[Lorspeaker]

can someone take afew close up fotos of the 3D cup?

 

[jerg]

Quote:

Dan had asked me to offer some feedback and this is an edit of what I thought. I do own the paradox but did not do any specific comparative listening, neither did I compare it to the Abyss or KSC75
 
gear 1. - high res digital - balanced to LAu - balanced cable out
2. CD single ended to LG - single ended out
 
Appearance:
Shape of new cups is very slick - they had not yet been painted . 
Connectors are much sturdier feeling than than mini xlr  
Pads - they are very snug, i personally prefer more space but i understand they play an important role in the sound presentation and have been custom made to achieve the isolation they offer. 
 
Comfort:
actually very comfortable , weight well distributed, Tight clamping force but not uncomfortable even after quite a session this evening. Internal pad volume is small , this probably contributes to a narrower soundstage/soundfield. 
leather headband really makes a difference, no ache on the top of the head as with stock T50rp
 
Sound:
Initial listen  - just flicking through several favourites = very pleasant , nothing stood out as offensive, good detail and the most balanced bass I have heard on the MDs. 
 
More critical listening:
Again very pleasant to listen to. The following is real nitpicking for your feedback Dan - take it with a pinch of salt. 
 
Bass. Good weight and sense of layering, never overwhelming and I feel this has better balance than the MDs you had at ChiUniFi. Some of the subtle upper bass / lower mid layering is lost  - probably due to a slight bump in mid presentation. Never congested, but not as detailed/layered as I am accustomed to hearing. 
 
Mids: I feel the mids are a little forward with a very slight upper mid etch. Really nothing to write home about and it gives a sharp horn blow a bit of bite. Unfortunately some piano keys are also a little on the sharp side but never wincingly so. Just settling into the music , the overall impression is a fairly even frequency response. It is just when you choose music to emphasize certain traits that it sticks out. My impression is that there is a wide , inoffensive hump at about 3K. No ringing and non of the funky mid troubles that the stock T50rp have. 
 
Highs: great detail and separation, not as much air but very focused.
 
soundstage: very good and realistic but not as wide as either of the other T50rps I have. I suspected this while listening, it never sounded narrow or cramped, but it did not sound as wide as the paradox or RDs modded T50, so I pulled them out when I was done just to confirm my impression. 
 
just to finish up , i ran the stereophile test disc and noted the following
 - there appears to be a 125Hz resonance with pure tone : I do not hear any evidence with music
 - frequency sweep , remarkably smooth . I do hear a little more prominence 2K-4K and again at  8K ( the slight mid prominence I heard with music but I didn't hear any offensive representation at that higher 8K point.  )
 
 
My take : a job well done. I don't think I would really want to change anything with the way these headphones are voiced. I think they will appeal to a wide audience and offer remarkable performance for a closed headphone. 
 
 
bear in mind that these were preproduction impressions and Dan was still tweaking things , I did not play with the bass adjustment which was not the same screw mechanism as in the final version. 
 
..dB

 
Thanks for the exhaustive impressions dB. How would you rate the "openness" of the sound?
 
I don't mean the headstage or the imaging capabilities, but rather, would you close your eyes with these cans on, and be able to go "sounds like an open headphone"?

 

[mikemercer]

Will find the CAS/Headmasters thread but I just had to post quickly:
 
Being the proud owner of Mr. Speakers Mad Dogs (current version), my first reaction after settling into a short listening session with the Alpha Dogs was:
 
DAMN YOU DAN!!!!!
 
You got the feeling of outside inside.
Don't know how ya did it, but BRAVO!!!!

 

[flatmap]

Here  I'm at the peak of monetary discipline slowing saving up for HD 800's.  Avoiding
one sparkly lovely headphone after another, determined to finally get up into the 
neutral reference stratosphere.
 
And maybe I'll still get there, but good heavens!  I have saved just about half the cost
of HD 800's and reading these posts I'm realizing -- fearfully and excitedly realizing --
that this is totally enough to buy the ADs.  
 
Forcing myself into a cooling off period, but at the same time find that I've watched
Jude's video for the 3rd time already.  Must maintain calmness...

 

[mikemercer]

so SWEET
 
I felt connected to the music on all levels: Physically, emotionally, everything was there.
I'm so psyched to own a pair of these
 

 

[razzer001]

Kudos to Mrspeaker and his team in utilizing 3D printing and bringing attention to everyone how 3D printing can change the landscape of not just product development but also in terms of DIY. 3D printing will revolutionize in the long term how end consumers can alter their products. We've been mucking with 3d prints of custom cups for the HM5 in our workshop, we're just scratching the surface but the sky is the limit in what a person with a cad file and a 3D printer could do.
 
FYI ABS plastic is as strong as most plastic you have on any products you may own as they also tend to be made from ABS.

 

[LFC_SL]

Greed, vs your TH900?

 

[Change is Good]

Jus wanted to add that I, too, would prefer a black color (if possible). Maybe even a gun metal black...

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Spoiler: Stuff

 
Quote:

 
I'm highlighting this comment for a reason as it shows an important shift that is seen so often in modding communities. The DIY-modders mentality is to share information and findings with others in order to improve a piece of equipment to be the best that is capable of. Modders work together, in a collaborative fashion, sharing what they have found in an open fashion so that, at the end of the day, the equipment is the best you can make it and this is done in a "free" atmosphere that is based upon the open exchange of information. However, the traditional business mentality is to hide information and obfuscate their findings in order to justify their existence.
 
What makes this all the more interesting is that the these cups are 3D printed. If you have the right printer, the right materials and the right file, then anyone can make these cups. Now those cups certainly do not cost $300 to make and the only way you can justify an extra $300 is by being the only one making them. Of course, a great deal of time went into researching them and understandably a business is going to want to recuperate their losses.
 
However, what's important to me is what happens afterwards. Is MrSpeakers going to hold on to this information forever or are they eventually going to release it for free after enough profit has been made or an updated version is released. It's obvious that 3D printing is going to make things a lot more interesting in the headphone community and these divisions that are seen in the world of computer science and engineering are now going to be seen in the headphone community.
 
This is an immensely important question and how MrSpeakers handles this is going to be very interesting. Are we going to see Microsoft or GNU + Linux? The traditional business mentality or the "hacker" mentality. I hope we will see a precedent set for the better, but even the best ideals crumble at the sight of cash. At the end of the day though. I just want to see better headphones.
 
Edit: Addendum
 
I just thought that it may not be obvious to many here just how big a deal this really is. 3D printing allows for rapid prototyping that engineers could only dream of. Injection molding is expensive, really expensive and well beyond the reaches of most modders. 3D printing however isn't. The cost of the 3D printer is high but the materials it uses are relatively cheap. Secondly, cup information can be shared over the internet instantly. In less than five minutes your new cup design has been downloaded by other modders, tweaked and being made.
 
Now why is this such a big deal. MrSpeakers cup design is valuable, unbelievably valuable. The design of those cups has ramifications not just for the Fostex T50RPs but ALL closed headphones. If the technology in those cups is applied to other closed headphones then we may see an explosive improvement in modding and headphone design. All those old closed headphones that have issues can be tweaked and fixed by 3D printed cups and the knowledge gained from this is of MASSIVE benefit to everyone in the headphone community.
 
This is why the question of open sourcing those cups is so, so big. If MrSpeakers makes those cups open source we could most likely see a cottage industry explosion of headphone cup modding and EVERYONE will benefit from that. Those cups are a BIG, BIG deal and I seriously hope that MrSpeakers doesn't bunker down and put their short-term profit ahead of the long-term profit of the whole headphone community. As I said, Microsoft or GNU + Linux.

 
 

 

I understand where your coming from but here's another problem you're not addressing. I'm sure Dan couldn't care less about one DIY guy modding his headphone using info provided by him for their own enjoyment  BUT what right does anyone have to use Dan's mods as a source of income? Think about it, LFF chose not to release info concerning his mods because he didn't want anyone else profiting from his mods. Smeggy didn't protect his mods and enough people used them in conjunction with their own to profit from it without giving credit to Smeggy. Don't you think people like MrSpeakers and LFF who run their own small businesses have the right to protect their own sweat and labor from others who only see it as a means to cash in on someone elses hard work? I'm all for open sourcing information but it becomes a double edged sword when part of the DIY community are only there to gleam information from others as a means of financially cashing in.

Yup, I agree with this.
 
Also, I remember seeing this in the news recently:
http://gizmodo.com/5994293/3d-printed-headphones-you-can-build-from-the-ground-up
 
No one got that to work even though the files were available to download and whatnot.
 
 
Relating to the appearance of the Alpha Dog, is it just me or does the paint job actually make the headphone look pretty gaudy? I don't mean this to be a troll post, but the unevenness of the earcup combined with a shiny paint job does not look very attractive...it reminds me of those clay projects one does in elementary school and after you put it in the oven, the glaze shows all of the imperfections on the surface of the clay.

 

[gelocks]

Quote:

Kudos to Mrspeaker and his team in utilizing 3D printing and bringing attention to everyone how 3D printing can change the landscape of not just product development but also in terms of DIY. 3D printing will revolutionize in the long term how end consumers can alter their products. We've been mucking with 3d prints of custom cups for the HM5 in our workshop, we're just scratching the surface but the sky is the limit in what a person with a cad file and a 3D printer could do.
 
FYI ABS plastic is as strong as most plastic you have on any products you may own as they also tend to be made from ABS.

 
Awesome thread there.. now I want a 3D printer!!! lol (and the Alpha Dogs!!!)

 

[EveTan]

Quote:

Jus wanted to add that I, too, would prefer a black color (if possible). Maybe even a gun metal black...

 
Insert doesitcomeinblack.jpg?

 

[gelocks]

Quote:

so SWEET
 
I felt connected to the music on all levels: Physically, emotionally, everything was there.
I'm so psyched to own a pair of these
 

 
Looking at it this way... those GOLDEN adjustment bands need to be painted!!!!!!!

 

[EveTan]

Quote:

 
 
Relating to the appearance of the Alpha Dog, is it just me or does the paint job actually make the headphone look pretty gaudy? I don't mean this to be a troll post, but the unevenness of the earcup combined with a shiny paint job does not look very attractive...it reminds me of those clay projects one does in elementary school and after you put it in the oven, the glaze shows all of the imperfections on the surface of the clay.

For an extra $900, you can remove all those imperfections with the beautiful Urushi lacquered TH900.
Jokes aside, I have a feeling that he'll improve on the finish.

 

[Change is Good]

Quote:

 
Looking at it this way... those GOLDEN adjustment bands need to be painted!!!!!!!

 
Agreed

 

[warrenpchi]

Quote:

Are the material durable?

 
I can verify that the cups felt extremely durable, and resistant to hand-applied crush forces (sorry Dan

).
 
Quote:

 
I would guess that honeycomb designs have not been implemented in existing headphones because traditional plastic injection moulding techniques or CNC mills would make it too expensive or too difficult to scale up.

 
This.
 
Quote:

Interested in how these will sound. I know i enjoyed the regular mad dogs, wonder how much better these can get.

 
Many impressions - most of which are from listening tests conducted in far more ideal conditions than my audition - have already been posted.  But as a long-time fan of the Mad Dogs, my shortened answer would simply be MUCH BETTER. 

  So much better it's not even funny.
 
Quote:

Dude. Jude is geeking out in this vid. Which means I'm geeking out vicariously through him. 

 
He can hardly contain himself! 

 
Quote:

All the talk around MD sounding dark, I paired mine up with Meridian Exlporer 50 Ohms version and it is far from dark sounding. I know Warren will back me up on this one.

 
Indeed! 

 
Quote:

 
Quote:

All the talk around MD sounding dark, I paired mine up with Meridian Exlporer 50 Ohms version and it is far from dark sounding. I know Warren will back me up on this one.

 
A 50-ohm output impedance amp with a 56-ohm impedance headphone makes very little sense to me...

 
Doesn't it?  Except that - through a rather accidental discovery - we found out that the pairing above results in an rather significant and pleasing bloom in the mid-range, with the highs opening up so as to clearly not be dark any more.  It pushes the Mad Dogs clear out of any semblance of neutrality, but it was such a wonderful coloration I must say.
 
Quote:

Quote:

Heard this at CAS4 this morning... and I largely concur with Judes impressions from the video. Something amazing, various listeners compared parts of its presentation favorably vs that of the Abyss a few tables over.

Originally Posted by Idsynchrono_24 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Ohmahgerd! Hope you can chime in with more detailed impressions later W

 
Originally Posted by Hutnicks /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Oh boy, first kid on the block to mention the A word.

 
Just to be clear, this is not my impression.  I'm not saying I disagree (or agree).  But people did remark, after having crisscrossed the Headmasters room between the Abyss and the Alpha, that they favored the Alpha.  I'm not going to point out who, and I suspect that they will be posting shortly anyway.
 
Beyond agreeing with what Jude has said in the video, I don't have a lot to add in terms of detailed impressions.  However, I can say that in the limited amount of time that I had with it, I found no faults with it, save for the fact that the pairs I listened to were not under my ownership.  And I have a strong suspicion that I may have found my closed-back unicorn.
 
Quote:

can someone take afew close up fotos of the 3D cup?

 
Sure, in fact, here are a few crappy pics of everything I saw/heard there.  There was some trouble with the lighting in the room all morning... and I have a crap camera... but here goes:
 

The unpainted demo unit featured at Headmasters/California Audio Show.
 

The unpainted demo unit featured at Headmasters/California Audio Show (alternate view).
 

Ear cup close-up showing previous "screw-settings" for adjusting bass response.
 

Dan "Mr. Speakers" Clark holding up a partially-printed ear cup.
 

A close-up of the partially-printed ear cup.
 

Another close-up of the partially-printed ear cup.
 

Yet another pic of the partially-printed ear cup, with an updated prototype in the rear.
 

The updated prototype coated with the metallic claret finish.
 

A close up of the updated prototype's ear cup - featuring the "set-screw" bass response adjuster.
 

---

 
Stay tuned everyone, I believe that HiFiGuy528 will be on site to take better photos, and shoot a video (possibly with an interview), in just a few hours from now.  And Bill-P has got MORE than a few gorgeous pics - as well as detailed impressions - going up soon.  Keep and eye out for their posts!