[Gradoistcool]

well, the K501 bass syndrome finally hit me, as many of you know i re-bought the K501 and OBH-11 cuz i kinda missed the combo´s musicality and smoothness, and at first i didn´t find them bass deficient, until i listened to metal, the highs were perfect, but the kick-drum lost all of the slam and on some songs wasn´t even noticeable, so i decided to give my friend Jörni a call, who is an AKG freak, he has K1000´s, K301-401-501´s and K240DF´s and a few mics, and i asked him what he did to his K501´s because when i heard his (along with the OBH-11) it had bass that was grado like but more laid back but definitley heavier than my K501´s.... he said that the reason why they don´t produce much bass is because of the varimotion thing, and that the driver does not move that much when in stock form, it´s very tight, and the cure for this is playing a bass-heavy(no, not hip hop bass heavy i´m talking about THX ultiimate subwoofer test heavy) tracks a few times through them at high volume, that loosens up the driver so it can vibrate more thus creating more bass(god i sound like a dum-bass) but anyway i downloaded the THX one(which is very good by the way) and turned up my OBH-11 to about 12-2 o´clock position and played it about three times through, it´s about a 3 minute track of just bass, mostly midbass, but, to my surprise, it REALLY worked, i mean these things sound so great now, on some songs they are even SR325 and HD600 heavy, it´s great, the great "new bass" combined with the silky smooth highs and amazing soundstage of the K501´s are making this headphone an often rider on my head

i hope this helps guys, just thought i would share it with you. oh and btw, it does NOT slow down the bass at all, it´s still VERY fast and VERY tight, but this increases the volume of it. have fun and good luck! and don´t turn it up loud enough so where you can hear the drivers moving just so if you were to have them on you would have a headache within 10 seconds

 

[Gradoistcool]

by the way, if most of you are like me you would not normally have such a track, i got it from my friend on a superdisk, if you want it, just e-mail me at schattenlos@mac.com and i will be glad to send it to you

 

[Beagle]

Thanks for the tip. I will go destroy my K501 when I get home. My project for the evening. I have four days off to listen to the results.

Please, somebody (preferably a Team AKG member) stop me before I do something I regret...

 

[pigmode]

In the interest of science, I think you shoud do it. I would, but my 501s won't be in till this afternoon. Well, I need to determine whether I'll keep them first...

 

[Possum]

Hmm, wish I could've tried this before I got rid of my pair.

 

[Neruda]

I think a better cure is to hook them up to an amp that can actually power them, and get full bass into the 20-30hz range. But that's me.

I honestly don't see how playing a certain kind of music could change the way a driver acts. It's probably a placebo if anything.

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

Hmm, wish I could've tried this before I got rid of my pair

Sounds like a quote from Pamela Anderson.

 

[Todd R]

Quote:

Originally posted by Neruda I honestly don't see how playing a certain kind of music could change the way a driver acts. It's probably a placebo if anything.

No placebo at all. What he is describing is an accelerated way to break in drivers (works on Headphones or speakers).
Playing bass heavy music at a loud volume will cause the diaphragms to move grater distances that normal music. After a while this will loosen up the suspension of the driver enough that normal music will now have more bass.

Just like new shoes or a baseball gloves, new drivers are a bit stiff at first and will perform better after break in.

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

I honestly don't see how playing a certain kind of music could change the way a driver acts. It's probably a placebo if anything.

Flexures loosen up over time, which is why many headphones show improvement, especially in the bass region) after burn-in. If this "superbass overload" in some way loosens up the flexure, I could see how it might sometimes show a difference.


Quote:

Sounds like a quote from Pamela Anderson.

LOL!

 

[Neruda]

But was his pair already burned in or not? If he had just got them I'd probably agree, but I think he's had them for a few weeks already. I guess I could be wrong about that though.

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

Playing bass heavy music at a loud volume will cause the diaphragms to move grater distances that normal music. After a while this will loosen up the suspension of the driver enough that normal music will now have more bass. Just like new shoes or a baseball gloves, new drivers are a bit stiff at first and will perform better after break in

Todd, thanks for posting that. As a rule I blast FM hiss through new phones for several hours. But if it's the same principal as speakers, bass would be required to move the diaphragms.

I suppose if one normally listens to music at low volumes, you would have to keep the diaphragms loose by periodically playing music at louder levels.

As I post this, I am blasting "Day At The Races" from Star Wars (Mega Movies Telarc DSD) on repeat. I will report back with the results after break in.

 

[Todd R]

Quote:

Originally posted by Beagle Todd, thanks for posting that. As a rule I blast FM hiss through new phones for several hours. But if it's the same principal as speakers, bass would be required to move the diaphragms.

Personally, I use the XLO TEST DISK. It is the most useful CD you will ever own.
http://www.referencerecordings.com/SAMPLE.HTML

 

[pigmode]

My impression is that Gradoistcool is talking about something that goes a little beyond burn-in. Seems like he forcefully stressed the driver to tweak its characteristics a bit. What is varimotion, and is this a procedure that is AKG specific?

 

[Gradoistcool]

guys that e-mailed me i will get the track to you as soon as possible, but a lot of people e-mailed me so just be patient! yes, it does work, i promise you, his AKG´s were broken in for one year already then he did this and it worked, worked on my brand-new K501´s too, you will love them after this, i promise. anyways, it´s not really burn-in, it´s more like loosening up because varimotion works on having the driver "float" in a ring of more material, therefore when the driver moves, this material must first allow it to, this makes it kinda "squeak in" just don´t go so loud to where you can hear the drivers, just kinda twist off the pad and see if you can see the driver "vibrating".

 

[Gradoistcool]

ok i sent the track to everybody that e-mailed me, anybody else, feel free to e-mail me and ask for it, and anybody that has problems/did not receive it, let me know and i will be happy to re-send. also, when you first play it, play it low-medium, then slowly work your way up the next cycle, as to "massage" the drivers, you guys will love them after that! just be careful like i said.