[analogsurviver]

Quote:

I figure that's probably what is holding the s500s from being comparable with the higher end headphones, having thick, well insulated, well-damped cups instead of cheap thin plastic cups, considering the quality of the drivers in them. It's kinda like putting a GTR engine into a aston mini, the one Mr Bean drives.
I guess it applies to everything where SQ matters, from theatres to recording studios, cars, headphones, etc. You can have the best drivers and systems in the world but without a good, solid "enclosure" for it, it's just a lost cause.

Well said ! 
 
Easier said than done - ( the time/patience/trial & error/experience/materials/workhours/manual assembly ) = cost required  - it is simply overwhelming for a product of the price class of HA-S500. For the lunatic audio maniac fringe not afraid of more serious DIYing, entirely doable. Stay tuned.

 

[Xxxneoxxx]

Quote:

I dampened the back of the drivers with some super sculpy as well as the back wall of the cups. I would have preferred to use felt, but i cannot seem to find it easily at any of my local shops. Insane.

That's actually the first thing i thought of. Why use toilet paper? Sure, everybody has it and it's inexpensive, but i would use sturdier material like felt. And before i was able to post it, you did..
 
Since my s500's havent arrived yet, i have no idea of the dimensions of the cups etc, but perhaps, if it's difficult to find felt around, something like this would suffice for inside the cups?
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/50pcs-Padded-Felt-flower-Checked-Appliques-craf-t-Wedding-decoration-H776-/370691746857?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item564ef32c29
 
I think you might want to remove the padding though and cut 'em the right shape.

Oh, and also make sure they're on the inside of the pads, and not 'accidentaly' get glued to the outside of 'em to compliment the Justin Bieber tunes coming out of the phones.

 
Edit: Lol, actualy quoted the wrong guy..

 

[gopanthersgo1]

Well said ! 

Easier said than done - ( the time/patience/trial & error/experience/materials/workhours/manual assembly ) = cost required  - it is simply overwhelming for a product of the price class of HA-S500. For the lunatic audio maniac fringe not afraid of more serious DIYing, entirely doable. Stay tuned.

Easier said than done? I just got up and modded them, while waiting for my pads, with FREE toilet paper, and it took 5 minutes, and I've had NO experience in headphone modding, except for a rewire, and the tape mod on this and the Monoprice 8320 = Much improved headphone

Oh, and if the resonance is making everything else bad, opening them really wouldn't be such a bad idea, right?

 

[penmarker]

Easier said than done? I just got up and modded them, while waiting for my pads, with FREE toilet paper, and it took 5 minutes, and I've had NO experience in headphone modding, except for a rewire, and the tape mod on this and the Monoprice 8320 = Much improved headphone
Oh, and if the resonance is making everything else bad, opening them really wouldn't be such a bad idea, right?

I hope you can post your impressions before and after the paperMod. I might get acoustic dampening materials since the size required is very small.

 

[analogsurviver]

Quote:

That's actually the first thing i thought of. Why use toilet paper? Sure, everybody has it and it's inexpensive, but i would use sturdier material like felt. And before i was able to post it, you did..
 
Since my s500's havent arrived yet, i have no idea of the dimensions of the cups etc, but perhaps, if it's difficult to find felt around, something like this would suffice for inside the cups?
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/50pcs-Padded-Felt-flower-Checked-Appliques-craf-t-Wedding-decoration-H776-/370691746857?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item564ef32c29
 
I think you might want to remove the padding though and cut 'em the right shape.

Oh, and also make sure they're on the inside of the pads, and not 'accidentaly' get glued to the outside of 'em to compliment the Justin Bieber tunes coming out of the phones.

It has been done with felt "many pages ago in this thread" by cyloh . He used some red felt, easily indentifiable in photos he posted. I use different type of fabric that is easier to work with, as it conforms to the irregular shape(s) of the cup much better, since felt has a tendency to straighten itself over time; that is why cyloh
used felt only on the flat circular portion of the cup and not across the whole surface as I was able to achieve.
 
But now, I will go for as many another miles as it would take in order to make these cups to finally shut up and only do what they are supposed to do. Felt/fabric solution alone, although it helps a lot,  is simply not enough.

 

[andkoppel]

Applied the PT mod to my S400 and Wow. Impresions posted in the corresponding thread. But thx gopanthersgo1 for sharing. Superstylefacto thx also.

 

[Xxxneoxxx]

Quote:

But now, I will go for as many another miles as it would take in order to make these cups to finally shut up and only do what they are supposed to do. Felt/fabric solution alone, although it helps a lot,  is simply not enough.

Wating for someone to post a complete mod replacing the entire cups with wooden ones.

 
Also like the "stuff your cups with taddy bear stuffing"-idea.

 

[gopanthersgo1]

Well, I did the TP mod with felt, and right now, it seems like too much dynamics, and not a lot of treble, but might just be the song, I'll continue some more research gathering (AKA: listening to music )

EDIT: It was just the song I had on, sorry.

 

[gopanthersgo1]

Scratch that last post, "The Snow Patrol - Eyes Open - You Could Be Happy" sounds AMAZING!

EDIT: Turned on some Eminem, not my type of music at all, but sounds great with these headphones also!

 

[Keegster396]

Could anyone who has both the S500 and the UE6000 give his opinion on which is a better headphone?

 

[analogsurviver]

Quote:

Wating for someone to post a complete mod replacing the entire cups with wooden ones.

 
Also like the "stuff your cups with taddy bear stuffing"-idea.

Believe it or not - wood is not an appropriate material for the headphone cups. Wood is used in musical instruments - bacause it has a very pleasing natural resonance. Headphone is a transducer - it should have absolutely no sound of its own, its decay after initial signal should be ideally far faster than that of any musical instrument. That requires no resonance at all in theory and as little as possible with real designs. Not achievable with the same material the instruments are made of ! 
 
Still, wood is perhaps the best choice for cups made of single material - far better than plastics. But no match for well done cups using multitude of materials that damp/eliminate resonance(s) of each other.
 
Teddy bear stuffing or similar should be avoided if not absolutely necessary - it works by limiting the available dynamic range, not something one would wish for in high quality wide dynamic range recordings. But better than stock bare empty plastic cup.

 

[gopanthersgo1]

Hey guys, I'm starting to contemplate the Bravo Ocean Amp... maybe if I can get that Orbit Vinyl Player, I might still have enough money... but then no Nexus 7... what should I do?

 

[penmarker]

Hey guys, I'm starting to contemplate the Bravo Ocean Amp... maybe if I can get that Orbit Vinyl Player, I might still have enough money... but then no Nexus 7... what should I do?

Yeah about the tubeamp. I'm not getting a good pairing with a tubeamp (Aune T1), but my S500 sounds better with my E11. I'm not sure whether this applies to all tubeamps, so maybe you should hold that purchase until a comparison between the Audio Ocean and another solid state amp is made to be paired with the S500.

The tubeamp paired better with my Goldring DR150, although the headphones cost around 100-150 bucks. Just to give you a heads up because amps don't pair well with all headphones, some pairing only provide louder volume but has not so great sonic improvements.

 

[vsls]

I just pulled the trigger

Now I just have to wait...

 

[Doc-holliday]

Oh, and if the resonance is making everything else bad, opening them really wouldn't be such a bad idea, right?

No. My experience with opening them up is a very thin and harsh sound.

Could anyone who has both the S500 and the UE6000 give his opinion on which is a better headphone?

The UE6000 is gunna win in that one. Better comfort, more refined and natural highs. Overall a better sounding headphone imo. But it also costs 3x the price.