Shot of the Silverstone padding covering the outer baffle:
Another shot of the inside of the right cup:
I burned these in for a good part of this afternoon/early evening, then opened them up the tonight to see if anything was amiss. I immediately noticed the plastic-y paper that covers the center screw (which fastens the cup to the cup brackets) was peeling off.. huzzah.. a possible culprit to the honky mids. After I fixed it, I reassembled the phones, sealed the cup vents completely.. and gave them a listen:
Oh. My. God.
My jaw was on the floor for a good two or three minutes. Simply incredible. Deep, lush, vivid, immersing sound. The bass (quantity & quality) this phone turns out leaves me speechless. Unlike anything I've heard in a full sized phone (it gives the 1964-Quad a run for it's money). For it's prodigious bass, it's impressively fast and tight. This is the most immersive headphone I've ever heard.. it feels like I'm listening to a live performance in some exquisitely tuned venue with crystal clear acoustics. I'm beginning to hear why these phones get so much praise.
The sharp,
lower midrange spike appears greatly diminished, there is much better clarity and separation. But two issues remain:
--There is a
definite upper midrange spike. Sustained piano stabs & vamps, male vocals, and/or heavy electric guitar plucks sound unnaturally forward and borderline fatiguing. Male vocals in particular spike with many inflections & when certain notes are held for a long period of time. The Weend's
Thursday (a mindblowingly good album/mixtape, IMO) is an excellent example of where I'm hearing these issues.
--Secondly, the mid bass definitely needs tweaking. When I hear heavy upright bass plucks, it sounds unnaturally forward and warm at times. Many snare hits have a hint too much warmth and sound a bit muffled/flat.
I feel I'm getting closer, though.. I'm positive the midrange on these phones can be balanced out and will sound simply glorious. Suggestions on mods to get this ironed out are greatly appreciated. Has anyone dampened the cups to the extent I have? I'm curious if that's to account for the excessive warmth/forwardness in the midbass.. I'm not sure how to explain the upper midrange spike though.
All listening was done with the vents all but closed:
Look closely at the second vent from the bottom.. you can see what equivocates to a "pin prick" for a hole that I made. The sub/midbass has incredibly presence and impact even when the vents are full sealed. The "pin prick" above adds some decay and airiness to the bass.. anything more & the visceral bass, warmth completely dominates the sound and the bass sounds flabby and uncontrolled. When the vents are fully sealed, there is still tremendous impact that's tight and fast, but the pin prick adds a hair more decay and impact.
TIA!
