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Sony MDR MA900 Impressions Thread
May 15, 2016 at 12:49 PM Post #2,086 of 2,677
Has anyone heard MA900 with Cayin N5? Do they work fine together?
 
May 15, 2016 at 2:33 PM Post #2,087 of 2,677
mgunin said:
Has anyone heard MA900 with Cayin N5? Do they work fine together?
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MA900 impedance compensator make them very source independent... Unless the source is quite colored I've never observe any drastic change
 
May 15, 2016 at 2:38 PM Post #2,088 of 2,677
sp12er3 said:
MA900 impedance compensator make them very source independent... Unless the source is quite colored I've never observe any drastic change
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The thing is that with my current iBasso DX50, for example, they sound too dry and bass-weak. Although it's a known problem of DX50 with low-impedance headphones. 
 
Jun 16, 2016 at 11:15 AM Post #2,089 of 2,677
Not sure if I should make a new thread for this but I bought some Sony MDR-MA900's for gaming and music on my PC. They sound pretty great on my Galaxy 5 phone but when I use them on my PC, the volume is quite low. I have an Asrock B85M Mobo which has Realtek ALC892 onboard audio and it's clearly not good enough to get the most out of these headphones.
 
I have a bunch of noob questions so bare with me here.
 
Firstly I'm pretty clueless on how amp/dac's work. In my case would the chain go something like this? 
 
PC onboard audio --->--- Amp/DAC --->---- MDR/MA900 
 
My hope is that I will be able to increase my volume levels while still retaining the awesome positional audio for gaming. I was told by somebody else that Amp/DAC's aren't suited to gaming and I might be better off with a sound card instead but if the amp is merely outputting the onboard audio at a higher volume, a soundcard probably wouldn't be necessary.
 
Lastly, can anybody recommend me a good Amp/DAC for the MDR-MA900? At the moment I'm considering going with a Fiio A3 (E11K) as it seems to be the best bang for buck in the Fiio range. I don't really wan't to spend big on an amp/dac so I'm looking at something in the $100-$150 range.
 
Jun 16, 2016 at 11:42 AM Post #2,090 of 2,677
mrmoogle said:
  Not sure if I should make a new thread for this but I bought some Sony MDR-MA900's for gaming and music on my PC. They sound pretty great on my Galaxy 5 phone but when I use them on my PC, the volume is quite low. I have an Asrock B85M Mobo which has Realtek ALC892 onboard audio and it's clearly not good enough to get the most out of these headphones.
 
I have a bunch of noob questions so bare with me here.
 
Firstly I'm pretty clueless on how amp/dac's work. In my case would the chain go something like this? 
 
PC onboard audio --->--- Amp/DAC --->---- MDR/MA900 
 
My hope is that I will be able to increase my volume levels while still retaining the awesome positional audio for gaming. I was told by somebody else that Amp/DAC's aren't suited to gaming and I might be better off with a sound card instead but if the amp is merely outputting the onboard audio at a higher volume, a soundcard probably wouldn't be necessary.
 
Lastly, can anybody recommend me a good Amp/DAC for the MDR-MA900? At the moment I'm considering going with a Fiio A3 (E11K) as it seems to be the best bang for buck in the Fiio range. I don't really wan't to spend big on an amp/dac so I'm looking at something in the $100-$150 range.
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Hi,
 
you should definitely benefit from using an external DAC/amp over your onboard sound.  There should be mo problem at all using an external DAC for gaming as your PC will see it just like any other sound card/device and play the audio through that when selected in the Sound Options.
 
The Fiio you mentioned is just an amp with no DAC, so that will just amplify the sound from your motherboard's internal DAC.  Using a separate DAC/amp in the chain as USB>DAC/amp>MA900 would yield you better results.
 
Within your price range, you could look at:
 
Fiio E17K
Fiio E18
Fiio E10K
Audioquest DragonFly
Audioengine D3
Aune T1
Geek Out 450
iBasso d-Zero
NuForce uDAC3
Cambridge Audio DacMagic XS V2
 
If you can get hold of an HRT Microstreamer used in that price range, I believe you would be very happy with the improvement over your onboard sound.
 
Good luck!
 
Jun 16, 2016 at 11:43 AM Post #2,091 of 2,677
mrmoogle said:
  Not sure if I should make a new thread for this but I bought some Sony MDR-MA900's for gaming and music on my PC. They sound pretty great on my Galaxy 5 phone but when I use them on my PC, the volume is quite low. I have an Asrock B85M Mobo which has Realtek ALC892 onboard audio and it's clearly not good enough to get the most out of these headphones.
 
I have a bunch of noob questions so bare with me here.
 
Firstly I'm pretty clueless on how amp/dac's work. In my case would the chain go something like this? 
 
PC onboard audio --->--- Amp/DAC --->---- MDR/MA900 
 
My hope is that I will be able to increase my volume levels while still retaining the awesome positional audio for gaming. I was told by somebody else that Amp/DAC's aren't suited to gaming and I might be better off with a sound card instead but if the amp is merely outputting the onboard audio at a higher volume, a soundcard probably wouldn't be necessary.
 
Lastly, can anybody recommend me a good Amp/DAC for the MDR-MA900? At the moment I'm considering going with a Fiio A3 (E11K) as it seems to be the best bang for buck in the Fiio range. I don't really wan't to spend big on an amp/dac so I'm looking at something in the $100-$150 range.
Click to expand...

 
For pc, you're looking for a usb powered dac/amp. So basically you plug in the dac/amp to your motherboard's usb port and that's it.
 
You might need to turn off your onboard realtek via bios if there's a conflict though.
 
If I'm not mistaken, Fiio A3 is a portable amp only, meant to be used with a DAP, not for pc
 
What you need is something like the Fiio E-10K (http://fiio.net/en/products/27 )
 
Just connect it to your pc, select it as default playback device & you're good to go
 
Hope this helps :)
 
Jun 16, 2016 at 1:21 PM Post #2,092 of 2,677
mrmoogle said:
  Not sure if I should make a new thread for this but I bought some Sony MDR-MA900's for gaming and music on my PC. They sound pretty great on my Galaxy 5 phone but when I use them on my PC, the volume is quite low. I have an Asrock B85M Mobo which has Realtek ALC892 onboard audio and it's clearly not good enough to get the most out of these headphones.
 
I have a bunch of noob questions so bare with me here.
 
Firstly I'm pretty clueless on how amp/dac's work. In my case would the chain go something like this? 
 
PC onboard audio --->--- Amp/DAC --->---- MDR/MA900 
 
My hope is that I will be able to increase my volume levels while still retaining the awesome positional audio for gaming. I was told by somebody else that Amp/DAC's aren't suited to gaming and I might be better off with a sound card instead but if the amp is merely outputting the onboard audio at a higher volume, a soundcard probably wouldn't be necessary.
 
Lastly, can anybody recommend me a good Amp/DAC for the MDR-MA900? At the moment I'm considering going with a Fiio A3 (E11K) as it seems to be the best bang for buck in the Fiio range. I don't really wan't to spend big on an amp/dac so I'm looking at something in the $100-$150 range.
Click to expand...

 
Along with the excellent recommendations above, also check out the Schiit Fulla.
 
Jun 17, 2016 at 10:12 AM Post #2,094 of 2,677
I can also confirm that HRT microStreamer pairs really well with MA900 (a bit bright source for a bit dark headphone) and is much better than iMac's onboard sound.
 
Jun 17, 2016 at 11:30 AM Post #2,095 of 2,677
I've got my eye on the HRT Microstreamer actually. It's a bit over my budget but I may as well wait it out until tax time instead of cheaping out now.
 
At the moment it's come down to these three. Unfortunately it seems to be hard to find cheap audio gear in Australia. The prices are insane probably due to the ****ty exchange rate.
 
- Schitt Fulla (only one distributor $149 AUD)
- Dragonfly Black ($149 AUD)
- HRT Microstreamer ($269 AUD)
 
All three of these outperform the Fiio E10K which is a shame because that model can be found for around $100 here. I guess you get what you pay for. I really don't want to pair these headphones with a substandard amp. 
 
The MA900's are superb though. I've never had headphones with such a good soundstage. They are perfect for gaming and hold their own with a pretty wide range of music.
 
Jun 20, 2016 at 2:02 AM Post #2,096 of 2,677

 
Am totally falling in love with these again after changing pads.
 
Thanks for the idea
beerchug.gif

 
Took the ones I took off my sz1k and they just...man.....love again!
 
Jun 20, 2016 at 2:08 AM Post #2,097 of 2,677
hawaiibadboy said:
 
 
Am totally falling in love with these again after changing pads.
 
Thanks for the idea
beerchug.gif

 
Took the ones I took off my sz1k and they just...man.....love again!
Click to expand...

 
Which pads are those? I still love my MA900 to bits, it was ur and lachlan's video reviews that made me instabuy them last year. Never thought about replacing the pads :)
 
Jun 20, 2016 at 2:13 AM Post #2,098 of 2,677
redjohn456 said:
   
Which pads are those? I still love my MA900 to bits, it was ur and lachlan's video reviews that made me instabuy them last year. Never thought about replacing the pads :)
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Those are from my sz1000 which I switched. The ma900 pads are like the stock Beyer T1...not comfy or isolating. I saw this thread last week and decided to go for it......LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!
 
 
LOVE IT
 
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