[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

jup... I can't even tell what that dude was thinking while soldering...

 
Something like this?  http://youtu.be/qGlTeKcEUFg?t=25s

 

[vid]

The internal wiring to the drivers seems to be regular HP-50S stereo, so I guess it's just the plug.
 
For those keeping record, the # is 462714, and I don't think they sound bassy stock. For a rough reference, below is the raw graph (so the big spikes are normal) of the left HP-50S driver superimposed on the HOK 80-1 graph I posted a few days ago. Light pink is HP-50S, really pink is HOK 80.

I took out the white paper disc since it was a bit dirty, but no other moddings there. (It looks like the HP-50S has a hump at 2 kHz, but I think it's more that the HOK 80 has a dip, which looks flat because it's a raw, uncompensated graph.)

 

[kalbee]

Quote:

i was referring to khbaur's post and i somewhat agree.. or i am misunderstanding things *not feeling well today*
 

I think you just mentioned the wrong person in your post possibly.
No biggie, hope you feel better today.
 
@Armaegis: LOL. Did you tell the guy afterwards? :b
Some people would cry thief after such revelation, hope that person wasn't one, or that you didn't tell him.

 

[vid]

I had a look at the wiring to the HP-50S drivers and to the best of my thoughts, it seemed to be like this:
Black = ground
Red = right
Kinda transparent = left
 
Does that sound right?
 
Whoever soldered the mono plug onto this connected black to tip and the rest to sleeve, but that doesn't seem quite right. On the drivers, black connects to the center tab (as in this picture taken by someone else, perhaps DAC), which I presume might be ground?

 

[roBernd]

Quote:

I had a look at the wiring to the HP-50S drivers and to the best of my thoughts, it seemed to be like this:
Black = ground
Red = right
Kinda transparent = left
 
Does that sound right?
 
Whoever soldered the mono plug onto this connected black to tip and the rest to sleeve, but that doesn't seem quite right. On the drivers, black connects to the center tab (as in this picture taken by someone else, perhaps DAC), which I presume might be ground?

 
yup,
 
the one in the center of the driver, in your case black, is ground.
the cables going to the side of the driver is likewise right or left, depending on which side those picture is showing
if this picture is showing the right side, red is right, if it is showing the left side, red is left.

 

[roBernd]

So... my PC sniped me another HP-50a because I forgot to turn off the sniper, so I decided to try add some different pads on this one.
 
Had some spare K518DJ pads, which are quite bassy. It was a bit of work to fit the slightly bigger pads to the baffle -> tiny cardboard ring 

 
This is how they look atm...
 
 

 
after some testing I decided to cut out the inner protection cloth of the pads
 
 

 
comparison pic, the one on the left definitely was owned by a smoker...
 
 

 
Different thread color... okay?
 
 

 
and, I stumbled upon the possibility to reuse this part of the old mono-cord and I hate myself for not realizing this the first time I resoldered an HP-50a.
 
 

 
SQ... different, less mids, more punch -> especially bass drums pack quite a punch. Overall sounds more "consumer oriented" than my refurbished pair.

 

[vid]

Thanks, roB. They indeed seem to have been the right connections.
 

 
14 euros + the cost of soldering equipment.

 

[wualta]

Quote:

14 euros + the cost of soldering equipment.

Maybe the era of "90% of the sound for 10% of the price" isn't entirely finished after all.

 

[hyphae]

Saw this just listed on Ebay (Wine coloured HP-2's)
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261077328633?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

 

[vid]

Whether the price of these particular HP-50S was cheap for the sound is to be seen...
 
Now that they're stereo, I've measured the stock channel balance.
These are raw graphs again - interpret with dreadful care.

 

[khbaur330162]

Gotta hit the picture quota.
 


 
Slightly angled T50RP drivers in a Sennheiser HD535, Brainwavz HM5 pads, Arctic Bamboo felt damping, Angel Hair filling, vents sealed with thick pleather and modeling clay, drivers positioned with epoxy putty and cemented in with copious amounts of JB Weld.
 
Sounds like a T50RP. Nothing spectacular compared to a reg'lar modded T%), but somehow they're a more enjoyable listen for me after putting a few hours into them.

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

Quote:

Gotta hit the picture quota.
 
 

 
Slightly angled T50RP drivers in a Sennheiser HD535, Brainwavz HM5 pads, Arctic Bamboo felt damping, Angel Hair filling, vents sealed with thick pleather and modeling clay, drivers positioned with epoxy putty and cemented in with copious amounts of JB Weld.
 
Sounds like a T50RP. Nothing spectacular compared to a reg'lar modded T%), but somehow they're a more enjoyable listen for me after putting a few hours into them.

 
That looks very comfortable. Good work 

 

[vid]

I'm wondering how much the pads on my HP-50S are killing the bass extension; these are not a very bassy pair at all. Damping the left side bass hump took very little.
 
For now, for the left side, I've settled on three discs, each the size of the cup: one thin disc of polyester that I cut out of a pair of thermal pants; one disc of cotton fabric I cut out of a regular t-shirt; and one disc of loosely-knit real/fake wool fabric. I'll try to have pictures later when I've settled on the final scheme.
 
Raw response; light blue = stock, black = modded as described above.

Not sure why 2 kHz is going up.
 
There was also another damping scheme that doesn't quite take such a fast dip in the bass, but the downside is that it overdamps (black line; blue line is the black curve from the above graph).

The materials for this one were one polyester disc, two wool fabric discs and the stock white paper disc placed against the backside of the driver. Might try placing the paper disc behind one of the other discs to see if that would bring the treble down without killing bass extension.

 

[khbaur330162]

Quote:

That looks very comfortable. Good work 

Hey, thanks! They are very comfortable. I could see my ears sweating a bit in the heat, though.
 
I like how they can be taken apart without any tools, though. I decided to change the damping and this little intricacy came to mind. No stripped threads... ever! Such a breeze to work on. 

 

[vid]

The right side bass hump packed its bags and only took two discs of polyester and one disc or wool and/or acrylic fabric in payment.
 
The black line in this raw response graph is the right side after modding and the minty green one is the modded left side again. The channel balance is thus in reasonably good agreement.

Little bit of a bass hump still there, and it might be worth trying to reduce if one day nothing else in this world makes sense. The small notch at 80 Hz is from the wool/acrylic disc. Kinda sad about the early bass extinction... but I've not yet tried sealing the baffle or to make a serious attempt at damping vents.
 
The sound is ok, better than the HOK 80-1 anyway. Even though I hear a reasonably flat response via sine sweeps, there's a tiny bit of muddiness in music. The treble is a bit weak. Not a lot of bass, but it gives a good punch. Mids are fine. I'm not hearing the speed everyone is always talking about with these Yamahas. I'll probably try some felt damping as well, and damp the vents more; and using donuts instead of discs improved the transients on the HOK 80 at least, so that's worth a try. And some reflex discs and dots.