[kman1211]

Hmm I may know what you mean, remembering some late nights when I just can't stand having a headphone on my head anymore, but since it's been so long since I had the MA as my daily, I can't say more than that.
Impressions were simply because the MA is the most forgiving over ears I have in my collection right now. Tho it's me, someone's that uses a T1 as daily so..

Yeah it’s not an immediate fatigue, it’s one that creeps up on you. I thought it was a mood thing but realized it’s more I’m getting fatigued by something as that stopped as I got different/better gear. It’s been a while since I heard a T1 Gen 1, all three gens are all quite different headphones. I daily a T1 Gen 3 which is very warm sounding and quite dark. Used to have a Gen 2, but never owned a Gen 1. Never really had issues with fatigue on the Tesla Beyers honestly.

Hasn’t the MA900 been discontinued for a while now? Personally the R70X fills in the tuning gap left by Senns and the MA900. While it’s very lightweight like the MA900 it’s also a lot harder to drive. Do find it’s sound less fatiguing and easier on the ears than the MA900 or the HD 560 S and HD 600.

 

[Sp12er3]

Yeah the reason I keep the Sony is simply because of how samey it sounds out of anything, it's the headphone I plug to random old gear and expect at least decent performance.
Yep I'm daily-ing T1 gen 1, indeed am more often than not feel more pain from the headphone fit itself than feeling ear fatigue with the Beyer, ADX5000 and Z1R.
Or maybe it's cuz I swap them between each other often enough.

 

[Ufasas]

I don't know how you stand K702, Had that alongside the MA900 For a while and really it just sound dead to me, it has good Soundstage and better detail yes, but too polite, nothing about it stand out IMO. Sold it to acquire an AD1000x and never came back.

Also not sure how you can be fatigued by the MA900, it's the most inoffensive tuning there is IMO, true that I never heard the 560 tho.

Whatever usb-dac, pcie soundcard for 50-100-200$, bluetooth dac, LG quad dac I tried, it was the same, i could listen to music for ~2-3 hours, but then i have some heavy feeling in my ears, as if sound from ma900 is really trying to physically get inside my ears, hah, dunno how to explain better. I did have similar feeling with Beyerdynamic Custom Game headset with those bass vents. Nothing close to this i experienced with other open backs in the past, nor with hd560s/k702/x2hr. I thought it's just me tired after long day, but I noticed a pattern..

 

[Saberpunch]

Looks like I'm joining the MDR MA900 club today

I got a chance to buy this hidden gem from a respectable member of this forum. He got a really cool selection of discontinued Sony headphones. I have a bad habit of writing an essay on every post, so I will keep it short.

1st Impression:
My favorite part of the MDR MA900 is the vocals. The vocals are clear with great clarity. Probably one of my favorite vocals headphones I ever use. It's up there with the MM-500 for vocals clarity for me. I love the soundstage is decent size, but airy. The airy feeling makes the soundstage feels bigger to me. Probably the most comfortable headphone I ever used, up there with the Mezes products. Everything else didn't really stand out to me, but it perform well enough. I'll probably find what I like more about it in due time. There are some issues I found during the 1st impression. It lacks is probably sub-bass slam (don't remember the bass guitar standing out too much so maybe bass too). The headphone felt really cheap, but to be fair, it is like $200 for retail when it was released. I never really care too much about sub-bass, so 1st impression, this headphone is a A (maybe S with a little more time) tier headphone for me. My source is Roon > Mojo Audio Mystique EVO > Nitsch Magni Piety > Sony MDR-MA900

 

[chrismercurio]

They are great. Unmatched comfort, non fatiguing sound, and a loudspeaker like presentation. Not the last word in detail, but with everything else it has going for it I have no complaints.

 

[gazzington]

I've had these headphones for about 7 years. Is there anything new that sounds as open and comfortable to wear all day?

 

[Ufasas]

I've had these headphones for about 7 years. Is there anything new that sounds as open and comfortable to wear all day?

hd560s (can also try Fidelio x3), sounds as fresh as it can get over ma900, i only come back to ma900 because i fixed the cable, and want to compare some songs between x2hr-k702-hd560s, hehe

 

[jamesjames]

They are great. Unmatched comfort, non fatiguing sound, and a loudspeaker like presentation. Not the last word in detail, but with everything else it has going for it I have no complaints.

I agree with your take on these. I've only recently obtained a pair, having tracked them down after reading some good reviews (dated about 20 years ago ...). I'm surprised they haven't garnered more accolades over the years. I listen to classical music, and I would say they really are among the best I've heard at any price. I have the MySphere 3.2, which is even more open, and I think more refined. But the Sony has more body and I guess would be preferred by many. I think it rivals the HD800S for depth of stage - without the same detail or separation. But, once again, I wouldn't be surprised to find that many prefer the Sony. There's also the price of course - there are great bargains to be had if you can find them! I think they benefit from a good amp - even though the nominal impedance of the phones is very low (~15 ohms) - they aren't the most sensitive phones to be had.

 

[jamesjames]

I've had these headphones for about 7 years. Is there anything new that sounds as open and comfortable to wear all day?

I think most would agree the MySphere is more open, but they would probably also agree it's not as comfortable. Whether the MySphere's an improvement might divide opinion. Speaking for myself, the MySphere can on occasion sound miraculously 'real'. But, generally, is less satisfying. The 900 seems to me to have a degree of understatement about it that seems very natural - effortless. It also responds well to crossfeed in my view. I don't like the RAAL, so won't offer thoughts there. The Sennheiser HD800S is very fine I think - and open in one sense - but quite different in character. It's also very comfortable I think. The MySphere is very expensive - and probably on that ground alone should be seen as not really competitive. I think if I had stumbled across the 900 earlier in my search for headphones for classical music I might well have gone no further.

 

[Sp12er3]

It's hard to get back to the MA900 when you switch your daily headphone tuning to something more detailed.
My T1 replaced it the first time and after ADX5000 I never came back to it, thus why I sold it.
T1's Soundstage isnt that much smaller than the 900' s and I'd take it for the speed, detail and clarity it has. Used its not that much higher than the msrp MA900 used to be in.
Z1R came and I just feel it's better in every way in the same sony house sound.
I guess I just can't get over the feeling of some veil blocking off the top end on the MA900, I do love it for the first 3 years I own it as my exclusive daily use headphone (alongside mid-fi like M70x and AD1000x)
Lachlan introduced high end audio to me and the Sony is definitely a good stop point for anyone not willing to spend more.
These days HD6XX is just a better deal tho, hard to find good condition MA900. I bought mine new old stock at MSRP around 2017 but yeah none of that are around anymore.

 

[jamesjames]

It's hard to get back to the MA900 when you switch your daily headphone tuning to something more detailed.
My T1 replaced it the first time and after ADX5000 I never came back to it, thus why I sold it.
T1's Soundstage isnt that much smaller than the 900' s and I'd take it for the speed, detail and clarity it has. Used its not that much higher than the msrp MA900 used to be in.
Z1R came and I just feel it's better in every way in the same sony house sound.
I guess I just can't get over the feeling of some veil blocking off the top end on the MA900, I do love it for the first 3 years I own it as my exclusive daily use headphone (alongside mid-fi like M70x and AD1000x)
Lachlan introduced high end audio to me and the Sony is definitely a good stop point for anyone not willing to spend more.
These days HD6XX is just a better deal tho, hard to find good condition MA900. I bought mine new old stock at MSRP around 2017 but yeah none of that are around anymore.

Yes, looking again at my earlier post, I think I probably I got a little carried away with the attractions of the MA900. I do agree with some comments I've seen to the effect that it doesn't seem to scale really. And I agree there are better phones - the T1 and ADX5000 are better, as are the MySphere and HD800S - and detail is part of the reason. But it's still unusually good I think, and genuinely enjoyable - and a real bargain these days - particularly when it offers so much quality from even the most basic sources.

 

[Ufasas]

Added these hybrid earpads to collection, intended to use with closed back Soundmagic HP1000, but seems it is more pleasant on open back headphone, like ma900, ha! I enjoyed how the music sounded with them, only pads i wouldn't use on ma900 - pleather!

 

[JohnnyAckerman]

Stumbled upon this thread and wondering if anyone has advice on a good and relatively easy way to fix or replace a snapped headband on the MA900s. The metal (or plastic?) part of the band in mine randomly snapped one day. They still work and are kinda wearable but would like to fix them if I can. Thanks for any tips.

 

[Ufasas]

Stumbled upon this thread and wondering if anyone has advice on a good and relatively easy way to fix or replace a snapped headband on the MA900s. The metal (or plastic?) part of the band in mine randomly snapped one day. They still work and are kinda wearable but would like to fix them if I can. Thanks for any tips.

Not a specialist in fix of this.. I am still hesitant of touching anything inside the cups after during all these 10 years, desoldering/resoldering, hhh, just to remove that one resistor in order to improve sound a bit. Gonna get Fiio K7 DAC soon, will test MA900 with it, but i doubt i will spot much of an improvement, didn't spot much with K5 pro ess + MA900, only thing i know, i still liked the sound with that combo, but not for daily listening

 

[Ufasas]

ma900 + fiio k7, a fairly sensible combo, big soundstage, good instruments separation, enjoyable vocal clarity, could listen all day to this