Sony MDR-MA900 Impressions and Measurements

Discussion in 'Headphone Measurements' started by Hands, Feb 6, 2016.

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    No slam, but haven't tried on a slammin' amp.
     
  2. philipmorgan

    philipmorgan Member of the month

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    I'll reiterate that you don't perceive the low bass rolloff as much as you might think. HE-6 levels of slam from the MA900? Nope--not even close. Satisfying bass for a lot of music? I think so.
     
  3. Priidik

    Priidik MOT: Estelon

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    Functionally and design wise aren't these similar?
    Slam can be in mids and highs as well. Why else listen to HD800 :p
    I just recently happened to listen to some K1000 and to my surprise these did not disappoint as much as logic would make one believe.
    For the price tho, nope.
     
  4. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    If you're asking if the mids and highs are dynamic, I'd say not bad, especially with the resistor mod (needs an amp with low output impedance) and possibly removing some of the rear filters/dampers.

    Really, the main reasons for the MA900 are the very open sound and the excellent comfort. Not saying their the widest, airiest, or most integrated sounding with the stage (lots to do with the drivers being so close to your ears), but the open back and side vent do offer a particular type of open quality that is hard to beat on headphones. And you don't have to murder your ears with an HD800-type frequency response either. :p
     
  5. Impulse

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    The price varies a lot, MSRP (which they've been enforcing more over the last few years) may be $400 but then you have places like Amazon randomly selling them for $400 + a $150 gift card (and that's been going on for months). Even the HD650 goes on sale for $300, dunno about used...

    I'm liking my HD600 a lot, for music (duh), but it's main flaws will probably always keep me from using them for gaming so I see some appeal in stuff like the MA900, AKG Kxx, X2, etc as secondary pairs.

    Sony used to carry the MA900 in their own US stores just a few years ago, now they're gone and so are most of their stores... :( I used to slap them on every time I went to ogle and try out cameras (they had the best most unrestricted camera displays).

    I'm curious what headphones in a similar price range others would say have a larger and/or more cohesive soundstage (key for online gaming)... It's been years since I tried an AKG K7xx variant, I thought my X2 did alright in that regard despite bass masking things, better than my Beyers at least.
     
  6. SpaceLaser

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    Snagged a pair of these off a fellow yesterday for a decent price. I've always wanted to hear these, and they're rare enough that I figure it's easy to sell / trade them around. Will know on Thursday!
     
  7. SpaceLaser

    SpaceLaser Friend

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    Just got em in yesterday, so far I'm digging them. Not the most resolving cans around, but it's a pleasant and easy listener. Pretty wide (if not deep) soundstage, and decently resolving (I'd probably put it between the Audio Technica AD series and the HD6X0 series in terms of resolution). And oh so comfy, think these will be my office cans for the foreseeable future.
     
  8. tangled

    tangled New

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    Wow,

    surprised to find the MA900 has its own thread and detailed measurements on SBAF!

    This was my first 'real' headphone, a gift from my mother-in-law, and I have probably used it every day since I got it, even though I had much better headphones around. You can't really fault it as a general use PC headphone - gaming, Youtube, TV series marathons until morning. I can't remember how many times music stopped and it took me hours to realize I still have them on my head. Other times I realize, but I am just to lazy to remove them from my head - they stay there until I engage in audio again. I have probably dropped them on a hard wood floor hundreds times - sometimes on purpose, being from my wife's mother and all. They still live!

    In Japan during summers, the heat and humidity make any other headphone impossible for me to wear during the day. Their light and open design with the big vents won't make your ears sweat. The cable is long enough so that you can hide during earthquakes and still listen to music (I pretend the rumble is from the sub-base). And they actually sound OK! What else can you ask from a headphone?!?
     
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2016
  9. nonverbal

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    It's weird for me that this MA900 headphone seems never become popular,there is not exaggerate-treble on it,and is a comfortable headphone.
    It seems MA900 and EX1000(yes,that earphone) under the same situation,iare available only in Japan now.Weird sale strategy.
     
  10. EraserXIV

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    I initially liked it because of its inoffensive pleasant tone at first, but quickly found that it just sounded "off" (I suspect the resistor in line is holding it back). At $200, or even at $150 used, there really isn't a reason to get this over the HD6XX or even the K7XX.
     
  11. MattRG

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    I figured it was time I spoke up about the Sony MDR-MA900 headphones and why they are important to me. Quite simply it comes down to the comfort level combined with the pleasant sound quality.

    Going back a year or so I owned a pair of Sennheiser HD558's and although I enjoyed the sound quality the clamping force gave me headaches and ear aches to the point where they were unusable and I sold them. Fast forward to the latter part of 2016 and I began doing research on full size headphones that would be a)very comfortable with low clamp b)good for gaming and casual music listening c) not too expensive. That search led me here, to this forum, and this thread in particular. And based on what I read here I imported the MA900's and have been extremely pleased with their performance.

    They are my current "daily driver" headphones and I appreciate the fact that I can go play a game of Overwatch and then chill out to music afterwards with the same headphones and experience no discomfort. And due to their high sensitivity I can plug them into my iPad for Netflix watching and they still work well. For what's important to me in a good all around headphone the Sony MDR-MA900's work very well and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to someone else with similar priorities.
     
  12. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    So I recently started using the MA900 again. It was originally relegated to gaming duties as a headset with attached Modmic. It worked very well since it was easy to drive, comfortable for long gaming sessions and provided an excellent soundstage for sound whoring.

    These headphones are VERY underated. They sound less veiled (relatively) compared to the HD650. The bass has better definition and the overall sound seems to be clearer in the upper bass/lower mids.

    Like always I tried various pads with them out of curiosity. Most sucked since the ear hole was smaller than the driver creating a cavernous effect. I've been enjoying them stock and wanted to share a little tid bit with you all. Everyone always mentions how they sound very speaker like and the soundstage is more in front of you than most headphones. They do in fact use a crossfeed that mixes the channels subtly. Here are the measurements that show relative levels.

    Red=Right Green=Left
    [​IMG]
     
  13. philipmorgan

    philipmorgan Member of the month

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    Is that what those resistors inside the headphone cups do? Always wondered about that.
     
  14. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    No, they still have the crossfeed with the resistors bypassed. You would probably have to rewire the headphones, direct to each driver separately, to get rid of it.
     
  15. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

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    I miss my MA900 at times. I really enjoyed them, but felt they were lacking in a few departments. The closest thing I can thing of to them is the AD2000, and I personally prefer the MA900 to those. It's a good backup phone to have.
     
  16. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    I bet that technicalities will improve by bypassing the resisters but more so by rewiring to bypass the built in crossfeed. No matter how good a crossfeed is it will inevitably have some impact on phase coherency and micro details, IMO.
     
  17. Jun

    Jun Friend

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    lyr3 + ma900 there is some special synergy.
     
  18. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    I don't know why I forgot to try this. I did the resistor mod long, long ago. I only ever really used the MA900 for gaming. The SB1240 I use with my PC sounds like hot garbage as a DAC or amp, but it does have a fairly high OI. With the resistors bypassed, this gave the MA900 more low end (mostly localized to the now-very-much-present impedance spike, but more low end nonetheless).

    Anyway, I've had the ZDT Jr sitting around for a while. It too seems to have a higher OI, especially on the high output. Plugged the modded MA900 in, and I dig it. Sounds fuller, but obviously not great bass quality. Really synergizes well with the MA900 and opens them up, makes them sound more lively, and yet makes them easier to listen to. More like an HD6X0 in many ways. Doesn't seem to suffer the veil of the HD650 but is still not as smooth. And note that when I say bass still isn't great, it's a tier worse than the HD650's bass still, in that it is even less clean and still has poor bass extension, but not nearly as bass-heavy and unclean as something like the E-MU Purpleheart.
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2018
  19. Sp12er

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    interested to see that there's a relatively new thread for the MA900 here... This is my daily beater that I'll never willing to let go, I love its inoffensive sound sig and "gone from your head" comfort. Just wondering if anyone found a good replacement pads for these, hear DT880 pads fits these, and am wondering what other options are out there.
     

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