Orthodynamic Roundup

[GREQ]

Quote:

 
The technical leap required to produce measurements might on the surface be one explanation, but I might offer that deeper down, the collective aim (or goal) of this thread isn't to increase our knowledge in a concrete way but to serve as a public diary.

This pretty much nails it - although everyone shares this public diary with slightly different purposes and intentions.
Most of us are after all only tinkering with old toys for the heck of it. If the intention was to truly increase knowledge and the goal was 'perfection' (whatever that means) we wouldn't be here in the first place. 

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

I built a very basic measurement kit described in one of the links in my signature. I sent out 14 of these kits to various head-fi friends for cost of materials and, in several cases, for free. This kit is not perfect and results cannot be directly compared to any other measurement gear, system, or graphs generated by anyone else.

 

I've tried a styrofoam dummy head with poor results due to incomplete seal and variability of headphone placement in relation to the mic placement and angle. I built a wooden dummy head similar to 'solderdude's' setup shown at:  http://diyah.boards.net/   that worked better than the styrofoam dummy head.

 

The most reliable dummy head, IMO, is my own head! I am able to get a good seal and replicate the placement of the mic in my ear and the headphones on my head by "how they feel." 

 

By making measurements of a "known" headphone, modification measurement results of each tweak can be compared to a "standard" for "within groups" comparisons. 

 

A measurement kit is indispensable to me for "dialing in" a mod...using a combination of subjective and objective information.

 

[dBel84]

If you delve back to the origin of this thread, it is pretty clear that it is more of a public repository for all knowledge relating to an extinct breed. If not for this thread, I can assure you that we would not have Audeze, HifIMan, Abyss nor the fervor around the T50rp. I think to thread has morphed over the past ~ 2 years into something else and is now more a diary as you say - a diary of people's experiments and impressions of various mods. For a while it seemed to be falling into the netherworld of the t50rp mods but I think more recently, through the very efforts we are now discussing, it seems to be taking a glacial turn towards more objective cataloging of information. There is very little new discovery ( as in discovering more lost ortho souls ) although kabeer still seems to sneak them out of the crevices from time to time. 
 
Wualta is on sabatical and much of the "old" ortho knowledge is sitting with people who no longer frequent the forums. For this reason I applaud the efforts to create meaningful data which might be further used to develop the technology. There are a few people who still envision an ortho for the masses - a cheap portable orthodynamic headphone with reliable quality and sound reproduction. The fact that a new manufacturer has just entered the electrostatic market and offering an affordable stat ( $500 - KingSound ) , hopefully implies that people are still looking at planar technology and trying to reduce manufacture costs to enable a cheap general purpose ortho. I know fostex still makes 3 models and all are less than $150, but they do not sound great off the shelf and unless you are willing / have the skills, it is not ideal for the masses. 
 
The future of this thread relies on improving knowledge , so forge the way
 
..dB

 

[JadeEast]

Well said dBell. Looking at the roots of the thread and you can see people colectively re-dicovering an almost forgotten technology. At a time when everyone was looking for the next big thing, some ninjas looked back, took some felt and tape to try their hand at tuning. I think this thread has been amazingly inclusive of different opinions and digressions. In general, this thread has had very little in the way of dogmatic battles. 

 

[nick n]

Tackling a Yamaha YHE-50A recabling to stereo here. So far not so good
 
I cracked the seal on the three larger opening tabs here, the clear glue seal ,  and also I think the two tiny ones on the top to either side of the strain relief.
  This is the sort of project that I end up getting stitches from if I don't stop now. You know trying to pry a thin seam with a knife under pressure then slip!!!!!! I think I'll stop carefully here.
Obviously the knife isn't working to pry things open.
 
Am I to assume the entire perimeter is sealed with that clear glue?
If so is there maybe a tried and true method to cracking that seal?
 
I was toying with the idea of a small padded bench vice carefully all around until I hear a crack sound then move a bit further along ? Without wrecking the housing.
 these are new so obviously  the less destruction the better.
 
Thanks for any advice. I know I saw one in here nicely disassembled. I'll have to search it up.

 
I was expecting glued area issues , but no idea why Yamaha bothered to glue these in the first place when the entire HP 3/50 line has nothing.  And the picture here, you don't realize how small these are until you see them in person.

 

[Hutnicks]

Quote:

Tackling a Yamaha YHE-50A recabling to stereo here. So far not so good
 
I cracked the seal on the three larger opening tabs here, the clear glue seal ,  and also I think the two tiny ones on the top to either side of the strain relief.
  This is the sort of project that I end up getting stitches from if I don't stop now. You know trying to pry a thin seam with a knife under pressure then slip!!!!!! I think I'll stop carefully here.
Obviously the knife isn't working to pry things open.
 
Am I to assume the entire perimeter is sealed with that clear glue?
If so is there maybe a tried and true method to cracking that seal?
 
I was toying with the idea of a small padded bench vice carefully all around until I hear a crack sound then move a bit further along ? Without wrecking the housing.
 these are new so obviously  the less destruction the better.
 
Thanks for any advice. I know I saw one in here nicely disassembled. I'll have to search it up.

 
I was expecting glued area issues , but no idea why Yamaha bothered to glue these in the first place when the entire HP 3/50 line has nothing.  And the picture here, you don't realize how small these are until you see them in person.

Any chance you can get some heat on that via a hair dryer or failing that a towel or cloth heated in the microwave pressed against the baffle for about a minute?

 

[nick n]

 hmm interesting idea.  I did find kabeer's entry on the Wikiphonia for YHD opening which is the same essentially.   Off to encounter frustration. here's hoping.

 

[Hutnicks]

Quote:

 hmm interesting idea.  I did find kabeer's entry on the Wikiphonia for YHD opening which is the same essentially.   Off to encounter frustration. here's hoping.

Either that or call Uri Geller

 

[nick n]

ha  or Russel Targ to remote view the insides and seal quality!

 

[dBel84]

Quote:

Tackling a Yamaha YHE-50A recabling to stereo here. So far not so good

 
Ludoo's search engine is down but you might be able to track the pictoral guide Kabeer posted in this thread - there are little clips that need to be released - he used a hot knife and cut through the plastic to be able to get at them - the guide is actually quite useful if you can find it. 
 
..dB

 

[Hutnicks]

Quote:

ha  or Russel Targ to remote view the insides and seal quality!

Ha, indeed. Perhaps we should have him look at the new Alpha Dogs too

 

[duanejqbx]

the sound quality doesn't change, just the efficiency and power handling

 

[khbaur330162]

Felt like sharing this.
 
Remember people said the Wharfedale ID1 pads turned "liquid"? Well the coating is essentially tar on my pair. That's just after I retook all the measurements for everything I needed to cut. You shoulda seen my hands after unstitching the pad/baffle mount piece from the stock pad. Yuk.
 

 
 
 
From left to right:
Lambskin (what I made tonight... and it was a long night... and I've still got a whole 'nother pad to make 

), Stock, Deer hide (I made this one with a sewing machine, the other deer hide pad on the left cup was hand stitched and is better fitted)
 

 
Only reason why I'm even considering saving the lambskin on the headband is because it was probably all rubbed into a poor Englishman's hair decades ago.
 
And a closeup.
 

 
Sounds different than the deer hide, you immediately notice the channels are off from one another. Noticeably warmer/stickier on your face, too. I feel like the pad design (not even close to vented, let alone sealed) might very well be holding the SQ of these back. But then again, maybe I'm just being a snob.
 
After I get the other pad made it'll be interesting to hear how these might have sounded in their glory days. A cool pair of cans, indeed.
 
Cheers, guys.

 

[padam]

Yamaha YH-1000 spotted

 

[GREQ]

Quote:

Yamaha YH-1000 spotted

padam - posting links like this is considered extremely bad internet etiquette, and is highly frowned upon in many forums.