[audiophalus]

I adopted the in line remote control cable from MDR-1R to work with MDR-1A, I missed the volume control on 1A so I took a spare 1R cable and disassembled the housing, did some reverse engineering (took me 1-2h) and moved one cable for the play button left, see photos. The OOTB the 1R cable does not or work with 1A also the plug has to be cut to fit the 1A jack.
Now the cable works with iPhone and iPod.
To open the remote use that blue or green iPod opening tool, this way you won't damage the remote and you can superglue it together, unfortunately I touched one edge of it with soldering iron, no big damage but still.
 

 
after this modification the remote/cable may not work with 1R's, you may have to modify the wiring inside the left can on the 1R's.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Today I added some foam pads in the cups from another headphone I also tested putting over Signature DJs and started enjoying it more this way. Turns out the treble might be slightly too much out of box for me after all and that's why I don't get this intimate "soulful" listening experience. This also dampened the volume so I had to bring up the vol up 3% to get similar levels (while previously the highs set the limit at what felt as suitable listening level) and this obviously also helps giving the bass more punch now that it's tuned slightly more towards bass/mids. Even with the lose clamp the bass punchiness is really nice and it actually helped to bring out some more texture to it too.

I guess I've just turned really sensitive against high frequencies lately that or the source just happen to be really bright, the punchiness in bass is really impressive right now with this simple mod, feels like it hits nearly twice as hard without adding much bloat whatsoever, it just hits harder. It even hits slightly harder than Q40 while it manages to stay very tight for the raw force pounding my ears. lol Can't believe a simple added layer of foam can have such a drastic impact, even the bass felt very slightly bit loose before, now it pounds much harder but also tighter.... weird.

 

[Koss02]

What website did you get them from for 139 Euro's? 

 

[Koss02]

  I ordered the 1A since 139€ retail pricing was too tempting and I can barely find the other headphones anywhere close which I'm also interested in so might as well give it a shot. Been using these Q40 as primary headphones for probably 3+ years or so now maybe which is like an decade in headphone hobby terms...

 
What website has these for 139 euro? 

 

[seeler]

  I got the MDR-1A today and was using the MDR-1R for last 3 weeks, the difference ist big, soundstage is better, low and high Hz are better.
I did on the MDR-1R the Dynamate mode but I won't do it on the 1A, no need for it, they sound w/o the mod excellent and don't know if they will benefit much from it.
Got the 1A for 169 EUR form Amazon, the 1R will go back.
 
1 negative point is that on 1A there is no volume control on the remote like the 1R has and the remote from 1R won't stay plugged in in the 1A, needs some adaptor or just/cut the housing of the plug,
on the picture left is the 1A and right the 1R headphone plug.
 

 
 
and thats how the 1A look inside.

Could you please show some pictures of how to remove the pads?

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

   
What website has these for 139 euro? 

Finnish site mustaporssi.fi but they ship only within Finland.

 

[audiophalus]

  Could you please show some pictures of how to remove the pads?

take a Credit Card or some platic flat object and insert between the plastic headphone "frame" and the pad, begin with the left or right side and push the pad up, its tight fit so you have to use some force.
Its same procedure as with 1R.

 

[seeler]

 
take a Credit Card or some platic flat object and insert between the plastic headphone "frame" and the pad, begin with the left or right side and push the pad up, its tight fit so you have to use some force.
Its same procedure as with 1R.

Thank you.
I’ve opened 1A last night and made a quick comparison with CD900st. It is said that Sony has taken some ideas from CD900st while designing 1A.
 
 
 
This is measured by my cell-phone with the SPL Spectrum APP, not precise but shows the basic situation. 1A is the red line and CD900st is the green one. The weird thing: 1A is 24Ω, 105dB/mW and CD900st is 63Ω, 106dB/mW but they have the same loudness……(1A is wired with MUC-S12SM1, CD900st is wired with Furutech ADL iHP-35, both of them are silver plated copper wire).
The major difference you will notice when hearing them is the bass boom of 1A around 100Hz, its kind like Clear-Bass+1 in a Walkman. For one thing, 1A has bigger house and air hole to increase the bass quality (maybe this is the concept of “feel the air”). For another, CD900st has a large piece of sound absorbing cotton inside the house (which design you can also find in CD3000). I’ve tried to install the cotton into 1A, the result is weaker SQ around 200~500Hz, so it is not a good try.

 
Since CD900st was born in 1989 and 1A was 2014, 25 years of technology improvement gives 1A better resolution and bigger sound stage. They both quick in medium-high frequency but CD900st has more power in mid.
 
The thing which bothers me is: there is no filter inside this hole, so the dust can directly fell into the house! Why can't they just open a bigger hole and covers it with a filter!

 

[jmsaxon69]

As far as the info above, are you REALLY worried about dust getting in that TINY hole? What about a open back design? That must keep you up at night! Haha!

The lack of foam or whatever in the MDR-1A or any of the recent Sony design is not a lack or design or caring, don't you think that engineers and designers in this day and age know EXACTLY What they are doing? I don't believe arm chair headphone fans are really going to improve these designs with their hack "engineering" come on, they know exactly what that cup is doing and what frequency it is ringing at and incorporate that into the design, it's not an accident or an over sight.

You didn't burn these in for a few days before your comparison?

Where is it said that the CD 900st was the inspiration for MDR-1A? I'd like to check that out....

 

[seeler]

As far as the info above, are you REALLY worried about dust getting in that TINY hole? What about a open back design? That must keep you up at night! Haha!

The lack of foam or whatever in the MDR-1A or any of the recent Sony design is not a lack or design or caring, don't you think that engineers and designers in this day and age know EXACTLY What they are doing? I don't believe arm chair headphone fans are really going to improve these designs with their hack "engineering" come on, they know exactly what that cup is doing and what frequency it is ringing at and incorporate that into the design, it's not an accident or an over sight.

You didn't burn these in for a few days before your comparison?

Where is it said that the CD 900st was the inspiration for MDR-1A? I'd like to check that out....

Well~open cans are opened at the side, not on the top~ besides, they are all equipped with filter, not a 3mm hole.
 
In a new product salon last year, Mr. Koji Nageno (ソニー株式会社 パーソナルエンタテインメント事業部 ヘッドホン技術担当部長 投野耕治氏, Sony Corporation Personal Entertainment Division headphone technology Senior Manager, who has participated in R&D of R10, cd900st, 1R, Z7 and 1A) has brought a series of cd900 mods and cd900st mods to explain how do they improve the headphone through change here and there and what new material can bring about their original idea. 

 

[jmsaxon69]

  Well~open cans are opened at the side, not on the top~ besides, they are all equipped with filter, not a 3mm hole.
 
In a new product salon last year, Mr. Koji Nageno (ソニー株式会社 パーソナルエンタテインメント事業部 ヘッドホン技術担当部長 投野耕治氏, Sony Corporation Personal Entertainment Division headphone technology Senior Manager, who has participated in R&D of R10, cd900st, 1R, Z7 and 1A) has brought a series of cd900 mods and cd900st mods to explain how do they improve the headphone through change here and there and what new material can bring about their original idea. 

Thanks for the link, luckily the results were translated by Google for me as well as the articles.  I never saw the one with the MDR-1A in it though, it was almost all balanced armature info.

 

[Neo Zuko]

Liking my MDR-1A quite a bit but still wondering how the Momentum M2 or 2.0 stacks up. I think I'll wait till I can hear them in a store but I may end up owning both.

 

[Sonic Defender]

I'm not sure the NAD will be any more comfy from what little I've gathered. I could be wrong. It's hard to compare the Sony to others in a way. It's not chasing neutrality by any means. I like it, but I'm not sure you will know until you give it a listen.

I had the HP50, now trying the 1A. The 1A is easily as comfortable and far more portable than the HP50. The HP50 is a very nice sounding headphone, perhaps a slight edge over the 1A as I think there was a little less bass bloom. That said the 1A is quite an enjoyable sounding headphone which I think I will keep. The HP50 I'm sorry to say just looked so goofy to wear in public, I just couldn't do it for long. Now the 1A, they are good looking.

 

[Bark Snarly]

I had the HP50, now trying the 1A. The 1A is easily as comfortable and far more portable than the HP50. The HP50 is a very nice sounding headphone, perhaps a slight edge over the 1A as I think there was a little less bass bloom. That said the 1A is quite an enjoyable sounding headphone which I think I will keep. The HP50 I'm sorry to say just looked so goofy to wear in public, I just couldn't do it for long. Now the 1A, they are good looking.

They definitely are good looking. Nice slim profile on the head and quite a sleek modern design. My p7's stick out a tiny bit more than I'd really like but my 1r's always look great. Did you sell off your hp50's before trying these 1a's?

 

[Sonic Defender]

They definitely are good looking. Nice slim profile on the head and quite a sleek modern design. My p7's stick out a tiny bit more than I'd really like but my 1r's always look great. Did you sell off your hp50's before trying these 1a's?

Yes I did sell my HP50s about 6 months ago I think. I really liked their sound, really a stunning effort in many ways, but they were just too big and awkward looking for public use which is why I got them. Really enjoying the 1As right now listening to Deadmau5. Without a doubt the 1As are a modern sound signature, but they are pretty refined and fun so hard not to enjoy them.