[Clemmaster]

That's great news!
I was part of the people who found the treble elevated in some unwanted areas (brings out hiss in songs): would that mod tame the issue (in theory)?
 
As usual, +1 for the great after sale support and continuous effort for improving what's already a great product!

 

[aamefford]

  A little fine-tuning has been done on the Alphas.  

 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

A few owners found the treble to be a little peaky.  While most owners and reviewers seemed very happy, I always listen to positive and negative feedback to try to do better.  I started working on an ear-side adjustment to tame the treble, but I thought it might be both fun and productive to bring someone from the community to work on this as well.  
 
With his deep roots in the T50 tuning, BlueMonkeyFlyer seemed a good fellow to contact, and he kindly agreed to take a look.  Fortunately, he had done tests earlier on something directly related to our needs and had an insight to create a tuning square, which we'll call the BMD (BlueMonkeyDot).  The BMD started shipping on Alphas shipped starting Feb 10.  A big thanks to BMF for his support on this!
 

Many people like their Alpha Dogs as is, so it's important to remember that due to ear shape, hearing, music choice and equipment not everyone will feel the treble needs adjustment at all.  But if you do own a set and want to smooth or step down the treble, we will have an "Alpha Dog Obedience Kit" up on our website for $14.99 plus shipping (this just covers our cost).  
 
The kit will include 4 dots, allowing 1 or 2 to be applied to each side of the headphone.  It will also include two felt tuning discs to insert under the Alpha Pads for those who prefer a slightly darker sound.  The Obedience Kit will be available on our website at the end of next week.  Sonically, you should expect:
 
1) Smoother treble

2) Somewhat larger soundstage

3) A bit more bass punch
 
4) Improved "black space"

It's a no-tools, 3 minute upgrade, and it's fully reversible if you don't prefer the sound.  We'll post a YoutTube video to show how easy the tuning is early next week.  
 
A big thanks to BMF!  
 
P.S. MiceBlue got a preview set of the adjustments, and perhaps can share his experience.

 

I also found the Alpha's just slightly peaky as Dan described it.  Dan and I had not discussed this prior.  We met again at the San Francisco Bay Area Head-fi Meet.  Dan asked if I wanted to try something new, and installed the kit in about 2 or 3 minutes while we talked.
 
So far, I like the results.  It seems to relax the sibilance region just enough.  If the track has bad sibilance, it won't go away, but it is much more tolerable.  So far for me, it makes the Alphas just a bit more relaxing and enjoyable to listen to.  I think this is a case of YMMV, as not everyone likes a relaxed treble signature.  It is spot, ah dot on for me, though!

 

[mrspeakers]

Yes.  It was actually quite effective at bringing down the two narrow peaks.  The dot smooths the peaks without dulling the treble.  The felt discs are for those who simply want a darker sound.  The bring all the highs down about 1-2 dB. 

 

[mechgamer123]

  A little fine-tuning has been done on the Alphas.  
 
A few owners found the treble to be a little peaky.  While most owners and reviewers seemed very happy, I always listen to positive and negative feedback to try to do better.  I started working on an ear-side adjustment to tame the treble, but I thought it might be both fun and productive to bring someone from the community to work on this as well.  
 
With his deep roots in the T50 tuning, BlueMonkeyFlyer seemed a good fellow to contact, and he kindly agreed to take a look.  Fortunately, he had done tests earlier on something directly related to our needs and had an insight to create a tuning square, which we'll call the BMD (BlueMonkeyDot).  The BMD started shipping on Alphas shipped starting Feb 10.  A big thanks to BMF for his support on this!
 

Many people like their Alpha Dogs as is, so it's important to remember that due to ear shape, hearing, music choice and equipment not everyone will feel the treble needs adjustment at all.  But if you do own a set and want to smooth or step down the treble, we will have an "Alpha Dog Obedience Kit" up on our website for $14.99 plus shipping (this just covers our cost).  
 
The kit will include 4 dots, allowing 1 or 2 to be applied to each side of the headphone.  It will also include two felt tuning discs to insert under the Alpha Pads for those who prefer a slightly darker sound.  The Obedience Kit will be available on our website at the end of next week.  Sonically, you should expect:
 
1) Smoother treble

2) Somewhat larger soundstage

3) A bit more bass punch
 
4) Improved "black space"

It's a no-tools, 3 minute upgrade, and it's fully reversible if you don't prefer the sound.  We'll post a YoutTube video to show how easy the tuning is early next week.  
 
A big thanks to BMF!  
 
P.S. MiceBlue got a preview set of the adjustments, and perhaps can share his experience.  

Just out of curiosity, how many of these discs were installed when you shipped the unit to Miceblue? I was able to hear the revised tour unit as well...

 

[mrspeakers]

When MiceBlue got it, none.  He held on a while to test the kit for me.  I had a few other testers, too.

 

[nick n]

The black version looks perfect and simply amazing. Great job.

 

[mechgamer123]

  When MiceBlue got it, none.  He held on a while to test the kit for me.  I had a few other testers, too.

Ah okay. I was just told when I heard it again, the kit wasn't installed...
 
Glad you were listening to folks like me who thought the treble was a bit too hot though! Thanks for taking the time and effort to further refine the Alpha Dogs while trying to catch up on your backlog!

 

[Oregonian]

Just out of curiosity, how many of these discs were installed when you shipped the unit to Miceblue? I was able to hear the revised tour unit as well...

And I heard them right before miceblue...........maybe that's why the unit I heard recently was different tonally compared to early last fall. Seemed less bassy to me tho out of the same Spec system.

Edit - so what I heard was just months separating my experience. Did seem different enough to make me wonder tho. Hmmmmmmm......

 

[Dave74]

  That's great news!
I was part of the people who found the treble elevated in some unwanted areas (brings out hiss in songs): would that mod tame the issue (in theory)?
 
As usual, +1 for the great after sale support and continuous effort for improving what's already a great product!

+1.   I will be ordering the kit as well.  I am finding too much hiss in some songs especially through the Concero HP.  It  was hardly noticeable through the BHA-1 and only on very few songs, but I have been out of town for over a week now and haven't had the chance to use the BHA-1 recently.  It seems like the Concero HP doesn't have enough power to get the most out of the AD's, being a usb powered dac/amp, the bass isn't nearly as good as with the BHA-1 with balanced cables, which might also be making the treble seem more peaky.   
 
They are still a really great HP though and I am really happy that Dan is offering great aftermarket support as well.

 

[MattTCG]

+1 on the new kit. Sounds like a wonderful idea. Can't wait to hear the AD with this tweak. I appreciate Dan's effort to give his very best. 

 

[M3NTAL]

Dan, do you have an idea of when the next round of upgrades are?  I believe I signed up on the first night the signup went out, a hour or so after the announcement.
 
Cheers!

 

[miceblue]

Yup, as they say: Dan is the man. Remember, negative feedback is good. XD

No but seriously, even with just the dot installed, I felt that the treble was less problematic for me and more of what I would say sounds natural. With 1 felt disc installed, the effect was amplified and I felt pretty satisfied with it. With 2 felt discs installed, although the upper-midrange and treble start to become a bit blurred and veiled, I actually liked that sound signature the most since the treble peaks are pretty much eliminated; with 1 disc installed, there was still an odd treble peak to my ears. The songs I usually use to test brightness and treble sizzle are all much more enjoyable with both felt pieces installed. It seems that each felt piece dampens the treble a bit.


The awesome thing about these mods are that they are completely reversible and easy to install/uninstall. As mechgamer123 stated, I had them removed before letting anyone else give the Alpha Dog a listen in order to keep the mods a secret.

"Alpha Dog Obedience Kit" seems a bit of a mouthful to me though. I was thinking it would be something along the lines of a "Dog Biscuit" since the felt discs reminded me of biscuits for some reason, hahaha.

Anywho, great job to mrspeakers for incorporating some feedback into improving your products, and thank you to BlueMonkeyFlyer for the mod suggestions! I need to give a big thank you to mrspeakers again for letting me be in the second Alpha Dog tour and for letting me test out this neat modification kit.


I shipped the touring Alpha Dog to hans030390 with the dot and 1 felt disc installed in each earpiece (a second set of felt discs is in the Alpha Dog package too).

 

[skeptic]

Thumbs up on the mod kit and modest price of entry.  I look forward to trying it!

 

[kugino]

the treble with the original tuning is fine with me...what i find intriguing are nos. 2, 3, and 4 on the list - soundstage, bass punch, and black background. if those dots can do all that, then wow, what a mod it is and easily worth it. makes sense that it is shipped as the standard offering on the new AD orders because who wouldn't want these improvements? i guess if you'd rather have the peaky treble at the cost of the other three improvements...but why?

 

[miceblue]

Well if it's of any assurance, I like the stock Alpha Dog more than a touring LCD-X unit right now with the Objective 2 amp. I already miss the Alpha Dog's sound. >.>