[katulu]

Hi everyone!
 
 
I am in the process of modding my TH900, had something to say and show, so here it is:
 
First, I had my stock TH900's, I love most of all the elegant sound and the bass extension into 40 Hz. Don't like the 5 KHz spike, and rather uneven treble frequency response.
 
Starting with that, my plans were to:
 
1) Recable the pair with Norne Vanquish cable,
2) Do a level 2 full Lawton Mod, with Spalted Maple cups.
 
However, I have not been able to get a quote from Norne yet, and my Lawton kit and cups are here, so...
 

 
 
ANGLE PADS
First, I tried the angle pads and compared to stock. I have to say, these are a no go for me. The subbass is almost gone, and bass in general is reduced. I didn't bother to evaluate other changes in sound since this is a deal breaker for me. I noticed the same thing happen when I previously tried the Alpha pads, so my thought is that the form factor of the these pads (covering some of the inside circle area) is mainly responsible for this effect. If this is what "tight" bass is, I'm not interested.
 
CUPS + Internal foam pad
 
Next, I went back to stock pads and changed the cups, which came with a foam pad on the inside. AGAIN, I lost the subbass, adding the angle pads made it worse. My thought was "I already HAVE HD800s!" So, I took out the foam pads and tried the cups empty - now there was a bass bloat, and the vocals were too close and harsh. Finally, I took out the stock batting material from the stock cups and used them with the Spalted Maple cups. This cleared up the vocals, reduced bass, and I finally noticed the larger soundstage of the new cups. Finally, I added the black material strips to the drivers. This added refinement to the sound, closer to stock in the subbass response, although the whole bass region is increased. While I like it very much, in this configuration the TH900 sounds like it's "bass boosted." Think of the drums in KISS's "Creatures of the Night" (which I obviously listened to - it sounds GLORIOUS!). I ran a frequency sweep and my perceptions is:
 
Increase from audible (15 Hz) up to 300 Hz then a drop until 420 Hz where it goes up again up to about 1700Hz, decreases until 2700 Hz and then goes up again until 5200Hz (spike), decreases until 6000kHz, then goes up until 7kHz and down around 8kHz, but truth is I don't hear these frequencies all that well anyway so someone else would have to comment  on those and upwards.
 
So hopefully with the Vanquish cable the treble will smooth out a little bit! I'm thinking of trying different batting material inside the cups to see if I can get a more even subbass-to-bass response, possibly retaining the vocal distance but perhaps improving the highs also. I will write here how my experiments go!
 
Thanks for reading, to be continued!
 
 
 

 

[Sweetmeat]

How did you measure the frequency response? I ask because your post is  very specific about the peaks/valleys but also it's notoriously difficult to measure headphones.
 
Also, did you apply the Lawton olive dampeners to the metal rings behind the driver? Those babies ring like a church bell, might be causing your 5.2K peak, and that peak (if caused by the ringing) is 100% distortion.
 
I assume the new cups came with an olive piece inside, and you left that in there.
 
Boy those cups look beautiful, I want to add them to my TH600s but I use them at work, and I'm concerned they will be too flashy. However if there would be a significant sonic improvement, I could live with the flashy headphones I guess. I think if I could find a pair of good used TH900 cups for a good price I would definitely go for that.
 
I never installed the Lawton angle pads because I tried pre-fitting them to my ears and found my humongous elephant ear flaps don't fit inside like with the stock pads. I listen to them for many hours a day and they need to be extra comfy. However I would still like to tame the bass a bit.

 

[katulu]

 
How did you measure the frequency response? I ask because your post is  very specific about the peaks/valleys but also it's notoriously difficult to measure headphones.
 
Also, did you apply the Lawton olive dampeners to the metal rings behind the driver?

 
Hi Sweetmeat:
 
I didn't "measure" the FR, I use PA Tone app in android and sweep and compare (jump from frequency to frequency) with my ears. This is, of course, subjective, but those peaks/valleys are extremely obvious, since they are just based on my hearing, not on any measurement equipment. I recommend you try if you haven't already.
 
Yes, I did apply the driver dampers, as I don't believe they affect the rest of the sound. But as far as Lawton mods, that and the cups are as far as I go. I will go for the zolkis/playitloud mods instead. Those Lawton earpads KILL bass under 80 Hz (as well as reducing bass allover), and a change in overall sound I did not like at all.
 
The cups did come with, but I have since removed the olive pads from the cups, for the upcoming z/p mod. I might try them to see what the effect is once my z/p mod is complete.

 

[edstrelow]

I am big into mods of headphones myself, but principally into the use of sorbothane to dampen mechanical resonance in the earcups.  Small pieces of 1/8 soft self-stick sorb can do wonders.  See my thread about modding Stax.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/744839/damping-mechanical-resonance-distortion-of-stax-phones-with-sorbothane-lambdas-srxiii-pro-sr003-sr007-and-finally-the-sigma

 

[Sweetmeat]

   
I didn't "measure" the FR, I use PA Tone app in android and sweep and compare (jump from frequency to frequency) with my ears.

I figured it was something like that. I tuned my car's digital EQ using a dB meter and Alan Parson's Sound Check 2 to rough out the FR, then I fine-tuned using Sound Check 2 and my ears, then some reference music.
 
I was previously using a sweep but I found I got much better results with 1/3-octave pink tones. Turns out the pinks are a much better approximation of how our ears interpret music. I don't apply the pinks to anything I can't adjust like my headphones, it just sows discontent.
 
I saw the picture of your Spalted Maple cups and it inspired me. I have ordered a pair of Asian Camphor Burls.

 

[tomatoshoe]

Just curious, but why are there pieces of tape around your earpads?

 

[katulu]

So, updates!
 
 
After much noodling, I have settled on:
 
 
Level 1 lawton mods (just the dampers on the drivers)
Zolkis/playitloud pad mod (activated carbon), removed the mesh on pads
Spalted maple Lawton cups, with a "cross" of dynamat material 2" x 1/4" inside the cups
Removed the inside batting material
Replaced the stock cable with Norne Vanquish cable (copper/SPC hybrid) - but I intend to replace this with a pure silver cable (also by Norne)
 
To me, this sounds quite better than the stock TH900 - and I know, because I have both. More extended and present bass, more forward vocals, clearer highs. There are some clear peaks and valleys - I hear 1500 Hz, 5 kHz  peaks and a big dip near 8 kHz.  I believe the silver cable will help smooth the treble, making my equalization even easier (I equalize my setups to neutral as possible).
 
I have tape on my cups because Lawton told me not to remove the screws once I screwed the cups in, as the soft wood would be damaged by scerwing them on and off, therefore I taped until I am sure I will not mod these TH900s again.

 

[simonatsea]

I have the norne vanquish cable, I am looking to instal on my massdrop THX00 when they arrive. I realize these are very different headphones. Can you describe the differnces that the norne cable brought over the stock one? Also looking at a simple cross of dynamat in the wood cups as I have it on hand.

Thanks for the field work

 

[katulu]

I have the norne vanquish cable, I am looking to instal on my massdrop THX00 when they arrive. I realize these are very different headphones. Can you describe the differnces that the norne cable brought over the stock one? Also looking at a simple cross of dynamat in the wood cups as I have it on hand.

Thanks for the field work

 
Unfortunately, I can't really say, as I already had substantially modded my TH900s before recabling.  Based on my experience with the sound change with Draug 2 on HD800s, I think Norne cable will at the very least bring an added level of clarity and perhaps a slight increase to midbass.  Many people complain of "smudging" or smearing" of sound with SPC cables.  I have personally decided to recable these again with a Norne pure silver cable when I can (next year). I now believe pure silver occ litz is the ultimate cable to be used when EQing headphones, so I don't really care about the change to headphone frequency response curve, only about the clarity and holography silver gives.
 
I CAN tell you a cross of dynamat in the cups will definitely darken the sound noticeably, the effect is that of reducing treble.
 
Also, even when not EQd, my modded TH900s sound better than stock, I've compared them several times. More extended, deeper bass, better vocals/mids, less peaky, as well as slightly more extended, treble.

 

[kurumaebi]

any one modded in lawton willing to sell their th900 stock cups?