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SONY SA5000 - how to get them sounding more neutral... - Page 2

post #16 of 24
8/22/08 at 4:36pm
I did some mods on SA5000, the bass become much better -- more weight, deeper, and organic. These are irreversible mods so you may not want to try without knowing what you are getting into. If you are in Bay Area, you can audition mine.


On the Nor Cal Mini Meet, my modded SA5000 has its debut:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f45/no...9-08-a-352111/





...
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post #17 of 24
8/22/08 at 4:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ast View Post
I did some mods on SA5000, the bass become much better -- more weight, deeper, and organic. These are irreversible mods so you may not want to try without knowing what you are getting into. If you are in Bay Area, you can audition mine.


On the Nor Cal Mini Meet, my modded SA5000 has its debut:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f45/no...9-08-a-352111/

...
I am curious about your mods. Would you mind sharing some more info?
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post #18 of 24
8/22/08 at 5:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kees View Post
I am curious about your mods. Would you mind sharing some more info?
x2
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post #19 of 24
8/22/08 at 5:19pm
I have been experimenting with SA5000 for quite a while. trial and error type.
So far I got most the qualities I want, especially the elimination of the "echoy" signature. The bass quality is also improved dramatically.


(1) I took out the black cover on the back and drilled some holes (shown with yellow arrow) to make SA5000 a truly OPEN headphone.

(2) put additional Scotch tape ( I know, I know, not very professional, but I'm just experimenting ) on the back of the driver unit (shown in red arrow).




(3) put some cosmetic cotton balls alone the side of the ear pads to reduce the reflection within.






The final result looks UGLY, but sounds GREAT !!!


The only thing that I don't know how to mod is the lower mid emphasis, if you listen to female vocal, you can hear a clear nasal hint.


So the mod is still going on ...
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post #20 of 24
8/22/08 at 5:41pm
Modding mids is difficult. I guess the best way would be experimenting in the pads region - either other stuff than the wool or simply padrolling.
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post #21 of 24
8/22/08 at 6:12pm
I've found the SA5000 to be very far from neutral in one frequency range in particular (around 2.5kHz) which I believe gives them most of the negative qualities that people speak of. Soon after getting them, I put on a software equalizer to fix them up. It's free and works very well. Ever since then (which is a pretty long time now) I've been extremely happy with the frequency response characteristics and haven't noticed any problems arising from using an equalizer. I doubt you'll find any amp or DAC that will fix this, and if you, that amp/DAC has some serious problems.
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post #22 of 24
8/23/08 at 12:15am
I dunno, I think the SA5000's are quite neutral and there are some older threads out there that attest to that. Neutral being relative.

One of the threads mentions what equalization is needed to mathematically make them neutral. Making haphazard modification to the actual structure of the headphones seems unwarranted prior to electronic equalization.

From a personal point of view, I highly recommend a quality hearing test prior to "blaming" the headphones. I have realize my personal limitations after such a test and a long history of high powered weapons.

Ultimately it is how "neutral" it sounds with your ears.
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post #23 of 24
8/28/08 at 12:08am
I just got a pair of SA5000 and with no burn in they are def. neutral almost to the point of boring. However they do well over long periods. I have been listening to them for about 3 hours now and no fatigue and they are very comfortable. I would think some burn in will make them a tad more interesting.
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post #24 of 24
8/28/08 at 6:31am
I've been a music-producer for over 10 year now. I study Music Technology at full time on a highly respected school here in Norway.

The thing you should realize - first and foremost - is that monitoring other (not your own) tunes is the first thing you need to do in order to put things/sounds/frequencies into perspective. Now, if you go ahead and EQ the headphones to your preferences ONLY when producing your own tunes, your ears will try to compensate this to get similar sound as the other tracks you listened to as reference tracks. Therefore, you need to be consistant. A producer should only use ONE monitoring-source for optimal results. If you EQ your phones, you should use a hardware equalizer and set it at certain levels which ALWAYS is on - whether producing or not. Many producers think that multiple monitor-sources is needed to hear the track differently and maybe get new ideas. This is wrong. For example - if you're producing on a decent pair of headphones, then you will get used to other tracks sounding the way they do. And therefore you will try to copy the sound-colors when producing your own track. That's why brilliant sounding tracks can be produced on decent headphones or monitors. It all comes down to what the producer is used to with other tracks!!! Now, having a good pair of HPs/monitors will help very much regarding fine-tuning and detail. But as I said, the clue is to be consistant.
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