[Kdavis71]

I think it's just the fact that I went from an open back headphone known for sub-bass roll off to a closed back known for emphasized sub-bass.
 
I'm using a Fiio E17 which is said to be a good pairing for the MA900. I am just desiring the MA900 sound with a bit of sub-bass rumble.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Sub bass rumble out of a FULLY open dynamic? Not gonna happen. The M50 has that rumble because it is closed back nature. Night and day presentations of sound. You want sub bass rumble out of an open-backed headphone, get a planar like the HE-400 or LCD2.

 

[kman1211]

  I think it's just the fact that I went from an open back headphone known for sub-bass roll off to a closed back known for emphasized sub-bass.
 
I'm using a Fiio E17 which is said to be a good pairing for the MA900. I am just desiring the MA900 sound with a bit of sub-bass rumble.

If you want an open-back with some sub-bass rumble, orthos will give the best sub-bass of open-backs but they are quite expensive. A well amped K612, DT 880, and DT 990 are also capable of it to a lesser degree.

 

[RedBull]

In contrary, sub bass 'rumble' also means bass resonance in the chamber of which some people do not like, (eg. me). I never like close can due to this reaaon, buat that's just me.

 

[TheBoss]

any news on ma900 successor?

 

[Nirmalanow]

After years in this hobby, I am still often surprised at how much of a difference system synergy can make. For a while now I have been switching back and forth between using the ESW9 and the MDR-MA900 with my Tera player feeding the iCAN amp. The ESW9 has a very rich full bodied tube like sound, and the MA900 is a totally unique experience of space and instrument separation. I often wished I could combine the two into one headphone that did both.
 
It helped the ESW9 to include the Acoustic Research TDS202 as described elsewhere in this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/654405/ican-amp-review-a-new-amp-that-gives-you-more-more-bass-more-soundstage-and-more-detail  But with the MA900 that sometimes led to too much detail and treble emphasis when combined with the 3D effect on the iCAN. Sometimes it was fun, but on other tracks it would get fatiguing. Then I would go back to the ESW9 which are much warmer and would feel like there was some sort of soul added back to the music that wasn't there with the Sony's.
 
Then a few days ago, I pulled out the BigOnNoise Singularity mini to mini I picked up a while ago. It is a unique cable made of nano carbon, and when I played with it in the past, it had a nice soft analog sound but somehow lacked enough details for me. With the ESW9s things got kind of fuzzy and vague using this carbon fiber cable. (Note: there is a website for this cable, but I am not sure if they are still in business, so I would email them before thinking about buying: http://www.bigonattitude.com/bigonnoise.com/page7/page7.html )
 
Maybe for the first time I tried the Singularity cable between the Tera and the iCAN while using the Sony MA-900s. Wow! There it was....the richness of sound and full body the Sony's had lacked. It was like adding tubes to the system, and also took the edge off of the treble (any edge that would sometimes appear is probably due to the 3D effect on the iCAN....not due to the Sony's). Now the Sony's seemed to be that perfect combination I was looking for of a warm rich sound with the unique spaciousness that the very open Sony headphones always have. And I did not lose any details. With this setup, I can just leave the iCAN's 3D effect on for almost all kinds of music similar to how I use it with the ESW9s, and also use the bass boost on the lower setting which fills in the low bass which is a bit light on the Sony's.
 
Who knew that one small change would shift the balance so much. And it seems like a big difference just for a cable change, but then again the Singularity cable is quite a different cable. It is not just switching from one metal to another, but a different class of material altogether.
 
I am loving the sound of the Sony's now more than ever. I highly recommend the iCAN amp with these headphones. The bass boost on low setting does wonders for the low end, and with it set on high you can even get some over the top bass...or should I say over the bottom bass   Who would think the Sony's can become a basshead phone with the iCAN? The 3D effect seems like it would be too much since the Sony's already have such a wide soundstage, but on a lot of music it takes the spaciousness of the Sony's to a whole other level that is addictive. And it can be switched off anytime it gets to be too much, which again does not happen as often now with this new mini to mini cable included. The net effect of the iCAN with it's added features is that it fills in the low end and adds a bit of liveliness which is a good match with the Sony's.

After this experience with switching the cable, I would also recommend tweaking the rest of the system to find the ideal balance.

 

[Defiant00]

Well, I would like to blame everyone here, as my MA900s are on their way. I typically use my HD600 at work, but am looking forward to seeing if the MA900 will take over as my headphone to listen to all day at work.
 
And if not then you'll probably see them for sale here in a couple months.

 

[walfredo]

Thanks for the sharing your experience, +Nirmalanow.  It is really amazing how much sinergy plays a role in the final sound quality.  I had similar experiences pairing the MA900 with the amp.  I highly recommend the Sangling PH3000 with it.

 

[Nirmalanow]

After some more time with the BigOnNoise nano carbon mini to mini cable in my Tera>iCan>MA900 setup, I am finding that there is little need for the 3D effect on the iCAN. It can be kind of fun, but the Sony's have plenty of space and instrument separation already, and I am just loving their tone now. The 3D does tip the treble up and also sometimes brings out any hiss in the recording, so doing without allows the naturalness of tone the carbon cable brought out to shine that much more. It really is like having a pair of open ESW9s that soundstage well. All of that tube like warmth the ESW9s have so much of, but without a closed in feeling. The MA900s in this setup really shine, probably in large measure due to the Tera which itself has such an organic natural sound. The Tera can't drive the MA900s by itself, but add the iCAN and they really come alive.
 
I tried switching to my RAL silver mini to mini, and it sounded good, but again the tone shifted up a bit in the treble and I immediately wanted my nano carbon cable back. If I feel the need for a little extra treble and detail in a particular recording, I can always just switch the 3D effect on the iCAN back on, but for now I am just getting lost in the music without it.

 

[Defiant00]

Well...just got my pair and, yeah...I don't think there's any risk I'm going to sell these.
 
More impressions later, for now I'm just listening 

 

[96rubberduckys]

  Well...just got my pair and, yeah...I don't think there's any risk I'm going to sell these.
 
More impressions later, for now I'm just listening 

would love some comparisons with the HD600 (hint hint)

 

[Defiant00]

  would love some comparisons with the HD600 (hint hint)

 
First off, this isn't the easiest comparison since I have no way of volume matching and the HD600 requires a good bit more power than the MA900. Also, was done at work, so not the ideal listening environment (but it is where I'll be listening to these, so eh...)
 
Comfort
 
So far comfort's about a tie, mainly because I'm used to wearing the HD600s for hours and the MA900 is...different. Fortunately, the (light) contact with my ears doesn't bother me, but it does make my ears feel a little warm.
 
Soundstage and Imaging
 
The MA900 is both wider and deeper, although it seems a bit more diffused since everything seems a bit more spread out. Depending on the type of music this is either really neat (as I notice interesting new positional information) or slightly detrimental compared to HD600's relatively smaller but very precise staging.
 
Bass
 
First off, my bass reference is the LCD-2s (which I no longer have), and compared to those these both have some amount of rolloff. Overall, both have very similar bass, but I'd give the edge to the HD600. The MA900 is a little bit more rolled off and a little more one-note (unless you turn it up a good bit, but the same can be said for the HD600), but it isn't a big difference. Still, for bass-heavy music without a big focus on soundstage I'd lean towards the HD600 if these two were my only choices.
 
Mids
 
Too close to call, timbre and tone on both are excellent. Due to the treble differences voices can seem slightly artificial on the MA900s compared to the HD600s though.
 
Treble
 
While I'm no treble head, it seemed pretty obvious to me that the HD600 has both more and better treble. For me, though, it's not so much the quantity as much as the quality, and the MA900 just lacks a bit here, as percussion just fits a bit better in songs with the HD600. It's not a huge thing, but it is one of the more noticeable differences between them.
 
Overall
 
These are definitely both staying, but they're two fun surprisingly similar sounds. The HD600 sounds technically better to me in a few areas, but the MA900 soundstage is also quite fun. Definitely glad I got a pair before they became impossible to find.

 

[xkonfuzed]

   
First off, this isn't the easiest comparison since I have no way of volume matching and the HD600 requires a good bit more power than the MA900. Also, was done at work, so not the ideal listening environment (but it is where I'll be listening to these, so eh...)
 
Comfort
 
So far comfort's about a tie, mainly because I'm used to wearing the HD600s for hours and the MA900 is...different. Fortunately, the (light) contact with my ears doesn't bother me, but it does make my ears feel a little warm.
 
Soundstage and Imaging
 
The MA900 is both wider and deeper, although it seems a bit more diffused since everything seems a bit more spread out. Depending on the type of music this is either really neat (as I notice interesting new positional information) or slightly detrimental compared to HD600's relatively smaller but very precise staging.
 
Bass
 
First off, my bass reference is the LCD-2s (which I no longer have), and compared to those these both have some amount of rolloff. Overall, both have very similar bass, but I'd give the edge to the HD600. The MA900 is a little bit more rolled off and a little more one-note (unless you turn it up a good bit, but the same can be said for the HD600), but it isn't a big difference. Still, for bass-heavy music without a big focus on soundstage I'd lean towards the HD600 if these two were my only choices.
 
Mids
 
Too close to call, timbre and tone on both are excellent. Due to the treble differences voices can seem slightly artificial on the MA900s compared to the HD600s though.
 
Treble
 
While I'm no treble head, it seemed pretty obvious to me that the HD600 has both more and better treble. For me, though, it's not so much the quantity as much as the quality, and the MA900 just lacks a bit here, as percussion just fits a bit better in songs with the HD600. It's not a huge thing, but it is one of the more noticeable differences between them.
 
Overall
 
These are definitely both staying, but they're two fun surprisingly similar sounds. The HD600 sounds technically better to me in a few areas, but the MA900 soundstage is also quite fun. Definitely glad I got a pair before they became impossible to find.

Glad you're enjoying the MA900's. These headphones are excellent for the price you can find them in. I don't think I'll ever sell my pair 

.

 

[Skooter]

Failed resistor mod update.
 
I took some time last night to see why my MA900 headphones failed. The schematics and pictures posted here were correct on my pair. 
 
The failure issue was that the leads from the board to the voice coil go ABOVE the board NOT THROUGH the board. 
 
So use extreme caution if considering removing the yellow blob of adhesive on the board; that adhesive likely covers the (very delicate) leads.
 
I think the leads go to the outer edge of the board at what appears to be a small "red dot" at the outer circumference of the frame. The wires are are then snaked down towards the voice coil.
 
A few people here recommended soldering @ resistor pads; I think that is wise advice and a much safer alternative than going straight for the leads. 
 
Disassembly confirmed the headphone's overall industrial design is quite good; engineered for efficient production and performance. A lot of foam that will unfortunately deteriorate over time. Definitely not user serviceable. 
 
I will try mod on second pair, which I quite enjoy.
 
Also noted that the leads were glued with a clear adhesive directly to the driver (from outer edge to the coil). That was a surprise.

 

[Nirmalanow]

I think I may have finally found a pair of already modded MA900s, so if the deal goes through, I will be able to do some side by side comparisons of the modded and unmodded versions soon. I will post my observations on here.