Listen to your heart

Sony MDR-MV1 | Closed open-back headphones | ₹ 39,990

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It’s been a minute since we've used the headphone jack on our laptops and let’s not even get into smartphones! You could call these basic and you wouldn’t be wrong. The unboxing experience is very 1990s, with no carrying case, no fancy velvet sleeve for storage and just an adapter and detachable cable as accessories. But you still can’t help but be pleasantly surprised the moment you extract the MV1 from the box, thanks to its incredible lightness. Weighing a mere 223g, Sony has masterfully executed an ultra-light aluminium body that in fact feels like plastic to the untrained eye (and weighing scales). Even the clamping force on the head is just right, without leaving an impression on your cartilage. The uber-soft suede ear cushions are supremely comfortable and balance nicely with the memory foam headband. What would be nicer though is user-replaceable or removable ear cups for cleaning and maintenance.

What you see is what you get and it’s all pretty functional. 40mm custom corrugated drivers capable of a wide bandwidth of 5Hz-80kHz with a ducted structure that forms its open-back design. Lockable cable connection and a long 2mt cable with a 6.3mm termination is what you get for studio use but also, crucially, its low impedance of 24ohms means you can even use them without any external amplification.

Toto’s classic