Audio-Technica ATH-MSR7 vs Hifiman Sundara

We can get really good deals on group buys of various tech items like keyboards, headphones, speakers, all that type of stuff, and the Audio-Technica ...

This is a planar magnetic over-ear open back headphone that comes in right at around $350. So let's take a look. This review unit was sourced through ...

The best recordings benefit from the ATH-MSR7's vivid character, so with bluesman Doug MacLeod's new "Exactly Like This" album sounded utterly live and the ATH-MSR7 could do no wrong. After we listened for a half an hour we started to feel that the ATH-MSR7's earpads' pressure was a little too high. As we said, it's not as comfortable a headphone as Sony's MDR-1R, which has softer, more laid-back highs and fuller lows.The ATH-MSR7 has more energy and livelier dynamics, and it projected wider, more outside-the-head stereo imaging

Seriously? For me, however, the dealbreaker was comfort. The housings on these things are very large and the clamping force is substantial. No matter how much I adjusted them, the pads on the housings pressed hard on the back of my ears and the bottom rear of my jaw, and I found that I could wear them for much more than thirty minutes before I have to take them off. This may have to do with the fact that the ear cup housings do not rotate at all, they are fixed perpendicular to the headband, and thus there's no compensation for pressure differences from the front to the back of the ear cups against your head/ears

Hi, I'm David Karno from CNET.com and this is the Audio-Technica ATH-MRS7, an excellent over-the-ear headphone that costs around $250 online and comes...

Also these are some of the most open headphones ever. If you can hear your music someone 10 feet away can as well. As far as comfort goes they aren't the worst for me. Their pads are scratchy and slightly small, while the headband is just fine

Maybe the highs are just a tad much higher than what I'd like. Honestly, I feel these are better monitors than the ATH-M50x's--Ironically, they're not marketing the term "monitoring" in this model. I suppose they're not made specifically for reference quality or monitoring, but it's good to know that I can use them to prevent background noises with ANC anywhere I use them. Would I suggest these as a studio headphone? It depends--If you're trying to use it solely for mixing/mastering reference audio, it's not made for that IMO

I’ve had no issues with “build quality” at all. Nothing has loosened and there are no “glued on” parts falling off. The non-swiveling cans are a non-issue to me. I’m using these to listen to music without waking someone down the hall or next door, not to be a DJ in a club somewhere