Sony MDR-MA900 EQ settings

Parametric EQ correction for the Sony MDR-MA900, derived from measurements by oratory1990. It moves the measured frequency response toward a neutral target.

How the MDR-MA900 sounds before EQ

Measured against a neutral target, the MDR-MA900 comes out bass-light. The low end sits behind neutral, so the sound is lean.

The sub-bass region, rumble and the weight under kick drums, sits about 5.7 dB behind neutral, so kick drums lose their weight. The air region, openness at the very top, sits about 2.9 dB behind neutral, so the very top closes in (measurements this high up vary between test rigs, so treat the exact number loosely).

The largest single move in the correction is 6.6 dB around 20 Hz, on top of a broad tilt of up to 5.7 dB. That is not subtle. This model benefits clearly from correction.

These figures are read from the correction itself: whatever the EQ lifts, the headphone lacked, and whatever it cuts, the headphone had too much of. The target is the community's neutral reference, and how far above 10 kHz you can trust any measurement varies by rig. More bass-light models.

The correction curve

The solid line is the full measured correction (all 10 filters). The dashed line is what Atrium applies: the same shape at 65 percent strength, capped at 6 dB per band, so the headphone keeps its own character instead of being forced flat.

What the EQ fixes

Summed across every filter, these are the changes the correction actually makes, largest first:

• At the bottom of the range the correction lifts everything below roughly 58 Hz by up to 6.6 dB.
• Around 1.6 kHz the correction lifts the vocal presence region by 4.0 dB, over a medium-width band about 0.7 octaves wide.
• At the top of the range the correction lifts everything above roughly 9.8 kHz by up to 3.1 dB.

The preamp of -6.6 dB offsets the boosts so nothing clips at full volume.

Parametric EQ settings

This is the full measured correction in AutoEq format. It pastes straight into Equalizer APO or Peace on Windows, and into most parametric EQ apps. Enter every row, including the ones that cut. The fitting process is free to use large opposing filters that cancel down to a small net change, so a single large gain here does not mean a large change to the sound. The curve above is what the whole set does together.

How to use these settings

Manually: enter the preamp and each filter into any parametric EQ. On Windows that is usually Equalizer APO with the Peace interface. On a Mac, eqMac or SoundSource. Set the type, frequency, gain and Q exactly as listed.

With Atrium: pick your MDR-MA900 in the app and it applies a tuned version of this correction: 65 percent strength with a 6 dB per-band cap, which fixes the rough spots without erasing what the headphone does well. Atrium also measures how you hear with a short listening test and layers your personal hearing profile on top. Two people with the same headphones do not hear the same sound. Headphone corrections are part of Signature Edition; the app itself is free.

MDR-MA900 vs other Sony models

Bass and treble are each model's average distance from the neutral target in that range. Positive means more than neutral, negative means less.

Headphones that sound similar

Closest matches across all 4,332 measured models, by distance between their deviation curves. Useful if you like how the MDR-MA900 is tuned and want alternatives.

More Sony EQ settings