Review of Sony IER-M7 earphones: four-driver reinforcing IEMs which will please your ears


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Sony is a legendary and extremely unusual (sometimes controversial) corporation that has a lot of

particularly interconnected units andproduces an incredible amount of electronics under its brand. In particular, audio equipment. The range of Sony headphones is also extremely diverse: starting with cheap &#8220;disposable&#8221; models, &#8220;pop&#8221; mid-segment options, Bluetooth headsets with active noise reduction, ending with the legendary Sony MDR-7506 in certain circles or serious in-ear reinforcement and hybrid models with appropriate sound. We have received a 4-driver armature model Sony IER-M7, which is aimed at use by professional musicians. Although no one forbids using the Sony IER-M7 for &#8220;household&#8221; listening to music.

  1. What is it?
  2. What are they interesting for?
  3. What is in the box?
  4. What does the Sony IER-M7 look like?
  5. How comfortable and what's soundproofed?
  6. How does the Sony IER-M7 sound?
  7. In the dry residue

What is it?

Sony IER-M7 are in-ear headphones with a four-driver configuration, an over-the-ear mounting method and a replaceable cable with a standard MMCX connector.

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What are they interesting for?


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Sony IER-M7 is positioned by the company asprofessional model for stage monitoring. A system of four balanced drivers, placed in a magnesium alloy housing, is responsible for the sound. The latter (according to Sony) should dampen unwanted vibrations. And the wide copper sound guide is designed to improve control and fidelity. We will check all this in practice. And the obvious features are a replaceable cable with a standard MMCX connector and an earhook.

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What is in the box?


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The scope of delivery of headphones is not alwaysinteresting, but this does not apply to expensive models, including the Sony IER-M7. The headphones are packaged in a large black hard cardboard box, on top of which there is a white cover with technical information and an image of the headphones. Inside there is a very impressive set: the headphones themselves, 7 pairs of Hybrid Silicone and 6 pairs of Triple Comfort ear pads of various sizes, a hard case for transportation, a cable winder, a clothespin for attaching to clothing, a piece of microfiber for wiping and two cables. One is a standard one with a 3.5 mm connector, the second is a balanced 4.4 mm Sony Pentaconn.


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What does the Sony IER-M7 look like?


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Sony IER-M7 look pretty strict, which is impossiblecall a disadvantage. The outlines of the headphones are streamlined. The headphones are made of black plastic, mainly glossy, matte only the outer cover. Gloss collects fingerprints, but in this case it is not very critical:


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On the headphones there is a Sony logo, the name of the model, the country of production (Thailand, to be precise) and the designations left-right:


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The sound guides are made of copper and placed at an angle(of course) and have a rim for securely fixing the attachments. Inside the sound guides there are filters made of something similar to foam rubber. The company claims that the sound guides are wide, although in practice they turned out to be quite standard. They sat on them without any problems. SpinFit:


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The cable is removable with a standard MMCX connector. Although the overall design is not quite standard: the connector is located in a wide round recess, and the cable connector is located on the protruding part of red or gray (right or left), which just hides in this recess. But in practice, this does not prevent the use of a third-party cable. The balanced 2.5 mm Era Cables came up without problems:


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The included cables have non-removable softbehind the ears. As we remember, the Sony IER-M7 comes with two cables. Standard and balanced 4.4mm Pentaconn. Both are made from silver-plated oxygen-free copper. Despite the fact that this is not braided, the included cables do not get tangled at all. And in general they are made very well. There is an adjustable divider, an L-shaped metal connector:


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Sony IER-M7 is not conspicuous and looks discreet. But, given the positioning, it should be so. Collected with high quality.


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How comfortable and what's soundproofed?

In general, the Sony IER-M7 form can be called successful: the landing is deep, the headphones are light and do not stick out of the ears. The only moment that was noticed only after several hours of use - the headphones began to put a little pressure on a couple of places. Perhaps anatomical features, but it is worth considering and pre-trying. Especially if you plan to spend a lot of time on headphones without taking pictures (as I usually do). The cable is lightweight, it does not get confused, but nothing can be said about behavior in the cold. The earhooks were very pleased: they are without a memory effect and the possibility of adjustment, but this is not necessary. They are very comfortable and do not interfere at all.


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When using successful nozzles, you can getvery good sound insulation, which is enough to comfortably listen to music in the subway. Plus, the relatively standard size of the sound guide allows you to use your favorite third-party options. For example, foam Comply or the aforementioned SpinFit.

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How does the Sony IER-M7 sound?

A circuit of four is responsible for the sound in the headphones.T-shaped reinforcement emitters developed by Sony for each headphone. They are housed in a magnesium alloy housing, which (theoretically) eliminates unnecessary vibrations. The headphones are quite demanding in terms of the source and quality of what they listen to, although this is not surprising, especially in the above-average price category. You will definitely hear all the flaws in the recording or the shortcomings of the source. But it’s worth mentioning separately that you need not only quality, but also quantity: the Sony IER-M7 turned out to be a little tight and a source with low output power simply won’t “pump” them.


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Sony IER-M7 used with Centrance USB DACsDACport HD, iBasso DC01, Ficusrite 2i2 USB audio interface, FiiO X5 III players and iBasso DX200. The headphones sound very neutral in color, but at the same time extremely detailed and informative. The drivers are perfectly matched and produce solid sound without obvious peaks or dips throughout the entire frequency range. None of the sources sound dark or overly bright. In terms of genres, the headphones also turned out to be universal and cope well with both undemanding electronics/hip-hop and more complex instrumental genres, including classical music, jazz and various variations on the theme of metal. It is in these cases that you can clearly feel how well the fittings play it all out and &#8220;rakes out&#8221; even very fast, instrument-rich pieces with a large number of notes per second.

Low frequencies are very collected and detailed, withexcellent speed and control. Low frequencies are processed with sufficient volume, massiveness and the presence of sub-bass in the correct quantities. Without buzz, but with the necessary assertiveness. The midrange sounds natural and very rich. The vocals and live instruments are very good. The imagined scene isn't mind-blowing, but it's a bit wider and deeper than you'd expect from in-ear headphones. Everything is fine with the separation of tools and plans. HF has excellent detail and microdynamics, adding space and &#8220;air&#8221; sound. At the same time, they do not cut on the ear, even in some specific sources, which are typical for this, no sibilants were noticed.

Overall, the Sony IER-M7s sound exactly like theirpositioned by the manufacturer: accurately, neutrally and honestly. No embellishment and no significant embellishment. On the one hand, this is good: for monitoring at a concert or studio, this is exactly what you need. On the other hand, if you use the Sony IER-M7 as just headphones for listening to music for pleasure, then it may be that the emotionality is lacking. But this is purely a matter of taste. And, perhaps, abundant experience of listening to different headphones of different price segments. I prefer a brighter and more aggressive sound.

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In the dry residue

Having received the Sony IER-M7 for review, I was determinedvery skeptical. Perhaps due to abundant experience with expensive models from more highly specialized companies. Subconsciously, I expected to get a &#8220;pop&#8221; an overly sleek and not particularly interesting sound. Sony IER-M7 really surprised me on the positive side: they please with very accurate, balanced, lively and natural sound and do not lose detail throughout the entire frequency range. In addition to great sound, they will delight future owners with a very good fit (albeit with reservations), excellent sound insulation and a replaceable cable. By the way, there are two of them in the set, high-quality, standard and balanced 4.4 mm Pentaconn. The only objective argument against the Sony IER-M7 is their price22 000 UAHwhich not everyone is ready to lay out for headphones. The remaining little things are exclusively individual and should be checked by yourself.

4 reasons to buy Sony IER-M7:

  • excellent sound quality;
  • Chic soundproofing
  • interchangeable cable (2 included);
  • practical materials and good build.

1 reason not to buy Sony IER-M7:

  • very high price tag.

Sony IER-M7

Four-driver reinforcing in-ear headphones with excellent sound, behind-the-ear mounting method and interchangeable cable with standard MMCX connector

MOYO

Portable

Soundmag

Fxtrot

We recommend

Sony IER-M7

Emitters
4 armature emitters

Frequency range
5 Hz - 40,000 Hz

Way of wearing
behind the ear

Impedance
24 ohm

Sensitivity
103 dB

Cable type
Removable MMCX, symmetrical, L-shaped connector

Length of cable
1.2 m, standard and balanced 4.4 Pentaconn included

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