[oqvist]

You cover the hole from the outside preferrable. The other felt pad is to reduce vibrations from the ear cups so just place it so it doesn´t touch the driver.

 

[eobet]

Interesting that there isn't a Pro 900 appreciation thread (that I could find at least...)

I didn't want to create a new thread for what I wanted to post, so here goes...

What am I missing?

 

[haloxt]

I just want to put it out there, even though I think only 1/4 people will like it, that if you take off the two black stickers on each bufferboard you can get more highs and more of a diffuse sound. Imo it sounds more balanced than stock, but the more spread out, unimpeded highs can easily become fatiguing with too much volume, certain genres or electronics that have too much treble detail. When there's sound panning hard left to hard right it will occur more seamlessly, and more effortless highs ambience. Drums that used to seem stuck resonating bass will bloom more naturally, more diffuse and quite less impactful. People who like the focused bass impact of stock pro 900 may not like the change from removing the stickers resulting in the less focused/direct sound in both lows and highs. To sum it up, you'll be trading a focused bass-driven sound for a more diffuse sound, and also getting a less forgiving of highs sound, kind of opposite of Kees' cotton mod, but what these two have in common is lower volume but a more balanced sound IMO.

Anyone considering taking off the stickers, please think about my impressions of what happens before doing so because I don't consider it an improvement, merely a different sound which imo is more balanced (ie no focus on any area) but less bass impact, which may or may not be suited for you, your music, or your electronics. If you already have felt pads from the Kees mod, you can just cover up the two holes back to get the stock sound again.

Get a very very sharp boxcutter, put it parallel to the metal bufferboard, slide it slowly underneath the black plastic sticker while pushing in diagonally to cut at the sticker's gluey part. It must be done parallel to the bufferboard or you may scratch the metal board or worse, poke a hole in the nice cotton or paper thing you see in the 3 open holes and are also behind the 2 holes we're trying to get the black stickers off of. Once you have slid the boxcutter in a few mm, rotate the knife to lift up some of the sticker. Repeat until there's enough space for you to put a finger underneath and pull off the sticker. You can entirely scrap off leftover gooey parts with your fingernails.

edit: I can't recall, but I think I asked Kees about taking them off and he said he did and didn't like it. So he invented taking off the black stickers too

. I think a good way to describe how taking off the sticker improves placement of mids and highs is this song:

http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/...e-recon/12.m3u

Or the last song of this album:

http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/ammonite-recon/

There is no bass in this song and is simple, but that's good since it's low bitrate and doesn't take significantly away from what we're listening for. With the stickers on it's like they are playing a bit of hide and seek in the earcups, without the stickers you can clearly point out the locations, whether they are still, moving slowly, popping up randomly and how much distance.

The bass I'd say is the weird part with unplugging all five holes, because the bass becomes shifted to the middle height of your ear. If you can acclimate to it then it does sound more balanced than stock, but overall less engaging than even stock, and much less engaging than Kees modded, but people who want a "monitor-type" sound like people in the studio might like it.

 

[Priyajeet]

does someone have the pictures for the kees mod post?
Quite a few of them are broken links as I see them right now.
Thanks

 

[Kees]

Quote:

does someone have the pictures for the kees mod post?
Quite a few of them are broken links as I see them right now.
Thanks

The pictures are back where they belong again. (post #70).
If there are any questions, just ask.

 

[Priyajeet]

do the thickness of the pads matter?
I got like 4mm think felt pads or 1 mm thick plastic pads...or I can layer the 1mm plastic pads to make them 2mm or 3mm

 

[Kees]

Quote:

do the thickness of the pads matter?
I got like 4mm think felt pads or 1 mm thick plastic pads...or I can layer the 1mm plastic pads to make them 2mm or 3mm

Plastic pads will be no good. Use the thicker felt pads.

 

[tim3320070]

Just performed this mod. I recently got these and unmodded the bass was just too present on most music. Highs were tolerable but a bit edgy. No real sibilance though.
Putting the felt tabs in probably has the most effect of anything, closing off some breathing room for the drivers. I also applied faux dynamat to the inside of the cups. All in all, the lessened bass quantity (not quality), slightly tamed highs has made these headphones really enjoyable. Time will tell but the improvement is real.

 

[xkwh867]

Has anyone gone back to original sound from kees mod ? There must be some people don`t like them. should have some defect on keesmod.

 

[oqvist]

I am not sure but I think I have heard it mentioned one that went back to the stock! out of I don´t know how many impressions thus far! Certainly aren´t the norm.
 
A

 

[haloxt]

Quote:

Has anyone gone back to original sound from kees mod ? There must be some people don`t like them. should have some defect on keesmod.

I did, but only because I use them for critical listening and am amused by the soundstage of stock. But I didn't just go back to stock, I also recabled, took out the 10 ohm diodes, and removed the 2nd and 4th holes of the five upper holes. The benefit of stock is more emphasis on soundstage and ambience detail (if your gear can do it) as opposed to kees modded good mid freq detail and nuances, but there's a big drawback with this, stock sounds quite less engaging/charming/magical than dampened, and also a lot less forgiving.
 
I think I recall one other person who reverted to stock, but important to keep in mind there's a lot of variations you can do of the Kees mod to tailor to your liking.

 

[oqvist]

Quote:

I did, but only because I use them for critical listening and am amused by the soundstage of stock. But I didn't just go back to stock, I also recabled, took out the 10 ohm diodes, and removed the 2nd and 4th holes of the five upper holes. The benefit of stock is more emphasis on soundstage and ambience detail (if your gear can do it) as opposed to kees modded good mid freq detail and nuances, but there's a big drawback with this, stock sounds quite less engaging/charming/magical than dampened, and also a lot less forgiving.
 
I think I recall one other person who reverted to stock, but important to keep in mind there's a lot of variations you can do of the Kees mod to tailor to your liking.

My logic fails me... You took out the diodes, removed some holes and went back to stock

 

[rehabitat]

Going back to stock from the kees mod was just the first step. He then removed the diodes and opened two of the stock blocked-off holes on the baffle.
 
So it's not stock anymore
 
geddit?
 
 
btw haloxt your experiments sound very interesting. I may try them when I'm done playing with the kees mod.  Also please correct me if my interpretation is off

 

[haloxt]

That's right. The effects from the three other mods have both pros and cons BUT I don't think the sound color has changed, I think the only way to change the studio neutral sound signature is to do the Kees mod or a variation of dampening. The only mod I did which I thikn does not actually have a con was filling in the two holes that go into each cup with mack's pillow soft silicone (flip the earcups horizontally and notice a wire going into each earcup, actually two entrances per cup and one is empty). This resulted in improved isolation and more controlled reverb of loud sustained notes.
 
Recable pro: less choked sound, con: makes it more unforgiving of everything, even of its bufferboard.
Diode removal pro: sounds surprisingly good on mp3 players LOL con: more diffuse overall
2nd and 4th upper hole uncovering pro: more high frequency spatiality and more balanced FR, con: more diffusion of frequencies into each other, less impact or focus of separate frequencies.

 

[i_djoel2000]

i was wondering about this kees mod. this is applicable to pro900 only? any good mods for pro2500?