• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

What headphone(s) do you own ?

Robbo99999

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
6,875
Likes
6,673
Location
UK
OP
solderdude

solderdude

Grand Contributor
Joined
Jul 21, 2018
Messages
15,891
Likes
35,912
Location
The Neitherlands
Indeed not the same fixtures, and on top of that they also have their own target (so not Harman or DF) for the compensated plots.
 

isostasy

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2022
Messages
354
Likes
628
MDR_MA300.jpg


I won an eBay auction for these at 25 GBP: the Sony MDR-MA300. All Sony open-back models seem to be rarely seen in the UK for some reason, so although these are the low end model from that line (I have a permanent search for 'MDR-MA' set up in the hope of finding an MA900), I thought I'd give them a shot.

The design looks normal from the outside but is the strangest I've come across in a headphone once you look inside. The driver is held in place only by a flexible rubber bowl, and there is some plastic assemblage behind it to limit the movement a little from being entirely free-floating, to hinging in one direction. It is impossible to describe in words only, so here are some pictures:

PXL_20230204_142616489.jpg
PXL_20230204_142618788.jpg
PXL_20230204_142657784.jpg
PXL_20230204_142659990.jpg


Besides the plastic headband, which requires padding, the headphones are supremely comfortable. It's kind of like having a supra-aural headphone with very low clamping force resting on your ear, with very soft velour padding all around the outside.

Unfortunately they do not sound great. I listened before measuring, and the bass is the first thing I noticed: it's definitely too elevated. The peak around 5kHz I didn't notice until measuring, largely because it is narrow (and I am sure exacerbated by my fpc, and not as bad on the head) so doesn't cause painful sibilance so much as a constant hissing coloration which simply sounds 'lo-fi'. EQ did wonders and simply bringing down that bass hump, then those peaks in the midrange and treble, improved it substantially.


MDR-MA300.jpg



I would really like to explore some acoustic means of sorting out that treble. I tried removing the plastic from behind the driver, stuffing the housing with foam, but from measuring the driver on its own it seems the 5khz peak is a property of the driver itself. I found no way to eliminate it. Therefore I am thinking of replacing the drivers with some Peerless by Tymphany drivers: either the HPD-40N16PET00-32-ND, which is the same 40mm size, or the HPD-50N25PR00-32-ND which is what the Aurorus Borealis uses. The latter is 50mm, bigger than the original, so would require some ingenuity to find a solution to installing them.

Any thoughts?
 

SSS

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2023
Messages
311
Likes
193
Location
Germany
STAX SR-Lambda Pro with SRM-1 MK-2 Pro. Rather old but very good until today. No repairs yet.
 

Robbo99999

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
6,875
Likes
6,673
Location
UK
Indeed not the same fixtures, and on top of that they also have their own target (so not Harman or DF) for the compensated plots.
Yeah, cool, which is why it would be good if Amir measures it on his GRAS, as that is the one that is Harman - the one that we know best here (and has the research backing the Target Curve).
 
Last edited:

Robbo99999

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
6,875
Likes
6,673
Location
UK
MDR_MA300.jpg


I won an eBay auction for these at 25 GBP: the Sony MDR-MA300. All Sony open-back models seem to be rarely seen in the UK for some reason, so although these are the low end model from that line (I have a permanent search for 'MDR-MA' set up in the hope of finding an MA900), I thought I'd give them a shot.

The design looks normal from the outside but is the strangest I've come across in a headphone once you look inside. The driver is held in place only by a flexible rubber bowl, and there is some plastic assemblage behind it to limit the movement a little from being entirely free-floating, to hinging in one direction. It is impossible to describe in words only, so here are some pictures:

View attachment 262221View attachment 262222View attachment 262223View attachment 262224

Besides the plastic headband, which requires padding, the headphones are supremely comfortable. It's kind of like having a supra-aural headphone with very low clamping force resting on your ear, with very soft velour padding all around the outside.

Unfortunately they do not sound great. I listened before measuring, and the bass is the first thing I noticed: it's definitely too elevated. The peak around 5kHz I didn't notice until measuring, largely because it is narrow (and I am sure exacerbated by my fpc, and not as bad on the head) so doesn't cause painful sibilance so much as a constant hissing coloration which simply sounds 'lo-fi'. EQ did wonders and simply bringing down that bass hump, then those peaks in the midrange and treble, improved it substantially.


View attachment 262219


I would really like to explore some acoustic means of sorting out that treble. I tried removing the plastic from behind the driver, stuffing the housing with foam, but from measuring the driver on its own it seems the 5khz peak is a property of the driver itself. I found no way to eliminate it. Therefore I am thinking of replacing the drivers with some Peerless by Tymphany drivers: either the HPD-40N16PET00-32-ND, which is the same 40mm size, or the HPD-50N25PR00-32-ND which is what the Aurorus Borealis uses. The latter is 50mm, bigger than the original, so would require some ingenuity to find a solution to installing them.

Any thoughts?
It seems like quite a lot of time & effort to put into what is likely a poor product and praps a likely poor outcome, but if you view it as a "hobby adventure" then why not. I'm not sure that you can rely on your measurements in terms of creating a target curve and comparing different headphones to it. Did you say it's a flat plate? If the acoustic impedance is different from a human ear (which it will be if it's a flat plate or indeed something like the miniDSP EARS even), then different headphone models will react differently on there so it would be impossible to have one target curve that is applicable to all headphones, as the different headphone models won't sound the same when EQ'd to the same curve using that rig. How did you arrive at the Toole Target, how did you create that? From a sound quality perspective you'd probably be better off buying a half decent headphone that has been measured by Oratory & then use his EQ's as a starting point (or indeed an end point if they sound good).
 
OP
solderdude

solderdude

Grand Contributor
Joined
Jul 21, 2018
Messages
15,891
Likes
35,912
Location
The Neitherlands
I would really like to explore some acoustic means of sorting out that treble. I tried removing the plastic from behind the driver, stuffing the housing with foam, but from measuring the driver on its own it seems the 5khz peak is a property of the driver itself. I found no way to eliminate it. Therefore I am thinking of replacing the drivers with some Peerless by Tymphany drivers: either the HPD-40N16PET00-32-ND, which is the same 40mm size, or the HPD-50N25PR00-32-ND which is what the Aurorus Borealis uses. The latter is 50mm, bigger than the original, so would require some ingenuity to find a solution to installing them.

Any thoughts?

Everything below 1kHz can often be changed with changing things behind the driver.
Above a few kHz only pads and materials in front of the driver help. The problem here is that it is in not simple to remove peaks this way as one almost always also changes parts of the response one does not want to change.
Above 8kHz toilet paper, or felt can be helpful. For anything below that these materials don't do much and only change the treble.

You can play around with the Peerless drivers but for these too... the housing, porting and above all pads are of great influence.
It is always a combination of driver/porting/housing and pads that determines the final result.
 

isostasy

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2022
Messages
354
Likes
628
It seems like quite a lot of time & effort to put into what is likely a poor product and praps a likely poor outcome, but if you view it as a "hobby adventure" then why not. I'm not sure that you can rely on your measurements in terms of creating a target curve and comparing different headphones to it. Did you say it's a flat plate? If the acoustic impedance is different from a human ear (which it will be if it's a flat plate or indeed something like the miniDSP EARS even), then different headphone models will react differently on there so it would be impossible to have one target curve that is applicable to all headphones, as the different headphone models won't sound the same when EQ'd to the same curve using that rig. How did you arrive at the Toole Target, how did you create that? From a sound quality perspective you'd probably be better off buying a half decent headphone that has been measured by Oratory & then use his EQ's as a starting point (or indeed an end point if they sound good).
For sure, I've already got a pair of HD6XX which are my main headphones (sorry the line is in grey so not very visible in my graph above). The Toole target is just useful to use the auto eq function in rew, for example to test a crude change like "how does the MDR-MA300 sound with the 5kHz peak EQed out". I understand it can't be used a target for flat plate headphone measurements.
Everything below 1kHz can often be changed with changing things behind the driver.
Above a few kHz only pads and materials in front of the driver help. The problem here is that it is in not simple to remove peaks this way as one almost always also changes parts of the response one does not want to change.
Above 8kHz toilet paper, or felt can be helpful. For anything below that these materials don't do much and only change the treble.

You can play around with the Peerless drivers but for these too... the housing, porting and above all pads are of great influence.
It is always a combination of driver/porting/housing and pads that determines the final result.
Thanks for the advice, I suspected this might be the case. It's unfortunate, looking through your measurements on diyaudioheaven, many headphones otherwise tuned ok seem to have problems in this region 5-8kHz which can't be easily dampened.

I'd been thinking of making a diy set with peerless drivers anyway, so thought it might be worth starting out fitting them in this Sony body being as the pads are so comfy and there's an enormous amount of room inside the cups to fit things in due to the silly rubber mechanism.
 

Robbo99999

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
6,875
Likes
6,673
Location
UK
For sure, I've already got a pair of HD6XX which are my main headphones (sorry the line is in grey so not very visible in my graph above). The Toole target is just useful to use the auto eq function in rew, for example to test a crude change like "how does the MDR-MA300 sound with the 5kHz peak EQed out". I understand it can't be used a target for flat plate headphone measurements.
Ah, ok, so I think I understand why you put the Toole Target in. So it's not in any way shape or form used to EQ the whole headphone and is in itself totally invalid as a Target Curve for your measurement rig, but you use it simply as a "straight line" to EQ out just that one offending peak - because REW needs somekind of a target in order to use it's AutoEQ function. Have I got that right, in terms of what you meant?
 

isostasy

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2022
Messages
354
Likes
628
Ah, ok, so I think I understand why you put the Toole Target in. So it's not in any way shape or form used to EQ the whole headphone and is in itself totally invalid as a Target Curve for your measurement rig, but you use it simply as a "straight line" to EQ out just that one offending peak - because REW needs somekind of a target in order to use it's AutoEQ function. Have I got that right, in terms of what you meant?
Exactly as you put it :) you can also set within how many dB you want rew to try to match, and within what certain frequency range, to avoid applying loads of narrow band peaking filters in an attempt to match perfectly to the target.
 

Mulder

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Sep 2, 2020
Messages
624
Likes
871
Location
Gothenburg, Sweden
Just added the new OLLO S5X open headphone and posted my review.

Excellent sound quality and plugging this one because I really think this is also interesting outside of the studio.
Great! Read the review. Seems to work for HiFi too. I suspected that it might be a distinct tool for mixing etc., but not so very suitable for those who just want to listen to music. But according to your measurements and your listening impression, it seems to work for listening to music as well.
 
OP
solderdude

solderdude

Grand Contributor
Joined
Jul 21, 2018
Messages
15,891
Likes
35,912
Location
The Neitherlands
Yes, it is a studio tool.
But this one is also quite enjoyable for hifi. Good tonality, comfort (clamping force quite high though) and hifi. Those that use nearfield monitors and prefer that sound should like this one, perhaps with a slight reduction of the treble even more.
 

Mulder

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Sep 2, 2020
Messages
624
Likes
871
Location
Gothenburg, Sweden
Yes, it is a studio tool.
But this one is also quite enjoyable for hifi. Good tonality, comfort (clamping force quite high though) and hifi. Those that use nearfield monitors and prefer that sound should like this one, perhaps with a slight reduction of the treble even more.
As I understood your review, the 5X is a better headphone for HiFi than the previous two models. And maybe with a little damping of the higher frequencies. At least if you don't prefer the noticeably warmer tone of the S4X
 
OP
solderdude

solderdude

Grand Contributor
Joined
Jul 21, 2018
Messages
15,891
Likes
35,912
Location
The Neitherlands
The closed S4R (1.1 and 1.2) is a bit 'bass light' but very well extended. The S4X (1.2 and 1.3) is a bit too 'warm'. The S5X is nicely inbetween.
Harman afficionado's may want to EQ it a bit. To me Harman is 1-2dB too 'much' in the bass.
 

Mulder

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Sep 2, 2020
Messages
624
Likes
871
Location
Gothenburg, Sweden
The closed S4R (1.1 and 1.2) is a bit 'bass light' but very well extended. The S4X (1.2 and 1.3) is a bit too 'warm'. The S5X is nicely inbetween.
Harman afficionado's may want to EQ it a bit. To me Harman is 1-2dB too 'much' in the bass.
The filter looks to need few components, will go fast and be easy to put together. I am very tempted to get a pair of these headphones.
 

Rayman30

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 5, 2019
Messages
789
Likes
627
I have been using LCD-X, LCD2 Closed and Sennheiser HD650, but I have been thinking about something different to compliment what I have. Any recommendations for something different? I was thinking maybe Argon T60?
 

roskodan

Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2021
Messages
78
Likes
114
Location
EU

bodhi

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 11, 2022
Messages
973
Likes
1,371
I ordered the Ollo S5X Saturday and DHL just informed me that they will be delivered tomorrow.
I have been using LCD-X, LCD2 Closed and Sennheiser HD650, but I have been thinking about something different to compliment what I have. Any recommendations for something different? I was thinking maybe Argon T60?

What are you looking for? You have pretty good setup there with two fun headphones and then the classic and a bit boring one. I have bought a lot of mid priced headphones in last couple of years and to be honest, most I have end up storing or giving away as they are just plain worse or not different enough than my main phones.

I think I could get by with only the LCD-X and HD600. The LCD-X for dedicated listening and HD600 for background stuff. As an occasional FPS gamer I think I have use for the 712 Pro or HD560S, not sure which one is better, but that about it.
 
Top Bottom