[Traveller]

... Beyer doesent tune anything really. Its all in the cup, pads and dampening ... I pryed the rubber thing off the cup and now it sounds great. Still a little warm because im not about to take the rubber ring off the driver...

Very interesting, T4S!

 
A real shame that this rubber tab removal sounds like a one-way trip - was it glued on? I'm assuming it cannot be put back in place otherwise you would have mentioned it. As good as the photo you attached may be, it's not clear how that rubber insert in the center of the driver is fastened... any guesses?
 
I would be willing to attempt it if there was a way back but otherwise a risky proposition for anyone owning these €1K headphones and not having heard the original version...

 

[Dynaudio lvr]

Let me be clear. The rubber ring on the driver makes contact with the rubber tab on the inside of the cup.

They are seperate and when you remove the driver assembly from the cup they no longer make contact.
Ive done nothing to the driver at all. I left the rubber ring and wouldnt dream of messing with it.

Its the rubber tab on the inside of the headphone cup that I removed.

I would have put a picture of that but mine is gone now.

Yes, there is no going back once doing this. You have to really hate the muddy mids and miss piano and all the beautiful sounds that are drowned out by the over dampening beyer applies.

In the youtube video, you can see that the T5P 1st gen cup has no tab. Its a smooth bowl.
In my opinion, adding the rubber ring to the driver was enough on its own to take away the treble spikes and add some bass. Having the driver make contact with the added rubber tab creates a dark strong bass sound.
For those that like a 'fun' sounding less clear sounding headphone you may want to just leave it as it is.

 

[Traveller]

...They are seperate and when you remove the driver assembly from the cup they no longer make contact.
Ive done nothing to the driver at all. I left the rubber ring and wouldnt dream of messing with it. Its the rubber tab on the inside of the headphone cup that I removed. Yes, there is no going back once doing this. You have to really hate the muddy mids and miss piano and all the beautiful sounds that are drowned out by the over dampening beyer applies ... In my opinion, adding the rubber ring to the driver was enough on its own to take away the treble spikes and add some bass...

You were very clear the first time around; I just wanted to know how the rubber "ring" was installed and if the rubber "tab" was glued on (and I am still looking forward to that info if possible please - best guesses also accepted).

 

[Dynaudio lvr]

The rubber tab is actually plastic with a rubber top. Its only as wide as the diameter of the rubber ring on the driver and about a 1/4 inch thick.

As far as the ring on the driver. I didnt even touch it. Too scared lol. The sound is great now so i doubt ill ever mess with it again.

 

[h8dk97]

The rubber tab is actually plastic with a rubber top. Its only as wide as the diameter of the rubber ring on the driver and about a 1/4 inch thick.

As far as the ring on the driver. I didnt even touch it. Too scared lol. The sound is great now so i doubt ill ever mess with it again.

 
Thanks for sharing your mod but I don't think I'm going to follow that path. I will attempt to sell them first as headphones are in great condition. I'm hoping without any modifications I can get enough to pay for the original T5p as they are much cheaper now.

 

[435279]

I managed to get mine from Amazon in the UK in the end. I just got lucky and happened to look at exactly the right moment and got them "Sold by Amazon" for £561. Amazon are using a random price generator on these at the moment. 

 
So the frustration free packaging is simply stick a label on the box not even seal it, not impressed with that at all. They work OK though and don't appear to have been tampered with.
 
Picture below was as they were delivered, address label is stuck to the other side.
 

 

[Traveller]

I managed to get mine from Amazon in the UK in the end. I just got lucky and happened to look at exactly the right moment and got them "Sold by Amazon" for £561. Amazon are using a random price generator on these at the moment.So the frustration free packaging is simply stick a label on the box not even seal it...

Congrats! That's an amazing price! The best I saw (and I was actively monitoring two Amazon sites) was £682 (€800) - which already a steal!!! I chickened out because I couldn't figure out why Amazon marked them "frustration Free" and assumed the worse (that they would arrive in a plain brown box provided by amazon).
 
Instead you have received it in the same open condition everyone else here did, so be happy - €400 off list price, ~ €220 off street price and in perfect condition in the OEM box. If you have the two booklets (std. guarantee and special 5-year guarantee) you got it all

Hell, for €800 I don't even need the damn booklets, lol. Even the "carrying" case is already packed away. I use a thick Beanie to cover the phones and drop them into my backpack / messenger bag

 

 
p.s. I paid €970 for mine but I got to try them out along with "a few other" phones

over an entire afternoon so it was well worth the premium. In the end, he even brought out two boxes and I chose one and had the time to check them out both physically and sonically. And I even got an espresso!!! 

That was a very special experience and I'm more than ok having paid street price...

 

 

[435279]

I'm more than happy with them and would be at £700, I just wasn't prepared or able to goto £849 which was Amazon's "normal" price for a while (back to £680 at the moment though).
 
I also have a shop like that specialising in headphones near me, the service is really excellent, the last time I went there I got to try out lots of different pairs around the same price/performance level. I try to avoid it though as I never leave there without buying another pair. 

 

[Traveller]

Let me be clear. The rubber ring on the driver makes contact with the rubber tab on the inside of the cup...

 
No sir, it does not... (details to follow)

And as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words (...and I have more than one, so stay tuned...

)
 

 

 

[Dynaudio lvr]

If it doesnt make contact with the driver, then what do you think it does? And why did the sound change drasticaly for the better having removed it?
Truthfully, i dont care if that rubber tab is a toadstool or an umbrella. If you get rid of it, the boomy dark bass is gone and it is left tight and clear with punch.

Beyer has never (that ive seen) made a cup with a silly thing like that before.

Truthfully, my posts were intended not really for you but all the people over the next few years who buy these and struggle to like them because the are so equisite. I may (or may not) be the first to mention it but over the next 5 years im sure more people will open their t5p and get rid of the tab.

 

[h8dk97]

If it doesnt make contact with the driver, then what do you think it does? And why did the sound change drasticaly for the better having removed it?
Truthfully, i dont care if that rubber tab is a toadstool or an umbrella. If you get rid of it, the boomy dark bass is gone and it is left tight and clear with punch.

Beyer has never (that ive seen) made a cup with a silly thing like that before.

Truthfully, my posts were intended not really for you but all the people over the next few years who buy these and struggle to like them because the are so equisite. I may (or may not) be the first to mention it but over the next 5 years im sure more people will open their t5p and get rid of the tab.

 
I couldn't resist and removed the little rubber tabs, I didn't through them away so I can always glue them back on.
 
I must say, it does change the sound for the better. I'm still not 100% sure if this is the sound I've been searching for but so far I think I like it. I'll have to give it few more days and many hours of listening to be certain. I would describe the change as removing tiny curtains between my ears and the drivers. Could this be placebo? Who knows but I dought it.

 

[Traveller]

@Dynaudio lvr - first off; thank you again for alerting us all to the changes Beyerdynamic made to the T5p and the results you obtained before and after your "mod"

Unfortunately, you opened a can of worms because I agree that the T5p.2 is not quite 100% perfect and I had to see for myself what this "tab" looked like, etc. 

There are many videos on the net showing the disassembly of the T5p.1 and for good reason!  They all wanted to swap out the stock cable (one guy even managed a DIY cable-jack!). But there are no videos of the T5p.2 because frankly, one one saw a reason to go in... that is, until you did,ha! Alas, without "documenting" your inaugural journey

 
YES. Beyerdynamic "coupled" the driver with cup. Unfortunately I am no structural engineer so it's not clear to me why they did it; maybe to avoid resonances in the cup or maybe to dampen the driver. I do not know and I accept your sonic findings

 
NO. The tab is not in contact with the rubber(?) "plug" in the center of the driver, rather with the driver directly. I would never have made that assumption, although it should have been clear to both of us, given that the tab is dead-center of the cup but the Tesla driver is offset. I just got (un)lucky that the the rubber portion got stuck to the driver when I opened the (first) can...
 

 
And here's the other end of that mess...

 
 
So moving along... my sole purpose is to see with my own eyes what this tab-business is all about. I would like to think that Beyerdynamic was honestly trying to solve some issue(s) with their first iteration. There is a good chance that there will be a T5p.3 that will resolve the issue(s) with T5p.2...

 
I currently have no intention of removing the plastic tabs* at this time; I also have no issues with anyone removing theirs and I will happily accept any positive results that come back this way! I did however decide to take Dynaudio Lvr's brilliant findings and put some images to it

 
*As for the tabs' rubber pads, now that's an easy removal / reinsertion project. My guess is that the rubber pads are roughly 0.5 mm thick and although it's clear that they are compressed when the assembly is closed, I bet removing them will leave a gap, as slight as said gap might be. No resonance will ever be strong enough to move the cup towards the driver enough to make contact. Long story short, removing only the pads may be enough to realize Dynaudio Lvr's results! So.... any volunteers?

 
-------------------------------------------------------
 
1. I'm OCD big-time. BIG. TIME. The Beyerdynamic products are not only sonically impressive but they look the part and I wouldn't want to risk ANY damage to my €980 pair of T5p.2s! Thus, let me be clear, I made sure I had the right tools at hand, that I had the time and I was relaxed and in a good mood (lol) before attempting any kind of disassembly

Speaking of disassembly, removal of the can from the frame before any further action is highly recommended, if not required. Be safe, not sorry!
 

 
there should be some cloth between your tools and your T5ps... if a screwdriver can slip, it will!!!

 
Those fork ends are shaaaarp. Don't let them scrape up against the other phone, etc.

 
 
 
2. Disassembly:  It's important to understand that all videos on the Net are for the 1st gen and that even the retainer ring is different (better!)

 
It's actually safer to remove the T5p.2's retainer-ring imo; you should find a thin, flat, stiff and blunt-edge "tool" to insert between
the headphone cup and the retainer-ring... . I found the perfect tool on my SAK (Swiss Army Knife).
Alternatively (and perhaps the OEM way), a blunt tool can be inserted in the retaining-ring's "slots" to depress each of the retaining-ring's inner-tabs.
What you should probably avoid is using some thin & sharp screw driver edge which will, best case, leave a scar...

 
The T5p.2's retain-ring is one piece spanning from the edge of the cup and over the edge of the driver assembly...

 
Just like in the T5p.1 videos, the retainer's tabs will "pop" out of the cup (the tabs coinciding with the slots in the retainer-ring).
Once you remove the retainer-ring, you should firmly "cup" the top of the headphone cup with the palm of your hand and slowly flip the cup over;
A very soft tap to the [concave] cup will dislodge the driver assembly into you hand. Let's not forget that there are cables involved,
so slowly lift the cup out of the way.
 
Et voila.

 
From the above image we clearly see the "tab" centered on the cup and the ring-insert in the center of the driver's "back plate".
The tab is made of plastic and a rubber "pad" is glued to it...

 
So I'm either unlucky, or the assembly is very sensitive but in both cases, the rubber pad is either slightly off-centered (as seen above)...
...or stuck to the back-plate...

 
 
(screw is only for scale / visual reference)

 
 
Then we have the center-insert. I actually never touched it and in all honesty, it looks like it's 100% plastic...
...at best a very hard rubber.

 

 
 
 
 
3. Assembly...
The good news is that there is one "key" for the driver assembly, the cup and the retainer-ring, all seen here...

 
The bad news is that you have to be very careful when returning the driver assembly to the cup, keeping an eye on the cables and hoping that
they don't get in the way of the now infamous tab contacting the back-plate... .
 
I recommend driver-assembly facing down in the (flat) palm of your hand as the cup is slowly lowered down with keys aligned... .
Once you are fairly certain the cup is (almost) all the way down, slowly turn it all right-side-up. It may be that it's not 100% in place due to
some minor tolerances, so just lightly move the cup until the driver-assembly completely seats itself.
 
Before placing the retainer ring, visually inspect that the assembly is indeed seated all the way around.
Again with keys aligned, The retainer ring  can now be snapped back in place. Visually inspect the gap between the cup and ring, insuring it
is even all the way around.
 
Finally / more good news; the T5p.2's retainer ring has a v-slot designed to make child's play of getting the pad back on

 

 
Thread the pad's lip into the v-slot and now "feed" the pad through said slot...

 
...until it is completely inserted...

 
 
 
4. So... that about wraps it up. A few more pics for my "records" (and your viewing pleasure).
 

 
Here's the other side of that pesky bass-port...

 
3.5mm jack assembly

 
Do not cut, do not touch, do not look at directly...

 
Danger, Will Robinson!

 

[Dynaudio lvr]

Dang! Now thats taking it to the next step!

I agree, likely removing the rubber portion would be enough to achieve the intended results. And gluing it back on is also likely easy to do. So no permanent damage has to be done to the headphones at all.

Rather than edit my posts to correct my assumptions Ill leave it as is. It was, after all, part if this learning experience.

Good stuff sir!

P.s. Did you try the headphones without the rubber tabs and experience any sonic differences to your ears? For someone so adept at taking them apart wouldnt you just have a listen to see what would change?

 

[Dynaudio lvr]

I couldn't resist and removed the little rubber tabs, I didn't through them away so I can always glue them back on.

I must say, it does change the sound for the better. I'm still not 100% sure if this is the sound I've been searching for but so far I think I like it. I'll have to give it few more days and many hours of listening to be certain. I would describe the change as removing tiny curtains between my ears and the drivers. Could this be placebo? Who knows but I dought it.

I agree. The sound isnt exactly what im looking for. But audeze and fostex and other closed headphones may not bring me closer either. I dont know. When i compare them to my T70's the T70's sound so clear and detailed. Ultimately though, I bought the T5P for the added bass. I just didnt know how much it would add.

I wish I had the T5P original and I would just amp it the way I like for a bit more bass. But then Id have to mod the cord because apparently those dont last long.

My T70's are modded with a driver enclosure from the T1. So they have the great soundstage. Still aneimic on bass though.

A couple of years ago I blew the driver on my T1 by getting a screw attached to the magnet and I didnt notice So I made the best of the situation and used the modded T70 ever since and it was bright and lovely.

 

[h8dk97]

I agree. The sound isnt exactly what im looking for. But audeze and fostex and other closed headphones may not bring me closer either. I dont know. When i compare them to my T70's the T70's sound so clear and detailed. Ultimately though, I bought the T5P for the added bass. I just didnt know how much it would add.

I wish I had the T5P original and I would just amp it the way I like for a bit more bass. But then Id have to mod the cord because apparently those dont last long.

My T70's are modded with a driver enclosure from the T1. So they have the great soundstage. Still aneimic on bass though.

A couple of years ago I blew the driver on my T1 by getting a screw attached to the magnet and I didnt notice

So I made the best of the situation and used the modded T70 ever since and it was bright and lovely.

 
So far the closest to my perfection is the original T5p, but you're right about the cables. I had a co-worker who had T5p, the cable broke soon after he bought them and he replaced it himself with good quality copper cable. I was under the impression that bass improved in comparison to stock cable but can't be sure because I was relying on my memory.