Sony MDR-V6 changed?

[danielm]

I have an older set of MDR-V6s that I picked up sometime around '05-06. I was always impressed with them for the cost.
I just bought another set and they sound totally different. Not bad but much more efficient and a bit bloated in the bottom end. Older ones are much brighter.
I'm wondering if Sony made changes???

Both new and old are still decent for the cost but totally different.

 

[sgrossklass]

Try swapping the pads between the two and see whether that makes any difference.

But honestly, that sounds like they may have run out of original drivers and used Vx00 series ones instead. Or maybe you even got a fake, always an option these days.

 

[Wolfsin]

I am curious about sgrossklass's suggestion. Did changing the pads make a difference? I have a pair from the earlier vintage that seem excessively bright.

 

[Devilsdance7775]

Sometimes, people do deteriorate some good things in favor of new products. Say, SONY decided to change few parameters, make headphones sound not very attractive. The goal? To point OUT that Sony has developed other phones worse to try, a bit expensive mean while =)

Think about it as a nowadays marketing feature

 

[mongobird]

Mine are 20+ years old, and about as bright as most of my JBL monitors. Sounds like they toned them down.

Curious, have you tried to put noise into them, and then looked at the spectrum?