[Hadoe]

So I have this pair of lowriders laying around from when I didn't know anything about headphones and I was just wondering if there was a fairly simply mod I could do to make them sound even a little better. I don't really care about ruining them since I paid absolutely nothing for them in the first place (got them with warranty credit). I'll be posting some pictures of the internal parts here pretty soon but until then any fun suggestions for a first time DIY'r would be awesome.

 

[MASantos]

I wouldn't spend a penny or minute with those phones... 

 

[Hadoe]

Alright, let's see what's inside these (or what's not inside) that makes them sound as crappy as they do.
(I apologize for the terrible quality a camera phone is all I have)
 
 
Ah skullcandy, with your oh so stylish looks and total lack of interest in quality.

 
 
 
 
 
2 screws later and I've got the actual headphones separated from the headband.

 
 
 
 
So the ear pads are little hard to get off considering they don't pop off. I decided to use force, which ended up working but getting them back on later was quite a hassle.

 
 
 
 
Ok on to the good stuff. Under the ear pads is this, many holes underneath a sheet of thin cloth and 3 screws.

 
 
 
 
Removing the 3 screws I can now see what's inside. The driver doesn't really look like a driver to me and in the back of the ear cup is a little hunk of metal that is held in by a screw.

 
 
 
 
After removing the hunk of metal I found that it's actually being used as a magnet. It sticks to the back of the driver.
Just for kicks I took out the "magnet" and put it back together, I didn't notice any sound difference at all.

 
 
 
So that's it, let me know what you think.

 

[Avro_Arrow]

The hunk of metal was just that, a hunk of metal.
It is there to make the product feel heavier.
People equate heavier with better quality.
Many manufacturers place piece of metal inside
their product to give it more weight or stability.

 

[Hadoe]

Quote:

The hunk of metal was just that, a hunk of metal.
It is there to make the product feel heavier.
People equate heavier with better quality.
Many manufacturers place piece of metal inside
their product to give it more weight or stability.

Huh, that's funny, because it actually felt better on my head with out the metal (less clamping). Any idea's for a simple mod?

 

[stevenswall]

If you want more bass, fill the earcups with pink insulation foam, or line with felt... if you want to experiment with soundstage on the other hand, try punching a hole in the housing immediatly behind the driver, Maybe where that skull peice is... other than that all I can see is maybe putting something over those holes, and then replacing the earpad.

 

[Hadoe]

Quote:

If yo uwant more bass, fill the earcups with pink insulation foam, or line with felt... is you want to experiment with soundstage, try punching a hole in the housing immediatly behind the driver, Maybe where that skull peice is... other than that all I can see is maybe putting something over those holes, and then replacing the earpad.

Alright, thanks! Those are all good ideas and exactly what I was looking for. I just wanted to practice doing a simple mod on a crappy pair of headphones so if I messed up it didn't matter.

 

[Endrew360]

Quote:

Alright, thanks! Those are all good ideas and exactly what I was looking for. I just wanted to practice doing a simple mod on a crappy pair of headphones so if I messed up it didn't matter.

Hey, I already have a good pair of M6's, but I want to get these since i also have warranty credits. Can you tell me if there was a mod that made these headphones less crappy?

 

[nikongod]

 
Quote:

Hey, I already have a good pair of M6's, but I want to get these since i also have warranty credits. Can you tell me if there was a mod that made these headphones less crappy?

Get them. 
Ebay them. 
Use any money you get back to buy a set of Koss portapros. 

 

[Lurkumaural]

Apparently giving them to David Mahler makes them sound really good.

Otherwise, if it's a 40mm driver unit, you have a few options for driver transplants that may sound much better than a stock Lowrider after some tuning. Popular transplant drivers are the titanium drivers from tge Koss KSC75, and the extinct SFI tweeters which some Head-Fiers have and could sell to you.

 

[imec]

Did a quick mod and put some ksc75 drivers on these lowriders.  They fitted ok with some light trimming.  Removed skull to make them open.  Some pics...

 

[Pingupenguins]

Quote:

If you want more bass, fill the earcups with pink insulation foam.

 
Are you refering to fiberglass insulation? If so, may I ask if your fingers get itchy afterwards? Because it's caused by barbs of glass being embedded into the skin. Hence the name, fiber-glass

 

[KimLaroux]

Quote:

Did a quick mod and put some ksc75 drivers on these lowriders.  They fitted ok with some light trimming.  Removed skull to make them open.  Some pics...

 
Wow that's a very clean hack! I can't even tell where the Koss ends and the SkullCandy begins. Now you're making me want to hack headphones. 

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Did a quick mod and put some ksc75 drivers on these lowriders.  They fitted ok with some light trimming.  Removed skull to make them open.  Some pics...

 
That is seriously cool. 

 

[howzitboy]

so how do they sound?