I'll take them off your hands

Thanks dB, that Jarrah burl gave me a lot of problems but it was worth it.
 
Looks like Sachu got to them first. Enjoy buddy! 
 
Thanks for all the interest guys!
 
 
 

rakhim..please send the cups to scompton instead.. again thanks for the offer. 

Quote:

leeperry said:

TBH, I don't think the clay you used has a high enough damping factor...try to source something >0.3 on this page: http://qualia.webs.com/dampingfactorvalues.htm
 
blutack                         0.104
"Newplast"                      0.398
 
using the very same phone and all, going blutack(synthetic rubber)>newplast made a drastic change for me...far les resonances and stray back wave tones. A proper clay is as important as a matching disc of foam before the driver IME. This phone is like a big puzzle, the goal is to find pieces that "fit" each other soundwise.

Click to expand...

Anyone got a source for that newplast in the US?  Every place I found so far is in the UK and its pretty heavy so they have plenty of shipping surcharges for that too, in addition to the already expensive international shipping.

Quote:

maverickronin said:

Quote:

leeperry said:

TBH, I don't think the clay you used has a high enough damping factor...try to source something >0.3 on this page: http://qualia.webs.com/dampingfactorvalues.htm
 
blutack                         0.104
"Newplast"                      0.398
 
using the very same phone and all, going blutack(synthetic rubber)>newplast made a drastic change for me...far les resonances and stray back wave tones. A proper clay is as important as a matching disc of foam before the driver IME. This phone is like a big puzzle, the goal is to find pieces that "fit" each other soundwise.

Click to expand...

Anyone got a source for that newplast in the US?  Every place I found so far is in the UK and its pretty heavy so they have plenty of shipping surcharges for that too, in addition to the already expensive international shipping.

Click to expand...

I got some very dense non-hardening wax-based modeling clay at a craft store called firefly ez-shape that I'm pretty certain will work similarily to the newplast as it's made for the exact same purpose. I found it easy to work with. 

And speaking of mass damping the baffles of a T50RP I wasn't sure whether to dimple the surface with a screwdriver the way everyone has been doing or not. Will this really help to diffuse the sound waves that are reflected off the surface or simply mess them up and add distortion to whatever is reflected off that surface? Would it be better to have a smooth surface? My acoustic knowledge is shaky at best but I can see arguments both ways.
 
Thanks!!

 
Quote:

anothern00b said:

And speaking of mass damping the baffles of a T50RP I wasn't sure whether to dimple the surface with a screwdriver the way everyone has been doing or not. Will this really help to diffuse the sound waves that are reflected off the surface or simply mess them up and add distortion to whatever is reflected off that surface? Would it be better to have a smooth surface? My acoustic knowledge is shaky at best but I can see arguments both ways.

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It doesn't make that much difference in this particular case, but the rule of acoustical thumb is: whenever possible, break up reflections in as random a way as you can. Smooth, flat surfaces bad. Spiky, chunky nonparallel surfaces good. Besides, wouldn't you rather use a Phillips head screwdriver to poke the putty? It makes a nice pattern. Seriously, you really don't want stuff reflecting around inside a headphone. It doesn't belong there.

I proudly present the YamahaLux HP1 I built for EddieE.
 
Ingredients: A HP1, a Superlux HD660 (the DT770'2003 lookalike), DT880 pads, a HD650 cable...and the usual stuff such as felt, Micropore, tape, dremel, glue etc.
 

 
 
Step 1 - The housings get opened, mesh is applied, and nylon pantyhose as dust protection. The latter wasn't exactly fun to implement...
 

 
 
Step 2 - some Jack-and-Joe felt of medium thickness
 

 
 
Step 3 - Systems get glued on the baffle (I used Tac putty stuff). Calibration: We chose only a partial backwards Micropore sealing. More increases the richness of tonality widely, but leads to sibilants issues. For the same reason, we put some stripes as well onto the outer regions of the front side (thanks to RDS for that idea). I personally wouldn't have minded a bit more Ssssh and a fatter sound, but as this thing isn't for me, we decided to stay strictly in "audiophile" norms. Tuning of the bass amount gets achieved by sealing of the baffle (NoXter's idea), we chose a 90% sealing by means of cheap tape (should be done properly later with better tape, Stef!)
 

 
 
Step 4 - one thicker felt disk...
 

 
 
Step 5 - ...one disk of wool felt
 

 
 
Step 6 - the foam disk and final assambly
 

 
In respect of usability, most problems of the HP1 are solved IMO. You get completely rid of that awful bang-on-the-eardrums-PX100-presentation in favour of a -surprise- DT880-like airyness. I can wear them for hours nonstop now, as the comfort gets boosted by 1000%, and the whole construct is rugged as a tank. And I personally also like its vintage look.
 
Soundwize, I'm also very content. Getting enough treble glimmer isn't a problem in this vincinity, rather not getting too much, but I think we found the sweet spot. The allover sound is carried by the warm mids mostly, but making them colder and more distant wouldn't be a problem either. The bass is not of the hardest hitting sort, but it offers a nice deep foundation for most genres. Again, more or less bass could be triggered by altering the baffle sealing. Genre bandwidth and musicality is great so far.
 
I think the T20v2 still has the edge in respect of PRaT and allover tonal richness, but not to a great extent any more. And what does that help when you are in a constant comfort hell or only get 85% of the possible SQ when you run it with more comfortable circumaural pads? I really feel bad to let this YamahaLux depart to GB, I'll propably build myself one as soon as I can get my hands on HP1 or YH1 systems (or better). Another Lux to slaughter is already in the house, and a Mini³ bought to drive things apart from the desktop rig.
 
Doing the same with the HP50 or HP2 systems failed, they simply don't have enough Ooomph. But we found out that those really sound nice if they get Grado'ed...more to follow later.

To say I'm looking forward to hearing these is something of an understatement! Thanks again.
 
I also love the retro looks, and am glad to see you did get the HD650 cable to work in the end. 

Nichken, that is quite a storke of creativity. Looks real nice and comfy too.
 
And since you bring up the T20V2s, the search tool hasn't been updated the past few months is seems...i just received two sets of the T20V2s. Anyone want to run by the T20V2 mods for me please?
 

Looking good! I have most of the stuff to try your take on the HP-1 out. Will definitely do after I finish up my DT880s.

Quote:

sachu said:

Nichken, that is quite a storke of creativity. Looks real nice and comfy too.
 
And since you bring up the T20V2s, the search tool hasn't been updated the past few months is seems...i just received two sets of the T20V2s. Anyone want to run by the T20V2 mods for me please?
 

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Faust posted his in wikiphonia http://wiki.faust3d.com/wiki/index.php?title=Fostex_T20RP_v2

I'm beginning to think that vintage orthos aren't for me.  No matter what I do they are pretty harsh in the upper midrange.  I've only heard Fostex and Yamaha, so maybe they exhibit this and others don't?  But I went so far as to cover the majority of the front of the YH3 with micropore, and dampened them with nothing but some fairly open cell foam and this actually brings the most neutral and balanced sound I have heard out of them, but they're still harsh.  Anything I do with felts just makes it worse.  I guess I always heard this, but since I thought the whole point of orthos was to avoid the peaky response of dynamics, I always just thought it was a damping issue.  I also hear such potential in all of them.  For comparison, all of my dynamics have smoother upper midrange and treble while having more treble presence.  And phones like the M50, HD600 and K340 are not warm or rolled off.  It seems strange because most of you don't seem to have this problem, and it seems that most of you also like the LCD-2 so it doesn't seem like our tastes are that far off. 
 
oh, and nice work Nikchen!  Looks great.

I wonder if the peakiness that you're experiencing has to do with the supra-aural design of most vintage Orthos?
 
 
 

Quote:

rhythmdevils said:

I'm beginning to think that vintage orthos aren't for me.  No matter what I do they are pretty harsh in the upper midrange.  I've only heard Fostex and Yamaha, so maybe they exhibit this and others don't?  But I went so far as to cover the majority of the front of the YH3 with micropore, and dampened them with nothing but some fairly open cell foam and this actually brings the most neutral and balanced sound I have heard out of them, but they're still harsh.  Anything I do with felts just makes it worse.  I guess I always heard this, but since I thought the whole point of orthos was to avoid the peaky response of dynamics, I always just thought it was a damping issue.  I also hear such potential in all of them.  For comparison, all of my dynamics have smoother upper midrange and treble while having more treble presence.  And phones like the M50, HD600 and K340 are not warm or rolled off.  It seems strange because most of you don't seem to have this problem, and it seems that most of you also like the LCD-2 so it doesn't seem like our tastes are that far off. 
 
oh, and nice work Nikchen!  Looks great.

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I think it's time for you to meet Mr. Stax's vintage son, the normal bias Lambda.