[gerG]

Blech!

Very fuzzy and blurry highs, lumpy obnoxious midrange, and the bass response must be an option that I forgot to request.

I am going to let them break in for awhile before trying to listen to them again (and I never do that with anything). Maybe a miracle will happen.

I was excited about the planar magnetic drivers, and I think that they show promise, but not in these cans. The cups are too small for my small ears. The pleather pads touch the perimiter of my ears, while the drivers press them against my head. The latter is the cause of the blurry highs. If I pull the cups away the hf cleans right up, but what bass there was vanishes. I may try a quick phatpad mod to see if it helps. I will try to post findings and pics by the weekend. No promises, since these were just a whim as I was ordering my real new toy (Behringer Ultracurve Pro, new version) and I need to get busy on an equalizer review!


gerG

 

[setmenu]

Being a planar fan myself[as you know] I was curious about these
also,having looked at the transducer layout pics on the fostex
website.
I will be interested in your 'final' report.


Setmenu

 

[bangraman]

Does anyone in the English speaking world actually say "Bletch"? I've always wondered this. If so is it a more animalistic pronouncination than the word spelling indicates, or is it pronounced as the first half of "Bletchley"?

 

[TravelLite]

Quote:

Originally posted by gerG No promises, since these were just a whim as I was ordering my real new toy (Behringer Ultracurve Pro, new version) and I need to get busy on an equalizer review!

Yes, please! To heck with headphones, LOL.

Hmm, sounds like it could be the DEQ2496. And please also tell us about that "mystery" dbx DriveRack EQ in your profile.

TravelLite

 

[gerG]

TravelLite, no mystery on the driverack, just a damned solid piece of gear with a funny name:

dbx driverack

It does everything...well, almost. It needs a digital input. That is why I wanted to try the new Ultracurve. I get to skip a D/A and A/D step. I still need to track down a glass optic cable. Any suggestions on local sources (BestBuy, RS, etc)?

Bangraman, I say that word all the time, although usually in relation to food that I don't like. I have no idea what the correct spelling is, or where it came from. I blame Berke Breathed of Bloom County fame.

Setmenu, I have become convinced that you are on the right track. Planar magnetic drivers make so much sense. I plan to graft some sort of planar driver into a set of surrogate headphones (probably of AT lineage) one of these days. Big challenge seems to be tradeoff between sufficient volumetric displacement (for bass response) vs excessive surface area resulting in overly diffuse treble. How goes your development?


gerG

 

[Orpheus]

wow.... i just looked at the specs for that driverack thingy...... god i need it. wanna trade it for my 2 vintage Urei graphic EQ's? heh he.....

so, i was wondering... i see it has a RTA. never used one before. do you just plug in a mic, and it will automatically make EQ settings for your room?--or is it more work than that?

funny that it has a compressor though... i wonder why someone would use one in a normal monitoring situation. the limiter might be useful i guess if your amp is too big for your monitors, but i wouldn't want a compressed sound when monitoring. i guess some people just like music damn too loud.

 

[TravelLite]

Quote:

Originally posted by gerG It does everything...well, almost. It needs a digital input. That is why I wanted to try the new Ultracurve. I get to skip a D/A and A/D step. I still need to track down a glass optic cable. Any suggestions on local sources (BestBuy, RS, etc)?

Nice!

gerG, sorry I don't. AFAIK, all the TOSLINK offerings from RadioShack, Monster, and Acoustic Research use some form of plastic. Trying to find good gear locally can be a darn frustrating exercise.

Dusty Vawter of CIAudio has commented repeatedly that he feels the "Achilles' heel" in many S/PDIF optical cables tends to be their terminations. Specifically, he favors a true 90-degree, highly-polished cut and a very snug/flush fit into the I/O ports.

Monster's two top-tier optical cables "seem" to address the fit issue with their spring-loaded connectors, but aren't inexpensive. That's really the extent of my "wisdom" on the subject, LOL.

Quote:

Originally posted by Orpheus funny that it has a compressor though... i wonder why someone would use one in a normal monitoring situation. the limiter might be useful i guess if your amp is too big for your monitors, but i wouldn't want a compressed sound when monitoring. i guess some people just like music damn too loud.

Orpheus, Sweetwater has a write-up on the DriveRack Studio here. I love this kind of stuff.

TravelLite

 

[Orpheus]

jsut read it quickly.... yup, it seems to automatically adjust EQ. badass!!! i gotta get one................ gotta get rid of my Urei's first though........ any offers?

 

[gerG]

Auto eq on the driverack is funky. ok for room acoustics, but too slow for headphones.

My only other complaint is the user interface. That display is damned diminuitive! They need a PC interface very badly.

Those quibles aside, the driverack is an amazing piece of technology. The eq module, crossover module, processor modules, and parametric modules are set up in series (virtually, of course). I can define a program for a triamped speaker system with separate parametrics on each frequency band for each channel, plus separate grapheq upstream. Having stored that program, I can click over to the stereo equalized curve for my HD600s, or the eq + crossover for my K1000s, or the dual stereo output for HD600 on one stereo output and AT A1000 on another. No kidding, these are all real programs that I have stored.

I accidentally engaged the subharmonic synthesizer the other day, and scared the hell out of myself. I have the balanced output hooked up to the SAC amp, which has balanced inputs, via fully balanced cables (as god intended it). This setup can fry headphones if I am not careful!

The amazing thing about the driverack is not what it can do, but the size. It is so small that I am trying to figure out how to mount one in my car!

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, it sounds completely transparent.

The connector on the front is for the mic cable. Dean, don't forget to order the dbx test mic with the unit!

gerG

 

[Orpheus]

hey.... my bday is coming up man........

 

[MERTON]

and now.. after plenty more burn in?

 

[Davie]

Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman Does anyone in the English speaking world actually say "Bletch"? I've always wondered this. If so is it a more animalistic pronouncination than the word spelling indicates, or is it pronounced as the first half of "Bletchley"?

I think he said "blech," not "bletch." It's pronounced like you're throwing up the words.

 

[MERTON]

are we ever gonna hear about the phones again?

 

[gerG]

All in due time, Merton. It is tough to work up any enthusiasm for listening to them, especially when I have a relatively new and much better sounding pair of HD280s to try out at work. Funny thing about the HD280s; they are more sensitive to having a proper seal than anything short of the Etys, and I don't know which of the 2 is touchier. At least the Etys don't go from bass monsters to bass gremlins when I put my reading glasses on. More on this later as well.

I still haven't got an optic cable for the new eq. I went to RS on a longshot, but they don't know what their fibers or interface connectors are made out of. That probably means plastic.


gerG

 

[Davie]

Quote:

Originally posted by gerG Funny thing about the HD280s; they are more sensitive to having a proper seal than anything short of the Etys, and I don't know which of the 2 is touchier. gerG

Very true. It's not really a problem getting them to seal, but if they don't then they pretty much sound like crap.