[Sophonax]

Dang...I didn't realize there was that much variation in the bass in the R10s!  I just thought that those numbered less than 950 or so were bass-light, and above 950 or so were bass-heavy.  Apparently not the case.
 
Makes me wonder what my R10 (# 360) is.

 

[purk]

Quote:

Dang...I didn't realize there was that much variation in the bass in the R10s!  I just thought that those numbered less than 950 or so were bass-light, and above 950 or so were bass-heavy.  Apparently not the case.
 
Makes me wonder what my R10 (# 360) is.

 
With just 6 units apart from mine, so it is probably a bass heavy?  Also, the bass heavy is not equal to extreme amount of bass here, but just a lot more in relation to the bass light R10 which is very very light in bass.  To put thing in perspective, the the bass heavy R10 has slightly less bass output than those of the HD800's bass.

 

[warubozu]

Thanks for the intersting read on the 4 different versions of the R10 drivers. The pair of R10 that I currently own is #174 so that would make mines with bass light drivers. Someone correct me if I'm wrong as I don't have a bass heavy version to compare it with to hear just how much difference there is between the two.

 

[Sophonax]

 
Quote:

With just 6 units apart from mine, so it is probably a bass heavy?  Also, the bass heavy is not equal to extreme amount of bass here, but just a lot more in relation to the bass light R10 which is very very light in bass.  To put thing in perspective, the the bass heavy R10 has slightly less bass output than those of the HD800's bass.

Thanks for the info.  Your description of the bass-heavy R10 is about what I hear out of my pair -- slightly less bass than the HD800.  The biggest difference I notice is that my R10's bass is rolled off compared to the HD800 -- it doesn't seem to have much output below about 50 Hz or so.  Doesn't bother me a bit, though, as the R10 handles the rest of the frequency spectrum miles better than anything else I've heard.

 

[purk]

Quote:

Thanks for the intersting read on the 4 different versions of the R10 drivers. The pair of R10 that I currently own is #174 so that would make mines with bass light drivers. Someone correct me if I'm wrong as I don't have a bass heavy version to compare it with to hear just how much difference there is between the two.

 
Again, very very difficult to say whether which version you have.  Can you describe the bass notes in relation to other headphones?  To confuse thing further (sorry), I just landed another pair of R10 with one broken driver, and from what I can tell it is a more bass version.  This particular pair is likely the original prototype or commercial sample b/c it DOES NOT have a serial number.  The pictures shown on my other posts in this thread is of this particular unit with number "3" written inside the housing.

Quote:

 

Thanks for the info.  Your description of the bass-heavy R10 is about what I hear out of my pair -- slightly less bass than the HD800.  The biggest difference I notice is that my R10's bass is rolled off compared to the HD800 -- it doesn't seem to have much output below about 50 Hz or so.  Doesn't bother me a bit, though, as the R10 handles the rest of the frequency spectrum miles better than anything else I've heard.

Yep, that's sound about right.  Are you using yours balanced as it will enhanced the bass slightly.  When running balanced they just sound really wonderful.  IMO, the R10 is probably a notch away in bass from achieving audio perfection. 
 

 

[warubozu]

Purk the bass notes out of my pair of R10 sound similar to the CD3k. When I read about how the bass sounds out of a bass light pair, I get the impression that bass sounds anemic or non-existent with the mids and highs taking front and center. This is certainly not true as there is bass in my low number pair which is suppose to be a bass light. All the more confusing with reading that pairs with serial numbers that would make them bass light, actually have drivers that sounds to be bass heavy and vice versa.

 

[purk]

Quote:

Purk the bass notes out of my pair of R10 sound similar to the CD3k. When I read about how the bass sounds out of a bass light pair, I get the impression that bass sounds anemic or non-existent with the mids and highs taking front and center. This is certainly not true as there is bass in my low number pair which is suppose to be a bass light. All the more confusing with reading that pairs with serial numbers that would make them bass light, actually have drivers that sounds to be bass heavy and vice versa.

From what you described to me, yours is certainly not a bass light pair.  The bass light unit though has very anemic bass response, however, take the soundstage, midrange, transparency, and air to another level.  It was very difficult for me to let go of my SN 284 pair as it was incredible in those departments; however, my current pair (higher bass)  is more musical & forgiving to upstream equipment, so it is easier to live with .  You can make up for those elements by running the bass heavier R10 balanced configuration though.  However, the bass output only improve slightly.   Maybe a more powerful amp and recable will bring out more bass.  My finding is that the bass light R10 tends to be more analytical and less forgiving of the upstream equipment than the higher bass version.
 
 
 

 

[warubozu]

I agree that the soundstage, midrange, transparency, and air is euphoric in the pair that I have. Bass although not punchy seems to be balanced and doesn't really take a back seat in comparison with the rest of the sound spectrum.

 

[gzone3lement]

This might help, but you would need to contact Alex if he is okay with helping you out.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/319613/jenalab-recabled-r10

 

[judgeschreber]

 
OP here. Thanks for reviving the thread - there's some great info here! (my R10 drivers are definitely 4th generation - they don't have a stamp, and they have the black felt damping on the back shown in Purk's 1st photo).
 
An update to my problem: I ended up putting CD3k drivers in them for now, while I figure out what else I will do with these. They sound fantastic, but I've never heard a working pair of original R10s so I don't know how they might compare.
 
Interesting notes, though: while switching out the drivers, curiosity got the best of me and I listened to the phones with one R10 driver and one CD3K driver. It was a brief test with a sub-par setup, but there was nothing obviously mis-matched about the two drivers.
 
Also, despite the different specs on the CD3K and R10 drivers (32 vs 40 Ohms), they tested almost identically (33.9 vs 34.1).
 
I certainly don't doubt that they are different drivers (they have different housing, after all), but my thoroughly un-scientific investigation has at least helped convince me that putting CD3K drivers in the R10 isn't unwarranted. I may not be experiencing the full R10 magic, but what I am listening to is quite nice indeed.

 

[gzone3lement]

Quote:

 
OP here. Thanks for reviving the thread - there's some great info here! (my R10 drivers are definitely 4th generation - they don't have a stamp, and they have the black felt damping on the back shown in Purk's 1st photo).
 
An update to my problem: I ended up putting CD3k drivers in them for now, while I figure out what else I will do with these. They sound fantastic, but I've never heard a working pair of original R10s so I don't know how they might compare.
 
Interesting notes, though: while switching out the drivers, curiosity got the best of me and I listened to the phones with one R10 driver and one CD3K driver. It was a brief test with a sub-par setup, but there was nothing obviously mis-matched about the two drivers.
 
Also, despite the different specs on the CD3K and R10 drivers (32 vs 40 Ohms), they tested almost identically (33.9 vs 34.1).
 
I certainly don't doubt that they are different drivers (they have different housing, after all), but my thoroughly un-scientific investigation has at least helped convince me that putting CD3K drivers in the R10 isn't unwarranted. I may not be experiencing the full R10 magic, but what I am listening to is quite nice indeed.

Congrats! You should let us know how the headphones sound. I have never heard of even the name CD3000 until this week. I listened to the Sony R10 once and it was amazing, especially in the soundstage.
 

 

[purk]

Quote:

 
OP here. Thanks for reviving the thread - there's some great info here! (my R10 drivers are definitely 4th generation - they don't have a stamp, and they have the black felt damping on the back shown in Purk's 1st photo).
 
An update to my problem: I ended up putting CD3k drivers in them for now, while I figure out what else I will do with these. They sound fantastic, but I've never heard a working pair of original R10s so I don't know how they might compare.
 
Interesting notes, though: while switching out the drivers, curiosity got the best of me and I listened to the phones with one R10 driver and one CD3K driver. It was a brief test with a sub-par setup, but there was nothing obviously mis-matched about the two drivers.
 
Also, despite the different specs on the CD3K and R10 drivers (32 vs 40 Ohms), they tested almost identically (33.9 vs 34.1).
 
I certainly don't doubt that they are different drivers (they have different housing, after all), but my thoroughly un-scientific investigation has at least helped convince me that putting CD3K drivers in the R10 isn't unwarranted. I may not be experiencing the full R10 magic, but what I am listening to is quite nice indeed.

 
First thing first, what is the SN# and manufactured date of your R10?  I am not quite sure if you can judge the driver based on the way they look, as the pictured driver (#3) was taken out from the R10 which happens to be a prototype unit.  This particular unit doesn't have a serial number engraved any where.  So during the production stage, thing may have changed.  However, it is likely a #3 driver if your R10 is made prior to 1996.  There are two versions of the service manual: one that was released back in 1989 and another in the late 1990's or early 2000's.  The addendum made to the original service manual is the addition of 4th driver.  I'll get back with you on the date of the revised service manual. 
 
 

 

[judgeschreber]

Quote:

 
First thing first, what is the SN# and manufactured date of your R10?  I am not quite sure if you can judge the driver based on the way they look, as the pictured driver (#3) was taken out from the R10 which happens to be a prototype unit.  This particular unit doesn't have a serial number engraved any where.  So during the production stage, thing may have changed.  However, it is likely a #3 driver if your R10 is made prior to 1996.  There are two versions of the service manual: one that was released back in 1989 and another in the late 1990's or early 2000's.  The addendum made to the original service manual is the addition of 4th driver.  I'll get back with you on the date of the revised service manual. 
 
 

 

I think you misunderstand what I'm saying. The driver looks like the one on the left in your first photo, the 4th generation (not the #3 on the right). Also the phones have a very late serial number (I can't remember off the top of my head, but I know it's 10xx), and the driver has no markings, which sounds consistent with the info from Mikhail. That's why I concluded it was probably one of the 4th generation drivers.
 

 

[purk]

 
Quote:

I think you misunderstand what I'm saying. The driver looks like the one on the left in your first photo, the 4th generation (not the #3 on the right). Also the phones have a very late serial number (I can't remember off the top of my head, but I know it's 10xx), and the driver has no markings, which sounds consistent with the info from Mikhail. That's why I concluded it was probably one of the 4th generation drivers.
 

 

 

 
With that serial number, I believe we are on the same page.  I originally thought that your R10 was from an earlier production run that have a higher bass output, which is a driver #3 IMO.  The serial number 10XX certainly will have the 4th generation of driver as it was made in the early 2001 up to 2004.  

 
 
 

 

[purk]

According to the revised service manual, version 1.1, Sony changed the driver unit in 2002. 03.  So that should be March of 2002 when Sony began using the driver #4 (1-505-100-41) in the R10.