Sony has announced the MDR-M1 Reference Closed Monitor Headphones, designed for music creators and sound engineers to produce music in any environment, heard as they intended. The headphones host a closed acoustic structure with high sound isolation, an exclusively developed driver and a lightweight and comfortable design that allows users to create in their environments as if they were in the studio.
The MDR-M1 headphones combine studio sound quality with extreme comfort and reliability, making them suitable for a wide range of music production and high-resolution audio applications.
The MDR-M1 offers studio sound quality with a carefully tuned acoustic structure to support a wide range of music production, all while offering high-resolution audio. At the core of the sound quality is a uniquely developed driver unit that achieves ultra-wideband playback (5Hz – 80kHz), featuring a combination of a soft edge shape to reproduce low frequencies with sufficient volume and low distortion and a hard dome shape to reproduce ultra-high frequencies accurately.
The closed acoustic structure helps eliminate ambient noise and sound leakage from the headphones, making them suitable for use in various production processes so that each note can be carefully tuned and monitored to support the accuracy and authenticity of the creator. A tuned port (Beat Response Control) controls low frequencies as a ventilation hole. By optimising the operation of the diaphragm, there are improved low-frequency transient characteristics, making it possible to reproduce sound with a very tight bass response accurately.
Sony aims to create products that enhance content creation and listening experiences for professionals and consumers. The MDR-M1 headphones were created in collaboration with some of the top sound engineers in the industry, including Mike Piacentini, the Mastering Engineer of Battery Studios, and Akihiro Nishimura, the Recording and Mixing Engineer of Power Station at Berklee NYC, to ensure an authentic and enriching music experience.
Engineered with comfort in mind, the MDR-M1’s ear pads were carefully designed to achieve both fit and long-wearing comfort. Thick, low-resilience padding ensures airtight listening and a new lighter design makes for a precise fit and excellent comfort for long mixing and mastering sessions. The MDR-M1 includes two cables, one is a high quality replaceable, detachable cable with a stereo mini-plug and plug adapter (stereo mini-plug to stereo standard plug) and the second shorter cable is also included and can be used depending on the connected equipment and usage environment for ease of use in a professional setting.
The MDR-M1 will also work seamlessly alongside Sony’s 360 Virtual Mixing Environment (360VME) service, freeing creators from space constraints and heightening reproduction abilities from virtually anywhere.
The MDR-M1 headphones are available in New Zealand from October 2024 with a RRP NZ$499.95.
