[thelostMIDrange]

I've got some of that adhesive backed bandage tape. Good idea to use it for the driver covers. it might affect the treble however. at least the variety I've got in front of me....I was using it applied to the back of driver -outer ring of vent holes....had some good affect there.
 
jav's cups look sweet. nice design....the maple and cherry are quite similar, doubt you'd hear a difference there. the rosewood might show a difference...but not as much as the likely driver variance.
 
here's where i'm at currently. experimenting with high mass dense lip for driver cradle (rosewood). hond mahog body with maple end cap. thin foam lamination. I don't know whether that thin foam lam is going to affect but it does change the tap tone of the cup compared to without it so it;s affecting the cup's overall resonance...... Plan on a 10min tung or linseed oil bath....threaded inserts to pressure the driver against the rosewood.
 


 

 
 
 
 
 

 

[thelostMIDrange]

 general categories of modding opportunity:
 
 
1) the driver to cup 'coupling' and the size and density of the front section. Basically one has the choice of sticking with the stock RS style grado cups where the pad hangs on by that little rabbet/recess and the front section is more/less the same width as the body of the cup. If anyone wants to experiment with the different appraoch as seen in my last pics, one only needs to start out with a 2.5" turning blank rather than a 2".I don't know which is preferable with the ypsilon driver but I'm wondering why no one's experimenting with it. The mass there is directly coupling the driver to the cup. It also might have an impact on pad leakage and bass performance..
 
2) the pads. I am considering foregoing the use of the typical foam grado pad in favor of a handmade pleather style. Maybe even an over the ear. Something along the lines of what 'stratocaster' used to make for his magnum closed cup builds. If anyone has a similar intent, i'd be interested in knowing your plans and tips you may have already discovered regarding the construction of the pads...It seems that hand stitching is inevitable
 
3) the material (or lack of) to apply to the inner chamber walls. With the ypsilon drivers I heard this is an essential area to mod. Currently am using the black foam but this may change.
 
4) the overall mass and geometry of the cup. Light and delicate or massive. Resonant or non resonant.
 
 
5) the material choice (or lack of) that applies to the rear driver vent holes. This pic shows that same adhesive backed bandage tape mentioned a few posts back
 
 
.

 

[javburg]

So, I finished up the build this morning and there was no sound from the right channel. Took the driver out, did a couple of tests and it's dead. I'm sure it got damaged while in the possession of the guy that turned the cups, as it was working before I gave it to him. He will replace them though, but now I need to order a new pair and wait a week or two. Got the magnums running though and it's different than I expected...

 

[javburg]

   general categories of modding opportunity:
 
 
1) the driver to cup 'coupling' and the size and density of the front section. Basically one has the choice of sticking with the stock RS style grado cups where the pad hangs on by that little rabbet/recess and the front section is more/less the same width as the body of the cup. If anyone wants to experiment with the different appraoch as seen in my last pics, one only needs to start out with a 2.5" turning blank rather than a 2".I don't know which is preferable with the ypsilon driver but I'm wondering why no one's experimenting with it. The mass there is directly coupling the driver to the cup. It also might have an impact on pad leakage and bass performance..
 
2) the pads. I am considering foregoing the use of the typical foam grado pad in favor of a handmade pleather style. Maybe even an over the ear. Something along the lines of what 'stratocaster' used to make for his magnum closed cup builds. If anyone has a similar intent, i'd be interested in knowing your plans and tips you may have already discovered regarding the construction of the pads...It seems that hand stitching is inevitable
 
3) the material (or lack of) to apply to the inner chamber walls. With the ypsilon drivers I heard this is an essential area to mod. Currently am using the black foam but this may change.
 
4) the overall mass and geometry of the cup. Light and delicate or massive. Resonant or non resonant.
 
 
5) the material choice (or lack of) that applies to the rear driver vent holes. This pic shows that same adhesive backed bandage tape mentioned a few posts back
 
 
.

2.) I'm going to contact a foam supplier this week to get some samples of various foam densities. I've got a couple of shapes I want to try out, but will have to get them laser cut or something.
 
I'm thinking of 3D printing a mesh instead of using a metal one. This might be a good place to alter airflow through the chamber.

 

[fleasbaby]

   general categories of modding opportunity:
 
 
1) the driver to cup 'coupling' and the size and density of the front section. Basically one has the choice of sticking with the stock RS style grado cups where the pad hangs on by that little rabbet/recess and the front section is more/less the same width as the body of the cup. If anyone wants to experiment with the different appraoch as seen in my last pics, one only needs to start out with a 2.5" turning blank rather than a 2".I don't know which is preferable with the ypsilon driver but I'm wondering why no one's experimenting with it. The mass there is directly coupling the driver to the cup. It also might have an impact on pad leakage and bass performance..
 
2) the pads. I am considering foregoing the use of the typical foam grado pad in favor of a handmade pleather style. Maybe even an over the ear. Something along the lines of what 'stratocaster' used to make for his magnum closed cup builds. If anyone has a similar intent, i'd be interested in knowing your plans and tips you may have already discovered regarding the construction of the pads...It seems that hand stitching is inevitable
 
3) the material (or lack of) to apply to the inner chamber walls. With the ypsilon drivers I heard this is an essential area to mod. Currently am using the black foam but this may change.
 
4) the overall mass and geometry of the cup. Light and delicate or massive. Resonant or non resonant.
 
 
5) the material choice (or lack of) that applies to the rear driver vent holes. This pic shows that same adhesive backed bandage tape mentioned a few posts back
 

 
1. Agreed. After seeing your early work I started experimenting with banked lips in my cups. After hearing a difference, at barest minimum, I still don't make an indent in the cup to create a lip, I make a raised one. At best I make a banked lip. I have grub screws and a screw tap coming in the mail. Going to try putting that in a banked lip with enough room to recess the grub screw if I can. Failing that going to try a large lip like yours, but with an additional raised edge, behind which the grub screws are going. I like having it there to keep the pad from slipping off.
 
2. I am not a fan of pleather pads. Would be interested to see what you get from these experiments though.
 
3. The foam you tried on the inner walls is a good thing. I want to start experimenting with irregulat strips of it haphazardly arranged, and arranged in stripes or chevrons. Will let you know what I hear.
 
4. I am going to stick to low mass everywhere except the driver seat and pad lip. I think low-mass is a good thing here.
 
5. I still maintain the medical tape you put on mine had a positive effect. I haven't removed it yet.
 
It makes sense that you hear driver variation.
 
No one has perfectly matched hearing, the body simply isn't made like that. Symmetry in the human body is a popular misconception. Ask any doctor or medical student who has seen a few cadavers. Its a short leap to realizing perfect symmetry outside of our bodies is a pipe dream. Nature just isn't like that. Nothing is ever exactly identical. Its observable on a large scale in the wood I turn on my lathe. No two cups, no matter what I do, will ever be identical, even if I started using CNC machines...on a cellular level, there is still difference, and this echoes up into the larger shape.
 
We can strive for perfectly matched drivers, but there will never be 100% identical drivers.

 

[speedking]

I was just thinking if this Ypsilon driver is so neutral as you say then it will (possibly) be a nice replacement driver for the Grado HP1000 headphones!
Just imagine.. TOTALY METAL!
 
*Just ordered a pair...

 

[fleasbaby]

  I was just thinking if this Ypsilon driver is so neutral as you say then it will (possibly) be a nice replacement driver for the Grado HP1000 headphones!
Just imagine.. TOTALY METAL!
 
*Just ordered a pair...

If you have the cash, Larry over at Headphile actually has a few HP series cups and headbands for sale.

 

[speedking]

 
If you have the cash, Larry over at Headphile actually has a few HP series cups and headbands for sale.

I see but I already wait for HP-2 to arrive (think at Monday).

 

[thelostMIDrange]

@speedking....great namesake by the way!! deep purple fan? In any case, you are lucky to have a set of H's come your way. Let us know what you think of them in comparison to the ypsi's. I have not heard the H's but have played with the nak7 driver which is the same as what joe used. He had the maker do a mod or two to the driver itself and the magnet structure but I think I got a sense of what it was about. I think we might be able to coax the ypsilon into a similar territory as joe's H series but only if we break down the build process and do what we can with the cups and pads. The driver is out of our hands at this point and is what we have to work with
 
 
I see you have an HF2 in your posession as well. I'd be interested in your comparison of the H vs the HF2. I have owned 2 sets of HF2 and heard 3. They where different from one another, but one set in particular was just about perfect to my ears (although a bit heavy which is why I let it go -stupidly in retrospect). fwiw, I also owned a ps500 and it did sound quite similar to the overall HF2 sound, although it didn't compare well to that favored set of HF2 and the ps500 seemed to accentuate the faults (i.e.. it increased the bass hump already present in the HF2). If I could afford a half dozen sets of the ps500 i'd probably be able to find one that rose above the others to a satisfactory level of sound. But hopefully the ypsi will get us there or better at half the cost.

 

[thelostMIDrange]

@fleasbaby You should be able to get the allen set screws to work fine even on the angled lip of your last cup. Just use a drill press with the cup clamped in proper position to drill the guide hole. Or a super steady hand drill as long as you remain square with the driver edge and disregard the angle on the cup lip.
 
If you want to wait to use that rosewood for the front rim, that is an option, or you could use it for the current design. It is fairly precious in my mind and would be nice to see it used fully on the larger version but either way, it may have some affect. I may turn a set of cups with the same wood configuration but a grado style lip and compare the two (with the only variable being the larger front coupling rosewood). Then i'd be able to pass along these findings. 
 
I'm considering the pads made by strato (described in link below). Basically it is a dt250 pad over a Lpad ($50 worth of materials is the sticking point for me). but probably sounds good and may work for the ypsi. Strato has done Alot of pad builds and i trust his ears and findings, as I do just about anyone who actually puts in the first hand work to find out what things sound like for themselves.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/576717/grado-modders-go-magnum/3315

 

[fleasbaby]

 
I see but I already wait for HP-2 to arrive (think at Monday).

 
Niiiiice....enjoy. I have never been able to afford a pair. I suppose if I made a concerted effort I could, but...hopefully at some point I'll get a chance to hear some.
 

  @fleasbaby You should be able to get the allen set screws to work fine even on the angled lip of your last cup. Just use a drill press with the cup clamped in proper position to drill the guide hole. Or a super steady hand drill as long as you remain square with the driver edge and disregard the angle on the cup lip.
 
If you want to wait to use that rosewood for the front rim, that is an option, or you could use it for the current design. It is fairly precious in my mind and would be nice to see it used fully on the larger version but either way, it may have some affect. I may turn a set of cups with the same wood configuration but a grado style lip and compare the two (with the only variable being the larger front coupling rosewood). Then i'd be able to pass along these findings. 
 
I'm considering the pads made by strato (described in link below). Basically it is a dt250 pad over a Lpad ($50 worth of materials is the sticking point for me). but probably sounds good and may work for the ypsi. Strato has done Alot of pad builds and i trust his ears and findings, as I do just about anyone who actually puts in the first hand work to find out what things sound like for themselves.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/576717/grado-modders-go-magnum/3315

 
I have been thinking of adding the set screws to the cups you saw....maybe after I see them and have started the new cups...using, of course, the Rosewood you supplied.

 

[speedking]

  @speedking....great namesake by the way!! deep purple fan? In any case, you are lucky to have a set of H's come your way. Let us know what you think of them in comparison to the ypsi's. I have not heard the H's but have played with the nak7 driver which is the same as what joe used. He had the maker do a mod or two to the driver itself and the magnet structure but I think I got a sense of what it was about. I think we might be able to coax the ypsilon into a similar territory as joe's H series but only if we break down the build process and do what we can with the cups and pads. The driver is out of our hands at this point and is what we have to work with
 
 
I see you have an HF2 in your posession as well. I'd be interested in your comparison of the H vs the HF2. I have owned 2 sets of HF2 and heard 3. They where different from one another, but one set in particular was just about perfect to my ears (although a bit heavy which is why I let it go -stupidly in retrospect). fwiw, I also owned a ps500 and it did sound quite similar to the overall HF2 sound, although it didn't compare well to that favored set of HF2 and the ps500 seemed to accentuate the faults (i.e.. it increased the bass hump already present in the HF2). If I could afford a half dozen sets of the ps500 i'd probably be able to find one that rose above the others to a satisfactory level of sound. But hopefully the ypsi will get us there or better at half the cost.

I was a DP fan (early era) since I was small! Speedking was a favorite song!
I'm not so fan of the "professional" sound (have tried many pro headphones and monitor speakers) but I thought I will give a try on these "special' pro phones uncle Joe made.I see they get a lot of respect.
HF-2 are the most dark'n'neutral Grado I ever heard!..good thing is that the mids are more fuller than RS1's also clear and not bright highs.My best Grado at the moment is the GS1000i!

 

[speedking]

  I have not heard the H's but have played with the nak7 driver which is the same as what joe used. He had the maker do a mod or two to the driver itself and the magnet structure but I think I got a sense of what it was about.

I had a fast search about nak7 (nakamichi sp7 right?) but couldn't find any info or pics of the driver...

 

[sling5s]

How long does shipping take from Greece (ellevenacoustica)?

 

[fleasbaby]

How long does shipping take from Greece (ellevenacoustica)?

Took about ten days to get to Southern California...