Digital Trends

Sony Altus MDR-D777LP December 26th, 2006 | by Brandon King

Testing Cont'd

We are not sound engineers, but we thought we’d try a little test to compare the Sennheiser HD580s and the Sony Altus headphones. Once past the reach of human hearing, oscillations at a lower frequency can be heard; this is due to the fact that even though no cells in the ear can respond at 40 kHz, waves at harmonics of 40kHz can be perceived as if they were, say, 20 kHz. Using Adobe Audition 2.0, we generated a sine wave from 10 Hz to 48 kHz; swept over 50 seconds (this is well within the spec’d range supported by the SoundBlaster X-Fi sound card). We measured when the oscillations stopped at a similar volume level, meaning that was the point where no further sound was physically being produced by the headphones. This reveals nothing about the actual tonal accuracy of the drivers, but it lets us know they are still doing something.

The Sony Altus headphones trounced the Sennheisers in this test by doubling the response range. Our Sennheisers topped out at around 26 kHz, while the Altus headphones traveled all the way to a full 48 kHz. On the low end, both clicked in at around 6Hz, which means something is not entirely accurate about this test (and we’re not surprised); we shouldn’t be able to hear that low. But overall, we can say that the Altus headphones do sport an impressive response range that is groundbreaking, as advertised.

In a very general sense, we found that the Sony Altus had a similar sound to the Bose Triport headphones: very strong mids, but with much better representation of highs and lows. We also noted that while the bass was accurate, it was a little too tight and abrupt, lacking any “boom” during music that called for it.

Our favorite aspect of the Altus headphones, though, was that they had very good frequency representation even at modestly low volume levels. Most headphones require the listener to crank up the volume to hear nuances of the music, but the Sony Altus headphones kept their character at even the lowest levels. This is especially good news for those concerned with hearing loss, since they will not have the urge to turn the volume up to dangerously high levels as they might with other headphones.

Conclusion

While the marketing behind the Sony Altus headphones draws attention to the whiz-bang features like frequency response and the convertible open/closed profile, we actually like these headphones for everything that wasn’t hyped. They sound good, and is there really anything else you can ask of a headphone? Though some might argue the sticker price is a little high, the sleek styling and strong build quality make up for it. Though we hesitate to call these “audiophile quality” headphones, if you are considering a higher-end consumer headphone like the Bose Triport, we strongly recommend putting the Sony Altus at the top of your list.

Pros:

• Good high frequency response range
• Solid construction


Cons:

• Expensive
• Can be uncomfortable with extended use