InnerFidelity

Sony gave these cans the model number 1. I've got to believe this was a "pull out all the stops" effort to make a flagship headphone for the brand. Or at least, one that would enter the fray and kick Beats butt.

Well, we'll see....

Out of the blue, a Sony PR agent dropped me an email.

"Sony has recently introduced the new high-quality Studio Monitor Series headphones that boast premium sound and technology, and I wanted to see if you are interested in reviewing them."

She referred to four headphones in her email (two full size sealed MDR-ZX700 ($119.99) and MDR-Z1000 ($499.99), and two IEMs MDR-EX600 ($199.99) and MDR-EX1000 ($499.99), but only had the inexpensive ones for review samples at the moment.

Oh .... okay. I'll take the cheap ones and have a listen. Glad I did.

Just imagine yourself knee-to-knee with the lead sax player in a 21 piece jazz orchestra.

The MH40 is sorta like that.

Logitech has recently stepped up it's game in the world of personal audio with an entirely new line of Logitech UE branded products. There's plenty of muscle there to do the job well, the question is: Can a mouse company apply it with the finesse needed to really produce well balanced audio products?

Fortunately, Ultimate Ears is in the mix, and it seems to me the mouse has some pretty good ears now.

Watch out HD 600, there's a new headphone in town.

Long before I became professionally involved with headphones, the Koss Porta Pro was a great little portable headphone. In fact, it was one of the first headphones designed particularly for portable applications. It has remained relatively unchanged to this day ...

... thank goodness. If it ain't broke ...

Arguably the most important audiophile headphones of the last two decades, the Sennheiser HD 580/600/650 family of headphones have a history of being both revered and maligned by headphone enthusiasts. I must admit to falling in and out of love with them numerous times.

What a long, strange trip it's been.