[Deaj]

Limba wood has been added to my list of wood types to try

 

[BrianKT]

The process is addictive isn't it? And the variations are endless. Good luck in the workshop....it's the ultimate culmination of the DIY aesthetic for headphones, and also loads of fun.

Addictive seems the right word for it. Thanks! I'll post progress as we go.

Addictive. Yes. Bordering on obsessive for me. After the 4 Paduaks I had to step back for a minute. Still have a set of Black Limba’s from fleasbaby and some V8’s to build. Maybe after the holidays.

 

[fleasbaby]

Great...I’ll never sell them. I got a pair of PS500’s and we a,b every so often and they are amazingly almost identical. Blew my mind when my son and I did it, we both were guessing which was which ...wild.
Limba wood...they make Strativarias violins with it. (Excuse my spelling)

Limba wood has been added to my list of wood types to try

Its definitely worth trying. Its second only to African Blackwood in my opinion. And African Blackwood is prohibitively expensive.

Addictive. Yes. Bordering on obsessive for me. After the 4 Paduaks I had to step back for a minute. Still have a set of Black Limba’s from fleasbaby and some V8’s to build. Maybe after the holidays.

Its always endless...just finished a build for myself (layered cups: Ebony outside face, Walnut body, Padauk driver seats) and am already plotting my next move...LMAO. Toying with the idea of a larger enclosure, maybe the DT770, and Grado-esque drivers....like Larry at Headphile's "Vixen".

 

[ZMG885]

Can anyone comment on how the V8.1s differ from the V8s?

 

[Deaj]

Can anyone comment on how the V8.1s differ from the V8s?

I've built multiple headphones, some with V8's and some with V8.1's. The V8.1 driver sets are more closely matched than the V8 driver sets but there's no discernible difference in tuning. Unless you found a really great deal on a used set of V8 drivers I'd suggest buying a new set of V8.1 drivers. If you have V8's installed already and you're thinking about upgrading to V8.1's I'd suggest sticking with the installed V8's.

Hope this helps.

 

[mgh24]

...Not so with the Magnum V8 drivers in the right cups. Classic rock, metal, R&B, jazz, classical, Motown, blues, acoustic, grunge, country, etc. Everything sounds fantastic through these two headphones!...

That sums up pretty well how I feel about these drivers also, I have really fallen in love with them, and have not yet found anything I would replace them with.

 

[ZMG885]

I've built multiple headphones, some with V8's and some with V8.1's. The V8.1 driver sets are more closely matched than the V8 driver sets but there's no discernible difference in tuning. Unless you found a really great deal on a used set of V8 drivers I'd suggest buying a new set of V8.1 drivers. If you have V8's installed already and you're thinking about upgrading to V8.1's I'd suggest sticking with the installed V8's.

Hope this helps.

Very helpful. Thank you. I’m happy with my V8 build and was curious potential improvements.

 

[wje]

replaced my Sennheiser HD650, the set in the SR325 cups is likely to replace my beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (still debating this decision but I'll reach for the aluminum cupped Magnum V8 set over the DT 19

Wow, Deaj, you're work is looking fabulous. Your work reminds of details that Marty would apply in his builds. Very nice. I'm content with my v.7 drivers, wooden cups, G-cush pads being driven by a Fiio X5 - for now The v.8, though, has gotten my interest and I should have snagged a pair of the drivers during the black Friday special sale.

Though, I have so many other projects lined up, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to get to the next headphones until summer. :O

 

[dhruvmeena96]

Magnum V8.1 vs Turbulent X

Which one is better...

I am going to use Dalbergia melanoxylon pure Black wood for my cups(I am a science guy to the core...so I specified the exact wood) and damping schemes for bass and treble tuning

Dalbergia melanoxylon is the family of Dalbergia which also contains Dalbergia nigra which is northen brazzilian rosewood and cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa). This wood is top of the family in its genome and is cheaper than cocobolo. Normally known as Banabus or Grenadilla, it is also not that famous and doesn't have a popular name

Dalbergia melanoxylon is the African blackwood and is not to be mixed with African black ebony wood(ebony is matter and brittle which makes it hard to work upon). This wood repels water, life is way longer and is more hard with the most even grain structure. Dynamat won't be needed as this wood is actually body vibration inert(no polish inside the cup)

@7keys I am going to try the best wood I can get because normal wood was not affecting the sound profile for my ears. They all sounded same except for Baltic birch which was mmehh bad. Cherry, padauk, walnut and purpleheart sounded the same. My friend does grado mods and I would be making one with him.

Let's see, if the TOTL wood sounds the same, then I am sorry to report, i cannot find the wood effect on grado's or any headphone after a certain limit. Law of diminishing returns...

Will follow back

Till then suggest me a driver

 

[Konstantin690]

Magnum V8.1 vs Turbulent X

Which one is better...

I am going to use Dalbergia melanoxylon pure Black wood for my cups(I am a science guy to the core...so I specified the exact wood) and damping schemes for bass and treble tuning

Dalbergia melanoxylon is the family of Dalbergia which also contains Dalbergia nigra which is northen brazzilian rosewood and cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa). This wood is top of the family in its genome and is cheaper than cocobolo. Normally known as Banabus or Grenadilla, it is also not that famous and doesn't have a popular name

Dalbergia melanoxylon is the African blackwood and is not to be mixed with African black ebony wood(ebony is matter and brittle which makes it hard to work upon). This wood repels water, life is way longer and is more hard with the most even grain structure. Dynamat won't be needed as this wood is actually body vibration inert(no polish inside the cup)

@7keys I am going to try the best wood I can get because normal wood was not affecting the sound profile for my ears. They all sounded same except for Baltic birch which was mmehh bad. Cherry, padauk, walnut and purpleheart sounded the same. My friend does grado mods and I would be making one with him.

Let's see, if the TOTL wood sounds the same, then I am sorry to report, i cannot find the wood effect on grado's or any headphone after a certain limit. Law of diminishing returns...

Will follow back

Till then suggest me a driver

The mounting method of the driver is of a huge importance when trying to evaluate the different sonic character of a wood type, anything less than firmly press fitted the drivers into the wood cups and they will all sound the same.
That being said, the back acoustic chamber dimensions are more important than the wood type used, try to make the diameter of the chamber to be 1.6 times its length, measured from the back of the driver to the grille.

 

[dhruvmeena96]

That being said, the back acoustic chamber dimensions are more important than the wood type used, try to make the diameter of the chamber to be 1.6 times its length, measured from the back of the driver to the grille.

I agree and we blutacked the driver firmly.

Well I have a doubt. If the chamber diameter is 1.6 times to length of the chamber to the grill... Won't it make the cup shallow for the acoustic properties to shine.

By the way I am taking shipibo audio mushroom cups shape to be reference. I just 3D scan it and get the NC value for CNC machine to cut the wood for me.

The Shipibo Audio full size cups..

By the way, main difference would come from driver..

Tell me an amazing driver

Not going Epsilon way, as it is just too neutral, which becomes bass weak in grado design and treble also become roll off which gets me a A shape response sounding a little too weird. Was not able to tune it..

So Turbulent X, Magnum V8.1 or Nhoord

 

[Konstantin690]

I agree and we blutacked the driver firmly.

Well I have a doubt. If the chamber diameter is 1.6 times to length of the chamber to the grill... Won't it make the cup shallow for the acoustic properties to shine.

By the way I am taking shipibo audio mushroom cups shape to be reference. I just 3D scan it and get the NC value for CNC machine to cut the wood for me.

The Shipibo Audio full size cups..

By the way, main difference would come from driver..

Tell me an amazing driver

Not going Epsilon way, as it is just too neutral, which becomes bass weak in grado design and treble also become roll off which gets me a A shape response sounding a little too weird. Was not able to tune it..

So Turbulent X, Magnum V8.1 or Nhoord

"Blutacked" the driver into the cups is not a good practice IMO, you need to press fit them, the drivers frame must be in TIGHT direct contact with the wood, which requires some precision cup machining.
The longer the acoustic chamber the higher in amplitude its ~2kHz resonance will be, an acoustic chamber 43mm Diameter X 27mm Length is about right.
Have both the Epsilon R1 and G1, the R1 is anything but "roll-off" and the G1 is anything but "bass weak" to my ears, so you may want to check your other "variables".
By the way, the drivers are just an "ingredient", granted there may be the dominant one but everything else, cups, ear pads, cables are equally important when building headphones from scratch, even the most capable drivers will not sound good in poor shaped cups or unsuitable ear pads.

 

[dhruvmeena96]

"Blutacked" the driver into the cups is not a good practice IMO, you need to press fit them, the drivers frame must be in TIGHT direct contact with the wood, which requires some precision cup machining.
The longer the acoustic chamber the higher in amplitude its ~2kHz resonance will be, an acoustic chamber 43mm Diameter X 27mm Length is about right.
Have both the Epsilon R1 and G1, the R1 is anything but "roll-off" and the G1 is anything but "bass weak" to my ears, so you may want to check your other "variables".
By the way, the drivers are just an "ingredient", granted there may be the dominant one but everything else, cups, ear pads, cables are equally important when building headphones from scratch, even the most capable drivers will not sound good in poor shaped cups or unsuitable ear pads.

Change the cups to the cabinet and it becomes John Borwick quote from his book.

Well, I want to have a tuning in between HD800S and HD660S. Treble of HD800S and Mids of HD660S.

I mean to say, till 1kHz it remains neutral as HD660S, then the Dip according to solderdude graphs at diyaudioheaven, which starts from 1khz should be between HD660S and HD800S, and the average of sound goes all the way to treble.

I was able to find ZF foam on amazon and aliexpress in blocks(mentioned by Spirit Torino). Will be using CNC to cut a G cushion out of it and then wrap it into Merino wool. Let's wait...I am going to pull the order then

I fell in love with beautiful audio Merino earcups. It improves stock grado immensely with Bass department and tamed the peak a little bit, making it sound non grado-esque and more like a normal open back headphone..

I am still not used to grado house sound ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But I found the potential on these forums like epsilon, nhoord, magnum, turbulent X, reddit etc

I saw some innerfidelity graph and stratoGrado and I was shocked by the results.

So, now I have also jumped into the world of grado modding

 

[wormsdriver]

Blu-tak is definitely a no-no in my experience. I believe it was with My R1 build. I don't recall specifically what was the matter with it but something was off and I was not impressed with the sound. Luckily I had heard a few different R1 builds to know that the R1 was much more capable than that. I kept tweaking it but something was still off. It finally came down to trying it without the blu-tak, low and behold, that was the culprit!

If your drivers don't fit tightly in the cups, I'd rather use a bit of tape maybe to press fit them than blu-tak. I ended up destroying that pair of wooden sleeves I had because there was such a big gap between the driver and the wood it pissed me off!

 

[jerrikko]

I agree and we blutacked the driver firmly.

Well I have a doubt. If the chamber diameter is 1.6 times to length of the chamber to the grill... Won't it make the cup shallow for the acoustic properties to shine.

By the way I am taking shipibo audio mushroom cups shape to be reference. I just 3D scan it and get the NC value for CNC machine to cut the wood for me.

The Shipibo Audio full size cups..

By the way, main difference would come from driver..

Tell me an amazing driver

Not going Epsilon way, as it is just too neutral, which becomes bass weak in grado design and treble also become roll off which gets me a A shape response sounding a little too weird. Was not able to tune it..

So Turbulent X, Magnum V8.1 or Nhoord

v8 are really good so am certain 8.1 will be as good or better. By NC value, do you mean the gcodes? If you have them, would you be so kind as to share? thank you