[khbaur330162]

Just ordered a Yamaha HP-2 on a whim (also a Denon HP-2 out of pure curiosity). Looking forward to hearing them, should be fifty bucks well spent.

Let us know how it goes. CAD MH320 is 45mm, HP-2 is 46mm. If you have a dremel with a little cutoff wheel you can shave the front of the driver retention "lip" and then the driver lays flat on the baffle. It's an easy driver install, imho, but my HP-50A sounded too dark with stock pads, I swapped for velour, much better sound.



Got some more sheepskin flat pads, so finally swapped out the angled pads on U70's.

YHD sounds a little weird due to 300Hz-1kHz information, but after you get used to it I think it's clearer and just better than U70. Bass is nice on both, hard to choose, but maybe I pick YHD actually. Can't wait for the hybrid pads, hopefully it does wonders for YHD's.

 

[khbaur330162]

Ok, hybrids in.

They sound sweeeet.

Even flatter. I use EQ to brighten them up and bring midrange forward. Bring the 300Hz-1kHz information down a bit, too, and also bass punch, but doesn't react how I'd like it to there.

Listening to Deodato - Preludes & Rhapsodies. Very crisp. I thought maybe complex passages were getting lost, but listening on the desktop rig I don't hear that anymore, not sure what I heard. Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac, this stuff seems to be mastered pretty well. It's good enough to the point a LOT of people wouldn't care if they were listening to YH-1's or YHD-3's, I think, they are so similar. YHD's have more realistic texture and/or coloration, YH's sound gross on direct A/B, but YH's have nice image size and other qualities once you settle in, it's hard to choose.

 

[khbaur330162]

On a different front. I decided to completely disobey ortho law and cover up even more YH-1 magnet perforations... :/

I think I prefer this variation with sheepskin pads to YH-1's + brainwavz suede with no front damping or bass lens of any type, just bare fronts. Sheepskin has nice treble shimmer and a crispness to sound, I just like it on direct comparison, but these bass lenses help with "ssss" range harshness, imho, which is worse with sheepskin pads.

I don't remember suede and sheepskin measuring this closely before.

 

[takato14]

Congrats, I doubt this will have significant impact on the sound.

Even if he had somehow burned a hole from the solder being too hot, the T30 is much less sensitive to membrane holes and sealing than the other fostexen. I doubt it would matter at all.

 

[Philimon]

Even if he had somehow burned a hole from the solder being too hot, the T30 is much less sensitive to membrane holes and sealing than the other fostexen. I doubt it would matter at all.

Good to see you T., but you're wrong possibly.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Ill edit with pic of newest blue foam pads later.) I ordered from a different supplier and was suprised when the new foam sheets arrived in blue, so will probably reorder again but make sure it's black. BTW all these measures have no damping on rear side,that will be next. And as always, supras are super hard to to get a seal with EARS. Subjectively, the measurements are close to what I hear. The black foam pads are much too dark, and I like mud (bass + dark) headphones. Stock pads sound like Grado. New blue pads do indeed have 2.5kHz honk or nasal voice sound.

BTW the black foam pads I didn't give up on. I trimmed them down a bit and they sounded good, so I went to remove them so I could access baffle screws for rear damping mods but unfortunately I accidentally tore the black foams pads in the process. I will order more of those black pads if these blue foams do not suffice.

 

[Philimon]

2pound density. Long life. Exact specs on Foam Factory including “airflow”. I think this foam was called “Luxury-R”.

Outer circle diameter cut too small. Will redo.

Adding a layer of this same foam for rear now. brb

edit:

 

[Philimon]

*Blue = before damping

Hmmmm.

 

[Philimon]

Even if he had somehow burned a hole from the solder being too hot, the T30 is much less sensitive to membrane holes and sealing than the other fostexen. I doubt it would matter at all.

Possibly not wrong. I switched pads between left and right because I noticed the left pad adapter was a bit warped and didn't lay flat so possibly wasnt getting as good a seal which would explain the earlier bass roll off vs right side.

These pads are old and the adapters/mounts are both a bit warped. HFM pads have the worst mounting system. And the pads are becoming unglued. Swapping the pads around led to a little more ungluing of the pads from adapter rings and more warping. So maybe no channel imbalance. Needs more tests. I have a set of new rings that I can try later with some other nicer condition pads.

--------------------------------------

YHD1: Blue foam pads don't sound good. The black foam pads better. I'd like to experiment with more pads and foam densities but that's time money I'm not interested in sacrificing atm. Will sit on YHD-1 mods for a bit and revisit later after I finish other projects: Pass ACA, RP18, T30, and TH500RP.

--------------------------------------

RP18: My RP18 may have a seal issue from tinkering by previous owner. Just needs reassembly. Gap between driver and front baffle should not be. Driver may have been installed backwards at some point. Gap removed should result in a little more bass, and if we're lucky less channel imbalance or none.

 

[Philimon]

Fostex T30 diagnosis complete. It was a pad seal issue - I hate HFM mounting system. Replaced the worn focus-a pads with Accessory House lambskin pads. More comfy than HFM pads too. Loss of air but some nice bass. Will try some damping and other pads. TY @takato14 for inspiring me to take another look.

Hopefully I get lucky and find that RP18 is not damaged either after disassembly and proper reassembly. TY @GREQ for comparing to his RP18 and determining mine was messed up then advising how to fix.

 

[DeweyCH]

These arrived today. I don't think they've ever been used... ever.

 

[leeperry]

isn't it better to change your focus towards headphones of new era instead of trying to make vintage sound like modern gear? At this stage all the costs and time spent on constant buying & modding would be more or less equal to a pair of decent headphones more suited to your needs.

 

[Philimon]

Spoiler: RP18 gap

The above picture showing a gap between RP18 driver and front baffle that I shared earlier I am not certain is actually an inaccurate assembly of an RP18. I think the gap might be where the stock wire mesh grills are inserted which I do not have. Can you confirm @GREQ ?

Attached are photos I took today while investigating the gap and seeing how to “fix”. The gap is built into the front baffle’s rear side facing driver. Also in pics are now active safety protocols while working a naked driver.

The Beyer DT880 Premium enclosure is not such an easy transplant. The Hifiman I used for T30 transplant was also not super simple but didnt require any trimming. I think I will buy a used HFM 4XX instead of using this Beyer enclosure for RP18.

 

[DeweyCH]

HP-2s sound really nice. Vocals are super lifelike (driving with a Bottlehead Crack), detail is very nice, bass is a touch overwhelming at times. I'm kinda shocked. These are totally on par, sound-wise, with my Sextetts and my K240DFs - really, it's the vocals that make it shine.

Seems like aggressive drum fills get a little on top of each other, and there's not much in the way of soundstage, but it's certainly a lovely sounding pair of headphones that can hold their own against modern ones. Instrument separation is good unless there's just too much going on (like aggressive drum fills... chill, Ringo, we get it).

Listening to 'Sad Songs and Waltzes' by Cake, and the reproduction of the trumpet is spot on. I've been playing the trumpet since the late '80's so I tend to like to see how headphones reproduce them.

 

[khbaur330162]

HP-2s sound really nice. Vocals are super lifelike (driving with a Bottlehead Crack), detail is very nice, bass is a touch overwhelming at times. I'm kinda shocked. These are totally on par, sound-wise, with my Sextetts and my K240DFs - really, it's the vocals that make it shine.

Seems like aggressive drum fills get a little on top of each other, and there's not much in the way of soundstage, but it's certainly a lovely sounding pair of headphones that can hold their own against modern ones. Instrument separation is good unless there's just too much going on (like aggressive drum fills... chill, Ringo, we get it).

Listening to 'Sad Songs and Waltzes' by Cake, and the reproduction of the trumpet is spot on. I've been playing the trumpet since the late '80's so I tend to like to see how headphones reproduce them.

If you're interested in making them a circumaural headphone, I took a pair of HP-50A drivers (same as HP-2) and installed them into this frame. Like you mentioned, the bass was a bit much and they sounded darker than my preference so I swapped the stock earpads in the photo out for ATH-M50 velours and whoa, way better... very listenable. You might even eek some soundstage out of them? These drivers are ever so slightly angled and you're creating a little driver-to-ear distance.

The diaphragm was crinkling when I'd put the headphones on or shake my head so I tried to break the seal by opening up those vented ports but it didn't help so I sealed everything back up with blu tac. Found out the bass was clipping so I fiddled with the rear positive pin and got the diaphragm to lay flat which seemed to have solved the issue altogether, at least while using velours. Again, however, you have to dremel out the driver retention ring from inside the baffle on the front side so these 46mm drivers fit in the 45mm slot.

-edit-
These are tamer and smoother version of YHD-3 with way less subbass, they roll off for me, even with pleather pads. But they have decent 100Hz information so the bass isn't lacking with most music, just the deepest registers.

 

[DeweyCH]

If you're interested in making them a circumaural headphone, I took a pair of HP-50A drivers (same as HP-2) and installed them into this frame. Like you mentioned, the bass was a bit much and they sounded darker than my preference so I swapped the stock earpads in the photo out for ATH-M50 velours and whoa, way better... very listenable. You might even eek some soundstage out of them? These drivers are ever so slightly angled and you're creating a little driver-to-ear distance.




The diaphragm was crinkling when I'd put the headphones on or shake my head so I tried to break the seal by opening up those vented ports but it didn't help so I sealed everything back up with blu tac. Found out the bass was clipping so I fiddled with the rear positive pin and got the diaphragm to lay flat which seemed to have solved the issue altogether, at least while using velours. Again, however, you have to dremel out the driver retention ring from inside the baffle on the front side so these 46mm drivers fit in the 45mm slot.


-edit-
These are tamer and smoother version of YHD-3 with way less subbass, they roll off for me, even with pleather pads. But they have decent 100Hz information so the bass isn't lacking with most music, just the deepest registers.

Interesting, I never considered putting the drivers into another frame. I wonder if I could turn these into super-Sextetts... I have a pair of K240 Monitors I've been meaning to tinker with adding a bunch of passive radiators to, to try and emulate the Sextetts, and I wonder if I could finagle the baffles to hold the HP-2's drivers.

Thanks for the ideas!