W5000 Fitz Mod Guide

[SK138]

I know what you are talking about...but I am "not right, not left" kind of a guy. I been doing this for the past 5 years and I am little sick and tire of traveling every other month missing my family and gears. I been working 14+hours / day with iGrado stuck to my head. The real sad story is...I am beginning to like iGrado sound Thank God, I have iMod and Xin's Supermacro with me

Fitz..are you done yet with your final F5005 mods?!

Originally Posted by scottiebabie

yo sk138, i've been to manila and i dont have to tell ya there's quite a bit more head(pardon the pun )-fi to enjoy besides headfi . hehe! just kidding bud! but if i were u, i'l just kickback and chill out for abit while i can. im sure theres a whollotta fellow headfiers stuck in 2ft of snow that would kill to be in your shoes. u'l be back in civilization soon 'nuff.

but ya, i cant wait to try out Fitz's F5005 mods. if it improves on F5000, its gonna be the BOMB

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by SK138

Fitz..are you done yet with your final F5005 mods?!

You want fast or you want good?

[sean-xenos]

Originally Posted by Fitz

Listening to it more without the white material, I think it's going to be a toss-up to which way I prefer. Without it the sound is more relaxed and soundstage is much better, but vocals are a bit muted.

Exactly my impression.

Originally Posted by SK138

Fitz..are you done yet with your final F5005 mods?!

x2

still interested!

[Fitz]

I'll try to wrap up my experiments tonight. I'm starting to think I'll end up just using the original F5005 design for the initial guide here, because most of the additional things I've tried so far have too many tradeoffs that show up when I listen for longer.

If I'm not too tired when I finish tonight, I'll take pictures (it's really weird to explain without pictures), and post the guide here. Expect it to be somewhere between 11PM to 3AM U.S. Eastern time if I do.

[slwiser]

Fitz

SK138 is just frustrated since he is on his far east trip and without his headphones. Of course he wants it better....as do I.

BUT

Still waiting though....

Originally Posted by Fitz

You want fast or you want good?

[SK138]

Hey..as our parents always use to say...I want both young man!!

Originally Posted by Fitz

You want fast or you want good?

[swt61]

Originally Posted by SK138

Hey..as our parents always use to say...I want both young man!!

LOL. You know what they say Fitz, "Ask a silly question..."

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by SK138

Hey..as our parents always use to say...I want both young man!!

And you shall have both! I'm done working on this, and just sticking with the original F5005 design.

I'm gonna have a little bit to eat, then take some pictures for the guide. So look for it in a couple hours maybe.

[SK138]

Thank you...thank you...thank you!

[Pressing refresh every few minutes]

Originally Posted by Fitz

And you shall have both! I'm done working on this, and just sticking with the original F5005 design.

I'm gonna have a little bit to eat, then take some pictures for the guide. So look for it in a couple hours maybe.

[SK138]

That's an understatement I can't wait to hop on the plane and go home next week!!!

Originally Posted by slwiser

Fitz

SK138 is just frustrated since he is on his far east trip and without his headphones. Of course he wants it better....as do I.

BUT

Still waiting though....

[Fitz]

Pictures taken... gotta check 'em all and upload them, then write a little guide for it.

[Fitz]

Okay, here's the scoop on the F5005 changes to the original mods.

Before you start, you need to open up the driver chamber and remove the blu-tak from the back of the driver. If the foam plug is pulled out with it, just shove it back in. If you forget to do this, the headphones will not sound very good at all with these mods.

Next you'll need to open up two of the spaces closest to the "front" of the headphones, which will be right by one of the screws for the middle chamber:





Once you have this space opened up, you can use the blu-tak you pulled out, and possibly add a little more, to make a thick disc like this:





Just lay the disc down over both the two openings, and the slit on the side of the earcup. You want it to go right up to the edge of the earcup so that it completely covers the slit:





Gently fold it down on the sides to start sealing up the space beneath it, but be very careful not to push down in the middle and collapse the whole structure:





Once you have it in place and roughly shaped, use a small screwdriver or similar tool to press it down all around the edge until you have a perfect seal isolating the underside from the top:





To verify that the path is clear underneath, shine a flashlight into the slit from the outside and look for the light underneath the acoustic silk:





Also shine the flashlight from the side with the acoustic silk to make sure you don't have any leakage between the two sides (except where it shines through the driver itself, as in the picture):





Now you can close the phones back up, making sure to put all the dampening material back inside as well, and you have yourself a F5005.

[SK138]

Fitz...how on earth do you come up with these simple yet ingenious ways!?! Over time, you think the blu-tack "chamber" will come apart?

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by SK138

Fitz...how on earth do you come up with these simple yet ingenious ways!?! Over time, you think the blu-tack "chamber" will come apart?

Unless you make it really thin (where the disc is "floppy"), it should hold up quite well for as long as you own the phones. The tak has a tendency to actually stiffen up over time, which is why you often have to stretch and pull a new piece to get it pliable enough to work with. And using a screwdriver to indent it all around makes it hold much tighter than just pressing with your finger.

Edit: And as for how I come up with them. I've probably opened up my phones one to two hundred times to try different stuff, often going back to things I tried earlier to refresh my memory of how it sounded. And believe me, in the process my ears have taken the abuse of countless unspeakably bad mods that would make even a deaf person cringe.

[SK138]

Great advice on making an indent all around the disk. Now..I am counting the days, hours, mintues until I get home next week

If anyone tried the F5000 (with and without the dampening material) and F5005 I would love to hear their feedback here.

Originally Posted by Fitz

Unless you make it really thin (where the disc is "floppy"), it should hold up quite well for as long as you own the phones. The tak has a tendency to actually stiffen up over time, which is why you often have to stretch and pull a new piece to get it pliable enough to work with. And using a screwdriver to indent it all around makes it hold much tighter than just pressing with your finger.