[devouringone3]

Quote:

I'm not clear if you can solder or not but you now have the opportunity to re-cable with something else easily DIY-able where you can beef up the strain relief with heatshrink or something.  You can re-use the cable or solder a new one on.  Inside the stock Grados I have seen, the strain relief is either a zip tie with slack inside the cup or hot glue.  You're essentially halfway there already! 

 
Yes, but I've never made any soldering (I added a line specifying it among my images)! I would prefer to have it done by a professional. And while I'm at it I've been checking cables... if ever Joseph is too busy to take care of my HP2 and upgrade it, I will use a balanced Cardas clear headphone cable, and ask either Drew, Alex, Larry or Rhydon to do recable it for me! I will pay them anything.
 
I wanted a high-end Double Helix Cable but these are simply too big to fit. Cardas clear doesn't look handcrafted so it's a lot thinner, I will also ask that the recabler tries his best to fit some kind of protection (heatshrink, of course we need to try this) (if not, some kind of tape, just like I was doing before it broke; Scotch Tough duct tape seemed to be the best, before I break my joint) for the cut-outs, mines are so sharp that they dented my cable everywhere it stood on it, while I manipulated the driver and tried to tape that weak and exposed to denting portion of the cable.
 
For strain relief yeah I would suggest a tight-wrap (zip tight) and maybe a dab of epoxy behind it and against the cable.
 
I picked Cardas because it's the most expansive cable I could find that would most likely fit inside it... I would have picked Spore from DHC if it could fit. For the best headphone the best cable! HP2 and HP-1000 driver in general is my best and favorite thing to listen to.
 
I will do it in the summer, right now I'm low on money.
 
 
Thanks Mr.Sneis for trying to help me You're putting it very optimistically and it helps me cope with the idea that I just broke a brand new (old stock) and rare 2000 dollar headphone.
 
What pisses me off is that I didn't even let it time to break naturally... and the fact my headphone was on his first cable, which I think in some ways is always the best one, because it is affixed to a unused solder pad and a unused driver.

 

[Chefguru]

Quote:

I'm not clear if you can solder or not but you now have the opportunity to re-cable with something else easily DIY-able where you can beef up the strain relief with heatshrink or something.  You can re-use the cable or solder a new one on.  Inside the stock Grados I have seen, the strain relief is either a zip tie with slack inside the cup or hot glue.  You're essentially halfway there already! 

 
Yes, but I've never made any soldering (I added a line specifying it among my images)! I would prefer to have it done by a professional. And while I'm at it I've been checking cables... if ever Joseph is too busy to take care of my HP2 and upgrade it, I will use a balanced Cardas clear headphone cable, and ask either Drew, Alex, Larry or Rhydon to do recable it for me! I will pay them anything.
 
I wanted a high-end Double Helix Cable but these are simply too big to fit. Cardas clear doesn't look handcrafted so it's a lot thinner, I will also ask that the recabler tries his best to fit some kind of protection (heatshrink, of course we need to try this) (if not, some kind of tape, just like I was doing before it broke; Scotch Tough duct tape seemed to be the best, before I break my joint) for the cut-outs, mines are so sharp that they dented my cable everywhere it stood on it, while I manipulated the driver and tried to tape that weak and exposed to denting portion of the cable.
 
For strain relief yeah I would suggest a tight-wrap (zip tight) and maybe a dab of epoxy behind it and against the cable.
 
I picked Cardas because it's the most expansive cable I could find that would most likely fit inside it... I would have picked Spore from DHC if it could fit. For the best headphone the best cable! HP2 and HP-1000 driver in general is my best and favorite thing to listen to.
 
I will do it in the summer, right now I'm low on money.
 
 
Thanks Mr.Sneis for trying to help me You're putting it very optimistically and it helps me cope with the idea that I just broke a brand new (old stock) and rare 2000 dollar headphone.
 
What pisses me off is that I didn't even let it time to break naturally... and the fact my headphone was on his first cable, which I think in some ways is always the best one, because it iss affixed to a unused solder pad and a unused driver.

It's okay man, you just need a new cable. Joe can do it (without doing the full upgrade) but it'll prob take a while. Also as you stated some other company's can too (avoid aps Since there has been a huge slew of customers he's stopped responding to/ waited nearly a year for products that still have yet to come ).

 

[our martin]

.

 

[devouringone3]

Nooo

 

[robm321]

 
Quote:

I don't have time now, but in the next couple of days I'm going to try this. 

 
Ok, so a couple of days give or take a couple of months 

 
I have to say that the changes were more dramatic than I thought. There is definitely a transparency that wasn't there before. On top of that, almost every aspect of the sound improved. Its the equivalent of listening to great sounding speakers in a room with bare walls, and then adding room treatment. 
 
Thank you Purrin for posting these mods. Much appreciated! I can't seem to pull the HP-2s off my head. 
 
Next up, Dynamat behind the drivers... 

 

[purrin]

You are welcome.
 
The Dynamat will slightly reduce the bass and makes the sound a wee bit more forward relative to what it was before. So just be warned. To me, it gets rid of that bass "thickness" and slightly dark character of the stock headphone. I would still consider it slightly bassy sounding though.
 

1. Apply a sheet of Creatology foam on top of a piece of Dynamat Extreme. (with the aluminum)
2. Use a 3/8" hole bit to drill a hole through the foam/Dynamat sandwich.  [PICTURE 3]
3. Cut a circle around the hole that matches the size of the back of the HP1000 driver.
4. Apply the foam/Dynamat disc over the HP1000 driver. [PICTURE 4]
5. Pull the cable back through, put the driver back on the cup, and secure all six hex screws.

 
 
 
Personally, I like the changes and now consider the HP1000 to be almost on par with the HD800 in terms of detail extraction. In the last several months, these have become my primary dynamic headphones in favor of the HD800s.
 

 

[devouringone3]

Wow this damping disc and those lettered drivers, just like this picture from Larry (Xanadu) I've seen in an old thread.
 

 
He has found them in a HP3, and he was asking himself if all HP3 were like that.

 

[purrin]

Very interesting...

 

[zardon]

The Hp1000 is indeed a very special headphone, very interesting read, thanks for all the work you put into the thread.

 

[devouringone3]

Quote:

Very interesting...

 
Here's the post he did about it http://www.head-fi.org/t/122338/hp-2-hp-3-owners-poll/30#post_1474556

 

[robm321]

Quote:

You are welcome.
 
The Dynamat will slightly reduce the bass and makes the sound a wee bit more forward relative to what it was before. So just be warned. To me, it gets rid of that bass "thickness" and slightly dark character of the stock headphone. I would still consider it slightly bassy sounding though.
 

1. Apply a sheet of Creatology foam on top of a piece of Dynamat Extreme. (with the aluminum)
2. Use a 3/8" hole bit to drill a hole through the foam/Dynamat sandwich.  [PICTURE 3]
3. Cut a circle around the hole that matches the size of the back of the HP1000 driver.
4. Apply the foam/Dynamat disc over the HP1000 driver. [PICTURE 4]
5. Pull the cable back through, put the driver back on the cup, and secure all six hex screws.

 
 
 
Personally, I like the changes and now consider the HP1000 to be almost on par with the HD800 in terms of detail extraction. In the last several months, these have become my primary dynamic headphones in favor of the HD800s.
 

 
Thanks for the instructions and definitely pics. I'm going to do this and report back... in time. 

 

[LCfiner]

I bought a pair of HP-1 last week and have been using them and comparing them to a Magnum v4 and PS500. The HP1 were better but I couldn’t help but feel they weren’t “three and a half times as expensive” better. I was considering selling or trading them to try out some other top tier headphones or rebuy an HD800.
 
Then I decided to suck it up, open the bad boys up and coat the inside of the cups with foam. (elmers foam sheets plus some poster tape instead of creatology, which wasn’t available to me). I feel like the difference has been notable and has improved the HP1 to the point where they now compare very well to the last two high end cans I owned (Stax O2 and Senn HD800).
 
Before the mod there was a notable glare that would show up in some songs - that “shout” that purrin mentions. it was of a lesser magnitude than on the Magnums or PS500 but it was still there. good example is at 0:45 in the song “The Last Time” by The Blind Boys of Alabama. The guy is screaming “MAYBE the last time we ever...” directly into your right eardrum. With pretty much any Grado, that “maybe” line delivery will split your ear apart. With the non-modded HP1, this part was still troublesome and made me wince a bit. but now, after the mod, it’s not painful. it’s clearly a loud yell and there is force and emotion behind it, but there is no artificial glare behind it that detracts from the powerful voice.
 
The mod also makes the lower mids less thick than before (something that I have heard with every Grado using flat pads), which I feel opens up the perceived soundstage compared to the non modded version. it’s not wide as an over-ear headphone but I feel there’s a bit more air around some of the background sounds of complex, layered tracks. The depth of the soundstage is impressive. 
 
I was really nervous performing the mod since I’m typically rather klutzy and the HP-1 has that polarity switch so there’s a lot more wires in that cup that need to be moved out of the way to secure the foam (4 wires from the center of the cup to the driver plus the two wires entering the cup to the switch backplate). I was paranoid that some 20 year old soldering joint would snap as I moved the wires out of the way... but I got through it unscathed and the end result was worth it. (I’m still too nervous to try the dynamat mods to the back of the driver. But I think I like the existing bass impact too much to add the damping, anyway)
 
This mod really makes the headphone worth the (speculative, used market inflated) price. I now feel it manages to match (or get close) to the detail and refinement of the HD800 (speed, but not soundstage width) while having a tonality more in line with the O2 (rich midrange, no treble lift). And they’re easier to put on my head and more comfortable than the O2, so that’s nice. They also have more bass impact than the O2 (when running on a 323S or GES).
 
thank you for this thread, purrin. It helped me make a good headphone even better.

 

[purrin]

You are most gracious.
 
The modded HP1000s were one of the primary reasons I decided not to sell my dynamic amp. I love how we can crank it up without suffering hearing damage. What I would like to see is the TTVJ flat pads about 1-2mm thicker to move the drivers further out to open up the sound. 

 

[LCfiner]

Quote:

You are most gracious.
 
The modded HP1000s were one of the primary reasons I decided not to sell my dynamic amp. I love how we can crank it up without suffering hearing damage. What I would like to see is the TTVJ flat pads about 1-2mm thicker to move the drivers further out to open up the sound. 

 
I’m gonna stick some leftover foam on the pads. brb
 
edit: I did it. OMG 400% more detail!
 
ok, but seriously, I think I would need more than 1 mm to notice a difference. Maybe splitting the difference between the bowl and flat thicknesses
 
You mention volume and that’s actually something that concerns me. It’s way too easy to crank the volume up with these headphones now. I gotta be careful if listening for a long time!

 

[purrin]

Quote:

 
I’m gonna stick some leftover foam on the pads. brb
 
edit: I did it. OMG 400% more detail!
 
ok, but seriously, I think I would need more than 1 mm to notice a difference. Maybe splitting the difference between the bowl and flat thicknesses
 
You mention volume and that’s actually something that concerns me. It’s way too easy to crank the volume up with these headphones now. I gotta be careful if listening for a long time!

 
400% LOL. I will have to try that.
 
In terms of cranking up the volume, you would have to more than double the volume to give you the same damaging effects of other less well behaved headphones. See below. The red line is the HP1000. The green line is a recent headphone from a well known manufacturer. Guess which one is going to destroy your hearing first.