The Sessions Headphones - White/Red

== INTRODUCTION TO MY LISTENING EXPERIENCE HISTORY == I have to say this first off I've used to own a Sennheiser HD 280 Pro and they were my first "Hi-Fi" / "Audiophile" headphone set. It served me well till the permanently attached coil cord finally shorted out and eventually broke somewhere near the connector. They were excellent headphones a major step up from your typical $10 or $20 headphones at the time. They lasted I'd say around 4 to 5 years something like that I ended up throwing em away when I couldn't fix them. The earpads on them were worn out overtime. But the sound quality opened up through almost 4 years of natural "burn in" in the drivers. I was amazed by the sounds that I heard the music experience changed for me and moving on now. I ended up getting a "mid-fi" headphone set and it was the Sony MDR-V55, they served me well till the Y angled connector the ear cup broke off. I attempted to super glue them back and they worked for a bit till they snapped off I ended up taping it up and the fit wasn't right and you had to be gentle with it while trying to adjust on your head. But the Audio was decent and of course "burnt in" over the years. I'd say they probably lasted about two to three years or so till that happened. I ended up giving them away to somebody else who used them. I was able to test out the Audio-Technica ATH-M40x headphones. And I must say they were just as good as the HD280 Pro's minus the strong head clamp and "isolation from ambient noise". I actually liked the M40X's the only issue was I purchased a refurbished/used copy of them and they started off sounding good except there was a strange issue that occured in the speakers so I ended up notifying Amazon and returning it back to them. However the initial process they sounded very Neutral but not flat out "dead". They had decent bass (not equal to the BEATS hyper inflated one note bass line). But actual great reproduction of audio and imaging. I would have liked to keep those headphones but since an issue arised a week into using them I returned them, I know I should have opted for brand new or something. I liked the fact the cables were detachable. Anyways moving on. I've tested out the Zoro II HD alot of reviews claimed the sound quality was just as good as an M40X/M50X (total lie). It turns out either I got a defective pair or peoples perception of sound quality is poor. If anything the low end was very subdued. The high end was piercing loud yet the fidelity in audio wasn't good there was missing wide range frequencies. Yet they existed just that when you played complex music or high fidelity music there was audio congested and missing low end (not talking about beats style bass, but part of the bass frequencies were missing and weren't being properly reproduced). Anyways moving on compared to the Sennheiser 4XX series and the ZORO II's I'd say the Sennheiser 4xx series is way better at properly reproducing wide range frequencies even though sound signature i'd say is good but there is gonna be some cons for people with that series (lack of detachable cable, a few spikes / drops in frequency range in X amount of dB but not too bad). I also have a pair of backup headphones that costed me like $15 bucks at the time. Which are these: Sony MDRZX100 ZX Series Stereo Headphones (White) and they serve me well they have great frequency range they do reproduce low end, mids, highs well. They're not better than say $100 pair of headphones but they serve a great purpose of reproducing the audio the way it should be a neutral like signal however the drivers are 30mm and they are on ear headphones very light and cheapish plastic but not cheap where it breaks from a single fall. I've dropped these headphones I'd say at least 5 times in it's life and they haven't broke yet which is good. I don't mean to drop them but they are so light and the cord is somewhat short so yeah... Anyways I am not saying these are better than the CAD MH510 or M40X or M50X no they aren't but they serve a general purpose is a clean wide range frequency sound. I've used them if my headphone broke or something and needed a neutral pair of cans so I can produce music or listen to music and I find them decent for that purpose. However I wanted "HiFi" sound. The Sony MDRZX100's serve a great purpose as a cheap backup for a neutral headset not meant to replace actual studio headphones. Anways moving on. == THE SESSIONS AKA CAD MH510 HEADPHONES == Based on sound demos I'd say the Sennheiser HD 202 II Pro's are much better than the Zoro II HD for "On ear" price/quality performance. Now moving on to the star of the review and that is the "CAD MH510" aka "The Sessions Pro Closed-Back Studio Headphones". Now these things reproduce a great sound signature it is "neutral" similiar to say... a AUDIO TECHNICA M40X and a M50X (in-between but better). But the great part is the mid range is there neutral. The low end is there and great it's not muddy or overbearing. I'd say you can use these for literal studio work like editing/mixing/producing. Based on Sound Demos I've heard of the CAD MH510 they sounded slightly "muffled" but they sounded more similiar to a M50X and a M40X and a few other well know headphones. But the listening experience around your ears is way different and clean not muffled. Sound is reproduced perfectly with good mids, good highs and good lows. The lows may or may not have emphasis. If it is it might be like a few dB nothing exaggerated roughly. But what catchs your mind/ears is the fact your music experience is highly evolved with these Headphones (CAD MH510's). I was worried before trying them out and boy was I wrong, I'm glad I trusted my senses even though the sound demos that exist for these do sound "muffled". These by no means are muffled headphones nor is the bass "farting" or "overtly boomy". It's just there whatever the source is you will hear it reproduced as is. These will not enhance poor audio quality such as low quality youtube videos. It will reproduce the sound as it is. I'd say these headphones are very close to "Reference". I wouldn't say these headphones are "subwoofers on your head", but they have the capabilities of being if you wished so with EQing and using a headphone amplifier they can turn into bass cannons thanks to the nicely neutralish bass capable 50mm drivers that can reproduce the lows neutrally all the way down to 5Hz and roughly 1Hz (Below 5 Hz it is quieter but audible as "Air pressure"). These are pleasant for listening to music, producing music, even editing music. The soundstage is great it isn't say an OPEN BACK but it is close to some open-backs.. I used a online audio test website to check out the frequencies / soundstage on these headphones the site is by Dr. Ir. Stéphane Pigeon. And it passed all the tests at least to my ears. The only gripe I have is these reproduce sounds up to 18kHz at least for me. I thought maybe I am just "deaf" to anything above 18 kHz? It's possible these reproduce passed 18 kHz? But based on different tests in frequencies I can only detect it at 18 kHz, still pretty good in my opinion. I figure these headphones just need natural "burn in". I have no regrets with my purchase glad I took a chance on this company's headphones. And by all means I never received them for free, I wish these are excellent pair of cans. They do look intimidating large and heavy. But by no means do they feel heavy to me nor do they have the clamp of death for me. Sennheiser HD280 Pros are well known for the clamp of death. I remember them I had to stretch my old pair out back in day. Also these CAD MH510's don't feel sweaty, mind you it isn't summer it is towards the end of October. I feel confident in CAD Audio in making quality products sure they aren't aswell known on sites like HEADFI or /r/headphones. But they sure do kick butt for the $$ in performance and giving you quality features like other headphones that cost anywhere from $85 ~ $150. The detachable cabling system is great you get 2 cables in total and a bag for the headphones. They come packaged nicely and easy to open. I know there is alot of people talking trash or down on this product. I figure they are shills or upset that they wasted $150+tax on a headphone other than this one. Now mind you this is my personal opinion you honestly have to try a pair of these cans. If you are a bass head well there is enough low end reproduced that can give you a tad bit happy but they aren't muddy or subwoofers. If the low end spectrum in the audio source has alot of energy than of course these headphones reproduce like a nice subwoofer. But the mid end and high end fidelity remains unchanged even with the strong lows in a song. There is no muddiness detected. But it all depends on your audio files and quality and how the song was mastererd. If the producer intended for the song to have a strong low end you will hear them in these headphones. They don't artificially provide a large low end if a song doesn't have it. If it is non existant you won't hear it. The sound signature feels neutral with a good subtle emphasis to the low end but balanced with a nice semi-wide soundstage. Some songs are mastered to be loud and have clipping because of over compression I've personally experienced the terrible muddiness produced by over compressed tracks made by the producer. Look into the "Loudness War" and how it spawned terrible over compressed tracks that clip compared to actual masters that didn't need to be remastered for over compressed loudness. Some of the high quality tracks that I have you can hear the terrible mastering jobs people did and they were apparent on the M40Xs that I had and in the CAD MH510 so if you are listening to badly mastered tracks you will hear them with these headphones these by no means improve those terribly mastered tracks. And if the audio is low quality don't suspect to hear gold out of these headphones but you will still hear all frequencies available to you from the audio source. Atleast for me it's 1 Hz (mostly air energy) all the way up to 18 Khz audible, Past 18 kHz I can't seem to hear past it on these cans maybe a "burn in" will open them up more. Sometimes it's that or maybe a headphone amp will do that who knows? I find them to be well powered by my computers aux port. These seem easy to drive compared to a beyerdynamic, Which requires atleast 80 to 250 Ohms depending on what model you go with. Anyways. Anyways the CAD MH510's are awesome cans for making music, editing/mixing music. And you can even do some analytical work with them because I'm well aware some songs out there (indie music) can be poorly mastered and you will hear that, people either have too much on the low end or even high end or mids. Overall I think these are awesome if you want a quality headphone that you can do a multitude of things with them. I know with an amp that has bass emphasis these will turn into bass monsters most likely. But I find the low end reproduction and mid reproduction and high end reproduction to be very good. It's almost a shock on how well these perform and the price for them is actually decent. Cheaper than a Sony MDRV6 and Audio Technica ATH-M40X/ATH-M50X and a clamp of death Sennheiser HD280 Pro. If you've been searching for a good widerange frequency headphone that reproduces sound equally and balanced (good low end, good mids and crisp highs) and not overtly bright and not muddy/dark sounding, they do sound like they are subtley warmish but neutral. So maybe a Neutral, Warm can? They sound like they are inbetween an M40X and M50X like in the middle not worser. They reproduce a better low end compared to the M40X and M50X. Neutral of course. There might be subtle emphasis in the low ends. Mids are clearish and Highs are crispish. Yet not sibilant. Overall sound is like a good neutral with subtle emphasis on low end while a subtle rolloff somewhere in high end. Compared to the M50X these are better because these don't kill off the mids. And drivers are able to go below 10 Hz. By no means are these garbage. If anything I feel they could be based on the Numark Electrowave headphones that msrp'd at $150 dollars. If that is the case than wow you are getting $150 quality headphones for less than $100 bucks. That really says something. It's good on CAD Audio for providing a quality headphone for the less than one hundred dollar bracket. I've tried and demo'd headphones at the store that retail anywhere from $60 ~ $400 dollars plus tax. And I didn't like the sound quality on any of them at all maybe a few stood out but they were overpriced. Now these headphones are excellent for the price and sound reproduction is versatile. You can use these as your daily drivers at home or even on the bus. I find them useful for my daily listening habits and for making electronic music. I can see somebody using them for video editing and playing video games with. You can buy a cheap mic and use some tape or stickers to mount them on the headphones. The soundstage is actually good and feels more opened up yet they are closed pair of cans. They feel comfortable on my head and not heavy but everybody is different. They do look big though on the head. Overall I'm happy with them. I can't currently think of any real cons to them as of yet. I guess a con could be that these aren't widely available in local stores. It would be great if they had these demo'd out in stores so people can compare against other headphones. If you are one of those "treble heads" you maybe disappointed these aren't shrill headphones. If anything these are close to a subtle warm headphone that reproduces frequencies from 1 Hz to 18 kHz (could be higher than 18 kHz but I seem to only hear 18 kHz without burn in). For bassheads, you can use an amp on these headphones to turn them into "bass monsters" / "bass cannons". When I listen to "bass boosted" music they sound bass heavy with clear mids and crisp highs still. When I listen to general non bass boosted music they sound good still with clear mids and crisp highs. The sound signature is neutral, it could be possible there is a subtle emphasis in the bass but it balances out with the mids and highs. I just feel it depends on the sound quality and source. If song was made to be bass heavy it's going to sound bass heavy. If it's balanced out it will sound balanced out. I feel that these headphones are a great deal for the price. Get a headphone amp that has a bass boost features to turn these into bass cannons if you want. I like them without an amp. But I can see the fun that can be had using an external amp. As for now I find these headphones to be an excellent replacement to the M40X/M50X and HD280 Pros. Sure they do lack the same isolation as the head clamp of death cans (HD280 Pros) but they are comfortable. They do kill some ambient noise though when you have sound running through them. The sound leakage isn't even bad when you have them properly sealed over your ears. Anyways this is the end of my review for now. Thanks for reading. Give these a chance if you are looking for a good pair of headphones. And you don't want to pay over $200 bucks for a pair. These will be sufficient enough for a good pair of closed backs.