Orthodynamic Roundup - Page 1352

Quote:

Originally Posted by oyster 

All orthos in general have quite smooth treble. In particular HP1 has treble so smooth that lower & higher treble all appear rather same. If visualised, similar to a ray of light.

 

HP50A has smooth upper treble but comparatively rough 7-9khz.

 

YHE50A is really good with treble. Very very clean , smooth, little too peaky >10khz but great sparkle.

Why isn't this little yamaha popular here. I think it offers one of the blackest backgrounds.

woha, my HP-50a (stereo) are anything but rough at 7-9, mine roll of exactly there so violins don't tend to shine quite as much as I like.

But, once you remove the paper-disc in front of the driver they tend to get aggressive, so I let my discs in place.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhythmdevils 

We may be talking about different things.  I'm not talking about harshness in the way dynamics can be harsh in the treble (though orthos can be when damped that way).  I'ts not something that hurts and it would not be described as sharp or peircing at all.  It is high enough up in the treble that it only effects cymbals.  It's a tonality or texture thing.  Instead of a clean "sssss" you get a "sssshhhh" with cymbals.  Like the LCD-2's treble compared to Stax.  Stax is clean and effortless, the LCD-2 has a texture up there.  The T50rp's treble is more along the lines of stax.  Many electrodynamics have cleaner treble than LCD-2/yamahas even if they are harsher.  Heck, the HD650 has cleaner treble than the Yamahas.  The ath-M50 also has cleaner treble than the Yamahas even though it is a bit exaggerated. 

 

I'm afraid I've measured the YH1 and it does not have great treble extension they all have a big dip right before 10k.  I think you are talking about something else, or you aren't hearing the roughness.  I didn't hear it for a long time, and then as I got my mods better to get rid of other issues, it became apparent and I couldn't un-hear it. 

I have heard the roughness, but i guess for orthos its in an area that doesnt grate on my ears as much as dynamics do. I think thats the main thing with any headphone, how much a person enjoys it is how much its strengths and weaknesses lie in the areas a particular persons hearing/perception is the most/least.

Stax treble is smooth and delicate, but its treble can be piercing still (i dont like too much treble)

Quote:

Originally Posted by oyster 

YHE50A is really good with treble. Very very clean , smooth, little too peaky >10khz but great sparkle.

Why isn't this little yamaha popular here. I think it offers one of the blackest backgrounds.

Does it still have the same mod?

I was limited with my options due to the broken clips & couldn't realize their full potential.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhythmdevils 

We may be talking about different things.  I'm not talking about harshness in the way dynamics can be harsh in the treble (though orthos can be when damped that way).  I'ts not something that hurts and it would not be described as sharp or peircing at all.  It is high enough up in the treble that it only effects cymbals.  It's a tonality or texture thing.  Instead of a clean "sssss" you get a "sssshhhh" with cymbals.  Like the LCD-2's treble compared to Stax.  Stax is clean and effortless, the LCD-2 has a texture up there.  The T50rp's treble is more along the lines of stax.  Many electrodynamics have cleaner treble than LCD-2/yamahas even if they are harsher.  Heck, the HD650 has cleaner treble than the Yamahas.  The ath-M50 also has cleaner treble than the Yamahas even though it is a bit exaggerated. 

 

I'm afraid I've measured the YH1 and it does not have great treble extension they all have a big dip right before 10k.  I think you are talking about something else, or you aren't hearing the roughness.  I didn't hear it for a long time, and then as I got my mods better to get rid of other issues, it became apparent and I couldn't un-hear it. 

I agree with that. It happens when you try to push the treble up without using a reflex dot esp. with yamaha orthos. People who don't mind a slight roll-off in treble would probably won't come across it. It only affects a narrow part of frequency spectrum & it probably won't bother you unless one learns to identify this issue.

Sorry, been pretty much occupied modding the t50rp and busy in real life as well, and I almost forgot the special dampening material Nick gave to me last time, and I thank Nick again for that.

Also, the SFI drivers has some 100 hours running on it so I thought I should give it a whirl modding now.

The only mod I've done so far is to use a creatology adhesive felt on the cups, but I didn't remove the adhesive since this is only for testing and so that the felt won't stick onto the cups permanently and it can be a pain removing them and I only have very limited supply of that material and thank to BMF for giving me some materials to use.

I also put some dynamat on the driver baffle since the paper used for the baffle is already gone before I even transplanted the driver since the baffle is from a Denon D1001.

Also, added some fiberfill that looks many on the picture but actually these are thin strands "plucked" from the mass of fiberfill and shaped it according to the shape of the cups.

Upon first listen, the first thing that came to my mind is "maybe i put too much fiberfill" since the treble is somewhat fatiguing and it tends to get sibilant on some poorly recorded songs. I used half the amount of fiberfill and treble sharpness somewhat disappeared but it is still there on some recordings.

Next I did is to use Nick's special dampening material which is composed of two paxmate sticked together and cut to form a circle IIRC.

Sticked the dampening material behind the drivers, since it has double sided tape at the edges.

Initial impression is that the bass responce increased, better tightness, slam is still the same i think but the treble became compressed (sorry for the lack of term)

Next thing I did is to open the cups again (and the screw threads is almost dead lol) and completely remove the fiberfill and leave the dampening material and as well as the felt, sorry no pics though because I forgot to take one!

 Now the midrange became more "correct" sounding since it is not too much forward now. Treble harshness is gone now, and it become abit more "detailed" in a sense that the hi-hat on a drum sounds really crisp and clean--- this is the first time I heard a treble like this with my own headphones and even the t50rp and my old HE5-LE doesn't have this kind of treble.

It has abit similar treble that I heard when I had a modded HP-50 on loan with me last time, very clean and detailed.

Instrument separation and imaging (not sure which one of the two) somewhat improved as well, not to mention the headphone's "airyness" became similar with the CAL and D1001 which is great!

I also tried using a "bass lens" hoping to improve the bass using a stiffened felt, made a hole about 3/4" in diameter, sealed the corners using masking tape, but I find it didn't really help improved anything basides making the bass impact less. No pics again, sorry!

Now I am thinking how to improve its bass response more (im no basshead but orthos are great with those IMHO) and maybe make the treble better without loosing anything it currently has. I should gather more materials somewhere for further testing.

Sorry for the wall of text and thanks for reading!

Again, I want to thank nick n and BMF for the materials!

edit: i also used thick felt behind the drivers and i got the same result with the one with fiberfill-- sharp-ish treble so I put the previous dampening material at the back of the driver again because i hate sharp treble and it doesnt sound as crisp as the other material.

Gave my HP-1's a leather job. Pleather pads and headband were lined with the softest lambskin leather I could find. Especially the pads are a tremendous upgrade. Thus improving the seal, they provide splendid isolation and send the bass deeeep down, it almost feels like having added a sub. Unbelievable. On the whole, the sound has won on intimacy and texture. These are growing on me more and more.

Might as well be that people have already experimented with leather pads. It is really worth it, that's all I can say. None of the other changes, neither damping nor wood enclosure have had as dramatic a result. Especially if you happen to own bass-shy orthos, this could be the way to go.

Originally Posted by Dyaems 

Now I am thinking how to improve its bass response more (im no basshead but orthos are great with those IMHO) and maybe make the treble better without loosing anything it currently has. I should gather more materials somewhere for further testing.

Cool mods, first off.

You could try decreasing the ear chamber volume. Whether that's using some type of foam around the inner perimeter of the pads, changing to supra-aural pads, or adding supra-aural pads underneath the cirumaurals you're using now I don't know. Also, you could try damping the fronts of the drivers, or give a bass lens another shot. This will most likely make them a bit less sensitive and harder to drive, but my SFI-380's had front-damped drivers, extensively reduced ear chamber volume, were a sob to drive, yet had really nice bass, imo. Driver housings were also open, but this should reduce bass compared to your project there, I 'd imagine. Sorry if it's been stated, I forget the exact details of your mods, but what's going on with your drivers housings in regards to venting? Bass port? Anyway, good luck.

Really nice job on the pads, stratocaster. Love the orange, too. :p

Dyaems that foam disc is the 3 Layer Acousti foam that I stripped off some adhesive on in the middle of the discs and left the bit around the outside. I am really interested to see and hear your impressions on it. So far SFI's seem to be the only thing it's working easily on, and in addition it does require dealing with the rest of the cup interior a bit also, but as you found for SFI's it does add an interesting airy effect. Thanks very much for posting, and post up any further results.  Cool looking mod!

Especially interesting to me is this comment :"this is the first time I heard a treble like this with my own headphones and even the t50rp and my old HE5-LE doesn't have this kind of treble."

And the Cal / D1001 comment .

How great is that...

I'm still thinking on how to properly apply the stuff to the T50RP's . I'll figure something out eventually. So far it simply bumps the treble through the roof. If that rear cup hanger cover wasn't there it would be a lot easier. I'll fill you in when it happens

And yeah those orange pads stratocaster.. it makes the whole thing I think.

Right, nick, now that I got SFI's, the acoustifoam goes on the back of the driver, right?

Gonna have to decide which of my lower end dynamics to cannibalize soon, can't have those SFI shell-less for any longer.

Those orange pads look like bagels... looks super comfortable! gj!

Kalbee yeah it sticks directly on.  I sent you some round ones right?

What shells have you got for possible donors?

yeah, i love the airy treble the accoustifoam gives, and it is not fatiguing as well! if only i can make its bass more present since i find the mids still too much although i am coming from the already midcentric cd900st, i feel there is something wrong with the midrange of the SFIs.

I assume the baffle join is sealed nice and tight, do you have any bass port holes on the cups?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nick n 

Kalbee yeah it sticks directly on.  I sent you some round ones right?

What shells have you got for possible donors?

Square, for the T50RP. I don't see why the shape won't work though, at worse I will just reshape them.

For the moment it's probably between a ATH-SJ5 (on ear)  or a MDR-XD200 (over ear... my first headphone ever)

The SJ5 does not have much cup volume, but the plastic is sturdier. The XD200 has a very large cup, angled driver setup, but the plastic is thin. If there's anything about resonance, the XD200 must be king at it. Both dynamic drivers should be about the same size as the SFI.

Local find .......:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ourfpshero 

Local find .......:)

 

 

wuuuuuuuuut!! nice find!!

Kalbee the further the distance to the ear the SFI'd get the less they punch for sound, but that's just my opinion.

Local find hey.....WHERE???? wow.  What the... an original box too.  You've seen what they go for in auctions right.

My only decent local find was HP-1's.