[warrior05]

Congrats at probably being the first to recable those Yams to balanced! You are extreme to the end, my friend!

Glad it all came together for you. I really like your wooden cover at the Y split. Classy. I figured you would throw in some wooden touch somewhere.

K340s and Yamaha HP-1s from dual monoblock Darkvoices. Dare I say you are the only one on this Earth with that set-up.

Enjoy!

 

[Inkmo]

hehe. I almost had those, but they are definitely in a better place with you! Quite a mod!

 

[wualta]

Far freakin' out tastic! Wotta setup!

...Of course it was the felt..

Either way, glad you resurrected these dinophones and got 'em working the way they should've in 1977 or so. [reminisces for a moment] Man, that would've changed everything..

Anyway, enjoy, enjoy. Next: the ominous YH-100.

I'm trying chunks of BASF Basotect as damping pads even as we squeak. They're a little thick, but I think I can manage it.. ugh.. grunt..

 

[ericj]

I'm somewhat skeptical of the value of differential amps. differential signalling is for keeping the signal clean between active devices -- makes it dead easy to strip out common-mode noise.

I imagine the first 'balanced' headphones were created when some sound engineer didn't have a differential-to-single-ended adapter for his differential line stages but had plenty of XLR connectors handy.

Pushing differential signals at a passive device, basically all you've done is taken the push-pull amplifier topology to it's logical extreme, and hopefully allowed the amp to directly accept differential signals. The down-swing of the wave may be more pronounced, but not not significantly more pronounced than any good DC-coupled single-ended amp.

With isodynamic drivers being true dipoles, I wonder if they might possibly benefit a teeny tiny bit more from differential signalling than moving coil designs do.

If i sound condescending, i apologize. the term "balanced" is an anathema for me, and sounds like the sort of nonsense spouted by people selling herbal colonics, even though it refers to a technology that is broadly valid, if not exactly necessary for headphones.

 

[swt61]

I've been listening all day. These headphones are absolutely amazing. I'm astounded. gobsmacked even. In no way do these sound like $100.00 headphones. I've been spinning my best quality CD's, and am just amazed that Yamaha couldn't figure out that 13 cents worth of felt would take these from good to unbelievably good. Of coarse finding a powerfull dedicated headphone amp in 1977 wasn't an easy thing to do. Part of me wants to shut up, keep the secret, and buy up all the Yamaha HP-1's, YH-1's and YH-1000's I can find, then let the word out and sell modded Ortho's at a big profit, but the other part of me wants to shout out "buy these headphones people"!

Whether the balancing plays a role or not will be determined in a few months, but there's no doubt that the power I'm feeding them is just what they want.

Now to find a pair of my old buddies the YH-1000's.

Oh by the way... anyone who can find an easy way to cure the microphonic popping from the ball joints will be my new best friend. I tried silicone lubricant, but it had very little effect. I'm pretty stationary when listening to music, so it's not a huge problem, but it's the only negative thing that needs attention now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm trying chunks of BASF Basotect as damping pads even as we squeak. They're a little thick, but I think I can manage it.. ugh.. grunt..

Keep us posted.

 

[philodox]

Looks like I will be joining the weirdo club, if not exactly the orthodynamic club. I've just ordered an interesting pair of headphones that sure LOOKS like one of the orthodynamics that is popular in this thread. We'll just have to see how they sound.

So, a little off topic, but I've been having so much fun reading this thread and I didn't want to have to keep looking for it... I usually just scan for threads I have posted in when searching new posts.

EDIT: ericj - It is all about power and control. The common mode noise rejection that you are focusing on is just one small part of the benefits balanced drive will give you.

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swt61 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh by the way... anyone who can find an easy way to cure the microphonic popping from the ball joints will be my new best friend. I tried silicone lubricant, but it had very little effect. I'm pretty stationary when listening to music, so it's not a huge problem, but it's the only negative thing that needs attention now.

One of the brainstorms i had was to shove a greased o-ring between ball and socket. It'd probably have to be one of the soft white ones.

I'm not sure how to suggest getting it in there. I haven't tried it yet - dunno where to get a soft silicone o-ring. I know they exist, but, *shrug*.

Fostex got the ball socket Right. The sockets on my T40's don't make noise, and can be easily disassembled. There is no non-destructive way to disassemble the Yamaha ball socket.

MK1 T40's are my only Really Good isodynamics right now. That I know of for sure. I've got a package enroute to me that may contain a T50 in disguise, or maybe just a cruel and curious disappointment.

 

[Fitz]

Nice work Steve! How do the red cable boots look in person? They've always looked really bright red to me in pictures.

- - -

I'm sorry that you think so poorly of the mods that some of us have done, ericj, but I guess ya can't please everybody.

 

[wualta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox I've just ordered an interesting pair of headphones that sure LOOKS like one of the orthodynamics that is popular in this thread. We'll just have to see how they sound.

There were some Soviet copies of the Yamahas. It'd be great if you managed to find some of those.

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox It is all about power and control. The common mode noise rejection that you are focusing on is just one small part of the benefits balanced drive will give you.

Ah. Elaborate, please.

Quote:

Originally Posted by swt61 Oh by the way... anyone who can find an easy way to cure the microphonic popping from the ball joints will be my new best friend. I tried silicone lubricant, but it had very little effect. I'm pretty stationary when listening to music, so it's not a huge problem, but it's the only negative thing that needs attention now.

My experience has been that the extra thickness of the felt will push against the socket and quiet it, but if it isn't working for you, about the only thing I can suggest is a heavy grease, though I do like the O-ring idea. You could also try to slip some foam in there, but it won't be easy.

.

 

[swt61]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox /img/forum/go_quote.gif Looks like I will be joining the weirdo club, if not exactly the orthodynamic club. I've just ordered an interesting pair of headphones that sure LOOKS like one of the orthodynamics that is popular in this thread. We'll just have to see how they sound. So, a little off topic, but I've been having so much fun reading this thread and I didn't want to have to keep looking for it... I usually just scan for threads I have posted in when searching new posts. EDIT: ericj - It is all about power and control. The common mode noise rejection that you are focusing on is just one small part of the benefits balanced drive will give you.

I hate to be the one to break it to you big guy, but you've been a steadfast member of the "weirdo" club for quite some time now. I know because I sit right behind you at the meetings.

I'm very interested in finding out which headphones you've found. Let me know when you find out. There may be a little tweaking in your future.

 

[swt61]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fitz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice work Steve! How do the red cable boots look in person? They've always looked really bright red to me in pictures. - - - I'm sorry that you think so poorly of the mods that some of us have done, ericj, but I guess ya can't please everybody.

They're actually a little dull, just like the color of the Red heatshrink, so they're not objectionable at all. I saw them on the recable warrior05 did for Matt's K340's and thought they were cool. I agree that bright Red would be way too gaudy. At some point Fitz these are still going to get sent to you for a propper Fitz recable me thinks. I just like your work. You can choose to use the wood or not, I'll leave that up to you.

 

[philodox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta /img/forum/go_quote.gif There were some Soviet copies of the Yamahas. It'd be great if you managed to find some of those.

Nope.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ah. Elaborate, please.

Well, a balanced amp has twice the voltage swing and twice the current of an unbalanced variant. I haven't confirmed this yet, but acording to swt61/Fitz and using some sort of 'new math', this works out to be four times the power somehow.

That is one of the main differences, as many headphones... orthodynamics, K340's, etc... are *quite* hard to drive properly. With more power comes more control and more effortless presentation. I am reasonably sure that I am not just imagining these things.

I'm not sure how correct this is, but I always imagine the increase in control by the way the drivers are hooked up. With single ended, you send the signal to one side of the driver and ground the other side. With balanced, you send the signal to one side of the driver and the inverse of that signal to the other side of the driver. Seems to me that while one side is 'pushing' the other will be 'pulling', allowing for greater control/precision/accuracy.

Again, not sure how accurate that is... makes sense to me though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by swt61 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I hate to be the one to break it to you big guy, but you've been a steadfast member of the "weirdo" club for quite some time now. I know because I sit right behind you at the meetings.

LOL, I was waiting for someone to say that.

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox /img/forum/go_quote.gif It is all about power and control. The common mode noise rejection that you are focusing on is just one small part of the benefits balanced drive will give you.

Well, I guess i shouldn't go off topic like this, but i have some doubts about what gains a differential drive would have over a dual-mono configuration with single-ended input, just by way of conjecture.

 

[warrior05]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fitz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice work Steve! How do the red cable boots look in person? They've always looked really bright red to me in pictures.

I've used them a few times and they aren't that bright. In other words they really look red rather than pinkish which how a length of red heatshrink I have looks.

 

[Fitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swt61 /img/forum/go_quote.gif They're actually a little dull, just like the color of the Red heatshrink, so they're not objectionable at all. I saw them on the recable warrior05 did for Matt's K340's and thought they were cool. I agree that bright Red would be way too gaudy. At some point Fitz these are still going to get sent to you for a propper Fitz recable me thinks. I just like your work. You can choose to use the wood or not, I'll leave that up to you.

Hmm.. I'll have to order a few to see how they look myself. I just don't like that much red visible, so I may stick with my idea to have some done up custom in a much darker red.