[RenEh]

I did specifically mention a step down to the Amazon/Aliexpress direct from factory brands. At which point quality in general becomes questionable and what qualities can be even be had more so. Certainly not at a loss for choices down there either. Most incapable of working without grinding down the connector end (plastic surround and butt end of metal 3.5mm male plug!!)

It would be most appreciated and considered instructive of you to mention what "budget" cable produced the best SQ in your estimation.

Periapt cables with the dual 3.5mm mod These headphones even benefit from my balanced out on my thx 789.

 

[JayGold]

I did specifically mention a step down to the Amazon/Aliexpress direct from factory brands. At which point quality in general becomes questionable and what qualities can be even be had more so. Certainly not at a loss for choices down there either. Most incapable of working without grinding down the connector end (plastic surround and butt end of metal 3.5mm male plug!!)

It would be most appreciated and considered instructive of you to mention what "budget" cable produced the best SQ in your estimation.

Ah, yeah i dont ever find much quality difference between cables. The cable i find at the dollar store and breaks within a month sounds the same to me as the 40 euro cable at the music store i tried once. Which also broke within a month or two. So i stick to random cheap cables, couldnt tell you which.

 

[r3nd0]

Periapt cables with the dual 3.5mm mod These headphones even benefit from my balanced out on my thx 789.

Type III or Type VIII with 3.5 termination might work. Right around $80 for 10' is pretty close to a middle ground if the performance is there in that configuration. By which I mean long term performance and some subtle improvements. Not exactly planning on doing critical listening with this cable.

Thanks

 

[Burny]

Well, snap. Literally! This happened when I wanted to put mine on the other day - the headband literally snapped. Just by putting them on, normally. That's my second pair, btw.. On the first pair, the earcup's metal hinge broke. Service was excellent however and replaced them with the ones below. Which are now, 6 years later, long out of warranty of course and I had to replace the ear cushions already, since the original ones had started to desitegrate.

Thing is, I love the sound of these and would like to keep/repair them. Throwing them in the trash also seems like a horrible waste. Has anybody got experience with (NAD?) headphone repairs that are out of warranty? Of course I'm not expecting to be able to somehow get free exchange, but I'd like to know if there are repair options that are below the price of buying a new set? Alternatively, are there any realistic "upcycling" options?

 

[RenEh]

Well, snap. Literally! This happened when I wanted to put mine on the other day - the headband literally snapped. Just by putting them on, normally. That's my second pair, btw.. On the first pair, the earcup's metal hinge broke. Service was excellent however and replaced them with the ones below. Which are now, 6 years later, long out of warranty of course and I had to replace the ear cushions already, since the original ones had started to desitegrate.

Thing is, I love the sound of these and would like to keep/repair them. Throwing them in the trash also seems like a horrible waste. Has anybody got experience with (NAD?) headphone repairs that are out of warranty? Of course I'm not expecting to be able to somehow get free exchange, but I'd like to know if there are repair options that are below the price of buying a new set? Alternatively, are there any realistic "upcycling" options?

In Canada, these are sold new as cheap as $80 cdn, or about $55 USD. I’d hunt for a new pair instead and keep the old one for parts.

 

[Burny]

In Canada, these are sold new as cheap as $80 cdn, or about $55 USD. I’d hunt for a new pair instead and keep the old one for parts.

For that price, I'd double dip in an instant. But over here...

Seems there was an offer for 180€ recently - still high for rebuying - but the price spiked back to the original 250€. :-/

 

[JayGold]

For that price, I'd double dip in an instant. But over here...

Seems there was an offer for 180€ recently - still high for rebuying - but the price spiked back to the original 250€. :-/

Check if theres a headphone repair service or speaker repair service nearby? /maybe/ they can fix it?

 

[r3nd0]

Believe numerous people have successfully used balanced cables. My personal favorite being the guy who got a bit overly exuberant bending the frame outwards. Sure some laughed at his answer but to me he really drove home the Canadian heritage and styling by incorporating shooting hearing protection. (Seriously, click expand and look at the photos.)

So, ummm... I modded the headband using Howard Leight shooting ear muffs I got on sale from Amazon...

[ http://www.amazon.ca/Howard-Leight-...d=1428187136&sr=8-1&keywords=howard+leight+L3 ]

With the $20 bonus from Amazon Visa sign-up it came down to $6.71.

Some nylon nuts/washers/bolts from Home Depot for $4.45...

[ http://www.homedepot.ca/product/6-32x1-2-flat-slot-hd-nylon-mach-screw/956490 ]

... and Krazy Glue for $1.89.

All in all, +/- $14.

End product was a bit tight at first, but with a little straightening I got a comfy fit without losing seal. The dreaded creaking that came with the stock headband was of course gone -- Big plus!

If the stock headband was light, it is even lighter now. There is a small rectangular hole on the outside of the cups from where the stock headband was attached. I filled them up with a little Shoe Goo. I'll cover them up with stickers or sumthin' later.

Nylon fasteners at Home Depot only come in white. I don't mind, but I might rub it with black Sharpie if I find one.

Btw, you would notice there's no connection between the right and left earcups. I've been using a Y-cable.

I am a novice, this is my first mod ever. I'd like to think I did a pretty decent job. ^_^










(Actually, it is not a mod in my case. I broke the headband and the wire inside. So, it is more of a repair to me than a mod.

 

[fish1050]

In Canada, these are sold new as cheap as $80 cdn, or about $55 USD. I’d hunt for a new pair instead and keep the old one for parts.

I bought two pairs of white HP50's a few months ago at visions.ca for $98.00 CDN each. I wasn't sure how long NAD would be supporting them so I bought a second pair as a backup or parts, I believe NAD has officially discontinued them which is why they are selling so cheap. I think visions took all or at least most of the new NAD HP50 stock. You can still buy the red and white from visions for $108.00. I think NAD upgraded the quality of the parts because I flexed the headband alot when I bought them to improve the fit and they never snapped. Probably cheaper to buy these than to try and get a pair fixed out of warranty once you factor in shipping and labor.

On Amazon Canada they sell for RED $199, and Black $229 so visions.ca is definitely the place to buy them.

 

[SilverEars]

I recently got a set of these and unfortunately, it was Cadillac red color. Looks so 80's style. Like it it should be labeled by Porsche Design or something. lol

Anyway, I was mainly interested in the sound. I can't say I'm all that impressed. I suppose the tonality is fairly good, but it's a bit on the warm side. I can hear the slight 5k emphasis. 5k does indeed stick out (surprised I could point it out easily before looking at the measurement).

Other than that, compared to AKG K371, it doesn't sound too much energy in the upper-mids at 3k. In that respect, it can be used longer duration. Resolution however isn't all that impressive. Bass is a bit on the boxy side, not well defined. K371 had better bass. Off memory, I think even Sony WHXM3 has better resolution, but XM3 has a bit of a bloated bass.

Accessories were really lacking. It came with very short cables, perhaps it's intended for portable use? I wish it came with longer cable.

I don't get the thing about Paul Barton about room thing. It has a closed-back imaging, it doesn't really have big sound stage or anything.

Looking at the measurement again, I can see why it sounds warm. 200-300Hz are elevated.

 

[bcaulf17]

I recently got a set of these and unfortunately, it was Cadillac red color. Looks so 80's style. Like it it should be labeled by Porsche Design or something. lol

Anyway, I was mainly interested in the sound. I can't say I'm all that impressed. I suppose the tonality is fairly good, but it's a bit on the warm side. I can hear the slight 5k emphasis. 5k does indeed stick out (surprised I could point it out easily before looking at the measurement).

Other than that, compared to AKG K371, it doesn't sound too much energy in the upper-mids at 3k. In that respect, it can be used longer duration. Resolution however isn't all that impressive. Bass is a bit on the boxy side, not well defined. K371 had better bass. Off memory, I think even Sony WHXM3 has better resolution, but XM3 has a bit of a bloated bass.

I don't get the thing about Paul Barton about room thing. It has a closed-back imaging, it doesn't really have big sound stage or anything.

Looking at the measurement again, I can see why it sounds warm. 200-300Hz are elevated.

I tried these briefly at a store once and I thought they sounded nice but definitely warm and the treble sounded a bit muted. This was only based off a 10 minute demo. I’d probably buy them if the design were better. They are rather odd and cheap looking in my opinion.

 

[SilverEars]

I tried these briefly at a store once and I thought they sounded nice but definitely warm and the treble sounded a bit muted. This was only based off a 10 minute demo. I’d probably buy them if the design were better. They are rather odd and cheap looking in my opinion.

It does have a dark character to it. Not much sparkle, but easy listening for those like that sort of response. Not very dynamic either.

 

[dakanao]

It does have a dark character to it. Not much sparkle, but easy listening for those like that sort of response. Not very dynamic either.

I wasn't impressed either when I had them back in 2015. Granted I used Windows Media Player (which has a bit of a edgy sound in the upper-mids compared to foobar), they sounded like they had an edgy sound around 4-5khz, while the treble was very smooth.

After the HP50, I got a Philips Fidelio L2, and there was no edgy sound at the presence region, and everything suddenly sounded right.

 

[RenEh]

I don't know if anyone reads this thread anymore, but I performed yet another mod on my HP50's this evening. I had them balance modded with a periapt cable and replacement ebay pads before I started, but I when I performed my last mod I noted how small the gauge of the wire from the PCB of the headphone jack to the driver was.

This evening I replaced that wire twice. Once to Cat6e cable I had lying around, and once to cable from a broken apple laptop charger.

1) Cat6e is FREAKING HORRIBLE do not touch this stuff. Highs become ultra clear, but mids are completely sucked out. Note that cat6e cable is solid copper cable of a thicker gauge than what was originally in the headphone. Treble is a little painful.

2) Apple laptop charger cable is FREAKING AMAZING! It looks like regular stranded aluminum wire. If I had to guess diameter of the wires is 2.5x the original. Highs are dulled a little, though balanced mod with periapt cable really increased the highs presence and treble detail anyways, and the bass kicks HARD now. Mids are still similarly present, but with much more detail. It's fairly similar to my LCD2C in tone, but less dark and less creamy mids with much less bass extension.

At this point I'm convinced this headphone was originally meant to be balanced with nicer internal wiring, but they cheaped out near the end of the development as to not hurt HP70 sales. The driver is clearly capable of much better sound and is let down by the poor internal wiring, particularly the one in the headband, from the get go. The last mod I can think of is to completely circumvent the PCB inside the headphone and wire the cables that go to the driver directly to the legs of the headphone jack connector, but I didn't feel like scraping off the glue covering that part of the PCB this evening.

Note I did this mod one driver at a time so that I could A/B them, wife gave her input unaware of what I was changing or what I thought to check my sanity.

The best part of this mod is that I can finally use these headphones on all my mobile consoles, gameboy to switch and psp to vita, without maxing the volume. Somehow volume is much higher at lower settings. A huge win overall. I strongly recommend anyone with even beginner soldering skills attempt this simple mod, and the balanced mod.

 

[HipHopScribe]

At this point I'm convinced this headphone was originally meant to be balanced with nicer internal wiring, but they cheaped out near the end of the development as to not hurt HP70 sales. The driver is clearly capable of much better sound and is let down by the poor internal wiring, particularly the one in the headband, from the get go. The last mod I can think of is to completely circumvent the PCB inside the headphone and wire the cables that go to the driver directly to the legs of the headphone jack connector, but I didn't feel like scraping off the glue covering that part of the PCB this evening.

The HP70 came out like five years after the HP50, so I kinda doubt they gimped the HP50 to help HP70 sales. I guess it's not impossible they were originally gonna make these balanced, but I'm skeptical of that too, balanced portable headphones really weren't much of a thing when these originally came out, I don't think even the PonoPlayer was out at the time these were designed. Most likely explanation is simply that they were trying to keep parts costs down.