[RockStar2005]

FedEx tracking now shows delivery to CA on 12/14.

Awesome!!

 

[feline]

Thank you for the positive comments on MJ2. You made me buy them from Massdrop. Got yesterday. First go ( Lg V20-UAPP-Tidal- MJ2 ) very disappointing. Second go (LG V20 -Bubble upnp- Newtron eq on-Tidal-MJ2) , what a difference. No burn in , just second day. Fantastic. Thank you.

 

[jwbrent]

Just received my MJ2s ...

Initial observations:

The build quality is surprisingly good. There were some clear economies taken with some of the parts, must notably the thinness of pleather on the headband, but all in all, I’d give it an 8/10. The attention to detail is quite good, and all the parts aligned up very well.

I think mine had been sitting in a warehouse for a long time since spotty mold had developed on the inside of the white box. The headphones were fine, but the otherwise nice box case was ruined for use.

The zippered case is nice, but is very thin compared to other such cases I’ve seen. I don’t know if it would hold up in a tight backpack.

The included cable seems shorter than the typical 1.2m usually found. I’d say a meter without measuring it. The ¼” and airplane adapters are better quality versions than what is depicted in the Massdrop ad.

The sound right out of the box is not good: the trebles are grainy and distorted, the midrange is sucked out, and the bass is light. I expect things to improve with run in time, at least 100 hours. I did listen again about an hour later, and the trebles had already improved, so I have high hopes.

Pono > RHA Dacamp (tone controls flat).

 

[barondla]

Thank you for the positive comments on MJ2. You made me buy them from Massdrop. Got yesterday. First go ( Lg V20-UAPP-Tidal- MJ2 ) very disappointing. Second go (LG V20 -Bubble upnp- Newtron eq on-Tidal-MJ2) , what a difference. No burn in , just second day. Fantastic. Thank you.

Congratulations @feline on receiving the MJ2. Did they sound better the 2nd day because of switching to bubble upnp or because of newtron eq? Either way, glad you are enjoying them. They will get even better with time.

 

[feline]

It was the EQ and gain on neutron player. My modded Fostex T50s will be retiring for now. Again, thank you for helping me choose these.

 

[Philimon]

Just received my MJ2s ...

Initial observations:

The build quality is surprisingly good. There were some clear economies taken with some of the parts, must notably the thinness of pleather on the headband, but all in all, I’d give it an 8/10. The attention to detail is quite good, and all the parts aligned up very well.

I think mine had been sitting in a warehouse for a long time since spotty mold had developed on the inside of the white box. The headphones were fine, but the otherwise nice box case was ruined for use.

The zippered case is nice, but is very thin compared to other such cases I’ve seen. I don’t know if it would hold up in a tight backpack.

The included cable seems shorter than the typical 1.2m usually found. I’d say a meter without measuring it. The ¼” and airplane adapters are better quality versions than what is depicted in the Massdrop ad.

The sound right out of the box is not good: the trebles are grainy and distorted, the midrange is sucked out, and the bass is light. I expect things to improve with run in time, at least 100 hours. I did listen again about an hour later, and the trebles had already improved, so I have high hopes.

Pono > RHA Dacamp (tone controls flat).

Thank you for the impressions.

I think the moldy box would qualify under massdrop guidelines as “refundable” in case you dont like the MJ2. Mine are coming tomorrow and if they sound meh like the cyberdrives electrets or the JP1 then I will probably give them away.

If you followed the mitchell and Johnson JP1 measurements link from the last page youll have seen that burn-in did not help.

 

[flameas]

Waiting for them to arrive from massdrop.

Does amps matter for those? Would tube be better ? And can they be run balanced?

 

[barondla]

Waiting for them to arrive from massdrop.

Does amps matter for those? Would tube be better ? And can they be run balanced?

Hello @flameas . Congrats on the Mitchell & Johnson headphones. Which model do you have? The GL1, GL2, and MJ1 have single entry (one ear cup) cable and would require major modifications to run balanced. JP1 & MJ2 have cables to each ear cup. With diy/custom cable they can be used in balanced mode. The auto sensing channel feature requires the left and right ear cup cables to be wired differently.

The M&J do scale with an amp. They are efficient so volume is easy from even a cellphone. They are a more complex load and probably sound best with an amp having fairly low output impedance. Some tube amps have low output impedance, many don't. Would want to try before buying. Enjoy your headphones - don't forget the required long break in.

 

[flameas]

Thanks for the feedback! And its the MJ2. I have a balanced cable with 2x3.5mm connections (for hifiman) so maybe it will fit he MJ2 too. And i am hoping for the best - there are some mixed reviews on Massdrop, but since they were only 99$ and some reviews on the web were quite positive I thought what the hell, lets give em a try.

 

[barondla]

@flameas good call on the MJ2. They are fine headphones. Unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformation on the Massdrop forums. The MJ2 are capable of very high performanceand can sound excellent. They are efficient and easily driven by a cellphone. But in other ways they are picky.

They must be broken in. Takes 200 hours or longer. Many buyers gripe about this. Some refuse to invest the time because they are lazy or they don't believe in break in. These headphones will easily prove break in is real. Listen to them about an half hour when they first arrive. Make notes about their sound - a lot of it will be mediocre or bad. Describe the bass, midrange, highs, soundstaging, etc. Then leave them playing and toss them in a clothes drawer. Get them out in a day and play same songs as before. Note changes. Let them rest a few hours and then put them back in the drawer playing. It is easy to hear improvement as time goes on. The very short listening spells will guard against brain burn in. This method also saves you from 200 hours of inferior sound. Life is too short to listen to bad sound!

They may not sound their best on high output impedance components. High output impedance doesn't allow the component to control the headphones well. The frequency response can alter drastically. Same with any headphones, but here there are 4 drivers a capacitor, a transformer, etc. More variations are possible. The MJ2 sound great on my Pono Player ( middle range output impedance of 3.3 ohms) in single ended mode. Balanced the Pono Player jumps to 6.6 ohms. There seems to be a little more variation in frequency response, but the cables are totally different and that could factor in. So the MJ2 may be more affected by the actual source component. Try different things. One of the pro reviewers did an excellent job listening on multiple daps for this reason.

Invest time in these headphones and they will reward it.

 

[jwbrent]

@flameas good call on the MJ2. They are fine headphones. Unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformation on the Massdrop forums. The MJ2 are capable of very high performanceand can sound excellent. They are efficient and easily driven by a cellphone. But in other ways they are picky.

They must be broken in. Takes 200 hours or longer. Many buyers gripe about this. Some refuse to invest the time because they are lazy or they don't believe in break in. These headphones will easily prove break in is real. Listen to them about an half hour when they first arrive. Make notes about their sound - a lot of it will be mediocre or bad. Describe the bass, midrange, highs, soundstaging, etc. Then leave them playing and toss them in a clothes drawer. Get them out in a day and play same songs as before. Note changes. Let them rest a few hours and then put them back in the drawer playing. It is easy to hear improvement as time goes on. The very short listening spells will guard against brain burn in. This method also saves you from 200 hours of inferior sound. Life is too short to listen to bad sound!

They may not sound their best on high output impedance components. High output impedance doesn't allow the component to control the headphones well. The frequency response can alter drastically. Same with any headphones, but here there are 4 drivers a capacitor, a transformer, etc. More variations are possible. The MJ2 sound great on my Pono Player ( middle range output impedance of 3.3 ohms) in single ended mode. Balanced the Pono Player jumps to 6.6 ohms. There seems to be a little more variation in frequency response, but the cables are totally different and that could factor in. So the MJ2 may be more affected by the actual source component. Try different things. One of the pro reviewers did an excellent job listening on multiple daps for this reason.

Invest time in these headphones and they will reward it.

I agree on the comments on Massdrop, many are not worthy of consideration. I listened again this morning, and they have improved from last night. I’m not hearing the distortion in the trebles as readily as before.

If things keep going in this direction, this will be right up there with the 6XX as one of the best buys in headphones ... maybe even better than the Sennheisers.

 

[barondla]

I agree on the comments on Massdrop, many are not worthy of consideration. I listened again this morning, and they have improved from last night. I’m not hearing the distortion in the trebles as readily as before.

If things keep going in this direction, this will be right up there with the 6XX as one of the best buys in headphones ... maybe even better than the Sennheisers.

@jwbrent I enjoy the Mitchell & Johnson MJ2 more than my Sennheiser HD600. There are trade offs. Sealed back vs open. The HD600 have a much larger soundstage, but it is all around the head. The MJ2 are more like stereo speakers, with the image towards the front and more focused.

The MJ2 sound more full range than any single driver dynamic headphone I've heard. This includes the Focal Utopia and Sennheiser HD800. The MJ2 go lower without sounding rolled off and the highs are more effortless. No different than single cone home speakers. Hard to give the frequency extremes up, once heard.

 

[RockStar2005]

@jwbrent I enjoy the Mitchell & Johnson MJ2 more than my Sennheiser HD600. There are trade offs. Sealed back vs open. The HD600 have a much larger soundstage, but it is all around the head. The MJ2 are more like stereo speakers, with the image towards the front and more focused.

The MJ2 sound more full range than any single driver dynamic headphone I've heard. This includes the Focal Utopia and Sennheiser HD800. The MJ2 go lower without sounding rolled off and the highs are more effortless. No different than single cone home speakers. Hard to give the frequency extremes up, once heard.

BOLD words there brotha! lol

 

[jwbrent]

@jwbrent I enjoy the Mitchell & Johnson MJ2 more than my Sennheiser HD600. There are trade offs. Sealed back vs open. The HD600 have a much larger soundstage, but it is all around the head. The MJ2 are more like stereo speakers, with the image towards the front and more focused.

The MJ2 sound more full range than any single driver dynamic headphone I've heard. This includes the Focal Utopia and Sennheiser HD800. The MJ2 go lower without sounding rolled off and the highs are more effortless. No different than single cone home speakers. Hard to give the frequency extremes up, once heard.

Believe me, the reason I have such high hopes is the delicacy of the trebles. Initially, without some burn time, I couldn’t say this, the trebles were a mass of confusion.

 

[feline]

I think this is a good review of these headphones. https://novo.press/mitchell-johnson-gl2-and-mj2-headphone-reviews/2/
"Essentially when all your gear magically disappears and you become one with the music, that’s musicality"