[nick n]

wow . just. wow..
 
Transformation in full effect. I can hardly believe what I am hearing.
 
Decided to do a fast one on the Echo TDS-16 black badge variant here. ( ТДС 16 "Эхо" H-16-40C Lvov ) 

 
I cut about a 50mm disc of Arctic Cotton and cut it along the radius slightly longer than center.
Stuck that underneath the center tab and butted up the cut ends ( fuzzier side to driver rear ). Removed the stock thin black rear driver dustguard fabric disc
 

 

 
That itself proved a lot better but too peaky.
So I took out that white foam I added a while ago to replace the decayed stock stuff.
[***It shoud be noted that in stock form this is all that holds the driver to the baffle! 4 small rectangular bits of Dynamat at cardinal points fixed that so the driver is held tight and flush the way it should be, when I first got it and went inside to have a look around***]
 
In place of the foam I added 0.3 grams of Twaron Angel Hair per cup in the rears leaving the stock rear cup black vent fabric to hide the colour and keep it from expanding out the rear slots.
This scale only hits up 1/10's of a gram so I added it to the scale until it was at the low end of 0.4 grams, then tiny bits were taken off unitl it dropped to the 0.3 measurement, so essentially this is on the cusp of a high 0.3 and just before 0.4 grams per cup
 
 
Closed 'er up and insanity began.  I am not using stock pads but these which are the same dimensions and inner opening.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2Prs-65mm-ear-pads-cushion-headphone-cover-replacement-earpad-for-headset-2-55-/251649198807?pt=US_Replacement_Parts_Tools&hash=item3a97760ad7
 
The organicness , it's like the music is alive and I am there. Full. No lack of detail, no shrill highs, everything is flowing together, like liquid. About as simple as I can describe it.
 
I'll hopefully do this mod for another head-fier in here so they may concur with these findings when they get it done with these exact same headphones. Or maybe not we shall see. I need to know if I am insane or not, beyond normal levels that is.
Bloody fantastic. Long term testing initiated.

 
 
Funny story:
A while ago I was out walking around with these at night and all of a sudden something swooped down at me from a building, It was an Owl. I guess it saw the silver(?) and thought they  were some sort of shiny mouse/food
I prefer to think it had good taste in headphones.

 

[MuZo2]

Thanks Nick for the mod, I will try it next weekend. What amp are you using for portable use?

 

[waynes world]

  I'll hopefully do this mod for another head-fier in here so they may concur with these findings when they get it done with these exact same headphones. Or maybe not we shall see. I need to know if I am insane or not, beyond normal levels that is.

 
My sanity (or lack of it) will be the judge of that!

 

 

[Hutnicks]

  wow . just. wow..
Funny story: A while ago I was out walking around with these at night and all of a sudden something swooped down at me from a building, It was an Owl. I guess it saw the silver(?) and thought they  were some sort of shiny mouse/food
I prefer to think it had good taste in headphones.

That or you were listening to a solitudes album and confused the poor bird.
 
So, how do these compare to the mighty HP-1 ?

 

[nick n]

The Owl could have heard the babbling brooks and rainbow trout swimming around, as well as the baby unicorns frolicking on the red and white toadstools, and the smoking 6 foot caterpillar. On the Player that is...because that is now what I use for test tracks. At least that's what i see and hear even when the player is turned off.That means it probably was going for some Smurfs. Something has to keep their population in check.
 
These are different than the HP-1, I will try an A/B and let you know. One thing with this is that the sensitivity dropped way down so they are harder to drive. For this reason I am going to try a disc of Arctic Bamboo instead since it is thinner.
 Another option just thinking about it is to try only an A.C. outer ring ( leave a small hole in the center )  rather than cover the entire driver rears. Since the drivers are side clamped.OOPS wait a minnnnnnute. If the wire contact tab enters near the center there it means that it has to go to the diaphragm trace feed at a stable point, that means the center is pinched, and the outer is also, so the area of biggest throw is halfway between inner and outer. Or 1/3 or whatever.
Hmmmm
 
Anyhow both of those trials should only take a matter of a few minutes to do, and should preserve most of the effects.I'll check back in.
 
MuZo2 if you find a smaller rate of Angel Hair works better let me know.

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

Thanks for the "how to," Nick.  I will have to give it a whirl. Are there any "hazards" opening them?
 
Coincidentally, this morning I was awakened by an owl perched in a backyard tree. It was too dark to see him but his call...Whooo? Whoooo? was very loud so he must have been big.
 
Quote:

  wow . just. wow..
 
Transformation in full effect. I can hardly believe what I am hearing.
 
Decided to do a fast one on the Echo TDS-16 black badge variant here. ( ТДС 16 "Эхо" H-16-40C Lvov ) 

 
I cut about a 50mm disc of Arctic Cotton and cut it along the radius slightly longer than center.
Stuck that underneath the center tab and butted up the cut ends ( fuzzier side to driver rear ). Removed the stock thin black rear driver dustguard fabric disc
 

 

 
That itself proved a lot better but too peaky.
So I took out that white foam I added a while ago to replace the decayed stock stuff.
[***It shoud be noted that in stock form this is all that holds the driver to the baffle! 4 small rectangular bits of Dynamat at cardinal points fixed that so the driver is held tight and flush the way it should be, when I first got it and went inside to have a look around***]
 
In place of the foam I added 0.3 grams of Twaron Angel Hair per cup in the rears leaving the stock rear cup black vent fabric to hide the colour and keep it from expanding out the rear slots.
This scale only hits up 1/10's of a gram so I added it to the scale until it was at the low end of 0.4 grams, then tiny bits were taken off unitl it dropped to the 0.3 measurement, so essentially this is on the cusp of a high 0.3 and just before 0.4 grams per cup
 
 
Closed 'er up and insanity began.  I am not using stock pads but these which are the same dimensions and inner opening.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2Prs-65mm-ear-pads-cushion-headphone-cover-replacement-earpad-for-headset-2-55-/251649198807?pt=US_Replacement_Parts_Tools&hash=item3a97760ad7
 
The organicness , it's like the music is alive and I am there. Full. No lack of detail, no shrill highs, everything is flowing together, like liquid. About as simple as I can describe it.
 
I'll hopefully do this mod for another head-fier in here so they may concur with these findings when they get it done with these exact same headphones. Or maybe not we shall see. I need to know if I am insane or not, beyond normal levels that is.
Bloody fantastic. Long term testing initiated.

 
 
Funny story:
A while ago I was out walking around with these at night and all of a sudden something swooped down at me from a building, It was an Owl. I guess it saw the silver(?) and thought they  were some sort of shiny mouse/food
I prefer to think it had good taste in headphones.

 

[nick n]

 

No hazards except they fall apart when you get the 4 screws out.
Just hold everything together while removing screws, since the driver will not be secure in yours if in stock form.
Tucking the half split Arctic Bamboo disc ( or disk??) back under the wires and contact pins will be the only "hard" stuff.
 
Easiest way to reassemble is to lay the worked-on cup baffle down on the table ( with the rest of the headphones dangling underneath ), lay in the two arm swivels, then place the rear cap on. This way all the work to hold them together while reassembling is done by the weight of the rest of the headphones dangling. Might have to poke in the odd stray AH.
 
I opted to use Arctic Bamboo discs instead and it bumped sensitivity back up and improved sound. A bit of final tweaking on AngelHair rates on each side is in order since this set has a tiny driver imbalance from factory.
 
 
Yes the extreme high strangeness continues. "Coincidental" timing. Maybe I sent the Owl
 
BMF : "Coincidentally, this morning I was awakened by an owl perched in a backyard tree. It was too dark to see him but his call...Whooo? Whoooo? was very loud so he must have been big."
 
yes ..he was...
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

it's ok I have him under control, mostly, and he can't stay for very long, all to do with certain alignments you know.

 

[Hutnicks]

  The Owl could have heard the babbling brooks and rainbow trout swimming around, as well as the baby unicorns frolicking on the red and white toadstools, and the smoking 6 foot caterpillar. On the Player that is...because that is now what I use for test tracks. At least that's what i see and hear even when the player is turned off.That means it probably was going for some Smurfs. Something has to keep their population in check.
 
These are different than the HP-1, I will try an A/B and let you know. One thing with this is that the sensitivity dropped way down so they are harder to drive. For this reason I am going to try a disc of Arctic Bamboo instead since it is thinner.
 Another option just thinking about it is to try only an A.C. outer ring ( leave a small hole in the center )  rather than cover the entire driver rears. Since the drivers are side clamped.OOPS wait a minnnnnnute. If the wire contact tab enters near the center there it means that it has to go to the diaphragm trace feed at a stable point, that means the center is pinched, and the outer is also, so the area of biggest throw is halfway between inner and outer. Or 1/3 or whatever.
Hmmmm
 
Anyhow both of those trials should only take a matter of a few minutes to do, and should preserve most of the effects.I'll check back in.
 
MuZo2 if you find a smaller rate of Angel Hair works better let me know.

Centre is pinched, or that is one flexible connection. Anyone ever dissected a driver on those?
 
 
 

 

[nick n]

  Thanks Nick for the mod, I will try it next weekend. What amp are you using for portable use?

 
My main portable player has nice output already ( the IHIFI 812v2  = 240mw I think ) but when I need an amp for whatever reason ( like other portable players ) I use a PA2V2 I modified since the C+C BH amp died a while back.
I added 2 extra batteries =2 sets of 2 in parallel, then those 2 sets wired in series , basically giving me 2 x 4000mah cells. Should increase the already crazy battery life twofold(  stock charge is ~100-120 hours ).
 I also replaced the input caps with Sanyo Oscon Solid caps, and the output caps with Elna TONEREX.
Pic for fun in new housing which was a nightmare to fit.

 

[Hutnicks]

   
My main portable player has nice output already ( the IHIFI 812v2  = 240mw I think ) but when I need an amp for whatever reason ( like other portable players ) I use a PA2V2 I modified since the C+C BH amp died a while back.
I added 2 extra batteries =2 sets of 2 in parallel, then those 2 sets wired in series , basically giving me 2 x 4000mah cells. Should increase the already crazy battery life twofold(  stock charge is ~100-120 hours ).
 I also replaced the input caps with Sanyo Oscon Solid caps, and the output caps with Elna TONEREX.
Pic for fun in new housing which was a nightmare to fit.

Coulda used a motorcycle battery and just charged it up once a year

 

[stratocaster]

Yamaha HP-1 drivers in B/W Ebony, open back, HM velour pads:
 

 
Stock HP-1 measurement:

 
Modded as seen in pic above:
 

 

 

[stratocaster]

Fostex T20RPv2 drivers in Ebony, closed, HM5 pleather pads.
 

 

 

 

[goober-george]

  Yamaha HP-1 drivers in B/W Ebony, open back, HM velour pads:
 

 
 
 
That looks amazing how do they sound?

 

[leeperry]

^ Please say that they sound very dark with poor resolution, ebay prices have lowered quite a bit and we like it like that

 

[Hutnicks]

^ Please say that they sound very dark with poor resolution, ebay prices have lowered quite a bit and we like it like that

Not low enough. However if you do not have  a pair of HP-1's you are doing yourself a great disservice by not getting a pair.
 
They aint gonna be round fo evah