[mbwilson111]

Uh-oh, that probably means she has her eyes on a new pair of shoes or perhaps a new handbag LOL

Hey, not every woman would want the shoes or handbag... or even jewelry. I would expect something better than that!

Stereotypes are bad!

 

[Humblepie]

Hey, not every woman would want the shoes or handbag... or even jewelry. I would expect something better than that!

Stereotypes are bad!

I noticed the delay on the jewelry. Trying to convince yourself is it

 

[mbwilson111]

I noticed the delay on the jewelry. Trying to convince yourself is it

No no... I was just adding that as another possible male assumption that Slater had not mentioned. Same with flowers. They just die. A plant maybe if I don't have to take care of it... lol.

Only jewelry on me is my wedding ring. Unless IEMs and earbuds and headphones count as jewelry? Some are quite pretty.

edited to add: Actually I do wear magnetic bracelets but there is a reason for that... and they do help. Also I put on watches of various colors when I go out. Watches are jewelry to me...lol.

 

[Slater]

Hey, not every woman would want the shoes or handbag... or even jewelry. I would expect something better than that!

Stereotypes are bad!

I know, the stereotype was the joke. No insult intended to anyone.

You are a rare breed though Mary

 

[mbwilson111]

I know, the stereotype was the joke. No insult intended to anyone.

You are a rare breed though Mary

I know

 

[slowpickr]

I know, the stereotype was the joke. No insult intended to anyone.

You are a rare breed though Mary

You nailed it with my wife lol. I always tell her that if she would have married Bill Gates, he would NOT be a billionaire .

 

[mbwilson111]

You nailed it with my wife lol. I always tell her that if she would have married Bill Gates, he would NOT be a billionaire .

I hate to think how many bags and shoes would be cluttering up this house if the money I have spent on audio gear had been spent on shoes and bags instead. Actually my husband has way more shoes than I do. I have no idea why.

Now I don't feel so bad about the number of headphones I will have to hide when my daughter visits me from the States in May. I will surely go through headfi and headphone withdrawal when she is here though.

Running out of hiding places...

 

[ViniSavordelli]

Attn owners of the ISK MDH9000 and it's many clones (Akai Project 50X, Marantz MPH-2, LyxPro HAS-30, Freeboss MDH9000).

I have completed a few mods that you may be interested in.

1. Tuning paper mod
The stock tuning paper is extremely restrictive, and very little passes through it. This mod allows a more spacious sound. You have to be very careful not to poke the driver diaphragm when perfoming this mod. I used the very tip of an xacto knife, and carefully trimmed each circle. You could also maybe poke each hole out with a philips screwdriver, and peel the paper away with tweezers. But I repeat, you MUST BE CAREFUL not to poke the driver diaphragm when perfoming this mod. I wish you could just peel or scrape the tuning paper off in 1 big piece, but the whole thing is held on with some sort of evil mutant glue, and the tuning paper doesn't peel at all (it must be trimmed off).






2. Locking cable elimination mod
This eliminates the cable lock, allowing the use of any 3.5mm cable that is slim enough to fit inside of the hole (for example, a Beats cable). Note that you will still be able to use the stock locking cables as well. This mod just gives you the flexibility to use any cable that physically fits.

• On the L earcup, remove the earpad and remove the (4) screws that hold the cup together.
• Remove the (2) screws that hold the little circuit board down, and lift the circuit board out of the way.
• Remove the (2) screws that hold the locking mechanism down, and remove the plastic locking mechanism piece.
• If you look at the plastic locking mechanism, you’ll see the (2) small plastic locking tabs (on the top and bottom). Break both of them off using pliers, a screw driver, or some sort of pokey-pokey tool (like a scratch awl). The plastic is very brittle, and the tabs will break off with little effort.
• Reinstall the locking mechanism back on and secure it with the (2) screws.
• Reinstall the circuit board back on and secure it with the (2) screws.
• Make sure a regular, non-locking 3.5mm cable plugs in smoothly. If for some reason it doesn't that means you didn't break off the locking tabs completely. Go back and double check, and correct the issue until a regular, non-locking 3.5mm cable plugs in smoothly.
  
• Put the cup back together and secure it with the (4) screws.
• Put the earpad back on.

3. Semi-open mod (stealth venting)
One of the reasons why the soundstage in these cans is so good is because the cup has a number of hidden vent holes. If you look at the 12-o'clock position on each cup, you will see (7) tiny vent holes inside of a small "groove". I took this idea and extended it, adding holes completely around the cup, also hidden inside of the groove. The result was an even wider soundstage than before, and additional sub bass extension that is much deeper than the stock version.

• On each earcup, remove the earpad and remove the (4) screws that hold the cup together.
• Put a piece of tape over the vent hold on the driver magnet, to prevent debris from falling into the vent hole.
• Using a small drill bit (ie the same size as the existing (7) vent holes in the 12-o'clock position), drill additional holes inside of the groove, all the way around the driver cup. Space the holes a few mm apart (use the (7) stock vent holes as a guide to about how far apart to space the new vent holes). Note that you will have to skip a few sections where you won't be drilling any holes, such as the (4) cup mounting screw posts, the (2) yoke mounting blocks, and the aux cable area (I've indicated these with arrows in the 1st photo below).
• Blow all of the plastic chips away using your breath, canned duster air, a brush, etc.
• Make sure all of the holes are clean and free of loose hanging plastic pieces (that could later fall off and get inside of the driver). This process took quite a bit of time, as it's critical to make sure every last tiny loose plastic piece is cleaned up and accounted for.
• Once you are pleased with the results, remove the tape from the driver magnet.
• Put the cups back together, and replace the (4) screws.
• Put the earpads back on.
• Repeat the procedure on the other side.

4. Semi-open mod (grille mod)
One of the reasons why the soundstage in these cans is so good is because the cup has a number of hidden vent holes. If you look at the 12-o'clock position on each cup, you will see (7) tiny vent holes inside of a small "groove".

I took this idea and extended it to it's maximum conclusion, replacing the alumium name plate with an open mesh grille. The result was an even wider soundstage than the #3 mod above, an increase in sub bass quantity, AND further sub bass extension (than the #3 mod above). WoW!!

You may be asking yourself, "how can Slater do #4 without knowing what effect #3 had?" Simple, I taped the small hidden vents closed before completing mod #4. You won't need to do this, as you'll either do mod #3 OR mod #4 but NOT both. I only had to do this because when tuning and developing mods you often do extra stuff, make mistakes, go back and undo things you;ve already done, etc as you play "what if" with the tuning.

These 50mm drivers seem to really like a lot of air to breathe, and I found the sound of the #4 mod to be even better than the #3 mod. I think it also looks cooler as well!

• Drill a few 1/8" holes in the stock badge, in approximately the same locations as you see in the photo below. This is important, because there is a very specific 'gap' in the cup directly behind the badge that will allow you to grab the badge with pliers. If you drill in the wrong spots, you will miss this gap. I've indicated this in the photos below (ie where the yellow highlighter is). Also, drill only through the aluminum plate. Do NOT drill all the way through the plastic behind the plate, as you risk drilling into the driver! You will be able to feel when you are through the alumium plate (at which point immediately stop drilling).

• Now take pliers and pull off the badge. It's held on pretty strongly with glue around the edges, but keep trying and it will eventually pry off. You can also see the "gap" in the below 2 photos, which is basically a recessed "outer ring". It is this recessed area that gives the pliers the room to grab the aluminum badge.

• Now that you have the badge removed, you are going to remove the plastic material as indicated below. I used a cutting disc on my Dremel, and cleaned up the hole with a Dremel sanding drum. Be sure to leave a small amount of material (ie a "lip" or "ledge"), so that the grille has something to rest on. In other words, don't grind your hole flush all the way to the very edge. Go a few mms smaller, so there's a "ledge" for the grille to sit on. Make sense?

• Once your hole is ready, take your grille material (cut to fit perfectly into the hole where the badge was), and lay it down into the hole. The grille will rest on the "ledge" you left.
• The grille needs to be exactly 42mm diameter. You can buy 42mm grilles on ebay (for $2/pair) that will drop right in as a friction fit, and won't even need glue. Or you can buy a larger grille and cut it down to fit. I've seen the grilles in black, white, silver, chrome plated, or you can spray paint the grille any color you want before installing. On ebay or Aliexpress, just search for any of the follwing terms: 1" tweeter grille, 1" speaker dust grille, 42mm tweeter cover.
• If your grille requires it (for example isn't a friction fit), secure the grille with 3-4 strategic drops of clear epoxy or Lazer Bond UV glue. For example, 4 tiny drops at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock, or 3 tiny drops arranged like a triangle (you can use the 3 triangle decorations on the stock cup as a guide of where to center the drops).
• Once the adhedsive is dry, blow all of the plastic chips and debris away using your breath, canned duster air, a brush, etc. It is critical that all debris is removed from the cups, to prevent any from getting inside of the driver. The inside of the bottom cup and the inside of the top cup (where the driver is) shoud be spotless before continuing.
• Once you are pleased with your results, remove the tape from the driver magnet.
• Put the cups back together, and replace the (4) screws.
• Put the earpads back on.
• Repeat the procedure on the other side.

Here's the final result:

Wow that looke nice. I just opened my yenonas to see if I could remove the badge to put a old hp grille on it and I you cant remove it :/. I am afraid of making holes on it now and ruining my pair

 

[Slater]

Wow that looke nice. I just opened my yenonas to see if I could remove the badge to put a old hp grille on it and I you cant remove it :/. I am afraid of making holes on it now and ruining my pair

Thanks, glad you like it

Well, as far as your yenonas, some headphones you can do grilles on, and some you just can't. It really varies from headphone to headphone, based off the design of the cup and other factors.

And sometimes the mods don’t go as planned, so there’s always a risk of permanently breaking your headphones. You have to carefully evaluate what can and should be done (or not done), and plan it all out.

Also, be aware that some closed headphones end up sounding worse when open (so should be kept closed), and some sound better when opened up. It really depends.

And some are tuned really well from the factory and don’t need a single thing done. For example, my Fidelio X2 are totally stock, and I plan to keep them that way.

Here's some other examples of headphones I've done open mods to (note some I just used as donor shells, and swapped out the drivers after converting them to open).

Bluedio T3+
The bluetooth board went bad in this after about a year, so I removed everything dealing with bluetooth - the battery, circuit board, control d-pad, antenna, etc. Rewired them, and converted them to open backed (but kept the stock driver). I listened to them with the stock driver for months, but just a few weeks ago I swapped out the stock 53mm titanium drivers for some new graphene drivers I picked up. I'm loving the graphene - the sound is amazing!

Before (stock):


After (modded):


Side by side:



Philips SHL3300
This is a great budget headphone, and sounds good closed (with a few mods), or open. Similar to the ISK MDH9000 and its clones, the sound really improved when the headphone was opened up. I also converted the cable from fixed to removable, and made a custom sheepskin headband.

Before (modded closed version):



After (open modded):




Hoco W2
This is like a $10 low end headphone. Sometimes I use junk crappy sounding headphones as practice. I figure if I can tune them and tweak them and make them sound significantly better, then it gives me good practice and foundations for more expensive gear. Plus it's fun and gives me something to do in my down time. If I mess up the cheap junk, I'm only out a few bucks at most. I ended up doing stealth bottom vents on these (ie semi-open).

Before:


After:



Meizu HP50
This is a great on ear can. In fact, it's the most comfortable on-ear I've ever used. The build quality is amazing (like 1More, Xiaomi, and Apple quality levels). It's all aluminum, and built like a tank. You could run this over with a car and barely scratch it. It's a steal for $50, great for donor shells and driver swaps (although the stock wool diaphragm driver is really good). I like these so much I own multiple pairs, and have gifted some as well.

Stock:


Here's a pair I converted the stock on-ear round pads to oval circumaural pads. The Xiaomi v1 Mi headphone came with swappable pads (stock round on ear-pads, and oval circumaural pads - I borrowed the idea from those).


Here's a set I swapped with a triple diaphragm driver, and converted them to fully open (it was a PITA but worth it):







There's a few others I've done similar treatments too, but I don't have any pics at the moment.

 

[ViniSavordelli]

Yeah i know you can actually ruin them, just the reason I am afraid to test it . If the badge was removable it would be an easy decision

 

[Slater]

Yeah i know you can actually ruin them, just the reason I am afraid to test it . If the badge was removable it would be an easy decision

Everything is technically removable - the badge got on there somehow when they manufactured the headphone. The trick is figuring out HOW they got it on, then doing the manfacturing procedure in reverse order.

Usually the badge is a paper thin piece of plastic or aluminum that is only held on with weak glue or double adhesive tape, and just peels off (there's an 85% liklihood this is the case).

The Akai Project 50X badge was technically only held on with glue, but wow it was some strong glue. I guess they were worried that in the event of an explosion, the badge might fall off.

Occasionally, the badges are part of a plastic face plate that pops off with clips, friction pins, or even small screws from the inside of the cup (15% chance of this).

You can try gently heating it with a hair dryer, which would soften any adhesive and allow it to be pulled up. That would be where I would start if it was me. A hair dryer won't do any damage as long as it's not too hot (and you stay a few inches away). If the badge pulls right up then great - but if the badge won't budge after heating it with a hair dryer, then you have to try something else (plan B).

But regardless of how it's attached, go ahead and assume that the badge will be destroyed in the process (because aluminum bends so easily). So once you try to remove it, you are officially "past the point of no return".

I can say that when you figure out how the badge on 1 side is attached, removing it on the other side is 10xs easier

Good luck and go slow. Even if you damage the badges and decide not to install open grilles, you can always make a new badge out of a sticker, or a cool piece of metal or carbon fiber. On some headphones I purposefully remove the badges and replace them with a piece of carbon fiber or brushed titanium. It gives it a cool custom look, and you're not doing free advertising for some mega corporation

 

[ViniSavordelli]

Everything is technically removable - the badge got on there somehow.

Sometimes the badge is a paper thin piece of aluminum that is glued on (or double adhesive tape) and just peels off. Other times it's part of a face plate that pops off. I've also seen some that were held on with friction pins and even screws from the inside of the cup.

You may get lucky and it's only held on with glue. You can try gently heating it with a hair dryer, which would soften any adhesive and allow it to be pulled up.

But regardless of how it's attached, go ahead and assume that the badge will be destroyed in the process (because aluminum bends so easily). So once you try to remove it, you are officially "past the point of no return".

I can say that when you figure out how the badge on 1 side is attached, removing it on the other side is 10xs easier

Good luck and go slow. Even if you damage the badges and decide not to install open grilles, you can always make a new badge out of a sticker, or a cool piece of metal or carbon fiber. On some headphones I purposefully remove the badges and replace them with a piece of carbon fiber or brushed titanium. It gives it a cool custom look, and you're not doing free advertising for some mega corporation

I am at work right now, so i cant say for sure, but i remember the badge being connected to the screws that closes the cups, which is sad actually.
And making another one is kinda hard, the headphone i am trying to mod is all plastic and even then I live in Brazil, which makes modding way harder, cant find a lot of things here and when you do is expensive as **** sadly.

But thanks for your support, will decide if I will try opening it or not

 

[Slater]

I am at work right now, so i cant say for sure, but i remember the badge being connected to the screws that closes the cups, which is sad actually.
And making another one is kinda hard, the headphone i am trying to mod is all plastic and even then I live in Brazil, which makes modding way harder, cant find a lot of things here and when you do is expensive as **** sadly.

But thanks for your support, will decide if I will try opening it or not

Sure friend.

BTW, if those are the Yenona Studio Pros (also known as OneOdio on Amazon), I saw some photos of them. They look like yet another clone of the ISK MDH9000 (same hinges, same headband, same folding mechanism that breaks). But the cups are different. I can't tell from the photos how the "aluminum plate" on the outside of the cups would attach.

I can say that assuming your Yenona IS the same as the other ISK MDH9000 clones, the plastic they made all of these headphones from ridiculously brittle. It will crack or break without much force. Be very very careful.

 

[Humblepie]

The yenona studio pro aren't the same clone. I have them. Different cup size, driver size, headband, and sound.

 

[Lurk650]

i can take a look tonight. I don't use my Yenona's anymore so breaking them isn't a big deal