the 1As are pretty good headphones for on the go as they are easy to drive and very comfortable, more so than my momentums (first gen), MDR-7506 w/ beyer velour pads and Ath-M50 with shure velour pads. And yes sony stuff doesn't get much love around here. As for asking $155 it might be a little high, I think there were some post in the deals thread which had new ones at $145 somewhere.
Thanks for your thoughts. Regardless of "perceived head-fi value", the 1As are worth more than $155 easily. No matter, I took my ad down as I think they are quite nice so I will keep them for when I want to give my KEFs a rest for portable, or just want that sweet comfort and solid sound.
Thanks for your thoughts. Regardless of "perceived head-fi value", the 1As are worth more than $155 easily. No matter, I took my ad down as I think they are quite nice so I will keep them for when I want to give my KEFs a rest for portable, or just want that sweet comfort and solid sound.
I paid $285 back in Dec of last year, didn't think the price would drop that fast to the current levels. I still have mine and have done the bass mod and build a new 8.5ft cable for it so going to keep it for a while.
I paid $285 back in Dec of last year, didn't think the price would drop that fast to the current levels. I still have mine and have done the bass mod and build a new 8.5ft cable for it so going to keep it for a while.
I know what you mean, but I think with head-fi, mainstream producers are somewhat looked down upon. Perhaps that is deserved at times, but not always as I think in the case of the 1A is the case. They are solid for non-insane volume listening levels.
I have no idea why, but my pads have -slightly- collapsed near where my glasses sit usually. To try and 'push' it back up, I stuffed some cotton balls in there (ie. behind the earpads). I tried putting them on while the cotton balls were in there, and BY GOD, they get even more comfy. Barring the weird look of cotton fluff near the earcups, I think I'm gonna line the whole interior with it to make it even more plushier.
That being said, even though I have better cans at home, on the go, these cans are brilliant: light enough for portable use, and I don't look like a tool. If only Sony included an actual hard case to go with it.......
Inspired by a more complicated mod described in a Swedish audio forum (which involves opening the cans) I started experimenting with covering the bass ports to get a more controlled low range (which I have previously tamed using eq).
First covered both parts of the port using gaffer tape. Did wonders to control the bass, but it was a bit too much. Resulting sound a bit weak and anemic, no impact. Then tried to cover only the bigger mesh part, once again a bit too boomy for my taste. Went on with covering the small open port and most of the meshed port (leaving about 2-3 mm open) using blu-tack. Perfect result! Massive deep bass with great impact when called for, but well behaved and punchy compared to unmoded sound.
Tried them in the city yesterday. Can't say I found outside sound disturbing at all. However, I have only used them in quieter surroundings up till then, so I don't know if it's an improvement.
I bought the Walkman NWZ-A15 to use with my MDR-1A headphones, but quickly sent it back. It didn't provide enough power to the headphones, the sound was too quiet, even at max volume. This was when playing 16 bit FLAC files ripped from CDs using dBpoweramp. The volume was ok (but still not satisfactory) when playing more recent releases, but was really bad when playing original CD issues from the 1980's (of albums that were made before CD's were invented). Has anyone else had the same volume problem with this player/headphone combo?
Tried them in the city yesterday. Can't say I found outside sound disturbing at all. However, I have only used them in quieter surroundings up till then, so I don't know if it's an improvement.
I bought the Walkman NWZ-A15 to use with my MDR-1A headphones, but quickly sent it back. It didn't provide enough power to the headphones, the sound was too quiet, even at max volume. This was when playing 16 bit FLAC files ripped from CDs using dBpoweramp. The volume was ok (but still not satisfactory) when playing more recent releases, but was really bad when playing original CD issues from the 1980's (of albums that were made before CD's were invented). Has anyone else had the same volume problem with this player/headphone combo?
Well, I'm widely regarded to like extremely loud playback volumes. I own an A17 and with the MDR 1A modern recordings at full volume were decent, certainly acceptably loud. You can't expect 80s recordings to be loud enough without a separate amp, not going to happen, not ever. I grew up in the 80s and I continue to listen to some 80s music. It is just mastered without the crazy compression we see today. get something like a FiiO E11 or E12 (or other amps Cayin C5 etc).
Inspired by a more complicated mod described in a Swedish audio forum (which involves opening the cans) I started experimenting with covering the bass ports to get a more controlled low range (which I have previously tamed using eq).
First covered both parts of the port using gaffer tape. Did wonders to control the bass, but it was a bit too much. Resulting sound a bit weak and anemic, no impact. Then tried to cover only the bigger mesh part, once again a bit too boomy for my taste. Went on with covering the small open port and most of the meshed port (leaving about 2-3 mm open) using blu-tack. Perfect result! Massive deep bass with great impact when called for, but well behaved and punchy compared to unmoded sound.
Well, I'm widely regarded to like extremely loud playback volumes. I own an A17 and with the MDR 1A modern recordings at full volume were decent, certainly acceptably loud. You can't expect 80s recordings to be loud enough without a separate amp, not going to happen, not ever. I grew up in the 80s and I continue to listen to some 80s music. It is just mastered without the crazy compression we see today. get something like a FiiO E11 or E12 (or other amps Cayin C5 etc).
I get your point that a separate amp would be needed to go with the Walkman A15/A17, in order to get 80s CD recordings to an adequate volume level on the MDR-1A. You say "not ever", but have you tried using other DAPs?
I've read good reviews of the FiiO X5 and Hidizs AP100, anyone tried these with the MDR-1A? I'd rather pay a bit more for a more powerful DAP, if it means that I don't need to get a separate amp for it.
I bought the Walkman NWZ-A15 to use with my MDR-1A headphones, but quickly sent it back. It didn't provide enough power to the headphones, the sound was too quiet, even at max volume. This was when playing 16 bit FLAC files ripped from CDs using dBpoweramp. The volume was ok (but still not satisfactory) when playing more recent releases, but was really bad when playing original CD issues from the 1980's (of albums that were made before CD's were invented). Has anyone else had the same volume problem with this player/headphone combo?
In our Sony flagship store they sell the PHA1A as THE amp to use with the A17 and MDR-1A while you shoul get the MDR-Z7, ZX2, PHA-3 combo if you have more money
I get your point that a separate amp would be needed to go with the Walkman A15/A17, in order to get 80s CD recordings to an adequate volume level on the MDR-1A. You say "not ever", but have you tried using other DAPs?
I've read good reviews of the FiiO X5 and Hidizs AP100, anyone tried these with the MDR-1A? I'd rather pay a bit more for a more powerful DAP, if it means that I don't need to get a separate amp for it.
I use a Fiio X1 & X3, for me, it will get the MDR-1A to painful volume level at 76 out of 100 on X1, it is also starting to distort at this point. On the X3 its at 81 out of 120 but no distortion yet. I believe the X5 has more power than both the X1 & X3 so it should be able to get the 1A to fairly high levels. I tested using 80's music (which I still love) but there are some recordings that are lower in recording levels and could use event more amplification. One way I've corrected this is to edit the WAV file and raise the levels to get close to most recording being careful to stay below clipping, YMMV.
Inspired by a more complicated mod described in a Swedish audio forum (which involves opening the cans) I started experimenting with covering the bass ports to get a more controlled low range (which I have previously tamed using eq).
First covered both parts of the port using gaffer tape. Did wonders to control the bass, but it was a bit too much. Resulting sound a bit weak and anemic, no impact. Then tried to cover only the bigger mesh part, once again a bit too boomy for my taste. Went on with covering the small open port and most of the meshed port (leaving about 2-3 mm open) using blu-tack. Perfect result! Massive deep bass with great impact when called for, but well behaved and punchy compared to unmoded sound.
So do I! I have been paying close attention to any distortion. I'm hearing some, but not sure if it's more or less than before. Sometimes I feel that it's actually flaws in the recording/mastering that is revealed thanks to the 1A's great resolution....
In theory though, distortion in the lower range should decrease when the acoustic dampening of the driver increases, which is what happening when giving it less air to play with. Both the FR measurements (sjowing a bump of the mid-bass, and a rapidly falling sub-bass) of the 1A and the slightly flabby bass response perceived by many around here are typical symptoms of a somewhat oversized bass reflex port. So, making it smaller should help. How and how much is hard to tell though without some calculations, and we have far too little data on hand to do those correctly. Also, the two different parts of the port makes this extra tricky.
This leaves us with two choices. EQ, which these headphones respond remarkably well to, or a bit of a guessing game when modding and then listening/measuring the changes. I haven't had time to do the latter, sadly. Since a bit of blu-tack applied from the outside of the cans can be undone in 1 sec, I don't really mind a bit of trying and testing actually.
Well, I'm rambling. Just try it out and report back!
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