[roBernd]

FEEL FREE TO MOVE THIS THREAD TO THE CORRECT CATEGORY
 
Hi, spare me I'm new

 
I was modding my old PortaPros and the results so far are quite interesting so I want to share my story.
 
I'm tinkering on my PortaPros due to sniping some old "VIVANCO SR75" (old Audio Technica ATH-2 look-alike).
They had different drivers though... so the only fancy thing left was the headband so I thought of building some PortaPro drivers into them.
 
Change my mind though after I looked at the earpads, they were kinda ~nice and good as new.
 
Checked for mods on head-fi and discovered the Kramer-mod and the HD 414 pad mod.
I was recently doing some work on my longboard [ http://tinyurl.com/2wxe6w3 ] and thought I could apply the same technique on these cans... which involves etching wood to change its colour.
 
tl;dr
 
Porta Pros:
-Wooden cups
-different pads
 +
-Kramer mod (which I still have to do)
 
Everything is still WIP,
I like to get the wood several tones darker
to harmonize better with all the black and the dark pads
 
... used a Dremel (pain in the ass), I need to buy a decent router for future projects.
 

 
 
Do you guys have some similar PortaPro mods to share or
some additional ideas to improve these phones?
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           also... don't mind Chen

 

[ElPresidente]

NICE!
 
I shall be watching this thread closely.
keep us updated, post plenty of pics!
 
However I believe this thread belongs in the DIY section.

 

[roBernd]

FEEL FREE TO MOVE THIS THREAD TO THE CORRECT CATEGORY
 
had some time on my hands and did the Kramer mod,
which involves drilling additional holes into the PortaPro's grill.
 
(all the circular holes are new)
 

 
The blue parts on the PortaPro did seem to harmonize with the wood and the dark pads at all
so I did a quick black paint-job.
(beware of the driver if you actually want to spray -> remove it)
 
 
I also tuned down the wooden parts to be a bit less red + a tad darker.
 

 
The next thing to do is to wait for the varnish to dry and assemble the headphones...
 
can't wait to listen to them...

 

[JoetheArachnid]

Very nice so far! It's always fascinating to see just how much you can improve something. Reminds me of the SR-60 mod thread, which got a little insane.

 

[reiserFS]

Is that a Chen I see there?

 

[mootookang]

The mod looks amazing so far. Where did you get the wooden cups?
 
You can also rewire the drivers, I've heard that it sounds much better when it is 70ohm.

 

[roBernd]

@reiserFS haha, yes it's Cheeeeeeen :3 , but your nick is ridiculously good. 
 
@mootookang ... I made 'em myself!?! 
Just a plank of wood and a Dremel which could be used as (very bad and choppy) router.
After they were done I applied some etchant to change the original wooden color until I was pleased with the results.
 
Oh... I guess they're almost completed by now...
 
lost some of their portability though
 

 
look decent IMHO... but all those haters gonna hate while I commute to university...
 

 
the grill needs more sanding and a new varnish to shine again... just noticed while browsing through those pics
(Those ATH-2 Pads were a nice catch)
 

 
and a close up to see all the errors and faults of using the Dremel as a router.
 

 
 
 
Okay,
I'll be testing them today and let you know how they sound and feel.
 
I've heard of the 70ohm mod mootookang mentioned... but I intend to use em on my Sansa Clip+ ...
and I don't know if it packs enough power to drive 70ohm phones?
 
I'm interested in modding the Headband and consider to recable them...
but I just bought all necessary parts for the m³-amp to accompany my K701
and as a student my budget is ridiculously small... 
 
Is it worth it and how expensive would it be to recable these phones?

 

[reiserFS]

Nice drawing skills you've got there and the mod looks gorgeous so far, subscribed.

 

[roBernd]

what I noticed so far:
 
+ increased sound stage... yeah, quite an improvement.
+ highs improved
+ less bass... less muddy, still a lot.
- due to the improvements above, it feels like the mids are lacking :V
 
I hooked them up to my amp for reference... and I hear a constant noise... white-noise~ish, What!
Okay, I did this for the first time and I see no need to hook #em to my amp... still strange.
They sound great on my Sansa Clip+ though so i don't care.

 

[mootookang]

Looks amazing.

 
I would suggest adding padding to the top of the headband for support? Since the comfort zone foam is pretty much all blocked up by the padding now.

 

[roBernd]

I'm glad you like it, I grew quite fond of 'em as well.
 
To continue with the headband I searched through my clothes and found a belt I don't use anymore
which fits the color scheme so far + I cut the spare headband of the ATH-2 replicas to fit my PortaPros.
 
This will keep me on budget... gogo, starving student :3

 
 
What I plan to do so far:
 
- use the plastic headband as a model and slice 2 minor bigger parts out of the belt.
- fix the rubbe/plastic~ish headband with the stapler to the headband (to keep the shape and don't wobble like hell)
- sew the two belt-slices around the construction...
 
= done?!?
 
so, I'm of to see some movies with friends... while sewing obviously, bbl.

 

[roBernd]

After some thoughts I decided to change my idea of enclosing the headband's frame with cloth on both sides...
due to the 3mm bulky belt I planed to use.
 
... an AKG approach seemed to look fine in my head...
so I want with this idea in mind and created this:
 

 
looks a bit Ghetto-modded with the stapled headband

 

 
haters gonna hate
 

 
They are called "Porta~" Pro for a reason ... which still applies :3
 

 

[JoetheArachnid]

I love the new headband. The fact that you used classy staples helps - with regular ones it would look a bit ratty.
 
Most important though: is it comfortable?

 

[boogienights]

let them haters hate. you got some skills on you anyways.

 
anyways, nice mod. i still havent kramer'd mine. the most i have done is to get donut foam pads (plantronics) to replace the stock pads, which were not dense enough.

 

[roBernd]

it is quite comfortable, can't complain.
I plan to hide the staples though by sewing some cloth horizontal over 'em?