Sony MDR-CD780

from http://www.sonicstudios.com/mdr-f1.htm

It has been 10 years since the release of the last generation of Sony's CD-series headphones. While Sony MDR-CD2000 is featuring a Vectran-bio cellulose composite diaphragm, MDR-CD780 simply utilizes a PET diaphragm, while sharing most of the technical specifications with its sibling. Although CD-series mainly consists of a closed-air/closed-back design, this generation adapts a radical open-air/open-back configuration, like that of MDR-F1, for better airiness, but with more isolation and comfort.

PRO: Since CD780's diaphragm is quite large, the linear deviation caused by placement of the headphone is rather minimal. While the headphone's transient characteristic is near instantaneous due to the open-air/open-back design, it has been tuned to closely match the tolerance limit of ITU-R BS.708, indicating that the headphone is made for studio-monitoring. The uber-comfortable memory foam pads and the detachable cable with a regular 3.5 mm jack are definitely a plus as well.

CON: Short bandwidth, high level of harmonic distortion in the bass, and the ringing at 10 kHz.

ON SECOND THOUGHT #1: Since Sony MDR-CD780 strictly follows ITU-R BS.708, the headphone's frequency response graph is far from that of Dr. Sean Olive's new reference target.