[vvanrij]

What modding are you doing to them Kees?

 

[Kees]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pfillion /img/forum/go_quote.gif Great ! How is the isolation of the PRO900 compared to the Ed.9 ?

About the same. I think pretty good compared to other closed phones.

 

[Kees]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vvanrij /img/forum/go_quote.gif What modding are you doing to them Kees?

Nothing drastic.
I am trying out the effect of closing more of the holes in the outer rim of the metal driver enclosure with tape or felt.
First off I covered all holes (the three that were not covered yet) with electric tape.

Now I have only the middle one covered with felt and I like it so far, but I'm not done yet.

I did a similar mod in the past with the 2500 that had remarkable results. Sticking self adhesive felt on the metal (even without covering any holes) brought out the midrange a bit and took the edge of the highs.

 

[vvanrij]

Hmm very interesting, tell me how it works out, this seems like a mod I could easily do myself

 

[hawat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pfillion /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sorry Kees, I didn't express myself correctly and I admit that I didn't check your profile. Now, it's a little bit disturbing if your Rudistor amps didn't have a good synergy with the Ed.9 because I'm currently raising money to purchase the RPX-33 eventually. In the past months I have tried several desktop and portable amps and I agree with you that sometimes the Ed.9 can sound dark or veiled. Thank god, recently I have finally purchase an amp that has a great synergy with them in the name of the RSA Mustang P-51. With the RSA Mustang amp, to my ears, the Ed.9 have the same amount of details and clarity as the AKG 701 but with a better bass. Patrick

I don't think you should worry about that, pretty much all the owners of the rpx 33 and ed9 love the combination

including myself and I dont find them veiled either.
Theres a thread referencing the different amps used with the edition 9 here.

 

[YtseJamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kees /img/forum/go_quote.gif About the same. I think pretty good compared to other closed phones.

Thanks

 

[YtseJamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hawat /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't think you should worry about that, pretty much all the owners of the rpx 33 and ed9 love the combination including myself and I dont find them veiled either.

Since you have the PRO900, do you also think that they can compete with the Edition 9 ?

Patrick

 

[Greeni]

@vvanrij

You are absolutely right about MA speakers. The point I was trying to make is, the vast amount of details with the Pro 900 notwithstanding, loudspeakers present these details within a soundstage while headphones present them within a headstage. IMHO the Pro 900 is closer than other headphones I tried but not there yet. I am also interested in Stax as well. May I ask, how would you compare the headstage presentation of your Stax and Pro 900 ?

Just got myself the Sony PFR-V1 Personal Field Speaker System which was said to have fine headstage presenation. These are light weighted and has less of an issue with my medical condition. Preliminary audition suggest that they could not overthrown the Pro 900 though.

 

[vvanrij]

I understand what you were trying to say now Greeni, and I absolutely agree with you. Placement keeps being the main issue for me with headphones, its just weird when listening to some Don McLean music to hear a guitar playing on the far right, en then hearing him sing like he is to me left and 3 stories up :|. The Stax I currently have is very accurate, but doesn't add any of its 'own' soundstage to the sound. For instance, on a K701 I always have a very big soundstage, no matter what cd I listen to. With the SR-X I actually hear that some music like Enya has enormous soundstage's, while other music like some piano music from chopin, you are up-close and personal.

 

[Kees]

I modded some more and ended up with the following final mod.
I used pieces of self adhesive felt, 2.5 cm diameter, 3mm thick.

One piece I stuck on the front of the metal driver cover, covering the middle hole on the outer rim.


Next I removed the driver/cover. You have to unscrew ONLY the four screws in the outer rim. The other three are holding the driver on the metal cover.
The screws are VERY tight. Make shure your screwdriver is the right size or you'll destroy the head of the screws.

On the inside of the cup I glued another felt disc. It is out of the center to avoid blocking the back of the driver (which gives a very wrong effect).


Oh, and sorry about my usual sub-par, barely recognisable pics. I hope they are enough to illustrate what I did. If in doubt, just ask.



On top of that I added a thin layer of cotton wool (2mm thick, don't stuff it!)
 


Put everything back together.
Make shure all screws are tight!!!! A loose screw distorts the sound in a big way!

The effect of this mod is:
Awesome bass.
Impactfull, super detailed and deep. No bloat, not even a hint of bloating, but BIG.
It leaves the midrange completetely undisturbed
Midrange slightly more forward. Warmer. The plastic edge is gone completetely without any loss of detail.
Highs are smooth. Less prone to sibilance and less metalic. Still very much present.
The whole sound signature is slightly more forward.

They now do exactly what I had expected from the ED9.

The ED9 was a bit of a disapointment to me I find these MUCH more to my taste.

And the bass is the best ever. If you love bass you have to love this.

If you have PRO900, don't believe me but try it. The mod is easy and completely reversible.


 

 

[Acix]

Here is another nice mod to check out, http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/ult...0-mods-253489/

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I was gonna post that same link to Kwkarth mod thread. Kees, why didn't you try modding the Edition 9?

 

[vvanrij]

Hmm, I'm definetly going to try that Kees. The cotton wool is just from the Albert Heijn? Where did you get those other felts? Any website or store you got them (praxis/ikea?) Also the cotton wool is just laying on there, kept in their place by putting the driver-covers back in place? And what is the reason for the second piece of felt?

 

[Kees]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vvanrij /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm, I'm definetly going to try that Kees. The cotton wool is just from the Albert Heijn?

Yes. Nothing special.
Quote:

Originally Posted by vvanrij /img/forum/go_quote.gif Where did you get those other felts? Any website or store you got them (praxis/ikea?)

HEMA. They are the self adhesive felt disks you put under the legs of your chair.
Quote:

Originally Posted by vvanrij /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also the cotton wool is just laying on there, kept in their place by putting the driver-covers back in place?

Yes
Quote:

Originally Posted by vvanrij /img/forum/go_quote.gif And what is the reason for the second piece of felt?

It dampens the vibration of the plastic cup and it increases the mass a bit.
If you combine two different materials (closely, like glueing them together) the natural vibration of one will be canceled by the other, thus preventing exagerated frequency areas. A little piece is enough. If you line the whole cup you will dampen almost all vibration and that will make you loose bass (most of it).
The added mass adds definition to the bass. Any hollowness disapears because the cup stops vibrating quicker when the signal stops, it does not resonate so much any more.
The same does the cotton wool. It prevents any echoing in the cup, thus increasing detail.

My theory is that it is the same principle that makes the bass of the L3000 so good. The cups are made of two materials: leather over wood.....

The theory is just my own explanation. Trial and error brought the results.

 

[Kees]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Kees, why didn't you try modding the Edition 9?

I honestly don't know. It just never occurred to me.
I guess they were just not for me.