About a week ago I received my Sony MDR-CD900ST's, and I've put a good amount of time on them (been hitting them pretty much non-stop, actually), and I've come to the conclusion that they have among the best mids in a headphone I've ever heard. Ever since getting my AKG K271's I considered myself a mid-head, and have been chasing a better and better mid range. I had upgraded to the K601's in an effort to improve that aspect, and was completely satisfied by that move. I've kind of wandered around trying other sound signatures lately, but mid-lust had me wanting a headphone that was more traditional to me.
 
I had heard of these before, but opinions on them were always mixed, with the only real consensus being that they had a nice mid range. When these popped up on the for sale board, I figured it was my chance to try something new, and, at the same time, not really new. I figured I might get something that had a K601-esque mid range, but in a closed design. What I got, instead, was a vocal range that was miles beyond the K601's. I was floored from the second I put them on, because the vocals were so lush, but not in a veiled or lazy kind of way. I didn't really know why I felt they weren't veiled until a couple days later when I came to the conclusion that they were very, very detailed as well. Not a typical kind of detail where they spike up the upper-mid range, but a very, very natural detail that made the singer sound like they were in the room with me.
 
Hearing the tiniest little nuances in a singer's voice in a completely natural way has really made me fall in love with the human voice again.
 
If you find yourself wanting an absolutely gorgeous mid range, these deserve some serious consideration. I don't want to compare them directly to the Sennheiser HD800 or LCD-2's I've heard, but I will say, based on the time I had with those phones, the mids on these could very well be within the same league. They really are just something beautiful.
 
Has anyone else heard these, and want to share thoughts on them? Gear used with them? Do you feel they improve much when changing amp/source?

Not even threads about these get love.

Not many people have heard them since they're quite difficult to acquire, but I do agree that they have very lovely midrange.

Quote:

idletime1213 said:

Not many people have heard them since they're quite difficult to acquire, but I do agree that they have very lovely midrange.

Click to expand...

http://www.audiocubes.com/product_info.php?products_id=218
 
Why are they hard to get?
 
Some reviews:
http://www.headfonia.com/sony-mdr-cd900st/
http://www.headphiles.org/index.php?topic=3634.0
 

Difficult to acquire because they aren't easily available in places like Amazon or your local store, unlike say, an HD600. Stiff competition at the price range means that many people would just go with something like a K701 or a SRH940 which they don't have to ship from Japan.
 
Edit: Didn't know they were available now in Audiocubes, I got mine through amazon.jp, and were a hassle to purchase. Well guess they're pretty underrated then.

maybe under-rated around here i agree but defiantly not japan since it's a studio standard. other under-rated sony headphone that use to be on the market(still is in stores stock though) is the Sony SA5000. they weren't very popular due the insane MSRP pricetag they had and being sony they were pretty much discarded mostly by the mainstream audiophile world. i always wanted to audition pair of CD900st myself but don't feel like having the hassle of shipping from japan and the cost of first class shipping too can be bit expensive process. hopefully one day i get lucky and find a local owning a pair to audition or borrow. i'm in no rush to get/hear a pair.

Quote:

azraeldarkangel said:

http://www.audiocubes.com/product_info.php?products_id=218
 
Why are they hard to get?
 
Some reviews:
http://www.headfonia.com/sony-mdr-cd900st/
http://www.headphiles.org/index.php?topic=3634.0
 

Click to expand...

 
Audiocubes stuff is pretty expensive. The M50s cost $250 there, the same price as the MDR-CD900STs. From that, I assume that the MDR-CD900STs are worth a little more than $110 US.
 
Yesasia is probably a better source.

Even at the price of $250 on Audiocubes, I think they are a strong contender among other $250(+) headphones. Their mids run circles around even the K701's (bold statement, I know!), and their imaging is some of the best I've heard in a fully closed headphone.
 
They might be a little ill-suited for classical and the like, or music requiring an especially warm sound, but for small folk and rock arrangements, they are excellent.

Now I'm sure you want to improve your knowledge on these headphones. My suggestion is you remove the pads, unscrew the baffle and see what's hiding inside the cups.
 
Are they differently damped than the V6/MDR7056, is the driver different, the structure?
 
The Head-Fi community is relying on you to enlighten us, Kukuk. 

mdr30 said:

Now I'm sure you want to improve your knowledge on these headphones. My suggestion is you remove the pads, unscrew the baffle and see what's hiding inside the cups.

Are they differently damped than the V6/MDR7056, is the driver different, the structure?

The Head-Fi community is relying on you to enlighten us, Kukuk. 

Click to expand...

here you go if your wondering how the drivers look.

http://www.soundhouse.co.jp/shop/SearchList.asp?search_all=cd900st&i_type=a&x=0&y=0

these are all spare parts for the cd900st,even the drivers themselves if that's what your looking for.

14,600円 Now that's a more reasonable price.
 
http://www.soundhouse.co.jp/shop/ProductDetail.asp?Item=680^MDRCD900ST^^

I love mine, but I'm a Sony fanboy.
 

They are great phones, I found them to have very high resolution and preserve timbre and tonality very well - provided the upstream equipment is up to it. As I remember it the resolution goes further than the much more expensive Grado RS2i that I had. However the fun factor is not evident, lack some speed and attack for rockers.
 
Also the pads are too shallow with my ears, that despite it having very good resolution of details the protrait of musical instruments seem smeared together. I swapped in the Beyerdynamic DT250 pads and the issue was resolved, the soundstage is pushed further apart but the the sound became thinner, tonality and balance suffer a little too. It is not unilateral improvement but a worthwhile trade off for me.
 
 
 

I decided bust out my DT250 pads to see how I like them on these... And it really doesn't suit them well, to me. As you say, they get thinner, and the mids especially get thinner. Thankfully it's not like V6's with the DT250 pads, so they aren't totally offensive sounding, but it takes away what I feel makes these headphones really special. I wonder how the stock V6 pads would affect sound on these? DJAmTraX?
 
Anyway, with stock pads I'm still absolutely in love with the CD900ST's, even after the newness factor wore off. Really wish more people had a chance to try these out.

You're really making me re-consider these...and I really don't need seven pairs of headphones...