Moonwalker
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2001
- Posts
- 367
- Likes
- 17
Hi everyone!
I'm using my pair for some 5 months now, and have been quite satisfied with them. Soundwise, they are quite acceptable. First impession i've got from them on my Sony MD MZ-R30 was the minute lack of midrange - voices seemed quite distant. Bass was not boomy, and the treble, although sharp, were not peaky and quite smooth and extended. Using them on my home setup, Samsung E234 DVD player, and Creek 11SE amplifier, the bass became a lot more present, mids are still on the insufficient side, though less than unamped, and extension of the treble was improved a tiny! bit, smoothness was even greater. But the lack of mids and soft voices forced me to turn the volume knob farther clockwise, and from some volume level, the cups began to 'colorize' the overall sound. In acceptable musical levels, the coloration was nearly nonexistant, but sometimes in louder pieces, became quite perceptible.
So I decided to make a small mod to them using thechniques from Ian Meier's site. I cut two pieces of very soft foam, using exacto knife. The dimensions are 45x45x20mm. I opened the cups, there are just 3 small screws under the replaceable pads, and put one piece under each driver magnet assembly.
Sound is less bassy now, albeit only by a bit, and mids are more even with the rest of the spectra. Trebles are largely unaffected by the mod. But most evident was the loss of coloration at higher levels! I do no longer notice the resonance of the small plastic enclosure. Eseential to this IMHO is to put the foam that it fills the free space between magnet and rear side if the cup. By measuring the phones at about 100 dB, there was trace of 2nd harmonics, larger trace of third one, and significant fifth harmonics in the upper mids and lower treble. Also, there was large resonance at 250-400 Hz probably resonant frequence of the cup itself. Now after the mod, theres a small 2nd harmonics trace, a bit bigger 3rd one, and none of the fifth nor the bass distortion is present.
To my ears, they sound more closed now, but almost a class better than original. Best of all, I do not recognize the plastic cups at all, the sound seems to come from space near my ears, not from small driver in small cavity on the ear.
Try it, you can always take that step back and thendecide what's better for you.
PS: I think these phones (DT231) are very underrated, and actually they have very quality sound, and the drivers themselves are of high quality. Only minor differences are between L and R channels, and that is obtained without any matching from the manufacturer, Beyerdynamic. No wonder (for me) Headroom gave them five stars (phones).
Please add comments if you have any experience with them, thanks.
Moonwalker
I'm using my pair for some 5 months now, and have been quite satisfied with them. Soundwise, they are quite acceptable. First impession i've got from them on my Sony MD MZ-R30 was the minute lack of midrange - voices seemed quite distant. Bass was not boomy, and the treble, although sharp, were not peaky and quite smooth and extended. Using them on my home setup, Samsung E234 DVD player, and Creek 11SE amplifier, the bass became a lot more present, mids are still on the insufficient side, though less than unamped, and extension of the treble was improved a tiny! bit, smoothness was even greater. But the lack of mids and soft voices forced me to turn the volume knob farther clockwise, and from some volume level, the cups began to 'colorize' the overall sound. In acceptable musical levels, the coloration was nearly nonexistant, but sometimes in louder pieces, became quite perceptible.
So I decided to make a small mod to them using thechniques from Ian Meier's site. I cut two pieces of very soft foam, using exacto knife. The dimensions are 45x45x20mm. I opened the cups, there are just 3 small screws under the replaceable pads, and put one piece under each driver magnet assembly.
Sound is less bassy now, albeit only by a bit, and mids are more even with the rest of the spectra. Trebles are largely unaffected by the mod. But most evident was the loss of coloration at higher levels! I do no longer notice the resonance of the small plastic enclosure. Eseential to this IMHO is to put the foam that it fills the free space between magnet and rear side if the cup. By measuring the phones at about 100 dB, there was trace of 2nd harmonics, larger trace of third one, and significant fifth harmonics in the upper mids and lower treble. Also, there was large resonance at 250-400 Hz probably resonant frequence of the cup itself. Now after the mod, theres a small 2nd harmonics trace, a bit bigger 3rd one, and none of the fifth nor the bass distortion is present.
To my ears, they sound more closed now, but almost a class better than original. Best of all, I do not recognize the plastic cups at all, the sound seems to come from space near my ears, not from small driver in small cavity on the ear.
Try it, you can always take that step back and thendecide what's better for you.
PS: I think these phones (DT231) are very underrated, and actually they have very quality sound, and the drivers themselves are of high quality. Only minor differences are between L and R channels, and that is obtained without any matching from the manufacturer, Beyerdynamic. No wonder (for me) Headroom gave them five stars (phones).
Please add comments if you have any experience with them, thanks.
Moonwalker
