[Mad Lust Envy]

I don't think the vast majority of the population would ever call the MA900 bright. Nothing bright about them. They are dark/warm AND mellow. Dunno how anyone would call them bright, really.

 

[xkonfuzed]

To my ears the ma900 is not entirely laid back or what i would consider dark. They are warm and well-balanced from bass to treble. The treble is just perfect, right where its supposed to be. A little toned down but not too toned that it makes the sound signature overly dark. However, there is a glare in the upper mids that can make some instruments sound ever so slightly bright, i have noticed that with a few orchestral rock songs.

 

[Trunks159]

You're right, I don't find them dark. I just don't find them bright.

 

[xanlamin]

Just got this today. Very good with vocals. Very happy with the purchase. My first Sony headphone which I want to keep! 

 

[sk7line]

So, got these headphones a few days ago and yeah very impressed. Having read MLE's guide (cheers btw), I opted for these to use alongside my AD700s, now I will use the MA900 probably 90% of the time, if I was gaming competitively then I would grab the AD700 but the MA900 is so much more fun to game with but still with a decent soundstage.
 
Just one thing though, as others have stated, there isn't much to the stock pads, and my ears are slightly touching the driver padding. So my question is, is there an alternative pad worth getting which will help with my issue yet still retaining as much of the signature/soundstage?
 
Thanks in advance guys.

 

[Kdavis71]

God, being my first ever open back headphones and the fact they are some of the most open open backs you can get my ears really had some adjusting to do. At first they sounded alright, nothing special and not much bass but after continuous listening they are really growing on me and starting to sound sexyyy!

 

[exSpire]

One small grief I have with these is that when I lean back on my chair and it touches the back of them, they're pushed a little forward, making my ears sit in the back of the phones.. and the sound there is just meehhh.. I find this occuring even without the chair thing, they're light and it happens easily. It's not a major problem, but a tad annoying.
 
By the way, I'm a complete noobcake in audio matters.. but coming from AD700, am I imagining this or is it true that the AD700 provide more soundstage? Not by a major increment though.
 
Quote:

  So, got these headphones a few days ago and yeah very impressed. Having read MLE's guide (cheers btw), I opted for these to use alongside my AD700s, now I will use the MA900 probably 90% of the time, if I was gaming competitively then I would grab the AD700 but the MA900 is so much more fun to game with but still with a decent soundstage.
 
Just one thing though, as others have stated, there isn't much to the stock pads, and my ears are slightly touching the driver padding. So my question is, is there an alternative pad worth getting which will help with my issue yet still retaining as much of the signature/soundstage?
 
Thanks in advance guys.

 
 
Mad Lust Envy tried the SRH-1840 and the SRH-1540 earpads with them and he said that the 1840 ones are pretty good. But look for his post for more info. Search this thread for "SRH1840" or "SRH-1840". Good luck.

I'm also coming from the AD700. Care to share more impressions?

 

[Trunks159]

You can easily tighten the clamp by squeezing the headband. Also, the Ma900 is warmer, darker, and has more mids than the Ad700, which can give the impression of a smaller soundstage.

 

[Kdavis71]

I really don't see the hype with lossless recordings. I got a bunch of lossless recordings that I listen to on Jriver MC 19 with Sony Ma900. I also listen to music on youtube and pandora radio for more variety and they are both said to not have good audio quality. I think Pandora radio is said to be like 64 kbps or something but I can't really tell a difference. Sometimes it even seems to me if the same song comes on radio that I have in Flac format I prefer the pandora version.
 
I guess these headphones just arn't revealing of flaws in recordings which is fine by me. I have never experienced a high end headphone but from the sounds of it, they don't sound that appealing to me. Less bass, more expensive, more dependent on equipment, Also I would have to be stuck listening to just well recording music. I'm not a fan of classical and lots of the common audiophile music. 
 
If I ever somehow end up with a load of money and nothing to spend it on, the only high end headphone that actually sounds appealing to me is the Audeze Lcd 2.

 

[kman1211]

  I really don't see the hype with lossless recordings. I got a bunch of lossless recordings that I listen to on Jriver MC 19 with Sony Ma900. I also listen to music on youtube and pandora radio for more variety and they are both said to not have good audio quality. I think Pandora radio is said to be like 64 kbps or something but I can't really tell a difference. Sometimes it even seems to me if the same song comes on radio that I have in Flac format I prefer the pandora version.
 
I guess these headphones just arn't revealing of flaws in recordings which is fine by me. I have never experienced a high end headphone but from the sounds of it, they don't sound that appealing to me. Less bass, more expensive, more dependent on equipment, Also I would have to be stuck listening to just well recording music. I'm not a fan of classical and lots of the common audiophile music. 
 
If I ever somehow end up with a load of money and nothing to spend it on, the only high end headphone that actually sounds appealing to me is the Audeze Lcd 2.

I found the quality of the recording itself often makes a bigger difference than how compressed a song is or not. Revealing headphones do make the difference of compression a bit more dramatic though. Youtube isn't as bad as some people make it out to be, sure some videos have horrid quality but some actually have very good quality.
 
How easy the MA900 was to work with to make sound good was one of the things I liked the most about them, I could plug them into my laptop directly or something and be happy with the sound. They are my top personal recommendation for $200 open-back headphones for beginning audiophiles because they are easy plug in and not worry about system matching headphones and one of the best sounding headphones around $200 as well. I only really thought the K612 sounded better overall than the MA900 at the $200 mark but the catches being the K612 is more revealing(at least it's not fatiguing about it), demanding, and can honestly be a pain to get good synergy with. It ends up being a more expensive headphone in the end because it needs an amp and a decent dac that have good synergy with it, so it's not really a headphone I recommend to people starting their audiophile journey.
 
I can understand that, after having listened to many high-end headphones, I found many a combination of too bright and too fatiguing in general and since I look for a non-fatiguing genre masters in my headphones many just don't do it for me. Only a few thoroughly impressed me because even though they were revealing they didn't make a lot of the stuff sound bad nor did they cause listening fatigue.

 

[kstuart]

  I really don't see the hype with lossless recordings.

Lossey recordings do not sound bad in any way.   The compression is designed to remove the least audible part of the music, without producing anything bad sounding.
 
I find that good equipment makes lossey recordings sound even better than they did before.
 
BUT, if you compare the lossey version of a recording with the lossless version, usually you will find the lossless to sound better.

 

[lolwatpear]

I've been liking this headphone, but headband is so flawed.  It doesn't keep the adjustment well at all.  Also, even though it is so lightweight, the headband isn't padded enough to make it 'disappear'.  It puts a noticeably pressure point on the top of my head.  The cloth material just isn't thick or spongy enough for perfect comfort.

 

[Trunks159]

  I've been liking this headphone, but headband is so flawed.  It doesn't keep the adjustment well at all.  Also, even though it is so lightweight, the headband isn't padded enough to make it 'disappear'.  It puts a noticeably pressure point on the top of my head.  The cloth material just isn't thick or spongy enough for perfect comfort.

The adjustment holds very well for me.  As for the headband, it doesn't bother me since they're so light.  The reviews may have skewed your judgement.
 
How do you like the sound?  I still haven't found anything I like more. The soundstage is just soooo good.

 

[terance]

So after a week or two and many hours of listening, I feel that my initial assessment of the MA 900 may have been a little off base (or completely off base?).  Really enjoying the headphones now and feel that any unpleasant brightness I heard before was my brain getting used to headphones again.  The MA 900's seem very laid back and seem to pair well with tube amps, which is a plus for me because I don't own anything else.
 
Also, it may not need to be repeated, but man these are comfortable.  My only complaint at this time is that the cable isn't hot swap, but that is minor.
 
A pretty good way to start my second journey into headphones.

 

[lolwatpear]

  The adjustment holds very well for me.  As for the headband, it doesn't bother me since they're so light.  The reviews may have skewed your judgement.
 
How do you like the sound?  I still haven't found anything I like more. The soundstage is just soooo good.

I came to this conclusion after purchasing it them based on reviews about how comfortable it is.  I actually hardly read this thread.  There's no doubt it's one of the most comfortable headphones, but I think the headband can be improved.   As for the sound, I'm enjoying them.  I went from the hd600 to these and don't regret it.  These are slightly warmer and have better sound stage.