[mutabor]

Quote:

 
As a frame of reference, prices (after tax) at the Sony Store in Toronto...
 
MA500: $113

 
In my city MA500 costs $70 which is very surprising as our prices are generally much more expensive than say in the US. And the store seems to be legit. 

 

[WiR3D]

Quote:

Well, I pulled the trigger at bhphotovideo.
 
After exchange rate, duties, taxes, and shipping, it came out to $369 CAD. Should be at my doorstep on Friday or Monday. Will compare them against my Grado 225i which I bought for $330 CAD after tax. Should be a fair shootout.
 
...yeah Canadians don't get good prices on headphones at all. My wallet...

 
As a frame of reference, prices (after tax) at the Sony Store in Toronto...
MA100: $40
MA300: $68
MA500: $113
XB500: $102
XB700: $170
 
So the MA900 at the very least has to curbstomp the MA500 or else it's a poor value.

Try shipping stuff to South Africa. But our tax rates aren't so high

 

[swbf2cheater]

 

[a_recording]

Quote:

 
I loved the beginning of that review. Adorable. Pretty fair review too, would mostly agree with your comments. Are you going to end up getting your own pair?

 

[swbf2cheater]

Quote:

I loved the beginning of that review. Adorable. Pretty fair review too, would mostly agree with your comments. Are you going to end up getting your own pair?

 
Tough call.  Thankfully, I have a month with them to decide but right now I would say no, they are not for me.  This does not make them unworthy, my preferences are specific as I simply prefer a warmer and much more bassy experience.  The comfort factor of these headphones is addictive.  3 dislikes and only 3 likes on the video in one night is a bad sign.  If nobody likes the video or comments, I have no reason to share my experiences with anyone else so hopefully more users will click the Like button and give me a some incentive to pursue other gear for the community.  A more technically detailed video/written review as well as an Interview with Sonys Audio Design team will be posted if people show more interest.  

 

[zazex]

I'd jump on these in an instant if they had a detachable/replaceable cable.
 
Or if I could buy them for about 200 rather than 300.

 

[colgatetotal]

If you want feedback...
 
1) You're comparing the sound to the F1 off memory, which isn't the best idea. I've listened to the K1000, but when I get the MA900 I won't do a direct sound comparison against the K1000 as I don't own that headphone and it'd be unfair.
 
2) You got a demo unit, which may or may not be a prerelease and/or engineering sample. The retail versions may sound slightly different. This has happened before with the GS1000 and LCD1.
 
3) You compared them against an $1100 Victor DX1000 with a custom cable. Then you compared them against a $600 HD650. (that's the price of a new HD650 after tax, don't tell me you can get it cheaper in Canada because you can't) So okay, all I learned from your review is that it's not a giant killer. But your comparisons were hardly fair from a price perspective. While you're at it, why don't you review the MA900 against some Apple iBuds?
 
So to be honest I couldn't take too much from it. Then again, I've already ordered it so I guess it doesn't matter

 

[mrAdrian]

Quote:

If you want feedback...
 
1) You're comparing the sound to the F1 off memory, which isn't the best idea. I've listened to the K1000, but when I get the MA900 I won't do a direct sound comparison against the K1000 as I don't own that headphone and it'd be unfair.
 
2) You got a demo unit, which may or may not be a prerelease and/or engineering sample. The retail versions may sound slightly different. This has happened before with the GS1000 and LCD1.
 
3) You compared them against an $1100 Victor DX1000 with a custom cable. Then you compared them against a $600 HD650. (that's the price of a new HD650 after tax, don't tell me you can get it cheaper in Canada because you can't) So okay, all I learned from your review is that it's not a giant killer. But your comparisons were hardly fair from a price perspective. While you're at it, why don't you review the MA900 against some Apple iBuds?
 
So to be honest I couldn't take too much from it. Then again, I've already ordered it so I guess it doesn't matter

 
Well Amazon do have the HD6x0 for 400ish I believe.
 
I do find the review a bit :S if I must say. I see you stressing they are good and then not good, and then about how good they were again...

 

[swbf2cheater]

I hope you enjoy the MA900 when you get it, its a really great piece in my opinion.  It has some pitfalls, but overall its really nice.  And its my first video review, I was nervous, cut me some slack lol.  I'll learn what to say and what not to say over time, I'll get better gear and a nicer camera and mic, more production value will come...and also @ Adrian, I never said it was good then not good.  I said more than a few times that for me its not good, but that doesn't make it a bad headphone.  Its a great headphone, but for ME its not a good headphone.  I clearly said that about 2 dozen times I'm not a liar, I don't like all of the gear I own or get to sample.  Sometimes the piece is a really great headphone but turns out to not be my cup of tea.  <3

 

[mrAdrian]

XD ok confusion cleared~ Would you say it is a more affordable Sennheiser HD6x0 considering prices of them being Brand New, and lessening the amping requirements?

 

[swbf2cheater]

Definitely yes depending on your preferences.  Again, the Ma900 is not as musical and warm on the low end like the HD6xxx series.  Its closer to the HD600 in my opinion than it is the HD650. The HD600 is noticeably less dark and less weighty than its older brother and in that regard its closer to the MA900 to me.  I answered every major question posted here in the last 37 pages, most of them were in regards to comparisons to the F1 and HD650.  You don't need them side by side to know which ones are better, and if you don't have [size=small]Alzheimer's [/size]you should be more than capable of remembering the qualities of the distinctive HD 650 and F1...both of which are just better than the MA900 in my opinion.  Sony boasted about the bass reflex and amazing bass quality, so why not at least touch on a bass and soundstaging comparison against the JVC Dx1000?  Which itself it regarded as having some of the best bass quality and quantity out there, as well as massive soundstaging.  Everything seemed logical to me, I mean, I tried to answer as many relevant questions as I could so I feel really hurt but what Colgate said.  He got nothing out of it, yet everything I spoke about happens to be the most common questions asked in this thread.
 
I'm sorry, next time I'll do better I promise.

 

[WiR3D]

Quote:

Definitely yes depending on your preferences.  Again, the Ma900 is not as musical and warm on the low end like the HD6xxx series.  Its closer to the HD600 in my opinion than it is the HD650. The HD600 is noticeably less dark and less weighty than its older brother and in that regard its closer to the MA900 to me.  I answered every major question posted here in the last 37 pages, most of them were in regards to comparisons to the F1 and HD650.  You don't need them side by side to know which ones are better, and if you don't have [size=small]Alzheimer's [/size]you should be more than capable of remembering the qualities of the distinctive HD 650 and F1...both of which are just better than the MA900 in my opinion.  Sony boasted about the bass reflex and amazing bass quality, so why not at least touch on a bass and soundstaging comparison against the JVC Dx1000?  Which itself it regarded as having some of the best bass quality and quantity out there, as well as massive soundstaging.  Everything seemed logical to me, I mean, I tried to answer as many relevant questions as I could so I feel really hurt but what Colgate said.  He got nothing out of it, yet everything I spoke about happens to be the most common questions asked in this thread.
 
I'm sorry, next time I'll do better I promise.

Rule 1: everyone can always do better.
Rule 2: take criticism with a pinch of salt, you will be happier that way.
Rule 3: not a single person is good the first time, just like sex. 
Rule 4: the fact that you tried makes you better then 90% of the other people.

 

[colgatetotal]

mrAdrian: Any headphone imported into Canada from the USA is subject to 13% HST tax + duties, and has its warranty void. The cheapest price from a Canadian retailer is $520 CAD + 13% tax = $588. Also I checked the $450 USD price from Amazon and that dealer doesn't ship to Canada.
 
swbf2cheater: I do appreciate your review, but if you're too sensitive then don't bother asking for feedback (I wouldn't have commented, but you asked). I'll keep my mouth shut next time. Sorry if you thought my comments were offensive.
 
-
 
It was rather silly that people actually thought this could beat the HD800 or other TOTL flagships. For $300 USD I don't expect that. As stated in another thread, TOTL comparison isn't too helpful because people want to know if this thing is better or worse than others in its price range, e.g. D2000 or a DT990. So I'm more interested in a $250-350 shootout. That's why I liked the review comparing the MA900 against the SRH1440 better. Because it's a fairer comparison than against the HD650. The correct comparison would've been against an HD598.
 
The only reason to compare the MA900 against TOTL is for bragging purposes -- "I've got this way better headphone and the cheaper one stands no chance" ... and that's what I got out of swbf2cheater's review.
 
As for the F1 vs. MA900 comparison, the problem is that I'm getting mixed messages. The reviews on Kakaku that directly compare the MA900 to the F1 (and even the PFR-V1!) all say that the MA900 is superior. There doesn't seem to be a consensus yet as to which one is really the best, and I think it might come down to preferred sound signature.
 
hifiguy's review didn't spend any time criticizing the product... maybe that's why Sony sent a demo to him first? That's the inherent problem with sponsored reviews. hifiguy really had no choice but to praise the product, or else he'll never get a demo unit from Sony again. And that's really the main reason why I had to take both hifiguy's review and swbf2cheater's review lightly. (I can no longer read sites like Anandtech anymore because you can plainly see that they're pandering to all the sponsors)

 

[swbf2cheater]

Ultimately, its up to the reader to decide.  Soak up as much information as possible and end up making an informed decision.  I am notoriously brutally honest and highly opinionated.  I do not cater to any companies and show no fear in saying they messed up ( if they have ).  I haven't yet written my "Head Fi MA900 Thread" yet and it will be quite a lot more harsh than my subjective opinionated video impressions.  I try to give to both sides of the coin, one side who wants a more humanistic approach to a review, as well as to the technical side.  I've charts and graphs on the way as well as an 1-1 interview with someone at Sony who worked on the MA900.  My video is just a beta test for the whole video review thing.  I'd like to write and do a blog for all future reviews I post. 
 
Its great that hifiguy praised them, I praise them as well. But, I am the flip side, the anti hero to Hifiguy in this case.  The set has problems, I will be speaking in greater detail as soon as I get to changing my user name here on head fi.  I hate this name, its brought me nothing but pain and bad luck heh! Once that goes through ( hopefully jude will approve of me resigning up under a new name and having this listed as a banned account ) and as soon as Sony sends me the information they said it on the way, I will post a written review in much greater detail for the Ma900.  If Hifiman is the light side jedi, I am definitely the Sith Lord.  I have lots to say about the faults of the Ma900.

 

[Anaxilus]

dp