Sony MDR-CD 450

From HifiWiki

March 1, 2009:

I purchased these headphones at a Fry's Electronics in California around 1995 - 1998 (not sure exactly when). I think I paid $50. I think it was being discontinued.

I've just been searching the internet for some info on these headphones, and came across this website, so I thought I'd enter some info.

I came across another website where 3 people were looking for replacement ear pads for these headphones, and mine are pretty badly worn as well.

I haven't used them much in the past few years, but I've just tried them and they still sound great. I don't have a _really_ good pair of headphones (ie - something more like $250 to $750) so I can't really compare them to a higher-end model. I used these mainly for long-haul air travel, something I don't do much any more.

I think they were a good buy at the time, and I'll keep them as long as they keep working.

December 30, 2011:

I stumbled across this page while searching for these headphones to see if they are still around. I thought I would share my experience with them.

I bought these headphones from Incredible Universe (now Fry's Electronics) in Denver, Colorado in the early 1990s. I don't remember the exact year, but I will guess between 1992-1994. I remember paying around $60 for them. I bought them to use with a Sony Discman (I forget the model) that I had at the time.

Amazingly, they stopped working only a few days ago. The right side no longer outputs sound.

I am not and have never been an audiophile, but these were a great set of cans in my opinion. The sound was great and they had good bass. The earpads wore out years ago; all the pleather/vinyl material had come off of the fabric backing, so there was only the fabric left. The earpads also split all the way around so you could see the actual yellow foam pad inside. But they still worked great.

I used them constantly throughout the 17-ish years that I had them (daily for music, computer use and late-night movies/TV), so the fact that they lasted so long was amazing. They suffered a lot of abuse too: Lots of dings/scratches on the cans themselves, and the cord had several cuts from being caught in various drawers and run over by the computer chair numerous times, etc. A couple of the cuts had exposed the actual copper wire inside the cord.

My only con with these headphones was that the cord was too long. It should have been much shorter and an extension should have been supplied to be used if needed.

I replaced them with a Sennheiser HD 448 setup, which is a worthy successor. Although the Sennheiser's aren't as robust in the build as the Sony's were. The Sony's were made of a strong, heavy plastic and they had weight. The Sennheiser's build seems kind of cheap (light-weight plastic), but the sound is great. Only time will tell if they last as long as my Sony's did.