[rovopio]

  i'll have to disagree with that statement , for me not only hd600 are more muddy but less clearer, they sound quite veiled, but that's just my personal opinion (used them from o2).

 
If you A/B ma-900 to hd600, or hd650, you will feel that ma900 is clearer than the other two.
 
That's because ma-900 has emphasis on the midrange. The midrange is forward, and that's the reason why you perceive the ma900 as clearer, and in comparison you said hd600 is muddier.
 
On the other hand, h600 is more balanced and tonally natural, in addition to having more treble details and extensions in comparison to the ma900. The reason why i said hd600 is clearer and more balanced. I still stand by that. MA900 having forward midrange emphasis to me does not mean that it has clearer sound, it just means it has more forward midrange sound.
 
HD600 is the more pleasant, balanced, and natural headphone compared to the ma-900. Heck, even compared to all other headphones i currently own. It's a little rolled off on both ends, and some headphones do certain things better than hd600 does (like ma900 soundstage).
 
MA900 however, is perfect for me based on their forward midrange combine with their non-fatiguing trebles, i can listen to them for hours on end.
 
You hear what you hear. If you think hd600 is muddy, it's what you hear and your opinion is yours. I gotta say though, if that's how you feel about the hd600, you will find hd598 and hd650 even muddier and / or thicker.... i like grado sound signature. If you haven't try them, maybe you might like them too.
 
One thing the HD600 got right is that they are the most tonally natural headphone i've heard on the <$400 range, and i've heard a lot of headphones on <$400 range. Got to mention the dt880 here as well for being the most tonally neutral.
 
Natural and neutral is not always what people prefer for musical enjoyment though, some people prefer fidelio x2 or v-moda m100 over hd600. And it's all preference. On the hd600, it is actually nicer than the ma-900, technicality-wise, it' is the better overall headphone,
 
i like the hd600, i just can't justify paying $560 for them. Well no, i can imagine paying $560 for them, i just dislike the local distributor that imports them, that i don't want them getting my $160 over MSRP money. I would get and use both if it's not for those two factors (and 1 other unimportant to mention factor).

 

[rovopio]

   
I'd be curious to see which one leaks more. I owned the sr80i for a couple of weeks and I don't recall it leaking to the level of the sony 900's. But its been about year since I owned them so my memory might not be as good. 

 
i have the 60, 60e, and 80e, boy they leak more than ma-900. My memory say way more, but that's a slight exaggeration. i have the 60i and 80e right here. i still listen to the 80e from time to time and the 60i is neglected because of bad left driver-to-wire connector. The connection part is loose, so i got intermittent sound.

 

[RiGLEY]

Hey!
 
Can you please tell me how loud is the MA900?
Currently I use an ATH M50, and I like its loudness. I want to try open cans, but without loosing a lot of loudness. Would the Sony suit me? 

 

[amigomatt]

 

  ^ i didn't say that was the summary of MY opinion, i said it's a summary of PUBLIC opinion.
I just wanted to illustrate how worthless all those reviews are...reviews on them are so inconsistent it's amazing.
 
I can still cancel my ma900 eBay order and a store near me is selling Ultrasone HFI-2400 for 140$ so i'm reading all the mixed reviews and i don't know what to do

 

 
You've been hanging out on this thread long enough. i think if you're not convinced by the ma-900 by now, you won't like the ma-900 when it's arrived. If i were you, i'd cancel it now.
 
Your perception of public opinion is inherently bias and tells a lot about your own perception of the headphone, if not your own preference to some degree.
 
I strongly disagree with 2 points you made. and disagree with 1 other point.
 
"-They have a very grained,veiled,distorted sound yet it is also very smooth,revealing and pleasant to listen to.
-These sound almost as good as the HD600 but not as good as 150$ pair of Sennheisers so they are an excellent bang for the buck yet not good for the money at all."
 
"These have no bass WHATSOEVER yet they have a very surprising bass for an open can so every genre will sound great with them."
 
Everybody's perception of  other opinions are always inherently bias. I read a lot before pulling the trigger on ma-900 (i read half of all the 100 pages). I also talk privately with some ma-900 owners before getting it. My summary of public opinion on ma-900, will be very, very different than what you've typed, and i'm sure at least three people i consulted with before i bought this will agree with my very different summary of public opinion than what you have posted.
 
What's grainy to some, is clear to me.
What's musical to some, is overwhelming lower midrange smears to me.
 
ma-900 not as good as HD598 for $150? Not only that my summary of public opinion is that ma-900 is better than hd598 at $150, nd my personal opinion is that the HD598 sounds lifeless and dead and not worth $150, let alone their $300 MSRP. I dislike v-moda m100 and sennheiser momentum, and will not pay $100 to get them, let alone $400 that they retail where i'm at, maybe people who love them will dislike ma-900.
 
That's the thing about public opinion, define grainy? define musical? define the perfect amount of bass? ma-900 has a midbass hump.
I am no expert in bass, so i'm going to copy paste this instead http://www.head-fi.org/t/663121/sony-mdr-ma900-impressions-thread/1620#post_11121575
 
They're not the end all be all headphone, they're not even designed to do that. And yes i agree, their comfort is a hit-and-miss on the wearer's ear. The 70mm size and angled cups will be a hit and miss for some people. As for myself, i wear the cups all the way back, so my ear is touching the inner padding amd it's comfortable that way. Some people wears them differently. Their headband is also decent, it's just depends on the shape of your head, and where you place the ma-900 on your head.
 
Your statement saying "the headband is unbearable after 30 minutes." is just plain wrong. If people can bear wearing shure 1540 weird headband and say that that's comfortable, there's no way ma-900 is unbearable. Not comfortable to some maybe, but unbearable is just plain wrong. Unbearable is how people define new unused S-cushion on a new unused Grado SR series, where the clamping is still tight. Comparing ma-900 headband to brand new grado sr80e S-cushion is like comparing the distance between Space and Earth. As in, it doesn't make any sense.

@rovopio I tihkn you might have missed the point that those weren't Viber's opinions, they were a summary of the conflicting opinions found on this thread and I agree with him.  So many people have opposite reactions to this headphone, more than any others I've read about.  They do really need to be tried first and more importantly, one must acclimatise to their sound once they receive them, give just how unique their presentation is in comparison to other headphones.  They are definitely up there with my favourite headphones ever and have impressed me more than most of my other headphones have.  I am surprised they have such a relatively small following.

 

[Viber]

^This man gets it 

 
I think i will still buy them as the seller is offering me further discount now...I'm just so curious about them so i have to try them.
I believe i will find someone who will buy them from me if i won't like them.

 

[amigomatt]

^This man gets it 

I think i will still buy them as the seller is offering me further discount now...I'm just so curious about them so i have to try them.

I believe i will find someone who will buy them from me if i won't like them.

I reckon you'll like them!

 

[Star2806]

To Amigimatt:  Veering off from the current conversation, but how do you find your Pioneer SE-A1000 compared to the Sonys?  I am thinking of buying them off amazon and I don't expect them to have that much bass but maybe they have a clear midrange with good soundstage?  Hopefully they would have as much bass as the ma900s or a little more. 

 

[Folex]

My only gripe with 900s is the pads. Very thin and not alot of padding. Beyer 990 pads feel like they were made for them

 

[amigomatt]

To Amigimatt:  Veering off from the current conversation, but how do you find your Pioneer SE-A1000 compared to the Sonys?  I am thinking of buying them off amazon and I don't expect them to have that much bass but maybe they have a clear midrange with good soundstage?  Hopefully they would have as much bass as the ma900s or a little more. 

I just gave my Pioneers away to my uncle! They were very nice for the money but nowhere near as good as the MA900 for my tastes. From my memory, they did have more bass but sounded quite coloured to my ears. There was a certain unevenness in the treble. It wasn't super noticeable but lent it's signature peakiness to everything I listened to on them. They did sound 'impressive' though, just not as open and alluring as the Sonys. The Pioneers are still being massively hyped over on their thread though. Reading that thread 'almost' made me wish I hadn't sold them, although my uncle is over the moon with them and MUCH prefers them to his Grado SR60s (another pair I had advised him to buy years back)!

 

[amigomatt]

My only gripe with 900s is the pads. Very thin and not alot of padding. Beyer 990 pads feel like they were made for them

I find the clamp so small that the quality/attributes of the pads made little if any difference to me.

 

[Defiant00]

Hey!

Can you please tell me how loud is the MA900?
Currently I use an ATH M50, and I like its loudness. I want to try open cans, but without loosing a lot of loudness. Would the Sony suit me? 

Loud? As with most other cans they can likely make you go deaf pretty easily.

Are you asking if they're more sensitive? Or if they go louder without distorting? Or something else?

 

[rovopio]

  ^This man gets it 

 
I think i will still buy them as the seller is offering me further discount now...I'm just so curious about them so i have to try them.
I believe i will find someone who will buy them from me if i won't like them.

They're going to go out of circulation someday.... i'm considering getting a second pair. at $140, this is just a steal.
Though now it's at $180 on the website i bought them from http://www.e-earphone.jp/shop/shopdetail.html?brandcode=002014000070&search=sony+mdr-ma900&sort=brandname

 

[Folex]

I find the clamp so small that the quality/attributes of the pads made little if any difference to me.

 
Unreal comfort:
 

 

[rovopio]

   
Unreal comfort:
 

 
putting the original earpad back on is really hard. or maybe it's just me. i actually have a beyer earpad at home, but the last time i took off the original earpad, putting it back on is just hard.

 

[Folex]

   
putting the original earpad back on is really hard. or maybe it's just me. i actually have a beyer earpad at home, but the last time i took off the original earpad, putting it back on is just hard.

 
THANK YOU! I am glad I'm not the only person who struggles with this. It took me 15 minutes to put these beyer pads on the 900's. Not because its hard, because I suck at holding the pads in place.