Orthodynamic Roundup - Page 191

I have a very long list of specific search strings that are executed automatically.

Lately I'm getting a whole ton of false positives though, and I'm not sure why.

The only guy who finds stuff i don't is Tyre, i think. Stuff I'm looking for, anyway.

Right now I'm listening to Putumayo's Music from the Coffee Lands with my ATH-2 that's damped with super felt. This is a very good combination. So far this is the best that the ATH-2s have sounded. There's even some out of the head sound. One track in particular, it sounded like the acoustic guitarist was playing behind my left shoulder.

I don't get much head stage with music you'd expect to get it with like orchestral music. Part of that might be because I dislike how they sound with orchestral music so much, I just haven't given them the chance.

The ATH-2s seem to really like funky music. It seems to mask the problems with the ATH-2.

In the short time I have been using orthos (and with my limited experience), I have found that they are very good at latin music and percussions in general. My Pro30s better than the SFIs hybrids I have around.

Alright I was asked to summarise my experience modding a YH-1 so here is my, hopefully helpful, guide. All information was skimmed off wualta, ericj, and I'm sure various other third parties.

Step 1 is to remove the driver from the baffle. This is a bit annoying and hand cramping, but fairly straightforward. Observe the naked baffle:



Take note of the screw placements. Peel back the earpads as slightly as possible over these areas to expose the black bumps (the screws are under black double-sided tape, you'll need direct lighting to make them out, try feeling around with your finger for the bumps). I suggest scraping the tape off the screws, either with your fingernails or screwdriver, then we can start unscrewing. Support the strut (the bit with the white L or R on it) with your palm and support the back of the earcup with the rest of your (non-dominant) hand. With your dominate hand get unscrewing. The first time you do this it can be frustrating if the screws are as stubborn for you as they were for me, but so long as the strut and earcup are properly supported you should be able to use a decent amount of force without hurting anything. Be mindful not to slip and slash the veil covering the center of the driver. Remember: lefty loosey

That's honestly probably the hardest part of the mod, congratulations. Take the yellow fabric and felt strips out and put them away.

Ok part 2 is making and assembling your damping materials. You will need: 2 circles of felt of different size, paper (I used a birthday card), and springy foam (about 1cm thick). Cut everything, except one of the felts, to the size of the driver, and arrange everything in this order with the smaller felt right behind the driver (imagine the driver on top (and imagine I cut those in proper circles))



The final felt (the first one you put in) serves to cover the vents on the housing, so it should be large enough to hug the sides of the housing like so



Part 3 is gasketing the driver. Get some Tak or Caulking rope or some sort of puddy/clay and make a ring around the face of the driver like so:



I used more caulk than necessary, you need only a thin circle. Press down on the material to make sure none goes into the holes. Theres a notch on the bottom of the baffle and the earcup that hook up to hold the cable. Line those up (with the cable inbetween to be sure) and press down so the driver and baffle are connected. The real reason for this is to prevent bass from leaking out between the driver and baffle, but it also leaves you with one less part to have to screw around with.

At this point put everything back together (dampening materials sit in the earcup BEHIND the driver, remember ) and give a listen. Hopefully the sound is either just right or a bit too dark. If it's too bright you're probably using denser fabric than me and might consider seeking a different sort of felt. The first two cases, yes even if you think it's fine as is, leads to the final part: the reflex "dot".

This will help to fine tune the treble and manages rather dramatic changes with just labels, tape, post it notes, or somesuch. Dissasemble the headphone again and check out the back of the driver. Place a label of some sort on some of the holes at the top of the driver like so



How many dots you cover is up to taste and will differ depending on the density of your felt, but here's my general guide. 2 dots = flat. 3 dots = a nice treble sparkle (I went with this). 5 dots = extreme sibillance. UPDATE: This is also highly dependant on your system. Since my move to a warmer amp I've been using 5 dots.

Listen attentively and you may change your mind about the sound and go back to experiment with reflex dots, but other than that you're done!

If I've made any mistakes in this please point them out so I can improve the guide.

Music from the Coffee lands includes African music as well as latin. And a wide variety of each at that. It's a very good album.

I find that the pro-30s excel at period appropriate music pieces.
YouTube - Loose Ends - Hangin' on a String

I'm wondering if anyone can explain the difference between the two different Neo3s listed on Parts-Express:

Neo3W

Neo3PDRW

And what the implications are for constructing headphones with them. I'm assuming the PDRW would be better due to better imaging(??), but maybe it doesn't matter. I'm not really sure exactly what the construction differences are and what the implications are.

Thanks,

-john

I think that they are the same driver but one features.
while the other is a dipole on a baffle.

If I read the text correctly, both claim to have a removable dampening. As far as I can tell, one does something special with the magnet setup to make it have more dispersion. Exactly what, I'm not sure. And in context of headphones, I don't know if that is good or bad.

I'm assuming the dampening is a good thing for phones tho(?).

-john

They both say that

If I read the text correctly, both claim to have a removable dampening.

From first part of both descriptions:
As far as I can tell, one does something special with the magnet setup to make it have more dispersion. Exactly what, I'm not sure. And in context of headphones, I don't know if that is good or bad.

From the PDRW description:
I'm assuming the dampening (as in the first part) is a good thing for phones tho(?). Sounds like the PDRW thing too(?).

-john

If you ever decide a compilation is not enough and you need full albums, and can stand the often awful quality of the material, send me a PM. I can either suggest you a few gems of '70s african music, point you in the direction of some specialized blogs/podcasts, or send you a few samples. It's mostly collectors stuff not available for purchase, so it should be pretty safe.

'80s dub is another genre I'm listening to a lot these days after having put it aside for a few years. Maybe the orthos have something to do with that.

ccfoodog if they both have a back chamber the "unique resistive damping mechanism" makes it sound like a bending wave dampening scheme has been figured out.

Another cool driver would be some thing like Manger Audio - Transducer

I wonder if this is useful when trying to make a full range headphone. It reads to me like something that is meant for speakers where you're only feeding the driver the high frequencies.

I already have quite a bit of 70s African music. I'm very fond of the combinations put together by Putumayo. I don't have much dub, because I haven't like most of what I've heard. I have one Lee Perry double disc and a sort of novelty album "Dub Side of the Moon", a dub version of Dark Side of the Moon. At the beginning of Money, instead of a cash register, it's bong hits and coughing

Damm those are expensive

My understanding of this is that it reduces beaming in the high frequencies, making them less position sensitive. I don't think it would be particularly less suitable for headphone use (other than the reduced sensitivity), because the lower frequencies should still use the entire driver surface. I also don't know that there would be a benefit. My instinct tells me that directionality shouldn't matter much in a headphone driver.

I'm pretty sure you'd want to remove the (apparently solid) back plate, or the driver will be too bright. Undoubtedly it will take some experimentation to find the right dampening formula.

WRT the manger drivers: I hear they're amazing, but at more than 8 inches across they'd make some fearsome headphone drivers!!! It's also unclear how they behave at frequencies below 80hz.