£209, sony.com

We were blown away by the stunning clarity of Sony’s MDR-MV1 closed back monitoring headphones in 2023. Though they have dropped a little in price since then, they’re still around £400 – a little pricey for some producers who would value the insight they provide while mixing.

Aiming to widen the MDR audience, Sony has released the new MDR-M1s priced at £209. At around half the price, there are likely to be some differences and perhaps compromises, but will they be ones you can live with?

• READ MORE: Sony’s MDR-MV1 headphones offer a stunning insight into your mixes and masters

The goal of the M1s is essentially the same as that of their more expensive counterpart – to provide a clean, neutral and accurate picture of your mixes and masters and a platform on which you can mix and master tracks safe in the knowledge that your audio is not being coloured by the headphones.

Reference monitors like these are different from other over-ear headphones which might have all kinds of bells and whistles; they really just do one thing.

As such, it’s a wired-only operation, with two 3.5mm cables of different lengths provided in the box plus a 6.3mm adapter. Only one of the two cups has a plug but it does feature a screw mechanism for securing the cable. The headphones are lightweight but also well constructed, weighing just 216g. Headphones such as these are often worn for long sessions of several hours so comfort is essential. Happily the M1s don’t disappoint on this front.

It’s not quite that you can’t feel you’re wearing them, but it’s not far off as they’re incredibly comfortable, not becoming overly warm or uncomfortable over time. The ear pads are made in very soft leather and are user-replaceable, which the more expensive MV1s don’t allow. The head band is adjustable of course and although the phones don’t fold down for transport, each one can be rotated sideways to free up one ear while listening with the other, a frequent requirement when recording parts in the studio.

The drivers are 40mm neodymium units and the phones have an “ultra wide” frequency response of 5 Hz to 80 kHz. As we noted in the previous review this is wider than the range of human hearing, but it does at least mean you know that every frequency will be reproduced with nothing missing – even if your ears can’t detect it. A relatively low impedance rating of 50 Ohms makes them pretty easy to drive.

The closed-back design means there’s little leakage except at the highest volumes. While some people believe open-backed models offer a more natural sound, they’re also impractical in many studio situations since they leak so much sound. Unlike a lot of high-end hi-fi headphones the MV1s don’t feel particularly closed. In fact, they have a convincing open character despite not being open-backed.

Another characteristic they possess is that they reveal in unsparing detail the different mixing and mastering treatments that tracks have undergone. While some consumer headphones, even the pricier models, can smooth everything out to a kind of uniform soundstage, the aim with reference headphones here is just the opposite. And in this they excel – a 70s funk album and an early 2000s electronic album for example have wildly different separation, gain and dynamics. Revealing this, of course, is the whole point of this kind of headphone.

In tests, the sheer cinematic breadth of Sigur Rós is on full display, pedal noises and all, while the pin-sharp perfect production of Joshia Redman’s 2023 jazz album Where We Are is something to behold. Busta Rhymes’ Extinction Level Event 2 fizzes with energy and fury. Clarity and detail are infectious, making you want to listen to music and work on it.

There are caveats, however. We can be so used to the aforementioned smoothing in consumer headphones that anything less than thunderous bass can initially feel lacklustre. The low end in the M1s is balanced rather than booming because this is a true picture of the recording. Your Beats Studio Pros will be all too keen to swamp you in bass but that’s not what these are for – the signal here is cleaner and more accurate.

There’s also a minor quibble with the M1s. One thing that wasn’t evident on the MV1s is an aggressive upper-midrange at the highest volumes. It’s not an issue until you go to around 85% of full volume – which is pretty loud – but then certain vocals or brass, or other things in that range, can become too prominent. It doesn’t have to be a problem as long as you’re aware of it and perhaps compensate a little for it when mixing or mastering at full volume. Still, the more expensive MV1s didn’t seem to have this problem.

There are many good reasons to use reference headphones for mixes and masters, be it needing to work in a space where there are neighbours or simply testing mixes for the headphones or earbuds that so many people listen on these days. Headphones designed for tracking or general use won’t necessarily offer the level of detail of true reference monitors like these, so it’s always worth using a pair designed for this task.

The price difference from the MV1s is significant – yet the M1s still offer an excellent listening experience, a clear, clean and balanced picture of your audio in a way that even good consumer headphones cannot.

Brightness at high volumes is a definite issue, though not a deal-breaker as long as you’re aware of it. Sony’s MDR-M1s represent a solid and worthwhile investment in your studio and your productions and are also a wholly pleasant way to listen to your music library too. If you’ve not mixed or mastered on reference headphones before, the Sony MDR-M1s will be a revelation.

Key features

• Closed-back – designed for sound isolation
• 40mm dynamic neodymium drivers
• 50 Ohms impedance
• Frequency response 5 Hz – 80 kHz
• 2 cables supplied (3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter supplied)
• Weight: 216g weight
• Swivel ear cups
• Replaceable ear pads

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