Alessandro MS1000 and MS Ultimate - DIY & modding [56K warning]

[Dinan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flipjack /img/forum/go_quote.gif I haven't tried felt yet, but when I filled the distancers with foam from the comfies, the shrillness remained (especially on the aforementioned Dark Suns album). So I'm listening to most of my music unequalized, but with the one or two albums that torture my eardrums, I equalize the shrillness out. Unless felt would really help (by just taming the highs and keep everything else intact - the agressiveness, the upper mids), then I would gladly give that a try. But then I'd have to buy some, haven't got anything vaguely resembling felt laying around as far as I know. Do you have any suggestions on what kind of felt I could utilize?

Ditto on the felt! It is the difference between a great MS1000 and an unlistenable headphone.

I got my felt from RDS with my distancers so I am not sure if it is a standard felt or something "special".

 

[nickchen]

Well, felt isn't like felt. Some stuff is almost useless, whereas other affects things pretty much. There is no other method than trial & error to find out. Placing of felt also counts, putting it directly onto the driver grills tames highs, whereas putting it on the distancers rather works on the upper mids.

Do some experiments. It isn't graved in stone that only felt is applyable. take a look onto some worn cloths, maybe an old pullover can be cut into pieces or so.

One last point: Drillings. Maybe ApatN made too many and/or too big holes (my personal optimum is 3x 1,5mm), the more air can breathe, the more treble & upper mids you get. Try closing one of the holes with a piece of tape.

The MS1K is fully adjustable to your personal listening habits, buddy. NoXter tuned his to an almost dark sounding exemplar

 

[Flipjack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickchen /img/forum/go_quote.gif One last point: Drillings. Maybe ApatN made too many and/or too big holes (my personal optimum is 3x 1,5mm), the more air can breathe, the more treble & upper mids you get. Try closing one of the holes with a piece of tape.

That's the reason I asked ApatN to drill 4 holes, so I could experiment myself with closing them. I ended up closing 2 of them and made the other 2 a tiny bit bigger with a fork (very scientific ). I also made them a little less deep. I received them at 13mm, they are now 11-something (I'm not sure exactly, I just liked how they sounded with this depth).

I'll try to find some materials that can help me achieve the one and only change I want: tamed highs. If or when I found it, I will let you know

 

[apatN]

They come with 4 1.5mm holes. I like them with 3 holes the best myself and then Beyer foam to cover the drivers. What I want to try in the future is to cover the inside of the distancers with some foam instead of felt. See what it does to the sound.

 

[rds]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickchen /img/forum/go_quote.gif x2, and I suggest RDS gets back into "business" as well if that Jmoneyaudio bullsh*t isn't resolved in the course of the next time.

Any news on Jmoneyaudio?
When I heard about the free distancers I decided not to have any more made for obvious reasons.

 

[Dr. Mephisto]

Argh. I think I'm just going to make some distancers. I love my MS1s, but this just seems like fun, and with no word yet on the Canadian dealer, I may as well just dig out my tools, and find time within my college/orchestra schedule. Argh again!

Anywho, a new pair of MS1000s should be up and running next week!
-w-

 

[apatN]

^ Good luck! Seems you will have to build them yourself.
I was going to try to build some last week but am currently too busy with studying and what not.

 

[jageur272]

Got my distancers! I attached them to my MS1's by peeling the goop off of dynamat extreme and covering the bottom of the distancer and then just sticking that to the headphone itself. Jumbo pads should come in a week or two.

 

[apatN]

^ I don't know how thick that dynamat stuff is but it's probably not a good idea to increase the height of the distancers even further.
How tall are your distancers and who did you get them from?

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by apatN /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^ I don't know how thick that dynamat stuff is but it's probably not a good idea to increase the height of the distancers even further. How tall are your distancers and who did you get them from?

He got them from me. They are the same height as the rest of the distancers. The Dynamat is only as thick as you spread it. It is very much like BluTack. He might end up with a thinner layer than using bluTack. The Dyna Extreme would be good for doing this IMO. It's sticky as Hell too!

 

[Dinan]

.

 

[Comfy]

I finished building my MS-1000i today, after receiving Nickchen's original #001 distancers.
The sound is really quite astonishing. My MS-1i still need more burn-in, only about 20 hours at low volumes so far, but the major traits of the mod are apparent already. The soundstage is very much larger than stock, and it's realistic too. I don't know if it's just my brain interpreting things in a funny way, but I think the mod makes it easier to hear detail as well. The bass is quite incredible - it got much deeper and punchier, it's one of the best bass reproductions I've ever heard from headphones.
The sound is quite a bit grainier than with my reference Stax setup, but so is the sound of most dynamics. It'll probably settle a bit with another 30 hours of burn-in. Still, despite the graininess, I prefer the MS-1000i with some types of music and some moods. It's really airy and quick, and it's really engaging and fun as well. From what I'm hearing now, I can only assume that the MS-Ultimate is really pretty close to being the perfect dynamic can.
Thank you Nickchen and the rest of the community - these really are worth the tinkering. A discovery, really.


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[jageur272]

Quote:

Originally Posted by les_garten /img/forum/go_quote.gif He got them from me. They are the same height as the rest of the distancers. The Dynamat is only as thick as you spread it. It is very much like BluTack. He might end up with a thinner layer than using bluTack. The Dyna Extreme would be good for doing this IMO. It's sticky as Hell too!

Exactly, I put on a very thin layer that I peeled off of the foil of some dynamat extreme. It is sticky as hell, once it sets, it's near impossible to pry off.

 

[nickchen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Comfy /img/forum/go_quote.gif From what I'm hearing now, I can only assume that the MS-Ultimate is really pretty close to being the perfect dynamic can.

You can bet on that!

But in respect of sheer fun & tonality, you already got the 90% package with the MS1000. The Ulti adds the "high res" and the last shovel of naturalness - worldclass mids that rival the HD800 (I compared them side by side and prefer the Alessandro overall).

 

[Comfy]

Right now my favorite sound (for my listening preferences) comes with two layers of Beyerdynamic foam over the driver grill (bottom of distancer). So no felt layers parallel to the driver, just the felt on the inside of the distancers.

It might also be that these are a little more burnt in by now, but the sound is quite refined now. The bass is huge but articulate (in material that features huge bass, like Portishead), flamenco guitars have a great attack and resonance. The soundstage has more layers than with my Stax setup, but the dynamic variation is also so much bigger, that I have to fiddle quite a lot with the volume pot when surfing through songs.

It would be interesting to hear these with a dedicated amp - right now using my Apogee Mini-DAC instead.