[LugBug1]

Here's my review... Sorry 

 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/sony-mdr-ma900-over-the-head-style-headphones/reviews/9983

 

[kstuart]

  Do the instruments like percussions and the attack of even just voices have the same tactile feel on the ma900 vs the planars? I have noticed typically that smaller dynamic drivers just don't have that tactile feel that planars have.

The drivers are the biggest dynamic drivers ever made (70mm).  They are very fast in response to input.  I am not sure what you mean by "tactile feel" of drivers - as opposed to a drum or a piano.

 

[kstuart]

I am beginning to think that the real reason that Sennheiser headphones are so beloved is their grasp of ergonomics, rather than superiority of their drivers (although those are very good as well).  All of the non-Sennheiser headphones that I have owned have had hugely varying response by moving them slightly on my head.  The MA-900 is no exception - I can get the bass and the soundstage to vary hugely by moving them up or down or frontward or backward by even a little.   The Alpha Dog headphones come with a sheet of recommendations by Dan, and he says to allow the headphones to be lower than you would otherwise think, and I can confirm that helps the sound quality.  Those headphones can be good or great depending on how they fit.  The Shure SRH-1840 were even more sensitive to fit, and the massive stiff yoke is not designed to fit a lot of heads well.
 
In contrast, you grab a pair of Sennheisers, put them on, and they naturally are in the right spot.  People talk about their comfort, but the same aspect of their design helps them to have the same sound for everyone who tries them.

 

[donunus]

 
The drivers are the biggest dynamic drivers ever made (70mm).  They are very fast in response to input.  I am not sure what you mean by "tactile feel" of drivers - as opposed to a drum or a piano.

I was speaking about the tactile sound of instruments having punch and snap on top of a black background. Lots of dynamic cans sound sort of washed out as if the instruments are not being struck like they are in real life. 

 

[LugBug1]

  Here's my review... Sorry 

 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/sony-mdr-ma900-over-the-head-style-headphones/reviews/9983

Just so it doesn't seem so harsh and to give a little perspective on my preference...  feel really bad now
 
The only headphone I've heard that I would give 5 stars for would be the HD800. I'd give the Denon D2000 2 stars, DT880, K701, HD650,3 stars the HD600, LCD2, HE500 4 stars. All Grado's up to RS1- 2 stars. RS1 3 stars. I'm hard to please these days.. 

 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

2 stars is the equivalent of 4/10. 4/10 is associated with BAD. They're a BAD headphone to you?

Here's how a typical grading system works.

10/10: Perfection
9: Amazing
8: Great
7: Good
6: Okay
5: Mediocre
4: Bad
3-0: Awful to trash

Don't know what makes the MA900 bad, but ok.

 

[appsmarsterx]

may be he got a defective unit  ...

 

[LugBug1]

2 stars is the equivalent of 4/10. 4/10 is associated with BAD. They're a BAD headphone to you?

Here's how a typical grading system works.

10/10: Perfection
9: Amazing
8: Great
7: Good
6: Okay
5: Mediocre
4: Bad
3-0: Awful to trash

Don't know what makes the MA900 bad, but ok.

Sorry MLE, but a headphone that has no sub bass, rolled off treble and still causes fatigue is a bad headphone these days. Its a one trick pony with the openness. I'm sure they will be a lot of fun for gaming though  
 
We both like AKG hp's and these aren't nearly as good as K/Q701/2 for music you must admit. 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Open dynamic headphones tend to have no sub bass. Please give me ONE fully open dynamic headphone that doesn't roll off in the sub bass. So, you're basically complaining about a dynamic driver's NORMAL shortcoming, not limited to the MA900. If you expected sub bass from a headphone THIS open where there is a GAPING void between the pads and the drivers...well, you don't understand the laws of dynamic drivers amd their limitations. That's your own fault. Go get planars that are able to push vasts amounts of air enough to keep the sub bass intact.


Fatigue? The linearity in midbass all the way to the upper mids makes them ideal for multipurpose use. The roll off in the treble is a flavor that is also not limited to the MA900. Plenty of headphones with that roll off, including some heavy hitters. That is also not a problem with the MA900. It was tuned to be that way, and is a preference thing, not a shortcoming.

So yeah. bad headphone for days. Right.

And actually I greatly prefer the MA900 to all the AKGs other than the Annies which are double the price. You talk about fatigue, when the K701 was dry, analytical, and had a pesky upper mids peak that stuck out like a bad pimple. The K702 and Q701 fared better, but they still lacked body and warmth for my taste.The MA900 is warmer than all the AKGs other than the Annies, and more musical to me. So no. I like my MA900 more for all purposes, other than the Annies being superior, but not as comfy.

Then you're comparing a headphone that first retailed at $300, and sells for $200 or less normally, while the AKGs retailed for nearly double that, and are only in the $250 range now due to how long they've been around. Not to mention the MA900 sounds more or less the same off anything, while the AKGs need considerabke amping to sound up to spec. You're comparing headphones in two distinctly different price ranges and requirements.

 

[LugBug1]

I'm listening to the K701's (recent batch) now and they are on another level in every area. If someone can afford them instead then its a no brainer imo. 
 
I'm just going to leave it at that. This is an appreciation thread and I'm clearly not appreciating them. 
 
Respect

 

[kman1211]

Open dynamic headphones tend to have no sub bass. Please give me ONE dynamic headphone that doesn't roll off in the sub bass. So, you're basically complaining about a dynamic driver's NORMAL shortcoming, not limited to the MA900. If you expected sub bass from a headphone THIS open where there is a GAPING void between the pads and the drivers...well, you don't understand the laws of dynamic drivers amd their limitations. That's your own fault. Go get planars that are able to push vasts amounts of air enough to keep the sub bass intact.


Fatigue? The linearity in midbass all the way to the upper mids makes them ideal for multipurpose use. The roll off in the treble is a flavor that is also not limited to the MA900. Plenty of headphones with that roll off, including some heavy hitters. That is also not a problem with the MA900. It was tuned to be that way, and is a preference thing, not a shortcoming.

So yeah. bad headphone for days. Right.

And actually I greatly prefer the MA900 to all the AKGs other than the Annies which are double the price. You talk about fatigue, when the K701 was dry, analytical, and had a pesky upper mids peak that stuck out like a bad pimple. The K702 and Q701 fared better, but they still lacked body and warmth for my taste.The MA900 is warmer than all the AKGs other than the Annies, and more musical to me. So no. I like my MA900 more for all purposes, other than the Annies being superior, but not as comfy.

Then you're comparing a headphone that first retailed at $300, and sells for $200 or less normally, while the AKGs retailed for nearly double that, and are only in the $250 range now due to how long they've been around. Not to mention the MA900 sounds more or less the same off anything, while the AKGs need considerabke amping to sound up to spec. You're comparing headphones in two distinctly different price ranges and requirements.

The fatigue probably comes from bad synergy on the MA900, I found the headphones to be harsh on certain set-ups as I have gotten unusual fatigue from them myself before and I know others that have had the same issue, so it's something that has been noticed before on the MA900. That's my impressions I got from the K701 when I heard them, but it was an old model and I have been told the newer models sounds like the Q701.
 
The MA900s sound actually varies quite a bit depending on amplification, it doesn't sound similar on any of my amps and the two different set of tubes I have make them sound quite different so I can't agree with the notion they sound similar on basically anything as I got noticeably different results in terms of amping and dacs with them.

 

[Primetime86]

I'm listening to the K701's (recent batch) now and they are on another level in every area. If someone can afford them instead then its a no brainer imo. 

I'm just going to leave it at that. This is an appreciation thread and I'm clearly not appreciating them. 

Respect

I own the K702 and MA900 and it's no comparison. The MA900 are more lively, fun, bigger soundstage. Detail about the same. the only area I'd pick the AKG is the build. They are very dull in comparison. I'm also a gamer and the MA900 creates a real landscape with it's amazing sense of distance while the K702 is great for detail it's not immersive and doesn't have the same sort of feeling of distance.

 

[pebpeb]

I have owned the MA900's for about six months and they continue to amaze me!!
The comfort, accurate sound, open sound stage, accurate bass... are all great with the MA900.

A new discovery!!
Great sound from the headphone jack of a newly acquired used Denon DVD-5000 (circa 1999)....It has digital inputs!!!
and was a flagship 35ilbs. DVD player, with 4 BurrBrown 1704 dacs.

Anyway, decided to test out the headphone jack, and went straight to the Sony MA900's....What a great pairing!! So much detail!..
.Must be a decent op-amp, and no interconnects between the source and headphone is something I forget about affecting the sound.

my AKG701's sounded good on the DVD-5000 also,
but with the MA900's it was like a whole new amp/headphone pair...really happy with this used bargain find

 

[Hailin]

That was a tad defensive sounding MLE, lol. Put the MA900 defence force into action.
I love my MA900 but they are not perfect. Also I hate AKGs with a passion always have always will. I don't like the AKG house sound and they are most uncomfortable headphones I have personally ever tried.
 
The MA900 does have rolled off bass, unlike my DT990pro/600 and CALs. People would say these headphones have overbearing bass, I just call them fun. 
Is super comfortable but not as comfortable as my CALs, or KSC75.
It has rolled off treble, unlike my DT's. I like the MA900 better now that I have gotten used to it. 
Doesn't have the mids of my MadDogs.
They aren't portable like my Koss.
The build doesn't even touch my Beyers.
I have never found the MA900 fatiguing until I listened to some Black Sun Empire my ears are exhausted not even sure why. 
 
So no they are not perfect. But that doesn't make them any less of a headphone. That detail and soundstage for a 200 headphone is so wonderful but not as large imo as the HD598.(HD598 have their own problems.)
 
If the MA900 is your perfect headphone congrats. To me it is wonderful addition to my collection and one of my favourites but not my perfect headphone cause I have not found that yet. My CALs come close but I have heard planar mids. Honestly I hope I never find my perfect headphone. I think it might be the TH900 but thank god I can never afford it!
 
Thanks LugBug1 for your review we all need a reminder now and then that everyone hears differently. 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Never once did I say they were perfect. And I even mention on my review that they have rolled off sub bass. Every single open dynamic headpone has rolled off sub bass. All of them. because the MA900 is so much more open, there is absolutely no way that it would keep any kind of sub bass. All someone has to do is look at it's design and it'd let them know that if they were looking for sub bass out of the MA900, they'd be idiots.

But the midbass is quite there. In fact, it's the strongest part of it's frequency response, being slightly elevated over both the mids and treble, mostly matching it's lower mids. That is exactly how I hear them too. Since most content focuses on mid bass, and not sub bass, I don't find it lacking much bass.

I have also mentioned in my review that the MA900 is beat by practically every mid level favorite in terms of technicality and refinement. I guess people don't read my review.

However, like I mentioned on the review, there is so much the MA900 does right, does for a lot cheaper, and with much less source/amp dependence compared to the popular mid-fi cans, whose price jumps up considerably when you have to match them to specific amps, etc, to make them truly worthwhile. you can pick up the MA900, and pretty good chance that they'll sing beautifully regardless of what you plug them into. Also worth mentioning that the comfort is a huuuuuge leap ahead of practically almost every full size I have ever worn, regardless of price range.

When you have price, ease of source/amp matching, incredibly comfort and weight, and amazing gaming performance, yeah, they're more than worthy to be defended.

As for them having less bass than your other headphones, well that's obvious. You have basshead cans. DT990 has a huge mid bass hump with big treble recession (further giving it lots of perceived bass), CaL is closed and fun oriented (typical Fostex-driver Denon sound), and Mad Dogs are a planar, which are known to have incredibly even bass from the beginning to end, and Portapro which are famous for being bass heavy. and fun infused.. You don't compare a fairly linear/balanced headphone like the MA900 to bass emphasized ones and complain about lack of bass. That's just silly.