[nick n]

  Hey there, just thought I'd briefly share this damping scheme that I've found to be particularly enjoyable.
Nothing sciency here, just throwing a few ideas out there for people to try out.
 

 
♦ Electrical tape sealing all the vents, bar the 2 outer most vents
♦ 1mm self-adhesive creatology felt around the inner circumference of the black shell cup
♦ 1mm self-adhesive creatology felt on the back of 1mm thick card treble-reflection disk on the rear of the driver - stuck down with double sided tape 
♦ 2mm creatology felt (white) loose damping behind driver that does not obstruct the vents (I may replace this with a better fitting disk)
 
The most important elements here is the felt around the inner circumference of the black cup and the 2 remaining vents - the first of which seems to widen the soundstage considerably and somewhat tighten bass response and the second extends the bass slightly.
I'm not fully satisfied with the white felt... I'm still playing around with the main damping material until I find something that gives more air... but I think these drivers are just more naturally aspired to a 'liquid' sound rather than an 'airy' sound.

You could try stacking layers of gauze if you have that handy. When I get some more secret sauce material ( soon ) I can send you some. I'll message you when I get some more

 

[kalbee]

  I would not suggest any of the suspension-banded Yamahas as portables (YH-1/2, YH-100, YH-1000) simply because they would be far too prone to falling off your 'noggin while on the move. The strut design is very fragile and you have to be gentle with it. The YHD-x was designed to be portable but they're open-backed and have no pads at all, so they're most likely not what you're looking for. The YHEs are all quite rare. The YH-3 is susceptible to product variance and requires mods but is the closest to a portable that's easy to acquire. 
 
The orthos I use as portables on occasion are my Smela TDS-16s. Absolutely tiny and isolate suprisingly well, very unassuming and deceptively cheap looking, pretty stable on the head, etc. They do leak a bit though. 

I don't know about that. I've used my HP/YH-1/2/3 as portables for quite a long time and never had trouble with the headband or headphones falling off. And while it is fragile (because we know it could break and hardly be repairable) it isn't something that needs to be handled with gloves. The cables are awful long though. They do, by the way, leak but let's say it isn't even nearly as bad as the fellow wearing beats sitting across the bus. For whatever reasons in their designs do those leak like crazy being closed back. Anyway, isolation is definitely not that good on the HP/YH-1/2/3/100 and probably the -1000 too that I can't speak for.

 

[takato14]

 

  I would not suggest any of the suspension-banded Yamahas as portables (YH-1/2, YH-100, YH-1000) simply because they would be far too prone to falling off your 'noggin while on the move. The strut design is very fragile and you have to be gentle with it. The YHD-x was designed to be portable but they're open-backed and have no pads at all, so they're most likely not what you're looking for. The YHEs are all quite rare. The YH-3 is susceptible to product variance and requires mods but is the closest to a portable that's easy to acquire. 
 
The orthos I use as portables on occasion are my Smela TDS-16s. Absolutely tiny and isolate suprisingly well, very unassuming and deceptively cheap looking, pretty stable on the head, etc. They do leak a bit though. 

I don't know about that. I've used my HP/YH-1/2/3 as portables for quite a long time and never had trouble with the headband or headphones falling off. And while it is fragile (because we know it could break and hardly be repairable) it isn't something that needs to be handled with gloves. The cables are awful long though. They do, by the way, leak but let's say it isn't even nearly as bad as the fellow wearing beats sitting across the bus. For whatever reasons in their designs do those leak like crazy being closed back. Anyway, isolation is definitely not that good on the HP/YH-1/2/3/100 and probably the -1000 too that I can't speak for.

That's surprising, my YH-1 fell off every time my head wasn't completely vertical. But I would agree that they didn't exactly isolate well. 
 
I'd like to see about replacing the strut with a metal one, but that'll have to wait until I actually own a pair again. >__>

 

[GREQ]

You could try stacking layers of gauze if you have that handy. When I get some more secret sauce material ( soon ) I can send you some. I'll message you when I get some more

mmmm sounds yummy.... can't wait!
The gauze was a great idea! There is more air without sacrificing bass extension. 

 

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

Yamaha YH-1 to Sennheiser HD-600 Transplant

 

Over 50 modification trials with a variety of materials and numerous SQ checks were completed before settling on this final modification configuration.

 

I pre-tinned new wires and soldered the drivers to the jacks. The jacks were mounted to the cups with Plasti-Weld epoxy and positioned so the drivers are angled at about 20 degrees to align with a “straight shot” to both ears. Drivers were secured onto the baffles with hot glue that also takes up the slack and seals all gaps. Hot glue also seals the holes in the baffle. The stock Senn HD-600 pads were installed after adding a ½ ring of Paxmate Plus to the ear side of the baffles/drivers.

 

All modification trials were easily and quickly accomplished by simply removing the grilles, giving access to the back of the drivers. The grilles are friction mounted to the cups. To remove the grilles, all you have to do is rotate the cup so that the top is positioned to the outside of the headband frame and the bottom is positioned to the inside. This gives access to the groove at the top of the grille-to-cup joint. Place two fingernails in the groove and it pulls right off. The grille frame has slots at the bottom that align with the cup. By positioning the grille onto the back of the cup, all that’s needed is a little bit of pressure at the top and the bottom of the grille to snap it back into place.

 

As a reference, I used HiFI Man HE-6 headphones. The smaller and Older YH-1 drivers cannot match the Sound Quality of the HE-6 but they come pretty close. I like what I hear and I am happy with the results.
 
Final Configuration:
 

• Rite Aid Natural Absorbent cotton: 50mm x 4 mm compressed and placed over the back of the YH-1 driver.
• Aluminum Foil: 27 mm disk placed over center of cotton.
• Arctic Cotton: 50 mm x 3 mm disk over cotton and foil.
• Arctic Bamboo: 50 mm x 2mm disk over Arctic Cotton.
• Michael’s soft Craft Felt: 55 mm over Arctic Cotton.
• Open Cell Foam: 50mm x 5 mm disk over Craft Felt, as a “Compression Spring.”
• Thin Open Cell Foam over inside of grill.
• Speaker grill cloth over ear side and rear side of drivers as dust barrier.
• Paxmate Plus ring over ear side of baffle surrounds top half of the drivers.

​

Driver angled ~ 20 degrees and held in place with hot glue​
 

Sennheiser HD-600 jack rewired and mounted with Plasti-Weld epoxy. Hot glue seals and secures the driver to the cup
 

Damping Stack – from rear of driver to grill: Nat’l Absorbent
Cotton, Aluminum Foil, Arctic Cotton, Arctic Bamboo, Soft
Craft Felt, Open Cell Foam, Thin Open Cell Foam dust cover over inside of grill.
You might think this would result in over-damping but it works and sounds good, to me.
 
The stack is not overly compressed. The back wave vents from the edges of the stack.
 

Damping Stack 
 

Rite Aid Natural Absorbent Cotton
 

Aluminum foil over Cotton
 

Arctic Cotton over Foil
 

Arctic Bamboo over Arctic Cotton
 

Michael’s soft Craft Felt over Arctic Bamboo
 
 

Open Cell Foam over Craft Felt
 

Rear side in foreground and ear side in background.
Both sides of the drivers are covered with grille cloth to keep debris from entering the drivers.
Paxmate on ear side not shown.

 

[nick n]

That is like a giant layer cake dessert there!
 Over 50 trials I can believe that.   Doesn't take long to hit the 50 mark.
 
 Are Sennslsiemer shells worthwhile , seems pretty nice to be able to get in there so easily for trials

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

That is like a giant layer cake dessert there!
 Over 50 trials I can believe that.   Doesn't take long to hit the 50 mark.

 Are Sennslsiemer shells worthwhile , seems pretty nice to be able to get in there so easily for trials

LOL! It's delicious.

A crazy stack that works. The Senn shells are definitely worthy as foster fones. Comfortable. Light weight. Sleek design looks good, too. It's incredibly mod friendly taking only a few seconds to remove the grilles, tweak the config, and put it back on - No screws to lose or threads to strip.

 

[nick n]

Plenty of fibre also.
 
Was just mentioning to someone about stripped screws.
You know it's bad when you are on the next size larger screws and they are nearly toasted also, even after remelting the holes a bit with Methylene Chloride and refilling a few with crazy glue.
 One thing to prevent that I ended up towards the end using a ratcheting screwdriver set to the other direction, so when the screws were put in each time, when they got snug the ratchet would give out and all it needed was a slight hair turn to tighten.
A little tip for people to try. Anything helps
 
Obviously the rare builds that use no screws are best

 

[Armaegis]

Years ago I had a YH1/HD600 transplant (back before I got into my own wacky modding adventures). I wonder if this is the same one...

 

[nick n]

Betcha it is. How many can there be really?

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

  Plenty of fibre also.
 
Was just mentioning to someone about stripped screws.
You know it's bad when you are on the next size larger screws and they are nearly toasted also, even after remelting the holes a bit with Methylene Chloride and refilling a few with crazy glue.
 One thing to prevent that I ended up towards the end using a ratcheting screwdriver set to the other direction, so when the screws were put in each time, when they got snug the ratchet would give out and all it needed was a slight hair turn to tighten.
A little tip for people to try. Anything helps
 
Obviously the rare builds that use no screws are best

Thanks for the tips.
 

  Years ago I had a YH1/HD600 transplant (back before I got into my own wacky modding adventures). I wonder if this is the same one...

No, sir. 
 

  Betcha it is. How many can there be really?

At least, 2. 

 

[leeperry]

Nice touch, khbaur330162 also built one a while ago: http://www.head-fi.org/t/568035/

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

YH-1 Modification changes.
 
Here's the revised damping stack from cup floors to rear of drivers:
 
1. Paxmate Ring on floor
2. All stock black damping felt removed from vents
3. Remove the stock driver damping (yellow open cell foam)
4. One 60 mm gauze disc notched for cup screw compartments and cable entry/strain relief
5. 20 x 5 mm fiberglass disc over gauze, centered over metal pivot dish
6. 60 mm Arctic Cotton disc overlays cup vents (nick n, Thanks for the idea from another mod; and for the Arctic Cotton!) notched for cup screw compartments.
    I also notched a segment wider than cable entry/2 bottom cup screw compartments to expose 3 vents on either side of the cable entry area = Modified Bass Ports.
7. 50 mm Arctic Cotton disc mounted directly onto the back of the driver, secured with little strips of double sided tape
 
I am amazed by the SQ tuned for my preferences:
 
Good Bass Extension and texture. No Boomy Bass Bloat.
Clear, smooth, lush mids.
Good Treble Extension with air, shimmer, and detail...no sibilance.
Balanced from top to bottom.
 
 

Damping Stack (cup floor to rear of driver):
 
Paxmate Plus Ring in cup floors
Black Dot = Notched Gauze
Green Dot = Fiberlass
Red Dot = Notched 60 mm Arctic Cotton
Blue 'B' = 50 mm Arctic Cotton
Stock Open Cell Foam and Vent Felts Removed/Not Used
 

Notched Gauze overlays Paxmate Ring
 

Fiberglass overlays Gauze
 

60 mm Arctic Cotton over Gauze and Fiberglass
 

 
50 mm Arctic Cotton taped directly to driver
 

Driver over Damping Stack
 

This example of YH-1 is in near-perfect condition. The pads are in good shape and there are not tears or breaks in the suspension headband.
The drivers are very clean with no corrosion. The cable is a bit twisted. I detached the cable strain relief and rotated the drivers to straighten the cables as much as possible.
 
This mod is Done.
 
BMF
 
Quote:

  Yamaha YH-1 Modification
 
The first picture shows what did Not work.
 
 
Pictures 2-4 show what Does work:
 
The SQ is really nice from top to bottom of the FR.
Lots of Fast bass with good extension.
Clear, lush mids with No Boomy Bass Bloat (B3).
Lots of treble details/shimmer without sibilance.
 
 
This Did Not Work:
 

30 mm Paxmate Disc in Cup Floor Under Stock Open
Cell Foam. This created too much damping pressure
against the back of the driver that squashed the bass.
 
 
This Does Work:
 

Paxmate Ring on Cup Floor with Fiberglass Disc inside.
 
Note: I removed both layers of Stock Perimeter Felt so
the rear slots are fully open. The back wave vents from
the sides of the damping stack.
 
 

nick n's secret sauce over Paxmate Ring and Fiberglass Disc
on Cup Floor.
 
 

YH-1 Stock Open Cell Foam over Paxmate Ring and
Fiberglass Disc on the Cup Floors.
 

EDIT: Fiberglass has never bothered me. In this case, I don't know if it adds anything to the SQ since I did not try this configuration without it. I've used a thin layer of cotton extracted from a make-up remover pad with similar results. Angel Hair may work, too. 

 

I failed to mention that I placed a layer of gauze under the fiberglass. The fiberglass is effectively sandwiched between the gauze and the white felt + stock yellow open cell foam and contained within the Paxmate Ring so it isn't going anywhere. As shown in the 3rd and 4th pictures, I removed both layers of the stock black felt segments exposing open rear cup vents. The back wave vents through from the sides of the damping stack and then out the rear cup vents (slots).

 

The SQ from this YH-1 modification is some of the best I've heard and comes close when directly compared with current production planars. I doubt that I will open them, again. I'm going to try this same damping stack in the HP-50A.

 

[nick n]

 

I am amazed by the SQ tuned for my preferences:
 
Good Bass Extension and texture. No Boomy Bass Bloat.
Clear, smooth, lush mids.
Good Treble Extension with air, shimmer, and detail...no sibilance.
Balanced from top to bottom.

This Mod is done.

YESSIR!!! Good to hear that.
I think anyone would be happy with  even half of that sound result there, but you nailed it ALL.

 
 Checking my notebook on this HP-1 mod, hope it is current, there's certainly enough stuff scratched out.
 
It appears that I used

1. Stock vent felts
2. 2 layer AcoustiPack foam ring in rears ( around middle silver cup indent ) Hey that looks familiar turn off that mental non-local radar !
3. ~30-32 mm Arctic Bamboo disc directly in middle.

 
This is what the latest entry in my logbook notes say anyhow, and every time I put them on I get a nice surprise since I keep expecting them to sound like they used to, guess that had been burned into my mind, but these certainly have fantastic and no lack of highs without sacrificing bass, as well the bass is tighter and cleaned up. Very bold still. But not "fuzzybold" at all.
 
 
Really liking how this thread is getting some action lately.
 Keep on posting everyone!

 

[MuZo2]

 
I googled for Arctic Bamboo felt but most of results point to this thread. What type of felt is it?