I really like the Sony MH750/755 models which were first praised by Crinacle on Head-Fi, so much that I bought from different shops just to find out there are a lot of turds fakes floating around these days. Crinacle wasn’t kidding, so beware of fakes.
It wasn’t a truly altruistic endeavour, I just want to have a lot of them in stock but if I can help someone in the way, I’m more than happy to do it.
The history behind this little earphone is tied to the Sony Xperia line, I won’t go into detail but if you really really want the original MH755 you need to buy the “Sony Stereo Bluetooth Headset SBH24“, the SBH54 or the SBH56 from Sony or a certified Sony dealer. The MH750 was probably bundled with Xperia smarphones.
With that out of the way, let’s start searching and sorting the turds from the real deal.
Aliexpress
Aliexpress is full of great deals, so it should be a great place to find cheap Sony earphones, right? Yes, if you want muffled sounding look-alikes.
If you search for the Sony MH750, the shop with the most purchases is selling fakes. How do I know? Well I bought one black and one white MH750 and they sound like shit and I mean muffled shit. If you have a decent pair of earphones, you’ll notice it right away.
Also, don’t have the illusion that by removing the filters or other bullshit you might improve the sound, these sound bad because of the driver and you just sent 5€ (hopefully) down the toilet, you can’t change that.
eBay
eBay is a headache, the first time I bought a MH750 from a German seller, I got the real deal with black filters, the second time around I got the fake ones with white filters. Then I found a Japanese shop called Kanoya which sells the original MH755 (Due to the covid19 crisis they have their ebay business on hold for undetermined time, I was informed about this after reaching out to them via ebay).
I already bought many earphones from them and never received a fake to this day so I trust the shop.
Right now Kanoya is probably the only safe place to buy Sony MH755 on bulk on the internet. Unless the gods at Sony decide to release a stand alone MH750/755 to the public.
What’s the difference between the MH750 and the 755?
The original MH750 and 755 models differ in cable length, the 750 has a long cable with a microphone and answering button and the 755 has a short cable and no microphone.
Some enthusiasts claim they sound different and I won’t doubt them, but for the most part that’s the main difference, besides driver differences and probably filters.
What’s the difference between the original MH750/755 and the fakes?
Cable and shell wise, the differences are close to none, except on a MH750 I received from China which had a straight 3.5mm jack instead of a L-Shape one (If you gonna fake, do it right).
In fact, I think most fakes might be of a discarded supply that was refurbished to make easy money.
The fake MH755 I got from Germany looks exactly the same as the one I got from Japan, aside from the tips, the Japanese one had the green ones (the tips can also have other colours) and the German had opaque black ones.
Then we have the inside of the shells, the filters and the drivers. On those it’s easy to spot the fake ones from miles away.
In the next photo you can check an original Sony MH755, I killed this one when trying to recable it (friendly advice, unless you got a good soldering rig and lots of practice don’t try to recable this model, you have been warned), things of interest are:
- A black filter (earwax guard) on the nozzle.
- circular padding glued inside the shell and white acoustic foam inside the nozzle.
- Circular padding on the driver.
- Green or orange silicone tips. (Earphones bundled with the Sony SBH24 come with transparent black, blue, pink and white tips).
The next photo shows the fake MH750/755 I got next to the original driver on the bottom right. the main differences are:
- Filter on the nozzle is white.
- No padding on the driver or inside the shell.
- No acoustic foam inside the nozzle.
- Drivers are very different from the original one.
- Opaque black silicone tips.
Unlike the original MH755 driver which is stuck inside the front shell, the fake ones are easy to remove and sometimes rattle inside the shells.
Even if the fakes correct most of these points the sound will always give them away if you are experienced. There’s no treble extension and the mids and bass are awful.
Well, I now have 3 sets of fake Sony’s that I can reuse for my own diy projects, I might buy some drivers and have some fun.
Note: All Sony images used in this post are informative only, I have no connection with Sony and will remove the images if Sony requests it. Given the fact this post helps users find original Sony earphones, I hope such a request isn’t necessary.
Note 2: I only buy my MH755’s from Konoya, so don’t ask me if there are any more trustworthy stores in the wild. I tend to be a faithful client so I really don’t search anymore.
Note 3: The shop I recommend is selling MH75x products at a higher price, this is normal because their stock is probably reaching the end, some cheapstake anon complained about this in the comments and I replied to him. Everyone do me a favour if you have nothing constructive to add then don’t comment, I moderate the comments on my house and they will not be posted. Have nice day.
PS: Anon go fuck yourself! My house my rules.
Note 4: After reaching out to Konoya I was informed that due to Covid19 the eBay shop is no longer selling any IEMs as they are closed for underdetermined time, so try searching around reddit maybe some stores still sell originals. I do have various models of the MH750 and 755 in stock but I won’t sell them online, sorry.
Also, don’t ask me to link to your store, I won’t!
“Cable and shell wise, the differences are close to none, except on a MH750 I received from China which had a straight 3.5mm jack instead of a L-Shape one (If you gonna fake, do it right). ”
With this statement are you implying that the headphones are fake because they have a straight jack?
My recently purchased xperia xz2 came with MH750s that have a straight jack
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If you bought directly from Sony or a authorised dealer that’s good to know and I
will correct my article after I contact Sony about this subject, the new models might have new jacks. Thanks for the heads-up.
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Hi,
The original pair you have, where did you get it ?
Bundled with a Bluetooth receiver ?
Regards,
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I have 4 original pairs right now, I bought them in a trustworthy Japanese store, but I know they are the real deal because they sound fantastic unlike the Aliexpress ones.
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Hi, can you share the differences in serial number tag come with the fakes and genuine?
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From what I remember its simple things like the thickness of the logos, something that can change from batch to batch, and they roll the serial numbers so they are not the same between headphones. Most people check the tags so they try to make those as real as possible, that’s why I didn’t wrote about them.
Hope I helped. Tks for commenting, it means a lot to me.
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thanks for the info 😉
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not sure why i cant reply your comment above but i’ll just post a new comment. Thanks for the reply though and it help. Anyway, do you have source for MH750? i read review MH750 has higher low freq response, so want to buy one.
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I don’t have a source for the MH750, you can try eBay but you need to first check photos of the filters.
You replied to the comment but because you aren’t using an email address I need to manually approve your comments.
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Thanks a lot, Rafael Lino.
Especially, for the direction to the Japan site for an original.
I could only source it through eBay and then purchase via PayPal. I am in India. The link for others, if interested is
https://www.ebay.com/itm/332195504187
Cheers
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hi!
I just bought these off ebay as a quick fix to my cehap gas station sony earbuds breaking.
[Link removed for safety reasons]
Do these look legit to you? Should i refund them and spend the extra $7?
I’m worried now, cause i dditn realize these were faked, lol.
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The problem with the MH755 is that it always looks legit, but since the store looks a bit shady imo, I would ask a refund and buy it from a reputable source. You should check reddit for more legit stores.
I removed the link for safety reasons.
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Also the legit version of the MH755 sounds wonderful for the price and it’s worth the extra $7. There’s some hype around it these days but for the most part it’s deserved.
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Hello Rafael Lino,
Lately i’ve been searching for Sony MH750, are there any fakes that actually uses black nozzle filters??
And are there any updated news about how to spot a fake one without opening its house???
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Your best bet is buying where other enthusiasts bought before , search reddit for the MH750/755 topics.
You can spot a fake by hearing it, believe me it sounds awful, it’s like it has a blanket muffling the sound.
Regarding the 750 I have no information on the current state of the filters.
Best of luck for your search.
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thanks to your faithfulness to Kanoya..now he sells them @ US$17 from the US$6 a year ago..Thanks for assisting in raising the prices upwards, sadly alot of poor people will now not be able to afford it
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How much do you think I spent on fakes to find this seller? Do you really think I only spent $17?
Stop being selfish, this blog post helped a lot of people avoiding fake products.
If you are truly poor you shouldn’t be worrying about getting IEMs because really poor people are concerned about putting food on the table.
Instead of complaining to me, go buy some fake products from aliexpress or instead but an original Sony bluetooth adapter, I’m sure those are a little more than $17.
Community hype raises the price of things, maybe Crinacle is also to blame because he found a really amazing entry level IEM.
This kind of selfish and entitled comments only show the state of this community.
Konoya has less and less MH75x available, unlike you I have been buying MH755/750 to check if the store still sells originals, I have my ebay tickets to prove it and I make zero profit from my blog.
Shops are free to sell their stuff at the price the find fit, if you think it’s expensive go buy on another shop, no one is making you buy on Konoya, in fact I really doubt you would even consider buying there if it wasn’t for my post.
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My mh750 just arrived yesterday and the filter on the nozzle is white, I saw your review and thought that mine was fake but when I tear them apart it has acoustic foam inside it and the front of the driver has several holes on it. So I think not all genuine mh750 comes with a black filter on it. The sound of my unit is just like what the hype said warm smooth and balanced.
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That’s good to know, maybe Sony changed the filters.
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Same with my mh750’s, ordered them from kanoya literally day’s before he closed he store lol, came like 4 months later cause of japan postal service restrictions and the filter is white just like the ones in the photos.
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I have no way of testing the current stock of the shop. So I can only hope you got the original ones.
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Hey! Thank you for the insightful post. I’ve been dying to try these because I lost my favorite pair of IEM’s and don’t wanna spend over $100 on another (broke college student haha). You mentioned getting a genuine pair with the Sony SBH24, so I found an ebay seller selling it for $35. I also bought another pair – just the IEM’s – from a seller from China for $15. I’m not sure that either is legit but I’m hoping to get a genuine pair from one of the two. I’m not sure if its allowed but here are the links – I’d love to know your thoughts on whether you think these will be legit or not. Cheers 🙂
[Links removed]
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Sorry for the delay, I would be very careful with stuff from ebay.
I can’t say if the linked products are original unless I try them.
Anyway tks for the comment.
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