[Folex]

When a headphone says its X ohms is the whole headphone at the X ohms or is it just the plug, cable and/or drivers etc ?  

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

Whole, including cable it comes with

 

[Folex]

So what would happen if you put a 150 resistor at the plug?   Right before the driver?   or Both ?  Would you get the same result as a stock 150 ohm headphone ?

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

you get a 150 ohms more resistance, not sure what it would do to the frequency response though as it varies.

 

[Kylv]

Go to RadioShack, buy the resistor and some 1/8" connectors.  Solder it all together and let us know what happens.  You have nothing to lose except an hour of your time and about $5.00 in parts.

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

What about money for the soldering station? That would add up

 

[Kylv]

I assumed everyone owned a $10 soldering iron from Fry's Electronics.  You should buy one if you don't.

 

[Folex]

Yeah I went overboard 2 christmas' ago with a soldering station. Asked for like $200 worth of stuff. But when I need it maybe 2-3 times a year it works perfectly and fast. 

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

yea, I wouldn't trust $10 soldering stations, I would rather pay for better quality especially if I were to do testing and troubleshoot.

 

[Claritas]

If the driver doesn't have a flat impedance curve, don't expect it to sound good. But it should sound fine with a planar.

 

[mikeaj]

  So what would happen if you put a 150 resistor at the plug?   Right before the driver?   or Both ?  Would you get the same result as a stock 150 ohm headphone ?

 
The placement of the resistor wouldn't much matter so long as it's in series. Effect would be virtually the same.
 
The effect would not at all be like having headphones with the greater impedance. It would be more akin to increasing the amp's output impedance (reducing the damping factor and more; see other threads in the subforum). You'd be splitting the power delivered between the resistor and the headphones. For certain headphones this would mostly just reduce the volume; in other cases the sound quality and performance may be somewhat altered too.
 
 
What is it that you're trying to accomplish here?

 

[Folex]

   
The placement of the resistor wouldn't much matter so long as it's in series. Effect would be virtually the same.
 
The effect would not at all be like having headphones with the greater impedance. It would be more akin to increasing the amp's output impedance (reducing the damping factor and more; see other threads in the subforum). You'd be splitting the power delivered between the resistor and the headphones. For certain headphones this would mostly just reduce the volume; in other cases the sound quality and performance may be somewhat altered too.
 
 
What is it that you're trying to accomplish here?

 
Not entirely sure. I'm currently in a collaboration with a fellow head-fier trying to create a  "new" pair of headphones. I hate the Audio technica AD wing design so I'm looking to transplant the AD2000 drivers into takstar 2050 housing. Since the takstar are practically closed we're going to have to gut the inside to make it more open. For pads going to try stock and brainwavz hm5 pads. On cable I want to keep it stock looking so I'm probably going to buy a replacement cable and just use that, maybe Sennheiser 600/650 cable. And now I'm just trying to think of other things that could be worth modding.
 
Edit: I've personally transplanted the ad700 drivers and got a very desirable sound. The issue was the drivers weren't match... like really bad and 1 side would fatigue really bad. I triple checked the soldering and switched the drivers and the single driver still fatigued.  I decided to go with the ad2000 because they are AT's flagship or close too it and @ 45$ a pop doesn't seem to bad. 

 

[Kylv]

  yea, I wouldn't trust $10 soldering stations, I would rather pay for better quality especially if I were to do testing and troubleshoot.

 
Why not?  I own 2 of them, as well as an $80 Radio Shack soldering station.  As long as you keep the tips clean hot is hot.  Plus, due to the low price I paid, when I need to melt some broken plastic thing-a-ma-jig back together, I don't mind grabbing one of those.

 

[SilverEars]

   
The placement of the resistor wouldn't much matter so long as it's in series. Effect would be virtually the same.
 
The effect would not at all be like having headphones with the greater impedance. It would be more akin to increasing the amp's output impedance (reducing the damping factor and more; see other threads in the subforum). You'd be splitting the power delivered between the resistor and the headphones. For certain headphones this would mostly just reduce the volume; in other cases the sound quality and performance may be somewhat altered too.
 
 
What is it that you're trying to accomplish here?

Is it possible for headphone output to be complex impedance?

 

[castleofargh]

  So what would happen if you put a 150 resistor at the plug?   Right before the driver?   or Both ?  Would you get the same result as a stock 150 ohm headphone ?

you have to look at it both ways. for the amp it's like you plugged a "150+headphone" impedance load. but for the headphone it's more like you plugged it into a "150ohm+amp" impedance amp, so it rarely brings improvement.