[Macphisto]

I came here looking for insight on building a very short extension cable for a pair of Shure 530s.  After lurking for a pretty good while I realized that I could spend a lot of time( and probably money ) getting somewhat dedicated to this.  
 
Since then I've been curious as to what people would and -can- do given a budget.  Is it possible to take a mid market pair of headphones( earbud or over-the-ear ) and make modifications to squeeze better fidelity out of them?  Obviously, w/out spending a ton of money on parts since if you're going to spend a ton of money why not go the big name brands that do it for you.  
 
I'm not sure if this has been brought up before, if it has I'll freely delete this topic!  I figured a good way for me to learn about this subject is to see how what others value, how they make modifications and especially important -why- they chose these modifications. 

 

[FallenAngel]

2 options really
1) Build a small female mini to male mini cable, approximate cost ~ $10
2) http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021808&p_id=648&seq=1&format=1

 

[Macphisto]

Looks like I wasn't clear on my intent.  I already built the extension cable!  It's not a great feat of engineering.  I used stranded Cat5 cable and braided it between a female and male extension and then soldered it in place.  Works well, but is, in my opinion, on just this side of too heavy.  
 
My original post's intent was to state that I was curious, as a way to learn, how people would upgrade their mid-line products.  Given, say, a 50 dollar budget( not including tools ), what would you do to your buddy's set of headphones if he asked you to improve them? 
 
I should have been more clear!
 

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Looks like I wasn't clear on my intent.  I already built the extension cable!  It's not a great feat of engineering.  I used stranded Cat5 cable and braided it between a female and male extension and then soldered it in place.  Works well, but is, in my opinion, on just this side of too heavy.  
 
My original post's intent was to state that I was curious, as a way to learn, how people would upgrade their mid-line products.  Given, say, a 50 dollar budget( not including tools ), what would you do to your buddy's set of headphones if he asked you to improve them? 
 
I should have been more clear!
 

Nothing.  To tell the truth, not much - if any - headphone modding goes on around here.  You'll find some Grado mods here and there and of course, the Ortho guys are always modding the old ones, but even that's stopped to some extent with the new Audeze and Head-Direct offerings.  Re-cabling is big business, but not very fascinating to DIY-er's, IMHO.
 
Most of us settle on a few nice headphones, then tweak around with different amps and sources to get improvements in sound.
 

 

 

[MisterX]

http://www.head-fi.org/search.php?search=shure+se530+recable
 

 

[nikongod]

I have always been intrigued by the concept of a passive DIY notch filter to compensate for in ear resonances. 
 
A few people have posted instructions on other sites, but very few people build them.

 

[Uncle Erik]

There are instructions for leveling out a pair of ER4S IEMs posted over at Linkwitz' site. He seems to know a thing or two about filters and crossovers.

Picking up an ER4S and putting the filter together is on my "to do" list, but I've got a move and career shift (all good things ) to deal with first. I'll finally get a real workshop in the deal, too.

And forgive me if my memory is faulty, but I could have sworn I saw an equalization circuit for the MDR-SA5000 here a few years back.