Martin Logan Mikros 90 On-Ear Headphones
Aug 28, 2014 at 5:34 PM Post #5,823 of 6,756
Sep 2, 2014 at 7:56 AM Post #5,824 of 6,756
Hey guys havn't been here for a while. I've got a problem with those sweet cans. I'm getting crackling/sizzling noises when I play some tracks on my iPad (especially ones with a higher pitch), only a few song does it but it's very significant and unbearable ahha. All my cables and everything looks fine and my sound source shouldn't be a problem either. Some advice will be great :D
Thanks
 
Sep 2, 2014 at 9:04 PM Post #5,825 of 6,756
what did u put inside the cups? anything that bugs can EAT??  :p
 
Sep 3, 2014 at 5:50 AM Post #5,827 of 6,756
are u using the stock cable? u get this sharp noise only from some songs?
 
Sep 4, 2014 at 1:30 AM Post #5,828 of 6,756
Quick intro and thoughts on the Mikros 90s.
 
I'm a longtime head-fi lurker but haven't really delved into the world of headphones because I've always been more of a 2 channel floor standing speaker kind of guy and I've just never really cottoned to the sound of any of the headphones I've tried.  That's not to say that I haven't been impressed by many headphones - I have - but there's a difference between being impressed by and objectively appreciating something versus subjectively wanting to keep on using it to the exclusion of a speaker system.  So for the past few years I've limited my headphone listening to my Ety ER4Ps w/Shure Olives and pretty much only on airplanes or in hotel rooms when traveling with my wife and/or kids.  But then I came across this thread and after reading the entire thing start to finish I just had to bite and try these out.
 
My first pair (yes - first) arrived a little over a month ago and my immediate reaction was largely visceral - I was just flat out engaged in the music without nitpicking (much) about what was missing or what could be better.  Well that was new and unexpected.  And after 100 hours or so of burn in, they got even better, but I also started being bothered at the same time by a few things.  One was less bass than I would have preferred, and the other was a sense that something was just a bit off at times, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  So I did something I almost never do - I started listening to a battery of test tones and audio checks.  And that's when I discovered a slight parasitic buzz in the sub-bass and a slight channel imbalance, but again only in the sub-bass.  I wrote to Scott Gribble at ML about it and he immediately offered to send me a replacement set.  I packed mine up and sent them off to ML hoping the new set would resolve these issues.  In the meantime, however, another new set came up for sale at a ridiculous price and I ordered them as well.  Both new sets arrived around the same time and both new sets are not only completely devoid of those issues but also have significantly more bass than the first.  I won't bother detailing the sonic attributes of these as those have been more than fully described by others in this thread already other than to say that I could not agree more with all the positive remarks that these have received herein.
 
For what it's worth, my associated gear is modest - HRT microstreamer, Macbook Pro or iPhone 5 (the HRT is iOS device compliant without a separate powered USB hub) and occasionally a FIIO E12 mont blanc amp.
 
Thanks to everyone who's contributed to this thread and helped bring these gems into my fold.  I don't know how widespread the QC problems that I had with the first set are, but for anyone who's noticed similar issues and still has their set, I would highly recommend getting them replaced and giving them another chance.
 
Sep 4, 2014 at 2:04 AM Post #5,829 of 6,756
are u using the stock cable? u get this sharp noise only from some songs?


Yah mate I'm using stock, only some songs, not all of them I don't know what's going on ahha. If there's something wrong all songs should sound like that -.-
I would like them replaced if I have the chance but I'm in Australia ahha. Plus I didn't get it myself so I don't have receipt or anything.
 
Sep 4, 2014 at 5:52 AM Post #5,830 of 6,756
I often delete whole albums...'re.rip them :)
 
Sep 4, 2014 at 8:05 AM Post #5,831 of 6,756
  Quick intro and thoughts on the Mikros 90s.
 
I'm a longtime head-fi lurker but haven't really delved into the world of headphones because I've always been more of a 2 channel floor standing speaker kind of guy and I've just never really cottoned to the sound of any of the headphones I've tried.  That's not to say that I haven't been impressed by many headphones - I have - but there's a difference between being impressed by and objectively appreciating something versus subjectively wanting to keep on using it to the exclusion of a speaker system.  So for the past few years I've limited my headphone listening to my Ety ER4Ps w/Shure Olives and pretty much only on airplanes or in hotel rooms when traveling with my wife and/or kids.  But then I came across this thread and after reading the entire thing start to finish I just had to bite and try these out.
 
My first pair (yes - first) arrived a little over a month ago and my immediate reaction was largely visceral - I was just flat out engaged in the music without nitpicking (much) about what was missing or what could be better.  Well that was new and unexpected.  And after 100 hours or so of burn in, they got even better, but I also started being bothered at the same time by a few things.  One was less bass than I would have preferred, and the other was a sense that something was just a bit off at times, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  So I did something I almost never do - I started listening to a battery of test tones and audio checks.  And that's when I discovered a slight parasitic buzz in the sub-bass and a slight channel imbalance, but again only in the sub-bass.  I wrote to Scott Gribble at ML about it and he immediately offered to send me a replacement set.  I packed mine up and sent them off to ML hoping the new set would resolve these issues.  In the meantime, however, another new set came up for sale at a ridiculous price and I ordered them as well.  Both new sets arrived around the same time and both new sets are not only completely devoid of those issues but also have significantly more bass than the first.  I won't bother detailing the sonic attributes of these as those have been more than fully described by others in this thread already other than to say that I could not agree more with all the positive remarks that these have received herein.
 
For what it's worth, my associated gear is modest - HRT microstreamer, Macbook Pro or iPhone 5 (the HRT is iOS device compliant without a separate powered USB hub) and occasionally a FIIO E12 mont blanc amp.
 
Thanks to everyone who's contributed to this thread and helped bring these gems into my fold.  I don't know how widespread the QC problems that I had with the first set are, but for anyone who's noticed similar issues and still has their set, I would highly recommend getting them replaced and giving them another chance.

sonike,
Welcome aboard!
Glad to hear another positive testimonial from a Head-Fier willing to take a chance with the Mikros 90.
 
beerchug.gif

 
I have owned/broken-in seven pairs of the MLs and no two of them have sounded the same.  Among my current three stock pair, one is warm and bassy, another bass-light and more detailed/emphasized in the treble; and the third, which seems to achieve the "golden mean" in virtually every sonic respect.  Modding--ala Lorspeaker-- is the only way to properly realize the true bass potential of the Mikros 90.
 
Sep 4, 2014 at 9:42 PM Post #5,832 of 6,756
Made it home yet Maxx? :wink:

Yes it is time.

You know, every time I put on my Mikros 90's (reversed of course so that I get the optimal seal and vice grip clamping force as an added bonus) I think "Damn these sound good". And if I look in the mirror I think "Damn, do I ever look good in these things - how can anyone think that they are ugly?". And then after about 20 minutes I think "Damn my ears are getting sore!".

Anyway, those are my Mikros 90's thoughts for the day. I love these little beasts! :)

You won't need to reverse the headphone's any longer..
It's time to unleash my final mod...

Sound signature will lie in between these two..
 
Sep 4, 2014 at 9:51 PM Post #5,833 of 6,756
Here are some pics:

Guess which I prefer. . :wink:


 
Sep 4, 2014 at 10:15 PM Post #5,834 of 6,756
  I have owned/broken-in seven pairs of the MLs and no two of them have sounded the same.  Among my current three stock pair, one is warm and bassy, another bass-light and more detailed/emphasized in the treble; and the third, which seems to achieve the "golden mean" in virtually every sonic respect. 

 
So strange.  Ideally every non-defective pair should sound exactly the same and exactly as the designers intended, which means that either all but one (or perhaps even all) of your sets are defective to some degree or ML just had a lot of unit-to-unit variation with these phones and a fairly large acceptable range of variation.  On the other hand, I can't really make generalizations like that on the basis of a sample pool of just the 2 of us and our collective 10 units - even Apple products, the gold standard of QC, have unit to unit variation and QC issues if you look closely enough and poll enough people, but they aren't representative of the whole.
 
Sep 4, 2014 at 10:20 PM Post #5,835 of 6,756
Yes it is time.
You won't need to reverse the headphone's any longer..
It's time to unleash my final mod...

Sound signature will lie in between these two..

 
Ok you tease - looking forward to seeing what the final mods are lol!
 

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