[Hanafuda]

Why don't you just wrap the excess up with a cable tie?

Where's the fun in that?!? You're right though .. easy solution.

One last thing to consider, if you plan on ever selling them, nobody likes modded headphones. Stock is better for resale.

Sell??? Never! : )

 

[dogears]

What's the going price?

 

[PETEREK]

Yeah I started thinking about it after watching hawaiibadboy's vid - his were modded by peterek. I might contact him about it. hawaiibadboy did mention that peterek didn't really want to work on the ma900. Maybe that was just in reference to converting them to balanced -- I could see where that could be a pain with how the ma900 is wired. I would probably even be okay with a single-ended recabling. I'm not a magic cable type person, basic OFC is fine, so I was really more interested in DIY than having a job done that costs more than the headphone's original price. I'm considering doing this because 1) the ma900 stock cable is too long for me 99% of the time, and 2) I'm interested in recabling for balanced because I've got plans to buy the zx300 soon.

Hey Hanafuda,

I don't mind working on MA900s, I actually just made one detachable and pseudo balanced tonight. The wiring is actually pretty simple, the resistors are built into the boards connected to the back of each driver, so the wires from the cable are simply soldered to the board as they are in other headphones.

I borrowed this picture that @sunneebear posted back in 2015 to label the soldering points because his photo is so clear (hopefully he doesn't mind).


If you wanted to go balanced you would have to desolder the wires from locations "signal to right driver" and "ground to right driver" from the left driver. The board on the left driver bridges the ground from the cable to the right driver's ground and it also connects it to the ground of the left driver. The "right signal from cable" connects to the board only to bridge it to the thinner cable that runs through the headband to the right driver, it doesn't do anything more than that on the left driver. Beyerdynamic does the same thing with their DT line. To go balanced you would desolder the thinner cable that goes through the headband from this board and connect it to your right signal and right negative from your balanced cable. You would solder the left signal to the left signal soldering point labeled in blue in the picture and the left negative to the ground labeled in dark grey in the picture (or the black location, it really doesn't matter).

If you want to DIY it and have questions, shoot me a PM or contact me on Etsy as I'm not on Head-fi as much nowadays.

 

[Hanafuda]

Hey Hanafuda,

I don't mind working on MA900s, I actually just made one detachable and pseudo balanced tonight. The wiring is actually pretty simple, the resistors are built into the boards connected to the back of each driver, so the wires from the cable are simply soldered to the board as they are in other headphones.

I borrowed this picture that @sunneebear posted back in 2015 to label the soldering points because his photo is so clear (hopefully he doesn't mind).


If you wanted to go balanced you would have to desolder the wires from locations "signal to right driver" and "ground to right driver" from the left driver. The board on the left driver bridges the ground from the cable to the right driver's ground and it also connects it to the ground of the left driver. The "right signal from cable" connects to the board only to bridge it to the thinner cable that runs through the headband to the right driver, it doesn't do anything more than that on the left driver. Beyerdynamic does the same thing with their DT line. To go balanced you would desolder the thinner cable that goes through the headband from this board and connect it to your right signal and right negative from your balanced cable. You would solder the left signal to the left signal soldering point labeled in blue in the picture and the left negative to the ground labeled in dark grey in the picture (or the black location, it really doesn't matter).

If you want to DIY it and have questions, shoot me a PM or contact me on Etsy as I'm not on Head-fi as much nowadays.

Thanks @PETEREK for taking the time to reply. PM sent, respond at your convenience.

 

[D Rob]

I literally went through this entire thread from the 1st post. Wow. I'm surprised I made it to the end. Anyway I recently got the MA900's and figured while I was listening to them I would read this thread. It's a roller coaster. From MLE advocating it, to being better than AKG's, to people selling off HD800/HD/600's/HD650's because of it, to being compared heavily against the DT880's, to 9 million questions about pads, Lachlan loving it, to various re-cables, to the resistor mod and how to do it popping up consistently with the same questions of "how to do it" being asked, to no one ever seemingly finding stock replacement pads for it, to F1 comparisons, to being called veiled or grainy, a few said the bass was grainy, to it being super comfy, to some disliking the feel of the headband, to being sold, re-bought, getting discontinued, being dirt cheap to being quite expensive, to being picky about where it is on your head, to being thought of as cheap and flimsy rather than made of quality materials and lightweight.

I can honestly say I've never read so many pages of one thread before.

 

[gazzington]

I know I should read the whole thread but I have a toddler, time is limited. What would be the best replacement pads for these. They warrant good ones. My fav headphones. Yeap better than my pretty much new hd800s which I'm going to sell.

 

[cskippy]

I did some pad rolling with MA900. The closest pads to stock were DT880 pads. Looks like they come in black too!

https://www.amazon.com/beyerdynamic-EDT-velour-silver-grey/dp/B008XEYT6G?th=1

 

[rikstaker]

Got these babies. Brainwavz xl, memory foam hybrid pads.

Now they had a cloth cover to go on top of drivers, when I put them on I seem to had lost a lot of volume and treble.

So I decided to cut it out using a pair of scissors.

Result:

Comfort:

Now.. at first I was like..wow theres definitely more pressure around my ears. However once I loosened my headband a little and adjusted it around..boy ohh boy these feel good. Being memory foam, they settle on your ears and I would rate them higher in comfort than stock coz now ma900s dont move around.

Volume seems lower, however the better seal has given bass a slight boost and the increased distance from the ear seems to hv widened? The soundstage.

These are easy to take off an put on. They seem better for movies and games but Id rather have stock for music.Ill just order a pair of stock pads coz ma900 will be passed on to my future generations.

 

[Mr.Mantas]

Rikstaker Thank's for sharing.

Could you give more info on "Ill just order a pair of stock pads coz ma900"
Where and for how much you ordered stock pads.

 

[rikstaker]

Rikstaker Thank's for sharing.

Could you give more info on "Ill just order a pair of stock pads coz ma900"
Where and for how much you ordered stock pads.

https://m.ebay.ca/itm/Velour-Ear-Pa...478679?hash=item2a8d7e1c57:g:G-cAAOSwgspZuPkv

 

[rikstaker]

Edit:..Check update below.
Edit:

I Love them!!!! Lol..

I have had a chance now to fully go through them and here's a final review.

Gosh..I was using the wrong phone (for music) to compare. Now I switched to a better phone with a much better eq and it is able to push more volume. And I almost cried when I heard the crisp sparkling highs that i thought were never there on the ma900.. and the deep slammy bass....aaah..yum yum yum...gosh.

Seriously you won't know what you are missing without these pads.

The memory foam provides a really good seal and I also noticed the level of immersion has increased in gaming and movies as more outside noise is blocked.

I fired up last of us remastered which IMO has probably one of the best audio engines of any game. Gosh..the sound of clickers was more pronounced as if they are in my room trying to echolocate me..holy crap. Soundstage seems to have been enhanced..how I don't know. I tried playing lone survivor on Netflix..god damn..as those soldiers climbed up the hill rustling against leaves..I could hear everything..the fainter sounds..much more clearly..thanks to the vastly improved isolation.

Comfort is a whole new level. The only thing that reminded you earlier of ma900 was they would shift slightly..now they stay in place..ears don't touch drivers. Since they stay in place they don't change the sound signature as ma900 can sound brighter or dryer depending on how far ahead or back it is. No more mid gaming adjustments required. It stays put. Ma900 is now gone full dark..0 signature. Totally disappears.

They are on sale now.

https://www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-La...8&qid=1522973180&sr=8-1&keywords=brainwavz+xl

 

[Hanafuda]

Got these babies. Brainwavz xl, memory foam hybrid pads.....

Are they angled in width as shown on the package photo?

 

[rikstaker]

Are they angled in width as shown on the package photo?

Nope. They are circular.

 

[racebit]

I spend more than 6 hours every day seated on a desk with a headphone, so confort is first factor to me, although I still like quality sound.
I am a long time user and fan of the Sony F1, the most confortable headphone ever made, I think. Although it gives a quality sound, it lacks on the base.
So I wanted to try it's descendent the MA900, which has a good base, although loosing a little on confort compared to the F1. But it is most likely the second most confortable headphone ever made, and lighter than the F1.
So after I bought an used (very good condition) MA900 one month ago from japan for 250 euros (after taxes and duties), and liked it so much that two weeks later I bought two more, both new this time, from amazon.com.399 usd plus shipping, in the end I paied 510 euros (about 573 usd) each, after all taxes and duties to get it into europe.
You all probably think I am crazy and that there are many better headphones for that price. Not to me. Confort comes first to me.
I wanted to make sure I will have a MA900 available for the rest of my days, and these are about the last few available.
So, the F1 remains my hot day/night headphone, the MA900 will be used most of the year, and on cold days, or up to one hour period, I can use all others, such as the Philips X2 or the Focal Clear (soon to come).

Regarding the MA900 build quality, I think it is just excellent, 10 out of 10, a piece of art, of 195 grams with 70mm drivers. It is easy to make heavy and robust equipment (such as the X2), but it requires art to make light quality equipment. The "too thin" headband, besides light weight allows good head heat dissipation. Even the permanent "flimsy" cable with 3.5mm plug, is exactly how I like it, simple and light. A perfect match for my (desktop) Mojo.

 

[cskippy]

Hahaha you're crazy! I love that you have a backup to your backup.

I thoroughly enjoyed my MA900 and had it for quite a while. They are very underrated.