Leidey Sony xb10 for the bass and my Sony xba h3 for clarity and detail. Wanted a pair of cans that you'll the best aspects of both. Got to say the 1a's do that and then some. Before I took the plunge I revisited the momentums and 1r's, have to say out of the box the 1a's blow them both out of the water. Immediately you'll notice how light and comfortable they are on. Once on I was impressed with how well vocals are presented as well as crisp and snappy snares sounded. However bass seemed to be in the distance. Plug the cans into my HiFi and subjected them to some bass laiden music to burn them in. Returned to discover a much improved sound. The sound was totally integrated. Love my bass but quality over quantity is what I was looking for this time and got. The level of detail from bass to highs is something to behold. You'll notice new sounds in familiar songs. The separation of instrument's is noticeable. Can't believe how well 1a's ticks the box on bass, mids and treble. That's rare for the price. Can't stop listening. Listening now as I type. Have them with me on my note 3. I no longer eq my music I can now play them at flat response or source direct on the HiFi. And oh how they sound through the HiFi. They soar when you have a quality source and sound like flac files. They're also forgiving and get the best out of compressed sounds like mp3 which I usually listen to. Knowing that the driver is similar to the high end z7 I checked the quality of the cable and used them on my Sony xb10's. Wow, they have never sounded so good. This confirms to me that Sony really paid attention to detail on all aspects of this headphone. Kudos to Sony.

I chose Sony MDR-1 headphones for flying long haul. They are very comfortable for hours of listening. They deliver great sound, not too much bass like many others on the market, great sound all across the spectrum and they look stylish and sophisticated. These are the best headphone I have ever had and expect to be using them for many years to come.

Balanced sound signature , wears quite comfortable. It's a good buy considering the price. Only flaw is the cable without in-line control is the same length with the control one, which confused me why we need the cable in same length but no controller !