DJDuck
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2014
- Posts
- 48
- Likes
- 15
Alright, I've had this question in the back of my mind for some time now, so I'll finally ask it.
How does the paper/fabric covering driver venting holes change the behavior of the diaphragm?
Now now, I kind of already know. The more open the driver is, the easier it is for it to breathe. I also know it impacts bass response, like on Grados.
But the thing is, I see so many different headphones and drivers, and some of them have their backs completely sealed (low end Grado, my AKG K404 drivers and countless other drivers in lower end cans) and some of them are completely open (many Beyerdynamics, most AKG K2xx and K1xx series and many other high end cans)
And the thing is, I've also seen many of the same identical drivers in different headphones, some of them closed, some open.
As I understand it, when the enclosure is poorly dampened, not damped at all or just no design effort put into it, then it's necessary to have driver damping, but when the enclosure is well designed and well damped, then the enclosure itself will start controlling the driver?
And how does an open/semi-open/closed enclosure affect driver damping?
The reason I'm asking this is because I want to try different mods on different headphones and I want to know how driver venting affects the results. I have a pair of Solo HD cans with AKG K404 drivers in them, for an example. Originally when the K404 was still in it's original enclosure, all the vents were closed. There is a small vent in the middle of the magnet which was covered with some glue pad thingy. Then there are holes behind the diaphragm, all of which are covered with a fairly thick, but soft cotton-like material. You can see it in this thread here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/771362/beats-solo-hd-driver-swap
I really want to know what the drivers sound like with the backing removed but I'm afraid to pull it off because maybe it will sound like crap and I wont be able to put it back.
Solo HDs are closed back apart from two tiny holes in the bottom of the cup which are there to prevent a vacuum inside the cup. I've put a piece of open-cell foam behind each driver where there is a bowl-like empty area. The opening in the magnet basically opens into the foam.
How does the paper/fabric covering driver venting holes change the behavior of the diaphragm?
Now now, I kind of already know. The more open the driver is, the easier it is for it to breathe. I also know it impacts bass response, like on Grados.
But the thing is, I see so many different headphones and drivers, and some of them have their backs completely sealed (low end Grado, my AKG K404 drivers and countless other drivers in lower end cans) and some of them are completely open (many Beyerdynamics, most AKG K2xx and K1xx series and many other high end cans)
And the thing is, I've also seen many of the same identical drivers in different headphones, some of them closed, some open.
As I understand it, when the enclosure is poorly dampened, not damped at all or just no design effort put into it, then it's necessary to have driver damping, but when the enclosure is well designed and well damped, then the enclosure itself will start controlling the driver?
And how does an open/semi-open/closed enclosure affect driver damping?
The reason I'm asking this is because I want to try different mods on different headphones and I want to know how driver venting affects the results. I have a pair of Solo HD cans with AKG K404 drivers in them, for an example. Originally when the K404 was still in it's original enclosure, all the vents were closed. There is a small vent in the middle of the magnet which was covered with some glue pad thingy. Then there are holes behind the diaphragm, all of which are covered with a fairly thick, but soft cotton-like material. You can see it in this thread here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/771362/beats-solo-hd-driver-swap
I really want to know what the drivers sound like with the backing removed but I'm afraid to pull it off because maybe it will sound like crap and I wont be able to put it back.
Solo HDs are closed back apart from two tiny holes in the bottom of the cup which are there to prevent a vacuum inside the cup. I've put a piece of open-cell foam behind each driver where there is a bowl-like empty area. The opening in the magnet basically opens into the foam.
