CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS

Lobby => Headphone Measurements => Topic started by: Marvey on August 17, 2014, 05:14:57 AM

Title: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Marvey on August 17, 2014, 05:14:57 AM
First of all, I would like to thank Maxvla for this loaner.

VERDICT: Pretty darn good.

INTRO
I had wanted to get my hands on this headphone a while back, but sort of forgot about it. Unfortunately, I believe that the MA900 is now discontinued. There were no quality reviews of it back then - I only seem to remember a post with a bunch of unboxing photos. But I kind had a good feeling about this headphone anyways.

CONSTRUCTION
First of all, the MA900 feels extremely cheap. The headphone lacks heft and uses thin pieces of plastic. Closer inspection however reveals that there is actually some good engineering behind it - with the use of durable high strength plastic and appropriate adjust-ability and flexibility to minimize stress at critical points. That's not say these will survive me stepping on them; but at least they won't snap and explode into several pieces like HiFiMan's last generation assemblies, e.g. HE-500, HE-400. BTW, this headphone is extremely comfortable.

The physical arrangement of the MA900 is rather interesting. I never noticed this before, but the drivers are angled, and there is actually a gap behind where the ear would be because of the angled drivers. (see funky gap in photo below.) So this headphone is very much a dipole (and also open back) design. See this: http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,1724.msg45935/topicseen.html#new (http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,1724.msg45935/topicseen.html#new)

SOUND
Slight mid-bass hump. Lacks low bass extension (not surprising because of how very open it is). Good bass texture. Smooth treble, although entire treble region sounds elevated with marginally bright recordings (SACD Spandeau Ballet True album). However we are not talking about pain or nasty spikes. Just a slight elevation, and for purposes of comparison, still less than the treble bump of a DT880-250.

The one thing that maybe stands out is the middle-midrange, smack around 1kHz. Not too different from some of the Fostex speaker drivers OJ and I have been playing with. Even Abyss and HE-500 (depending upon pads) exhibit this behavior. The good thing is that this bump is easy to adjust to - it's not like an ever present 7kHz peak.

Stage is very and wide spacious, but not as deep as I would have expected from the angled drivers. The center fill isn't consistent. There's a three blob effect. Still, in the overall scheme of things, I'm simply very happy I'm not boxed in.

Surprisingly the MA900 do scale. Quite awesome from the EC 4-45. In other words, I feel the headphone is sufficiently capable to keep me happy with that amp. There are not many headphones I feel that about with the 4-45.

COMPARISONS AND OTHER THOUGHTS
I’ve been on the search for a cheap headphone for computer use and I think this is it. Momentums were an odd fit where I couldn't figure out whether it was a supra aural or over ear headphone. Either I was in physical pain or I couldn't get good sound out of it. The MDR-R1 - I’ve managed to tweak to get a good FR. Good staging, but the downside of the R1 was that it just fell apart at louder volumes – sounding nasty. With the MA900, I think I may have found my headphone for computer use. I'm probably going to pick one up.

If Sony packaged this driver nicely, they could price it at $799 given what's out there. I know we have many Sony fanboys here, myself included. It's always sort of a love hate thing with them. Sony can make such great shit, but also can be so stupid.

MEASUREMENTS
On the way.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900
Post by: zerodeefex on August 17, 2014, 05:41:21 AM
Did you ever get the AD2000? Curious as the AD2k and the HD600 both surprised me out of the 2A3. Sounds like another one I might want to pick up, especially since I'm one of the Sony fanboys on here.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900
Post by: Marvey on August 17, 2014, 05:46:35 AM
Yes, doing another "back to the future" review of AD2000. MA900 > AD2000 on the EC amps mainly because the AD2000 has some warts in FR. But close technically. AD2000 never seemed resolving enough - that is couldn't scale to keep me happy - on the EC amps. MA900 I feel is better in this regard. But I need more time for them to battle.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900
Post by: Hands on August 17, 2014, 05:50:12 AM
Have been interested in these for a while but ultimately decided against purchasing them due to lack of quality reviews, or, at least, reviews I trust, and measurements. What measurements I could find made me think they probably weren't for me. Thanks for the impressions, and I'm looking forward to your measurements.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900
Post by: Marvey on August 17, 2014, 05:57:31 AM
Exactly. No reviews I trust and one too many unboxing videos.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900
Post by: Hands on August 17, 2014, 05:59:58 AM
I will never understand unboxing videos. Might make an exception for the PM-1.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900
Post by: M3NTAL on August 17, 2014, 06:01:52 AM
Very cool - I've been on the hunt for a pair of these as well.  Do your ears touch the driver at all?
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Marvey on August 17, 2014, 06:02:56 AM
Unboxing for PM-1 makes sense somewhat. Anyways, MA900 measurements here:
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Marvey on August 17, 2014, 06:05:11 AM
Very cool - I've been on the hunt for a pair of these as well.  Do your ears touch the driver at all?

Not at all. My ears do touch on AD2000, but not on MA900, which makes me happy. The angle slant is significant, and combined with that gap, there is a good deal of space for outer ear parts. Even for this guy:

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1ZbmMqulWxs/UK-8Tr1q7CI/AAAAAAAA7OU/q-F-fsR1hNs/w497-h373/Alan_Greenspan_4.jpg)
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: ultrabike on August 17, 2014, 06:14:37 AM
Unboxing for PM-1 makes sense somewhat.
:)p13 Indeed!

The MA900 look uber comfy and cool. It's interesting that the 70mm driver delivers detail, but lacks bass extension. I always thought that the larger the driver the bassier things could get at the expense of treble and upper mids. Perhaps the openness of the cups is a strong contributing factor + the size of the cups which might make these behave dipolish.

Seem like quite unique great set of cans!
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Marvey on August 17, 2014, 06:19:14 AM
Too dipole-ish for decent bass extension. You can tell the 70mm drivers are already working overtime at higher SPL. Think of OJ's or my open baffle speakers. Nothing below 40Hz. Even higher for mine.

Anyways CSDs here:

Corroborates that bump at ~1kHz. Treble is well behaved - no ringing.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Hands on August 17, 2014, 06:39:25 AM
Thanks! That looks a lot like other measurements I've seen, actually. Still would like to try them out some day, just not willing to drop cash on them.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900
Post by: Claritas on August 17, 2014, 07:14:05 AM
I will never understand unboxing videos.

Agreed, except for maybe this "ununboxing video" of CD900ST: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoXCJWE5po4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoXCJWE5po4)

Also, it's worth mentioning that if you have a small head, you will need to put some sort of pad on MA900 because the headband doesn't go small.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Hands on August 17, 2014, 07:22:41 AM
How does it work for big-heads like myself? ;)
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: lmswjm on August 17, 2014, 01:30:51 PM

Wow, these look great! Just ordered these. I was searching for something good to use with a tablet/PC. It seems like this will put that Creative Aurvana project permanently on hold considering that this would be for the same application.

Too bad Tyll didn't get his mitts on these before they were d/c'd. Agreed, they don't look like $300 headphones, but I guess in the end a few people will get a real sonic sleeper for the price while they are around.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Maxvla on August 17, 2014, 05:20:40 PM
Cool. Glad you liked them, Marv. Kinda surprised they were resolving enough for you to enjoy. For me, they seemed slightly warm and a bit too smooth, but I enjoyed the angled drivers and the comfort. Even HD800s are uncomfortable in comparison.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: donunus on August 17, 2014, 09:18:38 PM
The pair I got was distorted. It just simply could not play even at moderately loud volumes before farting
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: gelocks on August 17, 2014, 09:27:44 PM
One reason I never got these (apart from they being open), was the anemic/non-existent bass response... I need my sub-bass!! Other than that, I've read owners sing praises for them.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: lumos on August 17, 2014, 10:24:01 PM
Unboxing for PM-1 makes sense somewhat. Anyways, MA900 measurements here:

I knew it haha, have owned MA900 for some time before I got HD650. D2, D3 distortion is nasty. HD650 is better. Hence MA900 is better deal than HD598 HD558 but I could not stand for distorted bass on my music. Love to hear orchestral attack as it is in real life... Chello, Piano, Basson, male vocal sounded thick and lacked of texture on MA900

Good phone for just laptop usage,not for critical listening, not for classical music at all
Hmm however I missed them a lot     
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Marvey on August 18, 2014, 12:22:42 AM
August 17, 2014 pricing for "open backed / dipole rad." headphones


HD558 $122 (Amazon Prime - special right now)
MA900 $224 (Japan Collectors through Amazon)
SR225i $249 (mystery company through Amazon Prime)
HD600 $360 (Amazon Prime)
AD2000 $450 (used)


I'd say pricing is appropriate as long as you can deal with the bass roll-off. Maybe find MA900 for less at eBay?
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Maxvla on August 18, 2014, 12:52:57 AM
Paid $150 for mine. Used they are alright on price/performance, similar to how I'd never pay $400 for a HD600, but for $200 used they are fine.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: zerodeefex on August 18, 2014, 12:56:57 AM
450 for ad2000? Holy moly! Mine were $300 shipped.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: munch on August 18, 2014, 02:02:56 AM
I recently ended up with these due to loving the comfort, and then when I started using them, I found that the sound is actually pretty great - for the price. I got mine really cheap (100something) so it was a steal IMO.
think I'll be staying with these for computer use for as long as they last.

FR really does look like what I imagined it to be, I was hoping for them to come up here some day. great job! thanks a lot!
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: M3NTAL on August 18, 2014, 07:06:35 AM
How does that valley in the top end respond to EQ?
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: lumos on August 18, 2014, 08:12:13 AM
August 17, 2014 pricing for "open backed / dipole rad." headphones


HD558 $122 (Amazon Prime - special right now)
MA900 $224 (Japan Collectors through Amazon)
SR225i $249 (mystery company through Amazon Prime)
HD600 $360 (Amazon Prime)
AD2000 $450 (used)


I'd say pricing is appropriate as long as you can deal with the bass roll-off. Maybe find MA900 for less at eBay?

They were sold new around $139-149 one year ago on ebay. I believe paying below $150 is OK but for more you can get better headphone... Just interested how AKG K612 sounds, Since Q701 have very clear bass without audible distortion for my ears I think 612 would be very promising.

Q701 have even slightly clear bass then my DT880 (600 ohm) and both are better in this area then HD600 HD650. Unfortunately every open back headphone I have tried have some significant flaw. 
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Sforza on August 18, 2014, 09:10:15 AM
The pair I got was distorted. It just simply could not play even at moderately loud volumes before farting

I think this is a little subjective, haha. I've been able to make them distort only at incredibly loud volumes. But yes I think do distort at a much lower SPL than say orthos.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: munch on August 18, 2014, 05:35:46 PM
How does that valley in the top end respond to EQ?

if someone could guide me through EQ'ing it properly with Foobar2000 in Windows 7 I could try to help, never really toyed much with EQ on my computer. :p
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: OJneg on August 18, 2014, 05:47:55 PM
Get the VST adapter for F2K and try the EasyQ plugin.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Hands on August 18, 2014, 05:58:05 PM
EasyQ FTW
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Sforza on August 19, 2014, 05:36:34 AM
I just remembered something about this headphone; is it unique that they have resistors inside to regulate the input wattage? I assume that this is their purpose, something like what the TDK BA200 has.

There's a member on the other forum saying he performed some sort of mod that made the headphone sound better:
(Before) MS paint circuit diagram: http://imgur.com/BB3l0
After: http://imgur.com/vtUHR&Ie0NN

Personally even with the knowledge, I'd leave it as is because that's obviously what the headphone's designers intended for the headphone's sound. I'm not sure how removing might affect the sound, and if has anything to do with the relatively low SPL levels the drivers are capable of before distorting.


edit: Relevant how-to post with pictures (http://www.head-fi.org/t/663121/sony-mdr-ma900-impressions-thread/555#post_9911359)
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Maxvla on August 19, 2014, 07:27:54 AM
If it's reversible I'm game to let Marv try the mod if he likes and remeasure.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: sszorin on August 22, 2014, 04:43:49 PM
Yes, doing another "back to the future" review of AD2000. MA900 > AD2000 on the EC amps mainly because the AD2000 has some warts in FR. But close technically. AD2000 never seemed resolving enough - that is couldn't scale to keep me happy - on the EC amps. MA900 I feel is better in this regard. But I need more time for them to battle.
Why not AD2000X ??..which is an improvement on AD2000
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Maxvla on August 22, 2014, 06:16:14 PM
Not according to most.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: MDR 7550 on August 22, 2014, 09:49:02 PM
I believe that the MA900 is now discontinued. [/font]

I don't think MA900 is discontinued.

Sony jp is still listed.
http://www.sony.jp/headphone/products/MDR-MA900/

and they're stilling selling it... for 23,619 yen
http://pur.store.sony.jp/Qnavi/Purchase/MDR-MA900/

MA900 has become Japan-only exclusive, so that means you have to import it directly from japan.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: MDR 7550 on August 22, 2014, 10:23:13 PM
CONSTRUCTION
First of all, the MA900 feels extremely cheap. The headphone lacks heft and uses thin pieces of plastic.....

This MA900 = all plastic meme needs to die.  They forget lighter variant of metals was employed for the critical, stressed parts of ma900.

(http://www.sony.jp/headphone/special/park/products_ma/images/tech2/image5.jpg)

slider, headband = aluminum
hanger = magnesium
grille = aluminum
housing = ABS (plastic)


also, I owned MA900 for awhile (sold it for MDR 7550 iem) and I wouldn't call them "feeling cheap" either. Build quality is on the side of premium-tier like Bose SoundTrue portable lightweight over-ear headphone, but minus the "buttery-smooth" movement of the ear cups offered by Bose.  In short MA900 is basically an oversized yet lightweight home-only Bose headphone with equally ridiculously-sized world's largest 70mm driver currently on the market.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Marvey on August 22, 2014, 11:42:51 PM
still feels cheap.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Anaxilus on August 22, 2014, 11:57:15 PM
Since we're on the subject of Sony headphone evolution...

Sony PFR-V1
(http://www.ohgizmo.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/sony_pfrv1.jpg)

Speculum
(http://img.webmd.com/dtmcms/live/webmd/consumer_assets/site_images/media/medical/hw/h9991605_001.jpg)
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: munch on August 23, 2014, 12:30:27 AM
still feels cheap.

well to be fair, nothing you said is wrong, but you didn't include that it also uses metal pieces (albeit thin)... :p

anyway, I got this EasyQ plugin working now, sorry about the wait. could anyone shoot me some test settings? I'm too nervous to poke around with this stuff!
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: M3NTAL on August 23, 2014, 12:59:23 AM
The PFR-V1 was neat if it wasn't so painful to wear. They had a unique sound! (not complete shit, but not worthy of the pain+price)
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: MDR 7550 on August 23, 2014, 01:17:17 AM
The PFR-V1 was neat if it wasn't so painful to wear. They had a unique sound! (not complete shit, but not worthy of the pain+price)

Doesn't PFR V1 come with foam sleeves to not only improve bass but also cushion your ears?
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: MDR 7550 on August 23, 2014, 01:20:38 AM
Thanks! That looks a lot like other measurements I've seen, actually. Still would like to try them out some day, just not willing to drop cash on them.

German Amazon is selling MA900 for just 125 euros.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: M3NTAL on August 23, 2014, 02:39:30 AM
The PFR-V1 was neat if it wasn't so painful to wear. They had a unique sound! (not complete shit, but not worthy of the pain+price)

Doesn't PFR V1 come with foam sleeves to not only improve bass but also cushion your ears?

I don't remember - I thought I had to purchase aftermarket ones along with the rubber o-ring to help improve low end. Either way - no amount of foam helps something pressing all its energy into your conch. Make any kind of joke you want off that statement.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Hands on August 23, 2014, 05:05:35 AM
anyway, I got this EasyQ plugin working now, sorry about the wait. could anyone shoot me some test settings? I'm too nervous to poke around with this stuff!

Just start poking and see what you get.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: mikolaj612 on August 23, 2014, 08:20:06 AM
Hi guys.

Those heaphones contain a resistor voltage divider inside cup ;)

It's installed on driver PCB, probably they change some measurements (probably thick film resistors).
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: chetlanin on August 24, 2014, 03:29:04 PM
Without the (couple of) 22 Ohm resistors the driver impedance is as low as 8 Ohm, according to this site

http://rinchoi.blogspot.no/2012/07/sony-mdr-ma900-in-depth-analysis.html

The resistor network is there for evening out the FR in case the amp has high output impedance, it is said, but clearly they (Sony) must have wanted to simply increase the impedance of the cans...

(but why use such a low resistance voice coil in the first place, one might ask? 8 Ohm? Is it simply taken from one of their loudspeakers?)

Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Solderdude on August 24, 2014, 08:22:38 PM
Rin (and a lot of speculative and ill informed websites) are a bit 'off' with their info.

The story behind the MA900 driver resistors is really quite simple...

The MA900 driver has a voice-coil impedance around 32 Ohm nominal (as a lot of drivers are).
When the mentioned resistors weren't there, there would be an impedance peak of around 200 Ohm (centred around 70Hz).
If you were to play that driver (thus without the mentioned resistors) from a 120 Ohm (or other high output R) amplifier the FR would show a peak of 9dB in the 70Hz region resulting in boomy bass on such amps BUT would  get  'correct' LF response on low output R amps.

Sony simply 'solved' that problem by paralleling a resistor of 22 Ohm to the driver (not 2 resistors).
The pictures out there show one of the resistors (the parallel one) to have a value of '220', however this simply means 22 + 0 'zeros' = 22 Ohm
This lowers the nominal impedance to around 13 Ohm and ALSO lowers the peak (centred around 70Hz to 19 Ohm.
The peak in FR (around 70Hz) using the same 120 Ohm output amp  is now reduced to +2.7dB. a reduction of > 6dB !

The extra 1 Ohm doesn't really do much (except f-up the damping factor of your near 0 Ohm output R amp but the cable also increases that resistance)
For those who want to know... if you remove the 1 Ohm (shorting or bypassing it) you will gain 0.6dB in efficiency (assuming the 22 Ohm is still there) and would lower the nominal impedance of 14 Ohm to 13 Ohm.

When you remove the 22 Ohm [220] and short the 1 Ohm [1R0] (as per the advice in that thread) you will end up with a headphone that sounds the same on a low output R amp but get a very boomy headphone when driven by a high output R amp.
Pick your poison.

That's the story ... and no ... the damping factor isn't changed when driven from a low output R amp but it IS lowered on a high output R amp.
But here as well... the 'boomy' bass you get has NOTHING to do with 'damping factor' and 'grip' but has everything to do with simple voltage division.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: M3NTAL on August 24, 2014, 11:09:25 PM
Thank you for the information solderdude!
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: M3NTAL on August 27, 2014, 08:50:41 PM
Is the stuffing in the pads a little uneven for anyone else?
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Maxvla on September 06, 2014, 12:39:32 AM
Got them from Marv today. First thing I threw at them was this, and they knocked it out of the park. So good for so cheap. Gonna be a LOOONG night  headbang

www.youtube.com/embed/kOWmzMzaQk4?list=PLFA4DA901F090D10D
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: M3NTAL on September 06, 2014, 02:38:03 AM
I am enjoying mine straight out of the Geek Out 450.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: kothganesh on September 06, 2014, 07:52:01 AM
Got them from Marv today. First thing I threw at them was this, and they knocked it out of the park. So good for so cheap. Gonna be a LOOONG night  headbang

www.youtube.com/embed/kOWmzMzaQk4?list=PLFA4DA901F090D10D

Amazon says discontinued by manufacturer but available at $275. Is this an Ok price? Thanks
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: munch on September 06, 2014, 02:34:00 PM
I got mine for like... 100... so I'm not sure if I'd get them at that price :(
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: uncola on September 08, 2014, 03:01:46 AM
I paid $160 for some new on ebay from a grey market japan importer a while back.. $275 seems way high
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Azteca X on September 08, 2014, 01:23:45 PM
Lowest I've seen is ~200 on ebay. Wish I could find a pair for $100. I've been on the lookout for a super-comfy good enough phone for general purpose and long term listening.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40%7CR40&_sacat=0&_nkw=sony+mdr+ma+900&_sop=15
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Maxvla on September 10, 2014, 07:11:01 AM
No desire to don the 800s since I got the 900s. Very happy with them.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: kothganesh on September 10, 2014, 07:15:28 AM
No desire to don the 800s since I got the 900s. Very happy with them.

As in HD 800? Wow, that's saying something.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Kamaka on September 10, 2014, 09:39:33 AM
I had some lucky timing and picked up a pair of these at a good price. Gaming was to be their intended purpose. Initially, I was having comfort issues. Eventually I found the sweet spot on my stupid shaped dome. They've grown on me quite a bit for gaming as well as music. I'm currently in headphone limbo, so these will stay with me for a bit longer.
Haven't noticed any issues with the pads being uneven.

I don't foresee the price on these dropped anytime soon after becoming a Japan exclusive. One refurb pair popped up on buydig the other day for $155ish. If you're after one at a price below $200, you'll have to be vigilant. 

Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: hawaiibadboy on November 18, 2014, 11:02:41 AM
I had a sales rep give me these for free last week as a "Christmas present"

I'm listening to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmdaa1QX6TU

Absolutely amazing. Best iteration of Sony's 70mm design. Just epic. Love these things
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Jay_WJ on December 11, 2014, 09:24:27 PM
I have enjoyed these headphones for over a year now.

The measured bass distortion looks awful. My listening, however, does not match the measurements.

At an ear hurting level (90-100 dB) on bass-heavy movie soundtracks, I do not hear any distortion.

My experience is consistent with the following Japanese hobbyist's measurements (100 dB @ 1 kHz):

http://sonove.angry.jp/sony_MDR_MA900.html

(http://sonove.angry.jp/MDR_MA900/dist_MA900.gif)

2nd order harmonics are still a bit high but MUCH lower than Marv's measurements (you need to convert between % and dB scales).

2nd order harmonics in this lower octave should not be audible in a negative way.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: MuppetFace on December 11, 2014, 09:32:13 PM
I like the MA900 quite a bit.
Title: Re: Sony MDR-MA900 - Hidden Gem
Post by: Marvey on December 11, 2014, 10:47:03 PM
I have enjoyed these headphones for over a year now.

The measured bass distortion looks awful. My listening, however, does not match the measurements.

At an ear hurting level (90-100 dB) on bass-heavy movie soundtracks, I do not hear any distortion.

My experience is consistent with the following Japanese hobbyist's measurements (100 dB @ 1 kHz):

http://sonove.angry.jp/sony_MDR_MA900.html (http://sonove.angry.jp/sony_MDR_MA900.html)

(http://sonove.angry.jp/MDR_MA900/dist_MA900.gif)

2nd order harmonics are still a bit high but MUCH lower than Marv's measurements (you need to convert between % and dB scales).

2nd order harmonics in this lower octave should not be audible in a negative way.

Dist really only shoots up below 50Hz, but below that we got a lot of rolloff. Subjectively I didn't hear a lot of bass distortion, but I didn't hear any low bass either. It's all relative. LCD2 and Abyss kills it in terms of low bass quality (articulation, clarity, texture) though. HD800 kills it in terms of bass quality too.