[robar]

The cable terminates to 3.5mm, but they are 2.5mm plugs where they connect at the cups.

As far as your tuning question, the easiest (non destructive) and first tuning method is to change out the earpads. You can change the sound of a headphone considerably by doing nothing other than changing the pads to different pads.

Try thicker pads, which will move the driver further from your ear. Also, go with pleather pads and not velour pads to tone down the treble.

And yes, you can tone down the treble by experimenting with different materials in the center of the earpad (over the driver). Different types of cloth (spandex, cotton, nylon stocking, and “3D air spacer mesh), thin felt, thin acoustic foam, paper towel, tea or coffee filter, and many other materials.

All will have different properties, so you have to experiment and try things out. It’s actually quite fun!

Thanks! I tried a few different pads on the Pro80 but I couldn't find what I wanted so I bought one similar to the original in the end. The Pro 80 has basically nothing in front of the speaker, just the thin layer of cloth from the earpad. I'll try putting something on the steel grid
The oneodio has thick soft pleather pads, and a very thick foam-like stuff behind it. Maybe I should try to remove that? It looks pretty nice I'm a bit afraid to ruin it lol even when I never use the headphone. I'll inspect it more closely maybe it is not destructive.

 

[Roderick]

Xiaomi is more balanced sounding than pro80. So there is no sibilance and annoying highs like on pro80. Overall I think xiaomi is pretty good but for $40 it is really great considering it is not a fullsize headphone. It's slightly veiled, occasionally tad nasal sounding and bass does not really KICK even though quantity is there. But for the price thats nitpicking.

Pro80 sounds clearer, has more bass impact and soundstage is a lot bigger than on xiaomi. If one is not bothered by V-shaped signature, sibilance and excessive highs pro80 is definately better IMO.

Modding pro80 is bit tricky. "Unfortunately" it has well treated housing, so there is not much you can do inside. Adding stuff over the driver will help but it propably will have negative impact on clarity. If you go overboard it will also make the headphones harder to drive. It's worth a try of course. Getting thicker pads will help a bit. I used Hm5 pleather pads and stuffed some toilet paper underneath the pad around the edges. Tp was for sealing the pads better to the baffle and pushing the pads up even more for maximum driver-ear distance. Soundstage became HUGE but midrange lost body. Bass was pretty much the same if I recall.

 

[svperbia]

Well I bought the Allen Ribbon Headphones from China, it's currently in transit to me. Pretty cheap for a pair of headphones, not to mention that it's ribbon (about $200), it comes with a "amp" modified from a powerbank in order to power it. The reviews from the Chinese users seem really positive so I thought what the heck, I'll just try it for the fun of it.

Will post back here when I eventually get it (probably next week).

I also just placed an order for the Allen Ribbon headphones. I don't have gear for making accurate measurements, but once they arrive I'll be sure to post all the details I can.
Couldn't get the 'amp' shipped to my address, but I'm fairly used to making my own resistor boxes for running stuff like this off of my speaker amp - hopefully that goes well.

 

[robar]

Xiaomi is more balanced sounding than pro80. So there is no sibilance and annoying highs like on pro80. Overall I think xiaomi is pretty good but for $40 it is really great considering it is not a fullsize headphone. It's slightly veiled, occasionally tad nasal sounding and bass does not really KICK even though quantity is there. But for the price thats nitpicking.

Pro80 sounds clearer, has more bass impact and soundstage is a lot bigger than on xiaomi. If one is not bothered by V-shaped signature, sibilance and excessive highs pro80 is definately better IMO.

Modding pro80 is bit tricky. "Unfortunately" it has well treated housing, so there is not much you can do inside. Adding stuff over the driver will help but it propably will have negative impact on clarity. If you go overboard it will also make the headphones harder to drive. It's worth a try of course. Getting thicker pads will help a bit. I used Hm5 pleather pads and stuffed some toilet paper underneath the pad around the edges. Tp was for sealing the pads better to the baffle and pushing the pads up even more for maximum driver-ear distance. Soundstage became HUGE but midrange lost body. Bass was pretty much the same if I recall.

Thank you very much for the insights! I'm fine with the xiaomi if it's just a bit behind, the portability and more relaxed signature + cheaper price would well worth it for me. I would use it mainly when I need a bit more isolation than earbuds and stuff. My main source is a sabre dac which also helps with clarity and treble so I think that would be a good match if the sound is a little bit soft for more serious listening.
I was thinking about getting a CAL! for a long time but the cheap build quality and lack of folding always kept me from trying that (also it's 1.5x price locally than xiaomi) Do you think the xiaomi sounds better than that?

Thanks for the tuning tips for the pro 80! I tried a cheap angled hm5 knockoff from ali but that was horrible with hard foam, so I bought a close to original pad instead. For me it's hard to justify spending more money on this. The headband cover also peeled off not a long ago, so that's a problem to fix as well. I struggled to get good seal with any pads btw, the clamping force is a bit too low so I have to push the cups by my hands if I want to get the fullest bass response. Anyway, do you think upgrading the speakers is a viable option for the pro 80? There are a lot of drivers on aliexpress from low to pretty high quality, I wonder if it could be a good case for modding.

 

[Roderick]

It's been too long since I've heard CAL! It was really good but I don't remember well enough to compare it to xioami.

Installing replacement drivers for pro80 would require some extra work because it has 53mm drivers and most aftermarket drivers are 40mm and 50mm. It can be done of course but it's more work. Also you need protective grille for the driver because that metal cover is attached ditectly to takstar drivers.

Without a doubt you can make it better with new drivers but you might end up spending quite a bit before you find suitable drivers. Pro80 is not ideal for modding. Like said the housing is allready dampened, it also has no vent holes to play with and the baffle is basically open. It's a well done product without apparent physical flaws which is a bad thing for modders

It's a shame msur n350 is bit over your budget. It doesn't fold but it is compact. Msur sounds bit like refined pro80. Also that housing is rather moddable despite it's small side.

 

[xuan87]

Ahh crap, delivery for my Allen headphones are delayed, ETA was 25 August, nothing I can do now but wait for the parcel to show up.

 

[jasswolf]

I also just placed an order for the Allen Ribbon headphones. I don't have gear for making accurate measurements, but once they arrive I'll be sure to post all the details I can.
Couldn't get the 'amp' shipped to my address, but I'm fairly used to making my own resistor boxes for running stuff like this off of my speaker amp - hopefully that goes well.

Wait, you got it shipped without the amp? They flat out refused to ship to me because of it.

 

[robar]

It's been too long since I've heard CAL! It was really good but I don't remember well enough to compare it to xioami.

Installing replacement drivers for pro80 would require some extra work because it has 53mm drivers and most aftermarket drivers are 40mm and 50mm. It can be done of course but it's more work. Also you need protective grille for the driver because that metal cover is attached ditectly to takstar drivers.

Without a doubt you can make it better with new drivers but you might end up spending quite a bit before you find suitable drivers. Pro80 is not ideal for modding. Like said the housing is allready dampened, it also has no vent holes to play with and the baffle is basically open. It's a well done product without apparent physical flaws which is a bad thing for modders

It's a shame msur n350 is bit over your budget. It doesn't fold but it is compact. Msur sounds bit like refined pro80. Also that housing is rather moddable despite it's small side.

Thanks again for the info I've seen some 53mm drivers with grilles on ali, but I'll leave alone the pro 80 for now Just need to find some cover for the headband now that the outer cover peeled off.
I have an old Akg K514 MK1 and a Oneodio studio pro which may be easier candidates for modding. The K514 is semi-open which may offer more moddability but I don't know if the drivers are generic enough to replace. Do you know a head-fi group or similar where people discuss modding more freely? Here it starts to get off topic I feel I checked out the msur topic, I noticed there are some nice modding tips there, will read it more carefully.

 

[Slater]

Thanks again for the info I've seen some 53mm drivers with grilles on ali, but I'll leave alone the pro 80 for now Just need to find some cover for the headband now that the outer cover peeled off.
I have an old Akg K514 MK1 and a Oneodio studio pro which may be easier candidates for modding. The K514 is semi-open which may offer more moddability but I don't know if the drivers are generic enough to replace. Do you know a head-fi group or similar where people discuss modding more freely? Here it starts to get off topic I feel I checked out the msur topic, I noticed there are some nice modding tips there, will read it more carefully.

This is 1 of many similar threads:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...l-your-full-sized-headphone-mods-here.867426/

 

[svperbia]

Wait, you got it shipped without the amp? They flat out refused to ship to me because of it.

Yeah, I went through superbuy and asked them to split the order into 2 parts: Headphone, cables, case, and papers, and the second part being just the amp.
Asked them to hold the amp somewhere in case they need to return it at any point, but to ship the items in part 1 to me. Had to pay 2 RMB extra for the split, but that's fine.
And I was planning on ditching the amp anyways and running it from a speaker amp, so I'm not too disappointed.

 

[grogg]

Did we ever get more reviews/experiences with the Behringer BH-470?

I remember earlier in the year a few here praised them for their sound quality at a very low price, but haven't heard much since

 

[jasswolf]

Yeah, I went through superbuy and asked them to split the order into 2 parts: Headphone, cables, case, and papers, and the second part being just the amp.
Asked them to hold the amp somewhere in case they need to return it at any point, but to ship the items in part 1 to me. Had to pay 2 RMB extra for the split, but that's fine.
And I was planning on ditching the amp anyways and running it from a speaker amp, so I'm not too disappointed.

Yeah, the problem as I see it is the home-made amp is subject to UN regulations and testing as soon as it's supposed to head out to certain countries. It's a shame that the vendor doesn't ship it unmodified, or ship an amp that doesn't have a battery pack.

Looking forward to your thoughts!

 

[baskingshark]

Can anyone recommend some cheap headphone cables for 3.5 mm connection, those that go to both L and R sides, say < $20 USD?

Thanks in advance!

 

[filthyweeb]

Can anyone recommend some cheap headphone cables for 3.5 mm connection, those that go to both L and R sides, say < $20 USD?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/328...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/330...8107#39_668#2717#7562#451__668#3422#15392#203
Dont know if i got you correctly

 

[robar]

One more question about the xiaomi headphones 2. Have you tried the stock cable or everyone uses a custom one? That y split seem to be stupidly close to the neck, shorter than on an earbud. Any opinion? I don't have other compatible cable so I'd be stuck using the stock one