Mitchell and Johnson MJ1 Portable Electrostatic Headphone - Walnut

Lack real bass

So... I brought these on the hope that the *one* good review I could find was correct! I picked up the package on my bus ride into work and plugged it into my 384K DAC, upscaling FLACS to the highest bit rate possible...And the sound was pretty horrible. Like listening to old 1980's music centre speakers, clamped to my head behind a few layers of cardboard. Now, the lead that plugs into the headphones wasn't quite in all the way and I had to swap the ends of the cable around to get it to lock securely. Didn't make them sound good, just bad in stereo.I persisted though, hoping the sound would 'open up', or if my ears had just got used to the sound of my AKG K550's But no. I was about to just stick them back in the box and send them back, but I thought I'd try equalisation.Quite a revelation! I found by dropping all the frequencies below 4KHz, and boosting the higher frequencies. (And maybe a bit of a boost to 30Hz for fun) I could really open up the sound. It was like night and day!The treble is particularly good to my ears, less fatiguing than my AKGs - https://www.whathifi.com/akg/k550/reviewSound stage is not very wide or deep, but ok. Low end is slightly loose I'd say, not so much definition. The mid range seems quite track dependent, which can affect voices. Instrumental jazz sounds very good, the horn sounds are not harsh to listen to. I'm still experimenting with the EQ, and if I can get it 'dialled' in any better, I'll update the review.I wonder if the special material they use for the electret treble driver needs more current/voltage than expected. Maybe by dropping the lower end frequencies more energy is available to drive it. Maybe they just got the voicing really wrong. Maybe the ideal of 'running them in' for 200 hours is correct! I doubt it, but again if the sound changes, I'll try and let you know.Build quality is ok, they certainly look nice! Slight issue with plugging in the cable as noted above. Also a design flaw if you have a big head - the cables to the ear piece pull tight when the ear cups are fully extended and rotated. I could see this leading to cable failure over time. The ear cups are also only *just* big enough for my ears, slightly too narrow and I have to slightly tuck my ears in. Once they're set right, they are not too bad. Of course covering you ears with cups made of wood can lead to hot ears on a hot day very quickly!At £65 they represent good enough value for me - I've been having fun listening to them. They are not however a £400 (original price) reduced to £65 genuine bargain. If I'd paid more, I would have been unhappy. My AKG's cost about £120 around 9 years ago and they do not upgrade the sound quality of those - but with certain tracks, they come close. When buying a new piece of HiFi kit a true upgrade gives you the bonus of a whole new music collection. These haven't done that, but I've had fun testing them with my collection.

I love these electrostatic headphones. They ooze quality, despite a rather vintage look. The sound quality is excellent, being open and very natural. I find them particularly good for listening to classical music, especially chamber and smaller scale music. The provision of three lengths of cable is really useful - the longest being very generous and the shortest excellent for mobiles etc. Delivered very quickly. Highly recommend.

This review is based on the £65 I bought these for on Amazon. Firstly they are not worth the £500 original asking price or even the £400 some dealers are still asking. At best they were a £200 headphone and even that is questionable.When I first opened these I wasn't impressed, build quality is OK and probably better than my £1000 Grado's but 2 of the 3 supplied cables are terrible. The two short ones, one with a microphone are actually wire you can bend into a shape that will hold. Any movement or rubbing on your clothes is transmitted through the cable to the headphones. The third supplied cable is a longer coiled one made of the usual type of cable material and is much better.Comfort wise there is a higher level of clamping force than I like but I got used to it. There is no side to side twisting movement but again I got used to it. I was able to listen for around 3 hours without too much discomfort.Initially I thought the sound quality was poor, a narrow sound stage, veiled and recessed vocals. I can understand why some people would give them bad reviews. However I decided to burn them in, something I've never really thought made much of a difference. However after leaving them plugged into my hifi for 24 hours I tried them again and it was like I was listening to a different headphone. More open, less veiled, much better vocals. They are easy to drive but I'm still playing them through my Graham Slee Solo headphone amp.Most of my headphones are open back but I do have some Austrian Audio Hi-X55's which I compared them against. The X55's are a studio monitor and much more clinical and analytical. The M&J's are much warmer and for most listeners probably sound better.However for not much more money (I paid £95 on Amazon) you can buy the Philips Fidelio X2hr's. They are open back and so do leak sound but have a much better sound and build quality. A wide soundstage, excellent separation and great vocals. If you don't mind others hearing what you are listening to then the Philips are worth the extra, however for £65 these closed back M&J's are a bargain.

Absolute rubbish sound awful and nasty creaky build ....I'd avoid like the plague ....oh I did ...

Great price but sound seems quite muffled but could get better with more use. Comfortable to wear.Sad thing is a good British firm went bust

What a revelation from this hybrid headphone!I have numerous ear and head phones ranging from £12.00 Chinese KS brand to £300.00 Sennheiser,but this £65.00 MJ1 takes a lot of beating at the price.They have a clean detailed sound which is not fatiguing over long use. Also, they fit very comfortably.They had a glowing professional review on the Headfonia site when they sold for $399.00!This opinion made me jump at the purchase and, naturally, I don't regret it.The Amazon seller sent them quickly too.

Sound quality is awesome at this price point. Need running in so they are getting better with use.