[GREQ]

Cheeky little YHD-1 mod.



• Reusable silicone baking sheet to make these semi-open back and compress the damping material in the right places (outer holes).
- closing the backs entirely ruins soundstage and midrange timbre.
• Arctic Bamboo filler (white) replacing the old stock crumbling/decomposing open-cell foam (subject to change in future).
• Cheapo pleather pads (probably from a Chinese $5 headset) but I'm sure there's plenty of these around teh interwebz.

I don't think this is my 'final version' or some type of magic sauce, but it works.
It's also the first time I was able to use my new silicone material idea to good effect.

Bass is currently as good as I'd ever expect to get out of these.
Could use a bit more treble... sounds a touch veiled.
Closing the backs completely (no holes in silicone) put treble EXACTLY where I would like it, but it's not worth sacrificing literally EVERY other aspect of the sound for it.
As it is now, it's a very smooth warm sound.

I can't do much about the pads. There might even be benefit from thinner pads, as the treble does brighten up a little when it's even closer to the ears.
So that may be my next avenue of exploration, but we're talking extremely incremental differences here.

 

[nick n]

did you hold the white material up to the light?
Are there small clearer spots?

Anyhow will provide a possible solution with some %90 Bamboo material soon enough. Your highs may be good then.

 

[GREQ]

I didn't check. I'm sure it's the bamboo, not the cotton, but no idea what grade it is.

 

[WallofHooligans]

I was discussing some of the principles of earbuds with "pipes" for increased bass. It's a seemingly very simple method of getting rid of the bass reflections in a very small enclosure. If you want a very good example, look at the last couple of generations of apple earbuds- the ones that come with any i-device. Notice the two slits at the base of the enclosure, where the cable comes out? Try plugging those with your fingers while you are listening. The low end falls off in a huge way.
The reason I bring this up is because I wonder if this technique can be used on macro drivers as well? It would surely look strange having a tube sticking out of your headphones, but I wonder what it could do for a dipole driver like we find in orthos.
I'm thinking maybe there's a way to do something like this in a very simple way with the t20. I'm going to attempt to use the normal amount of dampening foam behind the driver, but also attempt to fashion small pipes that allow air out toward the two vents directly. I'll probably cut two holes in the foam, and thread a simple tube from the driver towards the useless back vents, sealing both sides with blue tack.

 

[GREQ]

You could have a look at photos of the JVC HA-MX100Z and JVC HA-SZ2000 for inspiration on full-size tubing and piping etc.

 

[nick n]

The newer Kenwood 900's also used a bass porting thing, with 4 different lengths of bass vents to tune the entire low end .

 

[WallofHooligans]

Wow, that's great guys, thanks for the posts. I'm glad that I'm not the only person foolish enough to consider such a thing. And nice to see that it was used on one of the so called "bass cannons" of modern times.

 

[nick n]

MuZo2, unless I am mistaken you mentioned you closed off the rear of the Duals?
I remember placing my hands against the outer mesh and it did greatly improve things, I may have even taped them off from the outside.
I will likely check their functioning again and then proceed to do that.

I wanted to ask if you left a small bass port still?

And for the front of the driver, those extra holes around the driver on the baffle, did you also close those off too?
Thanks, whenever you read this or if you feel like replying.

 

[Feilong4]

Finally got the time to sit down, really listen, and write this up.

Got another YH-1 about a week or two ago. I modded them based off of @rhythmdevil's mod with the hole drilling. I may be able to add more holes with smaller drill bit sizes but I don't have any smaller ones at the moment.

I added the damping materials used in my M50S which is somewhat stiff and thick. I would assume that this would make them bright, but actually no. The bass seems to be cleaned up a bit while possibly elevating the sub-bass and bass by a few dbs. I blocked the side vents with blu-tack and added one layer of the stock damping used for the vents over the blu-tack - I find this help the lower this artificial sounding shimmer in the treble when used with just the blu-tack and M50S damping. I learned this from forgetting to put them on for one earcup. I think there's a bit more treble around 8-10 kHz say by a couple of db.

I also have a stock YH-1 at the moment to compare.

I admit, the different is not night and day but it's noticeable.

Main differences:

- A few db more sub-bass and bass while yielding a cleaner response; I found the stock YH-1 to sound a bit mushy and sloppier sounding in comparison.
- Less "reverb" from the earcup, a bit more open sounding
- A couple of db more treble around 8-10 kHz (?)

Overall, it's noticeably a cleaner and clearer response. I quite like it - the response seems similar to my modded T50 with the YH-1 having more midrange.

 

[GREQ]

RIP YH-1
... I die a little every time I see a destructive mod. *wipes away manly tear*

 

[WallofHooligans]

I'm okay with a destructive mod, but for god sakes it's gotta be symmetrical. I always want to make my changes seem like they could have been done by the original manufacturer, unless it's not visible.

 

[GREQ]

A little work with a rounded needle file wouldn't hurt either... then you'll have 'fazor' cups.

 

[Feilong4]

I'm okay with a destructive mod, but for god sakes it's gotta be symmetrical. I always want to make my changes seem like they could have been done by the original manufacturer, unless it's not visible.

Believe me, I wanted to make it symmetrical. The threads for the screws aren't symmetrical in the first place which makes it even harder to do so. It's an awkward star shape, so I tried my best to make some sort of pattern.

A little work with a rounded needle file wouldn't hurt either... then you'll have 'fazor' cups.

Got lazy haha. I'll get to that someday.

 

[MuZo2]

MuZo2, unless I am mistaken you mentioned you closed off the rear of the Duals?
I remember placing my hands against the outer mesh and it did greatly improve things, I may have even taped them off from the outside.
I will likely check their functioning again and then proceed to do that.

I wanted to ask if you left a small bass port still?

And for the front of the driver, those extra holes around the driver on the baffle, did you also close those off too?
Thanks, whenever you read this or if you feel like replying.

Hi Nick,
I just used a felt on the back grill, and some damping at the back. So something similar to what GREQ did for his YH-1 but instead of silicone I had used a felt on grill.

 

[ruhenheiM]

finally