[spiritofjerry]

As it seems to be a hot topic recently, would anyone be able to clarify some things for me about creating a custom cable for the MDR-1A?

I am in need of creating a short wire ~1.5 ft with a microphone and thought of cutting off the output end of an existing microphone cable(eg link #1) and connecting it to a jack plug(eg. link #2) that would fit into the MDR-1A- building off of Pauls post above(Thanks Paul! any suggestions from you?). Then just shorten the input side.

I have read on here both that Sony's proprietary connection has the TRRS connections switched and not-switched....so which is it?  

Would anyone be able to clarify the switching issue? Any suggestions for cable building would also be appreciated(materials, cable type, sleeves) as I would also like to build a balanced cable that doesn't cost ~$100 USD that Sony sells.


link 1:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Foot-3-5mm-Male-Headphone-Audio-Cable-With-Remote-Mic-Volume-Control-/152325884125?hash=item23775488dd:gLQAAOSwImRYMnps
link 2:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/272323522728?var=571171472186

Also.....the 1A's on Amazon.fr are ~$150 USD right now 

Hi Louis,

You can definitely mod a mic cable to fit. I'd just chop off the TRS end and mod with the connector I suggested. The connector you linked looks like it would also fit the socket, in case you wanted to do balanced. I cannot answer your question about TRRS configuration, as I do not know. Very sorry.

 

[koover]

  The MDR-1A will sound like a bass head headphone compared to the HD650.  While I only heard the Jot twice it was not a sound signature that I liked, a bit too bright but with the HD650 its a good match but didn't try the MDR-1A with the Jot since they don't need an amp.
For movies I like my HD700 best followed by a custom Ypsilon build, both are easy to drive and sound great out of the headphone jack of my HT receiver.  To me the HD650 does not have the sound stage for movies but is really good for kicking back to relax.

I appreciate the reply.

 

[LouisPhu]

Hi Louis,

You can definitely mod a mic cable to fit. I'd just chop off the TRS end and mod with the connector I suggested. The connector you linked looks like it would also fit the socket, in case you wanted to do balanced. I cannot answer your question about TRRS configuration, as I do not know. Very sorry.

Thanks Paul, much appreciated.

 

[RHMMMM]

Pick up a pair of these for $150 at the most recent BuyDig SlickDeal. Got them Saturday and they're great for decent looking over the ear headphones! Finally a pair I can aesthetically take outside the house! Enjoying them right now.

 

[sanvara]

For anyone looking to replace the cable on the mdr 1a with an alternative 3.5mm cable, the gold metal part at the end of the headphone socket unscrews. It requires quite a bit of force to unscrew, but it does come off. Once it is unscrewed any 3.5mm should fit without any issues.

I recently replaced cable with a balanced cable, which has made some nice improvements to the sound.

Which cable did you buy?

 

[Isloo]

Which cable did you buy?

I bought the cable from Forza Audioworks. The cable is very nice.

 

[koshman]

Just got the MDR-1A yesterday and they're... interesting. Overall I would say I'm rather impressed considering how much they cost me but the bass focused tuning is a bit too much for me. Thoigh I have to say this works well when listening on the go - I really like them straight out of my phone when commuting. When I plug them to Matrix M-Stage at work the bass is too much. I will see if I can get used to it and possibly will try covering the bass ports.

Edit: Btw where is soundstage?? was definitely expecting more there based on what I've read...

 

[DavidA]

Just got the MDR-1A yesterday and they're... interesting. Overall I would say I'm rather impressed considering how much they cost me but the bass focused tuning is a bit too much for me. Thoigh I have to say this works well when listening on the go - I really like them straight out of my phone when commuting. When I plug them to Matrix M-Stage at work the bass is too much. I will see if I can get used to it and possibly will try covering the bass ports.

Edit: Btw where is soundstage?? was definitely expecting more there based on what I've read...

The MDR-1A was never known to have a great sound stage and for me the genres that I would normally listen to on the MDR-1A sound stage is not a concern.
 
I've done the dynamat mod to better control the bass and its helped a lot.

 

[koshman]

It's not that I find the soundstage insufficient for my needs/like was just expecting a bit more based on reviews and angled drivers.
I like them though I'm not used to so much bass, was listening to Ety ER4 for a couple of weeks prior

 

[DavidA]

  It's not that I find the soundstage insufficient for my needs/like was just expecting a bit more based on reviews and angled drivers.
I like them though I'm not used to so much bass, was listening to Ety ER4 for a couple of weeks prior

I got the MDR-1A for use when traveling and while I liked it the bass was just too much and when outdoors the top vent was very sensitive to wind noise so after doing the dynamat mod they have been only used indoors and only when I want a fun sound.  While I think the angled drivers may help with the sound stage I think for a closed back headphone the sound stage on the MDR-1A is decent compared to others closed headphones like the M50x and MDR-7506 that I also have.

 

[LouisPhu]

When I tried these for an extended time, the bass seemed to overpower the range on these headphones, especially vocals and highs. Does the Dynamat mod bring that out? Or is that end actually tuned down?

 

[DavidA]

  When I tried these for an extended time, the bass seemed to overpower the range on these headphones, especially vocals and highs. Does the Dynamat mod bring that out? Or is that end actually tuned down?

The dynamat tones down the bass by making it tighter/cleaner but dose nothing to bring up the mids or highs.  You might also want to try the medical tape along with the dynamat to tune the sound even more and also experiment with the vent on the top of the cup, I found that closing of some will reduce the bass and also clean it up some.

 

[koshman]

Also in my case extended burn-in helped a lot to tighten up the bass and better integrate it with the rest of the spectrum. On the other hand to my ears it never really intruded on the mids etc - it was just overall a bit too much for me so YMMV.
 
I am actually very happy with them now after the burn-in and that is with my background certainly being in the more balanced cans - AKG701, Etymotics etc.

 

[jacknorthern]

Just got the MDR-1A yesterday and they're... interesting. Overall I would say I'm rather impressed considering how much they cost me but the bass focused tuning is a bit too much for me. Thoigh I have to say this works well when listening on the go - I really like them straight out of my phone when commuting. When I plug them to Matrix M-Stage at work the bass is too much. I will see if I can get used to it and possibly will try covering the bass ports.

Edit: Btw where is soundstage?? was definitely expecting more there based on what I've read...

Soundstage only comes out when you drive them with balanced audio output.
I have a Sony PHA-3 which I mostly pair with MDR-Z7.
I got curious about 1A's balanced audio capability and hooked it up a balanced cable.

The soundstage comes out, not as prominent as Z7 but it's an improvement.

 

[DavidA]

Soundstage only comes out when you drive them with balanced audio output.
I have a Sony PHA-3 which I mostly pair with MDR-Z7.
I got curious about 1A's balanced audio capability and hooked it up a balanced cable.

The soundstage comes out, not as prominent as Z7 but it's an improvement.

​I noticed no difference in the sound stage between balanced or SE when I hooked up the MDR-1A to a Liquid Glass or DarkStar, both of these amps have both SE and balanced output so it was easy to try.  Granted both amps are very good from either the balanced or SE outputs.  The only thing I noticed with the balanced connection is that the instrument separation was a touch better on well mastered / recorded 24/96 FLAC, with CD or normal 16/44 tracks there was no difference to me.