Sony’s new MDR-3R wired headphones hark back to the glory days of the Walkman

Followers of hi-fidelity fashion trends will know that wired headphones are making a quiet comeback. Considered by some to be the last and most inconvenient vestige of analogue-era sound – and therefore hardest to return to from the convenience of wireless – the desire for a more analogue, hands-on experience has led to a modest revival.

Sony has a bigger stake in this movement than most. As the creator of the original Sony Walkman, the 1979 invention that defined a genre and re-shaped the listening habits of millions, the Japanese electronics giant knows a thing or two about making lightweight, high-quality headphones.

One of the most iconic examples from the early Walkman era were the Sony MDR-3 open-backed stereo headphones, introduced in the early 80s and manufactured for a couple of years as the ultimate portable audio upgrade. Original pairs still command a healthy price on collectors’ forums, even if their brightly-coloured foam earpads have long since disintegrated.

Every now and again, this teeming underworld of retro nostalgia, ‘newtro’ design and cassette futurism spills over into the mainstream. Unwilling to see their IP mined by imitators, Sony is keeping itself in the game with a new, old, product: enter the MDR-3R headphones.

Although the internals have been thoroughly revised and updated for the modern era, the MDR-3R are strikingly similar to the 80s originals, right down to the typography and the size, shape and colour of the packaging. The slender stainless steel sliders precisely mimic the construction of the lightweight MDR-3, with aluminium detailing and an identical patterned array of sound holes over the drivers.

What has changed is the connectivity. The MDR-3R uses a USB Type-C connector, so it slots straight into most modern smartphones and mp3 players, with an inline remote control for handling volume and playback. On top of that, there’s also an inbuilt microphone, so calls can be taken and, should you so desire, smart assistants can be queried, just as you would with a pair of earbuds.

In the box you’ll find two different coloured foam earpads, blue and orange. The drivers are 23mm, recreated from the original technical drawings with an upgraded bass performance that retains some of the analogue feel of the first MDR-3. And at 38g, these are the lightest over-ear headphones in Sony’s current line-up.

And that’s not all. Mindful of the zeitgeist spikes that helped us reach this point of reconnection with the past, Sony has teamed up with Netflix to produce a Limited-Edition Stranger Things branded pair of MDR-3Rs. In place of blue and orange, you get moody red and black and unique packaging, all the better for escaping the demon-haunted world.

Sony MDR-3R headphones, £49 / €59, Stranger Things edition MDR-3R headphones, £59 / €69, Sony.co.uk