Sony PFR-V1 headphones review

Sony PFR-V1 headphones Review

Reviewed by: Nate Lanxon

Reviewed on: 16 April 2008

As a result of all this, the best results we experienced came from acoustic, classical and singer/songwriter recordings. Feist's poppy folk track 1234 highlighted the PFR-V1s ability to create a believable concert-like sound stage. Ms Feist was as good as performing in our office, with us sitting centre stage. Her breathy vocals resonated before our eyes, the honky-tonk piano rang with life, the trumpet was somewhere over near the entrance to our kitchen.

A live recording of K's Choice's beautiful track My Heart was so astounding through these headphones, it was as if our office was a small underground acoustic bar, and Sarah Bettens was singing here to a crowd of 40. The openness and width of the sound stage was several times more enjoyable than even when heard through our beloved Denon AH-D5000 reference cans. That's an incredible achievement, but at the expense of the bass that drives classics from drum 'n' bass experts Pendulum, which was as non-existent as Santa or Scarlett Johansson's singing voice.

We also had great fun using these as gaming headphones with a few hours of Team Fortress 2 on Xbox 360. They're not ideally used in this situation, but the general openness gave the game added realism, even if it didn't vastly improve our ability to detect the footsteps of backstabbing enemy spies.

Conclusion
It's clear these are priced to ensure Sony doesn't easily waste the huge R&D expenses that will have gone into developing this model, but it's hard not to like them, despite their questionable comfort and subtle bass response.

Are they worth nearly £250? Yes, if you just can't afford or find impractical a hi-fi to listen to less rocky, gentler music; and yes, if you want to avoid bulky open-backed headphones, or if you suffer 'sweaty ear syndrome' with regular cans. Otherwise we have to say 'no', as £245 can get you a superb pair of headphones. That money will almost net you a pair of our favourite Shure earphones, or you could try a pair of Denon earphones; both offer sonic superiority and don't dictate the environments in which you can use them.

Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Shannon Doubleday