[WallofHooligans]

I think it's safe to assume that a significant percentage of head-fi members are still unfarmiliar with most of the new website's user-interface and it's intricacies (myself included).
This particular lack of knowledge or ignorance is not a sin, nor should it ever be considered such, and can only be rectified with time and simple education.
Let's try to keep it civil .__.

Was my answer not a civil response? I think it was fine.

Has anyone been lucky enough to pick up a vintage ortho from a thrift store or at a garage sale?

I've been looking around from time to time, but nothing of note.

Hah I wish. I've been looking, but never found anything. You'll sometimes find pairs missing their badges and labels on ebay, where the seller doesn't know/mention that they are planars.

 

[Feilong4]

Was my answer not a civil response? I think it was fine.


Hah I wish. I've been looking, but never found anything. You'll sometimes find pairs missing their badges and labels on ebay, where the seller doesn't know/mention that they are planars.

Is there a keyword that you use to search?

 

[WallofHooligans]

Is there a keyword that you use to search?

TBH I have like 100 different saved searches for models of interest. Sometimes I'll just search through the vintage junk for poops and giggles.

By the way, have any of you dudes ever used conductive ink to repair an ortho driver? I see there's lots of mentions of such things but no pictures. I've got a busted driver that I'd like to fix.

 

[GREQ]

Why can't you just use the search function at the top right? There's a check-box for "search this thread only"

Was my answer not a civil response? I think it was fine.

Well since you asked: no, not really.
Starting a response with "Why can't you [?]" just doesn't work in most civilized situations, formal or informal.
While it's a rhetorical question in of itself, the tone judges the other person negatively for their ignorance.

Simply writing "There is a search function at the top right. There's a check-box for "search this thread only" would have been more civil.
If you don't believe me, the next time your girlfriend/boyfriend doesn't put enough salt on the food, try asking "Why can't you just put more salt in the food" and see how that works out for you >

 

[GREQ]

By the way, have any of you dudes ever used conductive ink to repair an ortho driver? I see there's lots of mentions of such things but no pictures. I've got a busted driver that I'd like to fix.

I did once, but it was a mess, so I never posted it up.
I was basically about to give up so i just painted a line directly from the center to the edge (spiral trace), and it just kicked into life.
Didn't even sound bad either, but it seemed like such bad practice, I don't want others to do the same.

 

[WallofHooligans]

Well since you asked: no, not really.
Starting a response with "Why can't you [?]" just doesn't work in most civilized situations, formal or informal.
While it's a rhetorical question in of itself, the tone judges the other person negatively for their ignorance.

Simply writing "There is a search function at the top right. There's a check-box for "search this thread only" would have been more civil.
If you don't believe me, the next time your girlfriend/boyfriend doesn't put enough salt on the food, try asking "Why can't you just put more salt in the food" and see how that works out for you >

I think you're reading to far into it. My response was to the post before my own, so using the salt analogy, it would be something like; "Hey, you could try getting seawater and then evaporating it" where my response was "Why can't you just add table salt"?
We can agree to disagree if you'd like.

I'm going to give the circuit writing pen a go, and i'll throw pictures up. The driver was obviously tampered with before I got into it, the dead giveaway was the connection to the ground and left channel... instead of having a soldered connection, the wire was just stripped and then wound around the leads. I really hope they don't send me a dried up, useless pen though. There's a really clear break in the coil, and I'll get a closeup so you guys can see what i'm working with.

 

[GREQ]

I think you're reading to far into it. My response was to the post before my own, so using the salt analogy, it would be something like; "Hey, you could try getting seawater and then evaporating it" where my response was "Why can't you just add table salt"?
We can agree to disagree if you'd like.

I'm going to give the circuit writing pen a go, and i'll throw pictures up. The driver was obviously tampered with before I got into it, the dead giveaway was the connection to the ground and left channel... instead of having a soldered connection, the wire was just stripped and then wound around the leads. I really hope they don't send me a dried up, useless pen though. There's a really clear break in the coil, and I'll get a closeup so you guys can see what i'm working with.

Agreeing to disagree is another way of saying "we both lose"... I can't live with that! NEVER!!!

I used silver circuit paint for train models... it's even good for outdoor sets so they can power LEDs on model houses and stuff without getting affected by weather too much.
The advantage with this stuff is that you can ingore the brush that comes with it, and use a super thin one from an art store, since you don't want to introduce a weight difference between diaphragms which will in turn create slight channel imbalance.
It's pretty easy to find this paint, should be in most model stores that do trains, RC cars etc.

 

[WallofHooligans]

So the fix I had envisioned for my broken t20s is much less complicated than what I need to formulate. The broken trace isn't the only issue, looks like there's a tear all the way through... It's right at the cross section of both sides of the trace, so I expect it to be shorted out even if I patch the thing with silver ink. Here's some pictures before I mess this thing up.

 

[Feilong4]

I've picked up a modded ATH-2 from a Head-Fier. I'm sure he's posted in this thread. I believe his mod was to dampen the sound. He's done various things from what I can see when opening them up. I'm seeing dampening material on the cup and some sort of material taped right behind the driver. I've taken them off to see whether I can tell a difference and I think I could. I remember noting a honkier midrange. I would've kept the dampening in either way. Just me curious in seeing what's inside.

Without EQ, I think they sound great for vocals, slow tracks, pop, and acoustic tracks. Alright for other genres like punk and electronic though definitely needs EQing in the sub-bass.

As for the stock sound, sub-bass is definitely rolled off quite a bit. Lacks low-end rumble, though still has a bit of mid-bass punch which is surprising. Mids are very Audio Technica. I don't know what it is but vocals have this sort of "gloss". Very ambiguous, I know, but female vocals sound very nice. Intimate and full. A bit like the AD2000, but lacking the upper mids and treble in terms of quantity. As for treble, it's quite rolled-off as well. Some may call this smooth, but I think it's a bit too much. More so than the HD650 I think.

When EQing, I wanted to add sub-bass, upper mid, and treble. This is where I'm at, and I'm liking the results a lot:

I did have an EQ on Equalizer APO, but it kept freezing my computer so I uninstalled it. This EQ here is essentially what I had on APO with way less frequency bands to work with.

When EQ'd, I think it compares very positively to today's headphones. Very nice tonal balance and detailed. Not thick or slow sounding either.

The future:

- Get another pair so I can keep these headphones as is and mod the other.
- Different earpads. I'm thinking ESW9 pads or whichever pads from Audio Technica's earsuit series.
- Custom (wooden?) closed cups for more isolation and possibly more bass.
- Custom headband system, so I don't look goofy with them out and about.
- Custom cable with a 3.5mm termination.

Overall, very happy. Back to team Audio Technica I go.

I also added a headband that I've stripped off of a 3 dollar headphone. No disrespect to the original owner with their light green headband haha.

 

[WallofHooligans]

I love my ath-2 as well, but you can tell that the pads are very important to the sound quality. Mine are flat as a board, but still somehow kinda comfy. They sound quite bassy to me, if I remember correctly.

 

[Feilong4]

I love my ath-2 as well, but you can tell that the pads are very important to the sound quality. Mine are flat as a board, but still somehow kinda comfy. They sound quite bassy to me, if I remember correctly.

Yeah, pads are very important. I wanted to get thicker pads, so they can hug my ears just a bit more to get that deep bass and that bit of isolation. I don't know whether it's going to affect the sound positively or negatively overall though, and whether or not it can be fixed with EQ. The only thing I know is that I like what I'm getting pushing the earcups against my ears.

I should probably get an ESW9, so I could resell them again if it doesn't turn out well. Heck, I wanted to revisit the ESW9 again anyway.

 

[nappiguan]

What a coincidence. I recently bought a ath-2 as well. I followed Waluta's thread on tearing apart a ath-2. Instead of foam I used magic eraser. Another gem, not as clear sounding as the yamaha hp-50, but very close. Still has the plastic headband though. Makes it hard to wear for more than 30 min

.

 

[WallofHooligans]

What a coincidence. I recently bought a ath-2 as well. I followed Waluta's thread on tearing apart a ath-2. Instead of foam I used magic eraser. Another gem, not as clear sounding as the yamaha hp-50, but very close. Still has the plastic headband though. Makes it hard to wear for more than 30 min .

Yeah the headband is a bit bizarre, especially on your head. It's incredibly goofy looking. Errr but on the comfort aspect- the plastic band is fine for me, but if you wanted to replace it, it's attached by four screws and is easily replaced.
Your pair looks pristine though, unfortunately mine has corrosion and pitting in the metal band.

 

[szerecsen]

hello guys

a rare find

actually, never heard of this one before

it says "RUEFACH Exclusive"




cheers

szerecsen

 

[Feilong4]

hello guys

a rare find

actually, never heard of this one before

it says "RUEFACH Exclusive"




cheers

szerecsen

Cool! What's your impressions on them?