Tera Player Owner's Thread - Page 9  

Copying high rez files onto 64gig cards at the moment. I have decided to only listen to Hi Rez music files on the Tera Player and will have another 3-4 64gigs to fill

Quote:

Originally Posted by flkin 

I also have the KSC75 and KSC35 from Highflight. The 35 with his standard mod and the 75 too but with some cable adjustments also. They are currently being burned in.

My experience with the PortaPro is that it sounds impressive but bad on initial use. Huge bass, bloated and intruding into the mids. And muted highs. However it does offer a large presentation which is nice.

After 24-48 hours of burning the change is obvious and after the Krammer/Charles mod (drill 4mm holes into the plastic discs in front of the driver units in a particular configuration) the sound becomes much better balanced but still a little dull.

But the shocking change occurs around the 150 hour mark and perhaps with more play/rest time also. Not sure about this last bit.

But my PPs purchased around 1.5 months ago suddenly is far better sounding than new or unmodified PPs. Sound is now balanced with much better focus. Beautiful mids and highs, detailed but not harsh. A different league altogether when compared with another SportaPro (same drivers) I bought a little later but not drilled. Also better than the recent 75s and 35s I picked up from Highflight modded his way but not yet burned in.

Pretty certain it's not luck or my imagination, there's something in the mod and breaking in the headphone over some weeks that is causing this.

And now the latest adjustment, just painted the burgundy resin on the discs and waiting for them to dry. Can't wait to listen to this last change. :-D

This resin is what is used to paint over violins and other acoustic instruments. Something in the way sound bounces off it I suppose.

Thanks for that info. I will have to keep burning them in and see if after some more hours of use, I get to the promised land

And where exactly do you paint the burgundy resin? On the back side of the blue disks that hold the drivers? And do these pop off of the headband just like the KSC75s pop off of the earclips? I have not pulled them off yet on the Porta-Pros and do not want to break anything. And where do you get burgundy resin?

Thanks!

I also find the portapros sound better if I press lightly on them, thereby bringing the drivers closer to my ears. Is there any mod that increases the clamping force to create a bit more of a seal against my ears?

Do you remember the headband that John McEnroe and other tennis players used to wear during the 1980's? Well I've used an oversize version to increase the clamping force of my AKG 550 cans, it cost about $3 from eBay, works well and is extremely comfortable.

Andy. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nirmalanow 

I also find the portapros sound better if I press lightly on them, thereby bringing the drivers closer to my ears. Is there any mod that increases the clamping force to create a bit more of a seal against my ears?

Cool. Since I do not have access to PortaPro yet, I would like to know ask a question since I have zero DIY skills.

Is that SMA connector above any good for mods that might allow PortaPro to somehow accept HiFiMAN cable from my HE-500?

I saw another PortaPro taken apart before and it might look like a major challenge to piece everything together:

http://cdn.head-fi.org/5/5a/5a010f0a_00002.jpg

http://www.head-fi.org/t/518358/heavily-modified-portapro-wood-cups-included

If that were the case, mostly likely hardwiring should be the only choice while the options are pretty much limited to the fairly thin ones such as Type 2 Litz as mentioned by Ken.

Or even do something creative like that Sansa on the 2nd page of the thread linked above. Simply attach TP itself to the headband but that would not be all that practical.

Is there a connector type suitable for PortaPro so that cable could be detached easily? I just watched someone repairing the cable and a better cable seemed to be worth the investment

Another video that looked like fun, definitely get a sturdy cable for the long run

seeteeyou,

HiFlight (recently posted above in this thread) would definitely be the best person to PM about various options when rewiring the PortaPro headphones.  

Andy. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by seeteeyou 

 

Cool. Since I do not have access to PortaPro yet, I would like to know ask a question since I have zero DIY skills.

 

Is that SMA connector above any good for mods that might allow PortaPro to somehow accept HiFiMAN cable from my HE-500?

 

I saw another PortaPro taken apart before and it might look like a major challenge to piece everything together:

 

http://cdn.head-fi.org/5/5a/5a010f0a_00002.jpg

 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/518358/heavily-modified-portapro-wood-cups-included

 

If that were the case, mostly likely hardwiring should be the only choice while the options are pretty much limited to the fairly thin ones such as Type 2 Litz as mentioned by Ken.

 

Or even do something creative like that Sansa on the 2nd page of the thread linked above. Simply attach TP itself to the headband but that would not be all that practical.

 

Is there a connector type suitable for PortaPro so that cable could be detached easily? I just watched someone repairing the cable and a better cable seemed to be worth the investment

 

 

Another video that looked like fun, definitely get a sturdy cable for the long run

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nirmalanow 

Thanks for that info. I will have to keep burning them in and see if after some more hours of use, I get to the promised land

 

And where exactly do you paint the burgundy resin? On the back side of the blue disks that hold the drivers? And do these pop off of the headband just like the KSC75s pop off of the earclips? I have not pulled them off yet on the Porta-Pros and do not want to break anything. And where do you get burgundy resin?

 

Thanks!

The plastic discs that cover the drivers on the listening side are black in my PortaPros. If you have gotton hiflight's modded PortaPros, then the discs have been already removed and replace with a grill. In this case, I'm not sure if there is much sense to paint the thin edge of the disc remain on the outer edge. Or perhaps paint the grill itself!

These are my drilled (in Charles configuration) and painted discs. For a better picture of the drilling configuration, you can find it in Charles website for the Tera Player here.

If you still have these discs, then after removing the cover foams (carefully or you will tear them as they are hooked on with spikes), you can remove the discs by pressing on the 3 securing tabs on the BACK side of the driver. It's noticeable since they are black in colour in contrast to the blue frame. Be careful not to push too hard on the tabs as you might push through to the other side and damage the driver. It's pretty easy with a bit of care and the discs simply pop out. The drill holes are 4mm diameter and I painted both sides of the discs.

Got the resin here - Burgundy Resin

I'm not a DIY guy so it the jobs a little messy.   :-)

Just received the Tera Player tonight!

Listening with the Flat 4 Kaede, BSV Club in 24/96............this player is something special!

The sonics of the Tera Player is what Uber Audiophiles try for many years to achieve in their home systems

Will try the rest of my IEMs in the coming days......

Quote:

Originally Posted by flkin 

 

The plastic discs that cover the drivers on the listening side are black in my PortaPros. If you have gotton hiflight's modded PortaPros, then the discs have been already removed and replace with a grill. In this case, I'm not sure if there is much sense to paint the thin edge of the disc remain on the outer edge. Or perhaps paint the grill itself!

 

These are my drilled (in Charles configuration) and painted discs. For a better picture of the drilling configuration, you can find it in Charles website for the Tera Player here.

 

 

 

If you still have these discs, then after removing the cover foams (carefully or you will tear them as they are hooked on with spikes), you can remove the discs by pressing on the 3 securing tabs on the BACK side of the driver. It's noticeable since they are black in colour in contrast to the blue frame. Be careful not to push too hard on the tabs as you might push through to the other side and damage the driver. It's pretty easy with a bit of care and the discs simply pop out. The drill holes are 4mm diameter and I painted both sides of the discs.

 

Got the resin here - Burgundy Resin

 

I'm not a DIY guy so it the jobs a little messy.   :-)

Thanks for the info. As you said, probably doesn't apply to the Porta-Pros modded by Hiflight. But I am sure it will be useful to someone else.

As either the Tera or my ears burn in, I find I am liking the Beyerdynamic T1s more now with the Tera feeding the iCAN amp. Before these headphones always sounded a little too bright and too clinical, but that may be turning into an advantage as it allows all of the beautiful organic tone of the Tera to shine through. The Tera by itself can't drive them (I have the V-0 version), but I like having the iCAN in the chain anyways as it allows me to boost the bass also which these phones seem to need.

The HD650s also sound great. I was planning to just keep one or the other, but they both sound so good with the Tera. What to do?

Be greedy, keep both and luxuriate in the beguiling sound of your Tera Player and iCAN. It's interesting that you're "tuning" the sound of your TP with a headphone amplifier and different cans, as it's a great idea and I'm going to try it too.

Cheers,

Andy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nirmalanow 

As either the Tera or my ears burn in, I find I am liking the Beyerdynamic T1s more now with the Tera feeding the iCAN amp. Before these headphones always sounded a little too bright and too clinical, but that may be turning into an advantage as it allows all of the beautiful organic tone of the Tera to shine through. The Tera by itself can't drive them (I have the V-0 version), but I like having the iCAN in the chain anyways as it allows me to boost the bass also which these phones seem to need.

 

The HD650s also sound great. I was planning to just keep one or the other, but they both sound so good with the Tera. What to do?