Make the HA-RX300 sound less like crap, or how to learned to really stretch $9

[inline79]

I saw these 50% off open box so picked them up on a whim for $9... they sounded like a really bad Beats knockoff.  Bass was boomy and spilled all over the place which overpowered the already weak mids and highs.  I was going to salvage the asymmetrical pads, and send the rest to the junk heap.   Then I decided to tune them myself.
After looking at some RX700 and 900 mods here's what I came up with:
 

 
Audio Mods:
Three pieces of tape per side.  In my case I used some cloth tape to:
1. Cover two of four holes in the metal backing of the driver.  This copies the same tape config on the stock RX700. (middle tape in the picture)
2. Cover two of five "passives" on the driver mounting plate.  This reduces them to the same number as on the RX700 which is 3 (right tape in the pic).
3. Seal off the port in the housing (left piece of tape).  Probably just a good idea.
 
To me, this tames the bass a lot and allows the mids and treble to come out and be decent.  If I had more time I'd experiment with the number of holes covered, but as I don't expect ATH-M50 performance out of these things, I'm happy leaving it as it is and now using it as a general-purpose set of headphones.
 
Comfort Mod:
The usual stuffing of the pads brings the driver a little farther from your ear (it was touching mine on one side).  Whether there is a soundstage improvement is hard to say.
 
 
If anyone out there has more time, or maybe also has the RX500, 700, or 900, it'd be interesting to hear your mod stories on these little guys.

 

[noob HIFI]

thank you inline79!!! ive been searching the web for a picture of the driver unit of the HARX300/500, now i have a question about removing the driver(for some DIY stuff), the two screws shown on oppisite sides of the driver, are they holding the driver unit in place or are they part of the unit itself???

 

[inline79]

What kind of DIY stuff?
Yes, I'm pretty sure the two screws hold the driver in.
 

 

[noob HIFI]

thats great!
Well im mostly screwing around with a fiio5 amp, im trying to input the amp inside the headset(kind of like the beats by dre studio, which i own) and i need some cheap drivers hence the JVC harx. All in all im trying to make headphones, and need cheap decent cans that i can scavange the drivers. Any recommendations???
JVC harx500 instead of the 300??

 

[TrollDragon]

Nice Job inline79!
 
These ones are Tape modded and a detachable cable added, basically I used the end from one of those old Sony cloth covered extension cables.
Cut the moulded plastic away carefully on the extension to expose the jack. It has a groove just after the gold end that will slide nicely into the old cable hole.
You have to trim away some of the plastic inside the L cup where the old cable came out to allow the jack to fit, also the little tang on the frame side of the cup that sits above the cable hole has to be trimmed as well. I test fit the two halves many times and trimmed the cable hole with an exacto till both halves fit back together perfectly, do this before the Hot Glue part.
 
I already had my jack wires pretinned and measured to fit. Hot Glued the jack in place..
Unsolder the old cable and solder your new jack wires to where the Red / Green / Shield wires went.
 

 

 

 

 

[inline79]

How do they sound?  I've been meaning to find time to play around with the tape, maybe even sealing it up entirely.  If anyone else finds time to do that it'd be interesting to see how far we can push these cheapies!

 

[TrollDragon]

The Bass has been reduced with the two driver holes covered, I found it very overpowering before.
I taped the passive holes from the pad side, that way you do not have to take it apart to adjust the sound as the ear pads are really easy to remove and put back.
 
I never really remembered the sound before the mod, only the really noticeable reduction in the boom.
Since my passive tape is on top i might just try some A/B comparison with the more / less tape.
 
I never covered the cup back vent either...
 

 

[cyclopathic]

Thnx a bunch. Really good mod.
 
A couple comments: I ran them side by side with M50 on different tracks (rock, pop, classical, jazz) and the best is to seal only one hole on drive. If you seal 2 out of 4 it enhances mid-highs but cuts highs too much. If you don't seal any it has a gap btw mids and highs. With one it has more balanced sound.
 
On enclosure you have to seal 2 out of 5 and the external port it is right spot on.

 

[TheAstray]

I'm planning to mod my ha-rx300's like you guys did,but I have a question, can I just use some Scotch tape? HAHAHAHA. thanks guys!

 

[TheAstray]

update: I just modded mine usig scotch tape HAHAHAHAH. it's sounds better. The bass was reduced,the mids and highs became cleaner. yey. thanks for the mod!

 

[TheAstray]

update: noticed a little buzzing after the mod. I think the buzz was from the loose end of the scotch tape. I decided to remove and replace the scotch tape with some electrical tape(for a less plastic texture). I taped it more precisely now and the buzzing vanished. thanks for the mod! btw, where'd you guys get the ha-rx300 for $9? I got mine at Ross for $16(it was on sale. the original price was $25!!)

 

[marcd]

  Nice Job inline79!
 
These ones are Tape modded and a detachable cable added, basically I used the end from one of those old Sony cloth covered extension cables.
Cut the moulded plastic away carefully on the extension to expose the jack. It has a groove just after the gold end that will slide nicely into the old cable hole.
You have to trim away some of the plastic inside the L cup where the old cable came out to allow the jack to fit, also the little tang on the frame side of the cup that sits above the cable hole has to be trimmed as well. I test fit the two halves many times and trimmed the cable hole with an exacto till both halves fit back together perfectly, do this before the Hot Glue part.
 
I already had my jack wires pretinned and measured to fit. Hot Glued the jack in place..
Unsolder the old cable and solder your new jack wires to where the Red / Green / Shield wires went.
 

 

 

 

Hey, nice mods on those, i wanna do something  simillair with my ha-rx300's, and im not sure wich cable should go where if it's about the removable cable mod. If you could post a pic of your jack in the headphones it will be very helpful.

 

[stratos68]

registered to say thank you

 
 
covered 1 hole of the driver with thick black electrical tape, 2 out of 5 in the enclosure and the external port
it doesn't sound muddy anymore
 
For PC:
I'm on win7 and went to speaker properties > enhancements > equalizer and set it to "powerful"
it sounds very good for a 15$ headphone
(tested classic, symphonic, power metal, edm)