[JaZZ]

Another variant:
 

 
It consists of a simple strip of foam with a thickness of 5 mm, a width of 8 mm and a length of about 30 cm which is held in place by the bending tension. The frame of the magnet array is covered by some velours strips with widths of 5.5 mm (lengthwise) and 2 mm (crosswise).

 

[Maxx134]

Another variant:




It consists of a simple strip of foam with a thickness of 5 mm, a width of 8 mm and a length of about 30 cm which is held in place by the bending tension. The frame of the magnet array is covered by some velours strips with widths of 5.5 mm (lengthwise) and 2 mm (crosswise).

Very nice!

Is that weather strip for window?

Also, I don't see the magnet bars as a reflective source unless sound is bounced back from side of your head to the driver.

I am of the view of never to touch the driver magnet array, because of the thin shape , as you may touch the driver.

Not even for the rear, which has a metal mesh protecting/covering driver,
and an exterior grill which can only possibly cause very slight reflective surface..

Yet I would still NOT recommend opening unit EVER
, unless you are very stubborn,
And very good with your hands...

For those hell bent on opening unit,
always work with screwdriver at lowest point of gravity, away from center of driver.
If any screw or tool drop , it would fall away, and not into center of your driver, which is a super delicate membrane.

I am only mentioning this to avoid stubborn people getting into trouble.
The driver is not accessible to touch anyways as it has a mesh grill.

I do conceded to making my own unit a bit less "laid back" sounding,
by laying two layers of relaxed (not taught) "Organza" material at rear of unit.



Organza is an extremely sonically transparent type of silky material.
It also comes in different colors.
I wrote about is elsewhere but don't feel it is as sonically beneficial as these foam pieces which are making a direct coupling from driver to pad.

So with these foam mods your getting more impact, with also the details that the tape mod brings.

 

[JaZZ]

Very nice!

Is that weather strip for window?

Also, I don't see the magnet bars as a reflective source unless sound is bounced back from side of your head to the driver.

 
I agree, impact, accuracy and imaging are improved by the absorbing foam ring. Covering the frame holding the magnets resulted in a further increase of accuracy, but of a lower magnitude than the foam ring. Keep in mind that the sound waves are reflected from the outer ear to the driver, from there back to the outer ear and so on. Even the magnet bars are reflective, but I won't risk to cover them all. After all it's 26 bars, and one small mistake may result in a damage of the membrane. Moreover, there's no hope of covering the inside of the larger outer magnet bars anyway. We can count ourselves lucky that the membrane itself is almost nonreflective/sound-permeable, in contrast to most other headphones, so even compared to electrostats the HE1000 may be one of the most open headphones with the least inner reflections to date. That's quite an achievement.
 
Maybe I will realize the idea of adding a layer of black velvet (à la HD 800 mod) to the inside of the foam ring – that would provide the best sound absorption I can imagine. But it's a bit risky in that the velvet could lose some fibres which could get into the magnet system.
 
The foam strips are from a piece of rather soft and rubbery 5 mm foam (no window seal tape).

 

[Maxx134]

We can count ourselves lucky that the membrane itself is almost nonreflective/sound-permeable, in contrast to most other headphones, so even compared to electrostats the HE1000 may be one of the most open headphones with the least inner reflections to date. That's quite an achievement.

Wow very interesting how transparent the membrane is..

I always wondered why my friend's Stax009 always clicked/poped against my eardrum when there was a vacuum pressure when I pressed on them.
Like pressing and clicking a flat metal bottle cap, you hear some snap sound.

I hated how they did that to my ears when placing on my head, as if the driver was a sheet of metal (is it?)

I always thought they would break when putting them on my head. Lol.

Regardless, I consider the stax and the HE1000 to share a similar type of soundstage.
I consider them both to have a more deeper and evenly layered soundstage over the HD800..

 

[JaZZ]

Membranes of electrostats are at least as sound permeable as the HE1000's, but I guess their stator grids represent a larger reflective surface than the HE1000's magnet system (hard to tell exactly). In any event the inevitable reflections have a different characteristic. A stator grid forms a defined surface with a defined distance to the ear, supporting standing waves at a defined wave length, whereas the HE1000's magnet system is asymmetrical by design, so the reflection runtimes are more distributed and theoretically less offensive. However, the outer ear isn't a flat surface either, so the problem isn't exactly that distinctive. I just take it from my listening impressions that the HE1000 sounds more open than any of the electrostats I've heard (and the HD 800).

 

[Maxx134]

I agree, impact, accuracy and imaging are improved by the absorbing foam ring. Covering the frame holding the magnets resulted in a further increase of accuracy,
but of a lower magnitude than the foam ring. Keep in mind that the sound waves are reflected from the outer ear to the driver, from there back to the outer ear and so on. Even the magnet bars are reflective, but I won't risk to cover them all. After all it's 26 bars, and one small mistake may result in a damage of the membrane. .....


....it's a bit risky in that the velvet could lose some fibres which could get into the magnet system.

I agree about the dangers of those fibers.
We don't want those fibers to dislodge and fall into the driver membrane area,
which looks to have an oily surface on earlier models.
So far, I believe the tape mod material, suggested by Currawong looks to be the safest material.

Anyways, I've finally decided to do the Tape mod..(!)
I tried everything else (almost),
and this area you guys covered finally convinced me to address.
So I agree the vertical frame is an area to now cover.

That leads me to an interesting observation. I believe these areas was also addressed by hifiman in the V2.
As the new V2 drivers have a dry, pitted grey surface,
While the older drivers have the extra layer of glossy/smooth black on top.


This is an example of the newer drivers being made.
I believe they stopped using the smooth black layer on top, with the dry pitted grey , to disperse the reflective surfaces, and,
(more probable), to reduce weight that came with the glossy black layer.
It probably was cosmetic in nature to begin with.

Anyways,
So my concern is to have a material which will NOT fall off and into the driver membrane.

Also,
My observation with different foam densities resulted that the more denser foam = A bit more closed in sound.
Probably because it was more reflective according to its density,
And so can add a sense of noticing it.
Yet I have not tried enough foam types by no means.

Another train of thought, is that the V2 may still have an area of space for foam to cover, and can benefit from taping some of its driver surface as well..(!)

 

[JaZZ]

It also looks as if the metal stays holding the magnet bars are slightly rounded now. That would help dispersing and (thus) reducing reflections on them.

 

[Maxx134]

OK, I just realized what they did here.
They strengthened the magnetic bars...

 

[Riversalt]

Wow!!
bringing this topic back.
Has anyone tried any of these mods in current times with Ananda, Arya etc?

 

[Somatic]

Has anyone done this mod on Arya V2s?