They're a $100 pair of headphones. By the time you break the cable you can ask yourself: "Do I get a higher end pair of monitors like an Audio Technica set? Do I just slap down another benny for a second pair?"
That's literally the cost-to-good ratio you're looking at: They're so good that a super common mod I've seen is to replace the cable with a [$4 mini-xlr connector](https://www.redco.com/Redco-TB3M.html) once you kill the cable, which will be about 10 years from when you buy it. They're so good for the cost that you can easily justify slapping down $100 for a new pair delivered next day from Amazon. They're cheap enough that these things are what I've seen medium-end museums put in for a good, durable headphone to play media with. Looking to mix a few tracks on the cheap? Absolutely tolerable to mix against. Need headphones for the sound guys at that event? Got you. Need cans for the DJ whose ATH-m50s got dunked on? Keep a few pairs of these and nobody will complain in a pinch. Need something that has the range for field recordings from birds to heartbeats? MDR-7506 will do you just fine.
They're also everywhere. I once saw a bucket full of them on a movie set. I've seen stacks of them in college sound rooms. Sound folk on a TV station set? Right there. Radio engineer? Yup. Talk show host? Probably.
They're not the best headphones in the world. There are people who will fight to the death over which Grados with which DAC and amp and what not will give you the best sound. But even they will concede that "I need decent headphones for under a c-note that will last me" can easily be filled by the MDR-7506.
That's literally the cost-to-good ratio you're looking at: They're so good that a super common mod I've seen is to replace the cable with a [$4 mini-xlr connector](https://www.redco.com/Redco-TB3M.html) once you kill the cable, which will be about 10 years from when you buy it. They're so good for the cost that you can easily justify slapping down $100 for a new pair delivered next day from Amazon. They're cheap enough that these things are what I've seen medium-end museums put in for a good, durable headphone to play media with. Looking to mix a few tracks on the cheap? Absolutely tolerable to mix against. Need headphones for the sound guys at that event? Got you. Need cans for the DJ whose ATH-m50s got dunked on? Keep a few pairs of these and nobody will complain in a pinch. Need something that has the range for field recordings from birds to heartbeats? MDR-7506 will do you just fine.
They're also everywhere. I once saw a bucket full of them on a movie set. I've seen stacks of them in college sound rooms. Sound folk on a TV station set? Right there. Radio engineer? Yup. Talk show host? Probably.
They're not the best headphones in the world. There are people who will fight to the death over which Grados with which DAC and amp and what not will give you the best sound. But even they will concede that "I need decent headphones for under a c-note that will last me" can easily be filled by the MDR-7506.