[Maxvla]

Loving my MA900. Really smacks around the HD600 in all areas. One thing I have noticed, though, is that they are sensitive to upstream gear. On my phone they are kinda flat and uncontrolled, somewhat grainy perhaps. On my Mini-I units they are cleaner, but still a little flat. With the GS-X they are very punchy, but harsh in the treble. With the Black Diamond they are dynamic while still being ultra smooth and grain free. They aren't hyper detailed, but they are detailed enough to convince of a realistic soundstage, better, perhaps, than my HD800 in that regard, despite the detail disadvantage.

 

[kman1211]

Loving my MA900. Really smacks around the HD600 in all areas. One thing I have noticed, though, is that they are sensitive to upstream gear. On my phone they are kinda flat and uncontrolled, somewhat grainy perhaps. On my Mini-I units they are cleaner, but still a little flat. With the GS-X they are very punchy, but harsh in the treble. With the Black Diamond they are dynamic while still being ultra smooth and grain free. They aren't hyper detailed, but they are detailed enough to convince of a realistic soundstage, better, perhaps, than my HD800 in that regard, despite the detail disadvantage.

I guess I really need to try them on my current system, I found them grainy and harsh on the amps I tried them on. Maybe it was more my system being the problem than the headphone. I have come to realize how a headphone sounds depends heavily on system synergy so I wouldn't be surprised if a certain headphone will sound bad on some systems and amazing on others.

 

[Lorspeaker]

The DT150 on my system challenges the best cans that i have heard....transparency...
scales like crazy this can.  Just installed the demo version of Audirvana2.0 on my MacAir,
whew...the sound realism is sooo palpable.  arrrghhhh...n i bought the DT150 for less than USD$1xx..
crazycrazycrazy.

 

[MrTechAgent]

Loving my MA900. Really smacks around the HD600 in all areas. One thing I have noticed, though, is that they are sensitive to upstream gear. On my phone they are kinda flat and uncontrolled, somewhat grainy perhaps. On my Mini-I units they are cleaner, but still a little flat. With the GS-X they are very punchy, but harsh in the treble. With the Black Diamond they are dynamic while still being ultra smooth and grain free. They aren't hyper detailed, but they are detailed enough to convince of a realistic soundstage, better, perhaps, than my HD800 in that regard, despite the detail disadvantage.

Aww , sounds like the ma900 is a wizard in disguise
Saying ma900s sounds less grainy with amplification is like trying to convince your friends you bought a Genuine Rolex for $100
Sure , that'll improve frequecy response ...hence making it more balanced which people call "smooth" but "NO" amplification will never remove the charactestics of the driver , breakup of diaphragms at high frequencies at XX SPL is "grain" , if it was so easy ....we are all wasting our time here , we should all get a Sony MDR-250V and hire the best Amplifer designer to make a Amp for us which makes that skimpy Sony rival against a 009 , how about that ?

I'll name 10 headphones that outperform the ma900 fidleity wise (open and closed)

1)650
2)600
3)880
4)990
5)150
6)770
7)598
8)HE-400
9)HE-300
10)HM5

The list is made relative to the price point.

 

[Maxvla]

Sounds like you are being disrespectful of other's opinions. I'd take the MA900s over any of those headphones any day with any gear (and yes I've heard all but 1 of them). In fact I would take the MA900 over the SR-009, but that's more because of what the SR-009 does wrong than anything.

 

[MrTechAgent]

Sounds like you are being disrespectful of other's opinions. I'd take the MA900s over any of those headphones any day with any gear (and yes I've heard all but 1 of them). In fact I would take the MA900 over the SR-009, but that's more because of what the SR-009 does wrong than anything.

I'm sorry you feel that way.

 

[Lorspeaker]

ok guys...lets form a circle, huddle  up...n vote for the DT150..

 

[appsmarsterx]

Aww , sounds like the ma900 is a wizard in disguise
Saying ma900s sounds less grainy with amplification is like trying to convince your friends you bought a Genuine Rolex for $100
Sure , that'll improve frequecy response ...hence making it more balanced which people call "smooth" but "NO" amplification will never remove the charactestics of the driver , breakup of diaphragms at high frequencies at XX SPL is "grain" , if it was so easy ....we are all wasting our time here , we should all get a Sony MDR-250V and hire the best Amplifer designer to make a Amp for us which makes that skimpy Sony rival against a 009 , how about that ?

I'll name 10 headphones that outperform the ma900 fidleity wise (open and closed)

1)650
2)600
3)880
4)990
5)150
6)770
7)598
8)HE-400
9)HE-300
10)

The list is made relative to the price point.

 
I disagree.. it's not about amplification it's about the synergy.. even with E17 I don't find the grain that noticeable. it's quite enjoyable, very dynamic and transparent. I haven't heard dt150 yet, but still to my ears ma900 is more refined than 598,770 and in the same league with 990,880. may be I might not have the best hearing, but since people like Jude,MLE,Lachan highly recommended it, my hearing might not be that troublesome.

 

[MrTechAgent]

   
I disagree.. it's not about amplification it's about the synergy.. even with E17 I don't find the grain that noticeable. it's quite enjoyable, very dynamic and transparent. I haven't heard dt150 yet, but still to my ears ma900 is more refined than 598,770 and in the same league with 990,880. may be I might not have the best hearing, but since people like Jude,MLE,Lachan highly recommended it, my hearing might not be that troublesome.

And I would like to disagree with you , Lachlan also likes the M50s which is again the same Japanese grainy mess , Jude...well the only time I disagreed with Jude was his comments on the Shure 1540 , its possible there might be a insufficiency of esoteric hearing with many here. 
Anyone one who knows what a "ideal" sound or a "good"or wait the best word "fidelity" is then he knows its not worth arguing on this incredibly simple topic.
 
And if you're loving the ma900s so much , just ignore me...enjoy them , Me ... I'll not let a opportunity of bashing grainy Japanese headphones slide like that 

 

[Lorspeaker]

personally i place my DT770 above the 880 n 990..
(990 didnt last a month...880 lasted 6mths...)
and the DT150 above all these...
and 80% of the time i think it surpassed my T1. LOL
 
MY ears are screwed ...
onto my own head i mean.
 
 
ya...there are odd moments when i do find the T1 fantastic.
Just cant remember which tube combination i used..sighhhh.
 
strange hobby

 

[appsmarsterx]

  And I would like to disagree with you , Lachlan also likes the M50s which is again the same Japanese grainy mess , Jude...well the only time I disagreed with Jude was his comments on the Shure 1540 , its possible there might be a insufficiency of esoteric hearing with many here. 
Anyone one who knows what a "ideal" sound or a "good"or wait the best word "fidelity" is then he knows its not worth arguing on this incredibly simple topic.
 
And if you're loving the ma900s so much , just ignore me...enjoy them , Me ... I'll not let a opportunity of bashing grainy Japanese headphones slide like that 

 
you are just being a hater rather than being a critique. "grainy Japanese headphones" ? well you are clearly in the minority here.. most people find ma900 quite enjoyable, including Jude.  at least you are not ready to give them another chance with another setup, may be you are just hating Japanese brands or maybe just being a Sennheiser fanboy.  I could also bash Sennheisers like hd650 as overpriced "veiled mess", could say hd598 "boring and dull".. at least I'm not a hater or a fanboy.

 

[MrTechAgent]

   
you are just being a hater rather than being a critique. "grainy Japanese headphones" ? well you are clearly in the minority here.. most people find ma900 quite enjoyable, including Jude.  at least you are not ready to give them another chance with another setup, may be you are just hating Japanese brands or maybe just being a Sennheiser fanboy.  I could also bash Sennheisers like hd650 as overpriced "veiled mess", could say hd598 "boring and dull".. at least I'm not a hater or a fanboy.

Irrelevant , I make fun of the 598s all the time .....they have a bad excursion factor , the bass is loose , I hate them 
Almost all Japanese Dynamic Headphones are shouty and grainy , that's why they have become universal for me.

 

[MrTechAgent]

   
you are just being a hater rather than being a critique. "grainy Japanese headphones" ? well you are clearly in the minority here.. most people find ma900 quite enjoyable, including Jude.  at least you are not ready to give them another chance with another setup, may be you are just hating Japanese brands or maybe just being a Sennheiser fanboy.  I could also bash Sennheisers like hd650 as overpriced "veiled mess", could say hd598 "boring and dull".. at least I'm not a hater or a fanboy.

 I'm quoting myself here , had a conversation with Kman1211 some time ago on why Japanese Dynamic Headphones are grainy 

  I exactly know what's wrong with Japanese headphones , they use the same membrane materials for all the headphones 
Fidelity has do with the membranes more than anything else , frequency response on the other hand can be easily treated with damping etc 
For example take your Fostex , it might be be tinny and bass light un-modded but the driver potential is world class 
For dynamics its harder than that , most if not all Japanese headphones use the same material , that's why the definitive characters are apparent among them , now you might ask what about the Nano Fibre Drivers of the the Denon Music Maniac Series , well I think its just that Nano-Fibre on top of the regular BoPET which makes them just the same thing , they just went ahead and patented it which doesn't make any sense since there's nothing special about it , again I could be horribly wrong but this seems to be the safest assumption 
 
I know I'm not buying any high end Japanese Dynamic headphones unless the new Sony Flagship is really ground breaking !
 

 
So before calling me a "Fanboy" and "Hater" you should do some research before you shoot the messenger.

 

[appsmarsterx]

may be they are using low quality membrane materials... that doesn't prove every Japanese dynamic headphone is grainy as you claim.

 

[xkonfuzed]

personally i place my DT770 above the 880 n 990..
(990 didnt last a month...880 lasted 6mths...)
and the DT150 above all these...
and 80% of the time i think it surpassed my T1. LOL

MY ears are screwed ...
onto my own head i mean.


ya...there are odd moments when i do find the T1 fantastic.
Just cant remember which tube combination i used..sighhhh.

strange hobby

I really need to try the dt150..