Jeff Guidry
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2002
- Posts
- 2,614
- Likes
- 13
I searched on the forum to find if anyone else had attempted this mod, but finding nothing, I will describe a mod I did to my V6's that substantially reduced the boomy bass and screechy highs that make this headphone fatiguing for some.
This afternoon while I was listening to my V6's, took them off for a moment and looked them over. On the front portion of the earcups (facing directly forward as you are wearing them) , I noticed two small holes, one on each earcup. I speculated that these holes were vents for the enclosure, designed to loosen up the bass and make them more efficient. According to what I know as the definition of a bass reflex speaker design, I don't think this is a bass reflex headphone. Please correct me.
Anyway, I further speculated that by plugging up these holes I could reduce the often overly present bass of these headphones. I took a pair of orange ear plugs I had laying around and stuffed a bit of the foam into each of the holes with the pointed end of a pair of scissors. The holes are very small.
I put on Tool's AEnima CD to hear if their was any difference. The difference was big, and was not subtle. The bass was significantly tamed, coming more on order with the bass of a Grado but with a touch more impact. The headphones analytical quality was now absolutely front and center, with very present upper midrange, and crisp highs. The peakiness of the treble was slightly reduced, however, listening to Natalie Merchant's Ophelia, I still heard some sibilance in her 'esses'.
To test if I was just imagining the difference, while listening to a cresendo in the Tool CD, I quickly pulled out the bits of foam from the headphone while I was listening to it. The difference was quite pronounced, all the warmth and round bloat common of the V6 bass returned.
For the Tool record, the upper midrange became pronounced, and though it was enjoyable to hear some details come more forward, the significantly reduced bass cause the music to have less heft and tactile pleasure. It frankly needed a bit more mid bass grunt to make the experience more enjoyable.
Classical and Jazz lovers, using a bit of foam to tame the bass of these headphones may well give you a much more satisfying listening experience. As I said above, the mod takes none of the analytical nature of the headphone away, and IMO with taking away the big obscuring bottom end, helps the V6's reveal even more detail, but with the attendant reduction in upper treble, makes the listening experience less fatiguing.
I only had about an hour to play around with the headphones and only used pieces of the rather dense foam from a set of earplugs to tune these. I would really love to hear other people's experiences with trying different materials. I think that using pieces of lighter foam will allow one to tune the headphones to have plenty of weight and slam, but to be a bit more neutral and enjoyable with more types of music.
Please try this mod and report your findings.
This afternoon while I was listening to my V6's, took them off for a moment and looked them over. On the front portion of the earcups (facing directly forward as you are wearing them) , I noticed two small holes, one on each earcup. I speculated that these holes were vents for the enclosure, designed to loosen up the bass and make them more efficient. According to what I know as the definition of a bass reflex speaker design, I don't think this is a bass reflex headphone. Please correct me.
Anyway, I further speculated that by plugging up these holes I could reduce the often overly present bass of these headphones. I took a pair of orange ear plugs I had laying around and stuffed a bit of the foam into each of the holes with the pointed end of a pair of scissors. The holes are very small.
I put on Tool's AEnima CD to hear if their was any difference. The difference was big, and was not subtle. The bass was significantly tamed, coming more on order with the bass of a Grado but with a touch more impact. The headphones analytical quality was now absolutely front and center, with very present upper midrange, and crisp highs. The peakiness of the treble was slightly reduced, however, listening to Natalie Merchant's Ophelia, I still heard some sibilance in her 'esses'.
To test if I was just imagining the difference, while listening to a cresendo in the Tool CD, I quickly pulled out the bits of foam from the headphone while I was listening to it. The difference was quite pronounced, all the warmth and round bloat common of the V6 bass returned.
For the Tool record, the upper midrange became pronounced, and though it was enjoyable to hear some details come more forward, the significantly reduced bass cause the music to have less heft and tactile pleasure. It frankly needed a bit more mid bass grunt to make the experience more enjoyable.
Classical and Jazz lovers, using a bit of foam to tame the bass of these headphones may well give you a much more satisfying listening experience. As I said above, the mod takes none of the analytical nature of the headphone away, and IMO with taking away the big obscuring bottom end, helps the V6's reveal even more detail, but with the attendant reduction in upper treble, makes the listening experience less fatiguing.
I only had about an hour to play around with the headphones and only used pieces of the rather dense foam from a set of earplugs to tune these. I would really love to hear other people's experiences with trying different materials. I think that using pieces of lighter foam will allow one to tune the headphones to have plenty of weight and slam, but to be a bit more neutral and enjoyable with more types of music.
Please try this mod and report your findings.
