Orthodynamic Roundup

[matarua]

Well all it takes is for somebody to discover them, I bought a pair of Audiotronic AHP66 Flat Drive headphones cause they looked cool, but oh my the sound for retro cans is amazing. Most dynamic drivers fail due to the materials not holding up - Orthos however seem to be able to last.

 

[JadeEast]

These kids with their I'll just order a new ortho online and their avocado toast - ruined the resale market for vintage orthos. Back in my day...
Really, it's great if the Yammys are reasonable again. I should keep my eyes open for a second pair of HP1s. Might vacuum seal them and keep them for my later years. My hearing will be worse and the stock saggy treble won't be an issue at all.

 

[dBel84]

Picked this pair up for $75 in pristine condition . dB

 

[GREQ]

Can anyone explain to me how to open up a Wharfedale ID2?

 

[dBel84]

It is not intuitive!

The front grid has to come off ( carefully as they crack easily) the entire assembly is then pushed out from the back.. . This is based on memory, I would need to dig out the headphones and go through the process to be more specific

.. dB

Edit. See this post from kabeer

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/orthodynamic-roundup.111193/page-410

 

[GREQ]

Thanks! yes.,.. that isn't specific at all XD
There's no rush... but I certainly would appreciate a more detailed guide... I guessed it was something like that, but I didn't want to force anything as the plastic appears to be quite brittle.

 

[MDR30]

Some pics:

That plastic ring cracks easily.

This is a hard one to damp. Tried a few varieties but put it back in the cupboard where it's been for a couple of years.

The driver looks very well-made (see my avatar), may give it another try.

 

[JadeEast]

An obscure Orto banished to a box for being unruly... sounds familiar. Are the front and back of the driver both covered with the little grill?

 

[GREQ]

An obscure Orto banished to a box for being unruly... sounds familiar. Are the front and back of the driver both covered with the little grill?

Yes, they look just about identical on both sides.

My ID2 is in such a bad way, I think I'm just going to attempt a transplant and put away the shell in a box.

On a side note for differences, my ID2 damping pucks are white instead of black, and instead of a thin ring of open-cell foam as a compression spacer between the driver and baffle, it's a dense closed-cell black sponge.

 

[JadeEast]

Interesting, from the photo they look like they are twist on connections to make a little driver capsule. I'm guessing the grill and metal aren't a part of the magnet assembly. Maybe they are the world first phaser (phasor) whatever they call the acoustic dampening plate front and back. Have you listened to them without any dampening behind the driver ie. just let them flap around?

 

[myheadHz]

Whoa, can't beleive this thread is still going

In terms of opening a HOK, there is a very simple, pain free way which requires 3+ biro pen lids. Simply insert in each of the clips and apply a tiny little bit of force. The driver will just fall out without any worry of snapping it. I can get into a HOK in about 10 seconds, my problem is it takes me about 10 mintues to line up the clips and the disc when putting it back together .

I dread to think how many HOK's have been destroyed when attempting to open them

tbh though I haven't had much luck getting the HOK to be any better than stock.

Thanks! yes.,.. that isn't specific at all XD
There's no rush... but I certainly would appreciate a more detailed guide... I guessed it was something like that, but I didn't want to force anything as the plastic appears to be quite brittle.

Yes +1, I would like a detailed guide about this too. This seems to be a reoccuring problem with the single entry cable variants which (ime) always break after a while leaving you having to fiddle the cable to get it working, obviously a loose contection as the wire perhaps gets fatigued after a while, but I don't have the balls to open them without some knowledge about what to expect. I have heard they are very brittle.

Never had a problem with the dual entry cables though, still going strong.

I'm a fan of that driver, I think it's one of the best sounding, albeit a little dark, but the bass (when EQ'ed) is wonderful. I prefer the Wharfedale Isodynamics (original white badboi's) which have been on my head for the past 5 years, have a more natural stage, and are more comfortable (very forgiving). The ID2 I find have a similar sound, not as wide and are much more clinical... and feel fast, almost electret... but with BASS

Here is my contributuion of a new ortho, which I don't think has been mentioned yet. It look s like the standard Universum/Dynacoustic square headphone (so maybe SFI driver), but is actually sold by RANK (the same creators as the Wharfedales and ID2 varieties above?) I guess they gave up R&D after a while and resorted to rebranding OEM's?

 

[GREQ]

Here is my contributuion of a new ortho, which I don't think has been mentioned yet. It look s like the standard Universum/Dynacoustic square headphone (so maybe SFI driver), but is actually sold by RANK (the same creators as the Wharfedales and ID2 varieties above?) I guess they gave up R&D after a while and resorted to rebranding OEM's?

Nice, I think I havn't seen that one yet. These rectangular ones seem to have the highest number of OEMs.
Some of them had differing damping materials, so they're not all the same.

but I don't have the balls to open them without some knowledge about what to expect. I have heard they are very brittle.

Yes, the plastic is brittle, but easy enough to open with a bit of patience.
The baffle rings that hold the driver in place just come off with a bit of force, but best to gently work your way around the rings slowly and carefully.
Of course if you don't need to, and you're happy with them how they are, I wouldn't recommend it.
My ID2 is in such a sorry state I need to do at the very least a re-cabling, but I think I'll just transplant the drivers instead.
One of my driver rings started cracking, as it seemed to be glued on harder than the other, but with a bit of extra force elsewhere it finally came off in one piece.
I can post some more detailed photos if you need/want.

 

[myheadHz]

That would be much appreciated GREQ, thankyou. When I get a chance, will attempt to open up the Murphy's (RANK) and see whats inside.

 

[Feilong4]

I posted quite a while back how my T50 was buzzing so I cut out cardstock to stick it around the diaphragm to add some distance. For some reason, today I felt like seeing the difference in measurements so here's that:


MiniDSP EARS; default headphone compensation, no smoothing applied. These are with MrSpeaker Ether C Angled pads on which generally has a mild lower midrange to mid-bass hump and a dip at around 4 kHz with all the headphones I had them on.

Response looks a lot smoother. Bass extension has largely increased. I can't say I can hear the difference in bass though even it shows such a significant difference. Maybe I can in listening long term but I'm not sure if I will keep it like this because the cardstock spacers got rid of the buzzing.

 

[Miiksu]

Got my first orthos. I was excepting bad sound without bass or anemic treble. Actually smooth and balanced. Need new pads asap so can start to mod these.

Echo TDS-16 40 ohm.