose that over time the magnets discharge?

That would be a major issue. If their performance relies on the use of magnets that discharge over a 2-3 years period, I woud say it's a very bad design choice.
Most transducers (microphones, speakers, headphones, phono cartridges) use magnets that have a life of at least 20 years.
I have a pair of 1975 EV RE16's that show no sign of diminished performance.
Actually, performance degradation of transducers can most of the time be attributed to mechanical causes, predominantly depolymerisation of plastic elements.

The biggest problem I have with the 7506's is the pads splitting.

An issue they share with many AudioTechnica phones.

 

[Whoops]

Do you suppose that over time the magnets discharge?

I have no idea to be honest.
What I know is that with my usage after some years they loose the Low End and start to distort with High-Mid frequencies, specially on instruments with a lot of harmonic content like a grand Piano.
A new pair out of the box doesn't have any of those problems and sounds wonderful.

Might be a magnetic problem as in my drivers the diaphragm was not messed up, it was always protected and untouched.
There's not much in there I guess: a magnet, coil and diaphragm. So one or more than these items is changing it's properties with usage overtime.

I guess with other people that use them less maybe this will only happen over a period of 10 years, hard to know because everyone's usage is different.

So I don't know the reasons why this happen, but if anyone wants to invetigate this further I can offer my used drivers for Science.