[baadaq]

  Yeah, I second that the MA900's don't really sound overly different from amp to amp. I'm actually just as happy listening to it straight off my Macbook Air even though I also have the O2/ODAC.

wahahaha i challenge you to use it from an msi gaming laptop and tell me if they sound good!!(because they dont, they sound like crap... well to be honest every headphone sound like crap from their line out).

 

[K_19]

  wahahaha i challenge you to use it from an msi gaming laptop and tell me if they sound good!!(because they dont, they sound like crap... well to be honest every headphone sound like crap from their line out).

 
My Macbook Air (the older Core2 Duo model) is supposed to have one of the better built-in headphone outs actually, I believe Nwavguy reviewed it back then and found that it was one of the best built-in soundcard/HP out combo at the time.
 
Can't say that for some of the other crappy soundcard/HP out combos out there though I guess. On my plain jane Gateway Desktop computer HP out it does indeed sound very noisy and awful, lol.

 

[cryptochiral]

Hey what's up

Got MA900 and love it. Wondering if I should perform the resistor mod. I use my Galaxy S3 (Wolfson) with Boeffla and V4A as a source, and I've got to admit that Viper DDC thing is just plain great and works wonders. So yeah, is it still profitable to perform this mod?. If yes, do you guys have any how-to guides? I know that there've been hardmod and softmod versions of this. Still, I don't know exactly what to do, and I am utterly clueless on how should I disassemble my MA900.

any help? :]

 

[Draulius]

Just saw this thing has 12 Ohms and 104 dB/mW sensitivity. Wouldn't that make this a bad pairing for some amps? Some amps have imbalanced sound if the volume control is too low. Like my O2/ODAC combo for example. I have to go to about 7 or 8 o'clock to balance out the sound, and that's already a problem with somewhat less sensitive headphones than this.

 

[K_19]

  Just saw this thing has 12 Ohms and 104 dB/mW sensitivity. Wouldn't that make this a bad pairing for some amps? Some amps have imbalanced sound if the volume control is too low. Like my O2/ODAC combo for example. I have to go to about 7 or 8 o'clock to balance out the sound, and that's already a problem with somewhat less sensitive headphones than this.

 
Thing is that this headphone also has built in impedance compensator; the driver coil itself I believe has impedance of 32 ohms. Without getting into all the technical details, the impedance compensator was put in there to lower the impedance peak so that the bass section won't be as affected by an amp's output impedance as much. These actually require about the same level of volume range of my Creative Aurvana Live!, which is coincidently 32 ohms.
 
With my MA900 I go well past the 9 o'clock range for acceptable volume on these on low gain (on mine, 1x gain) so you won't have to worry about that if you have one of the recent modified gain setting O2/ODAC units. It may be tricky if you have the standard 2.5/6.5 though. 

 

[baadaq]

  Hey what's up

Got MA900 and love it. Wondering if I should perform the resistor mod. I use my Galaxy S3 (Wolfson) with Boeffla and V4A as a source, and I've got to admit that Viper DDC thing is just plain great and works wonders. So yeah, is it still profitable to perform this mod?. If yes, do you guys have any how-to guides? I know that there've been hardmod and softmod versions of this. Still, I don't know exactly what to do, and I am utterly clueless on how should I disassemble my MA900.

any help? :]

i don't believe that such a mod will improve sound quality at all( if it did why Sony didnt make another version without resistor to milk us more), plus they sound just right out of anything.

 

[cryptochiral]

This mod has been around here and there. Pretty much everyone who performed it agreed that it does improve the sound. Same kind of mod can be done on a pair of Sony MDR-F1. Again, everyone agrees it's a great mod (discussed here).

I'm just curious if this mod would be better than DDC in V4A which does a great job to my ears in evening the MA-900 sound.

 

[baadaq]

  This mod has been around here and there. Pretty much everyone who performed it agreed that it does improve the sound. Same kind of mod can be done on a pair of Sony MDR-F1. Again, everyone agrees it's a great mod (discussed here).

I'm just curious if this mod would be better than DDC in V4A which does a great job to my ears in evening the MA-900 sound.

yes, but most people that did the mod didn't have another pair to do a comparison, i'm just saying isn't worth the effort, you will actually loose bass plus increase the resistence of the headphone a lot, 

 

[trubul]

  yes, but most people that did the mod didn't have another pair to do a comparison, i'm just saying isn't worth the effort, you will actually loose bass plus increase the resistence of the headphone a lot, 

 
So how is it? According to this site "MDR-MA900's original impedance comes out to be 8 Ω on each channel.", so it has lower value, not higher.

 

[baadaq]

   
So how is it? According to this site "MDR-MA900's original impedance comes out to be 8 Ω on each channel.", so it has lower value, not higher.

Well... just look at this Zo = (R1 * R2) / (R1 + R2) ..(22*8/(30))and you will notice something is off.
plus the resistor are in parallels.. pretty much the Req will be lower than the R1(R1 being the headphone) for THIS CASE.
but that isn't the point, that's how the person made the assumption, yet his assumption is clearly off, for example  you can made the calculation yourself and the data will not match what he's saying.

 

[sunneebear]

Hello, 
 
Just posted my take on the resistor mod here.

 

[USHI]

has anyone tried to block the rear vents? will it bring out the sub bass?

 

[baadaq]

  has anyone tried to block the rear vents? will it bring out the sub bass?

i don't think anyone has done such a thing but to be honest i wouldn't do it mostly to all of the sound i would loose like soundstage and the "fuller" treble and mids.
btw i'm thinking of getting something like the k712, but i cannot try them (they don't sell those in my country) so it would be an improvement or just a sidegrade?. i really like the mdr ma900 but sometimes i felt the bass is a bit lose and the treble doens't have enough energy when needed (maybe because the sony sound house with added bass and recessed treble?) but the mids are just perfect and i find them better than the hd 600 for orchestral music (violins sound almost right it just miss the ear pircing part sometimes and pianos are just right, but the cello omg thy just nailed) but the soundstage is just in another level and i don't know how much i need to spend to really get something that will wow me.

 

[sunneebear]

  has anyone tried to block the rear vents? will it bring out the sub bass?

 

  i don't think anyone has done such a thing but to be honest i wouldn't do it mostly to all of the sound i would loose like soundstage and the "fuller" treble and mids.
btw i'm thinking of getting something like the k712, but i cannot try them (they don't sell those in my country) so it would be an improvement or just a sidegrade?. i really like the mdr ma900 but sometimes i felt the bass is a bit lose and the treble doens't have enough energy when needed (maybe because the sony sound house with added bass and recessed treble?) but the mids are just perfect and i find them better than the hd 600 for orchestral music (violins sound almost right it just miss the ear pircing part sometimes and pianos are just right, but the cello omg thy just nailed) but the soundstage is just in another level and i don't know how much i need to spend to really get something that will wow me.

 
If you are talking about the driver vents then there may be some benefits.  Just covering two of the six vents might tighten up the bass and bring up the treble.  I did this simple mod for the Panasonic RP-HTX7 and it turned into a whole new headphone.  I was even skeptical about the improvements I was hearing but others who tried it also said it did wonders for that headphone.

 

[kenshinesca]

These are still some of the most unique looking headphones I own. Definitely some of the most open.