Orthodynamic Roundup

[rx170ec]

My new find. Just bought them.

It seems to be like audio-technica’s ortho!

Wonderful

 

[szerecsen]

How do you know please they are orthodynamic headphones?

you need to peek into the driver and check for the magnet disc with holes in it in circles
there is a mesh sheet in front of the driver so it is pretty damn hard to take a good picture to help you out

there is plenty of details about these rectangular shaped headphones in this thread

 

[llovizna]

you need to peek into the driver and check for the magnet disc with holes in it in circles
there is a mesh sheet in front of the driver so it is pretty damn hard to take a good picture to help you out



there is plenty of details about these rectangular shaped headphones in this thread

Thanks a lot for your picture! I bought these headphones for myself too last week.

 

[Ganondork]

Hi! I‘m new to the forum and came here because I found some Yamaha Hp50a in the trash which still work fine. I browsed the forum for the last 2 hours on my search on a stereo mod tutorial. I found this one online https://orronoco.blogspot.com/2021/06/under-radar-stereo-re-cabling-for.html?m=1.
I have soldering experience, but have no experience with headphones at all and find the tutorial very confusing. Is there another one for similar headphones?

 

[Philimon]

Hi! I‘m new to the forum and came here because I found some Yamaha Hp50a in the trash which still work fine. I browsed the forum for the last 2 hours on my search on a stereo mod tutorial. I found this one online https://orronoco.blogspot.com/2021/06/under-radar-stereo-re-cabling-for.html?m=1.
I have soldering experience, but have no experience with headphones at all and find the tutorial very confusing. Is there another one for similar headphones?

I dont know but that's a good link. Is it yours @Feilong4 ?

I bought a Yamaha YH-1 for old times sake. Still my preference generally for vintage ortho drivers and all planars to be undamped, instead focus on reflection management. Like this from @asciisuki: https://www.printables.com/model/444350-hp1/files

Finally returning @takato14 his Fostex T30. His mod is excellent and brought extra clarity to T30 without abbreviating bass too much for my tastes. Looks damn sexy too with the TH500RP headband. I never compared directly to my HFM HE500, sorry.

My Fostex T30 has a L/R channel imbalance. I dont know the cause, perhaps damaged during shipping. I resoldered connections but seemingly not the fault. Unless someone wants then I will keep as a souvenir. @VanHai gets first dibs if he likes since he sold me T30 for cheap.

I still have a takato14 modded NAD RP18. Still, T30 is preferable to RP18. Still, T30 smoother sounding, blacker background, and a little more resolving, but RP18 perhaps a little more impactful bass. Unsure if mods or driver.

Sansui SS-100 = T30 magnets, + RP18 tracing, + mylar membrane (mylar used in T30 and earliest T50, looser tensioned than kapton RP18). SS100 was developed after T30, but which sounds best (preferable)? I think only a few have a pair to compare, and I think less still willing to modify them for eeking out extra performance. Only takato14 knows.

 

[Philimon]

I bought a Yamaha YH-1 for old times sake.

Sounds better than I remember. I forgot how comfortable the headband is, and forgot the YH-1 pads feel less comfy than YH-2 due to weight. I could imagine sacrificing bigger driver bass for weight comfort reasons. Might get YH2 as well as I always preferred.

- squashed L<>R soundstage, despite that imaging is very clear and well defined
- microdetail curiously seemingly not far from HE6se. I suspect environment noise isolation (closed cups / pads) helps Yamaha in hearing fine detail (low noise floor)
- crunchy guitars like Grado, upfront and detailed guitars and vocals, perhaps partly an effect of relatively dimmed cymbals amplitude (tapering down highs) and few db extra at 1-2kHz. I suspect the tapered highs keep Yamaha from sounding as microdetailed and microdynamic as HE6se
- bass is tuneful, well extended, bass sounds impactful but probably very slight reverb or bloom that is causing some perception of bass weight, was expecting less bass amplitude and impact.

Simply opening the cups results in changes in the sound due to old stale foam becoming dislodged. Would like to restore to original.

I could never tune these satisfactorily. Always a trade off. Same with T50RP.

 

[rx170ec]

Sounds better than I remember. I forgot how comfortable the headband is, and forgot the YH-1 pads feel less comfy than YH-2 due to weight. I could imagine sacrificing bigger driver bass for weight comfort reasons. Might get YH2 as well as I always preferred.

- squashed L<>R soundstage, despite that imaging is very clear and well defined
- microdetail curiously seemingly not far from HE6se. I suspect environment noise isolation (closed cups / pads) helps Yamaha in hearing fine detail (low noise floor)
- crunchy guitars like Grado, upfront and detailed guitars and vocals, perhaps partly an effect of relatively dimmed cymbals amplitude (tapering down highs) and few db extra at 1-2kHz. I suspect the tapered highs keep Yamaha from sounding as microdetailed and microdynamic as HE6se
- bass is tuneful, well extended, bass sounds impactful but probably very slight reverb or bloom that is causing some perception of bass weight, was expecting less bass amplitude and impact.

Simply opening the cups results in changes in the sound due to old stale foam becoming dislodged. Would like to restore to original.

I could never tune these satisfactorily. Always a trade off. Same with T50RP.

It looks good.

Wonderful! I think it's getting harder to get a good one.

It sounds wonderful sometimes it sounds better than my kenwood kh k1000

It is masterpiece!

 

[Philimon]

Bass bloom by my definition is overlong decay due to trapped air, feels like pressure on your ear drums. I think this trapped air due to lack of front-side venting is my main issue with YH-1. To test this I will add some form of venting (e.g. stiff foam ring under stock pads). As well will measure on FPC for relative comparison. Will update when completed testing but probably not soon (Monoprice AMT inbound).

 

[bananasplit 00]

Sooooo Audeze were bought by Sony, and now Sony have announced these:

For the playstation based on Audeze tech as far as i can tell.

Anyone think they will have a chance of being good? They are quite cheap(both for a ANC headset and compared to Audeze products) at only $150 but it seems quite unclear if they will work without some propriatary Sony basestation thing

 

[Philimon]

Will update when completed testing but probably not soon

Completed testing for now. Tried subtly breaking seal with one of those headphone earpads socks. The result was too much warmth, decreased bass extension, and loosened imaging, impact, definition. Because combination of lightened driver damping and diminished highs relative to increase in bass?

The socks did improve comfort!

Next might be to try some dense flat foam donut pads (e.g. grado f-pads). No longer confident in potential but still curious. Will start by just placing foam pads over stock flat pleathers.

Monoprice AMT inbound

 

[rx170ec]

Completed testing for now. Tried subtly breaking seal with one of those headphone earpads socks. The result was too much warmth, decreased bass extension, and loosened imaging, impact, definition. Because combination of lightened driver damping and diminished highs relative to increase in bass?

The socks did improve comfort!

Next might be to try some dense flat foam donut pads (e.g. grado f-pads). No longer confident in potential but still curious. Will start by just placing foam pads over stock flat pleathers.

amazing I love this work

 

[Kabeer]

Sooooo Audeze were bought by Sony, and now Sony have announced these:



For the playstation based on Audeze tech as far as i can tell.

Anyone think they will have a chance of being good? They are quite cheap(both for a ANC headset and compared to Audeze products) at only $150 but it seems quite unclear if they will work without some propriatary Sony basestation thing

This is very big news for this thread; the first time a really major mainstream company is producing planars in volume. Something which was of interest in this thread a decade ago. Fingers crossed it leads onto better things in terms of mainstream planars.

In related news, i suppose the Yamaha YH-5000se is also a revival by a major company, albeit in incredibly small numbers. Some interesting facts: I spoke to a Yamaha rep and he divulged that Yamaha are working on more orthodynamics, and we can hopefully expect to see new models in a few years time.

Finally;
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fostex-t50rp-50th-anniversary-edition.969478/
Some slightly less interesting, but still relevant news (from a few months ago) . Fostex T50 50th Anniversary. Amazing to think Fostex have been making planars for this long (though the current iteration of T50 is really nothing like the originals... which I still think are superior).

 

[Philimon]

More info on Sony acquiring Audeze here.:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sony-acquiring-audeze.969483/

Im not holding my breath. I dont see why Sony is adopting planar nor why they would further develop for the audiophile niche. Relatively meager audiophile profits is not Sony’s thing I dont think. I bet its as simple as something like because planars respond better to heavy EQ (for wireless headphones). Indeed it could be sad news if Sony decided to shutter Audeze (and their R&D).

Seems the next big thing appears to be xMEMS drivers, but not sure if its capable for full-sized headphones.
https://audioxpress.com/news/creati...r-to-announce-tws-earbuds-using-xmems-drivers

Yamaha ortho revival was certainly invigorated by fans like us here (especially like @Kabeer and @khbaur330162 ). I hope Yamaha releases something akin to the orginals like YH-1, because that would be affordable.

Fostex T50 50th Anniversary.

It describes using T60RP drivers because they are better. Im guessing T60RP are better only due to quality control where the drivers are personally visually inspected by a human.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fos...nd-measurements.618659/page-188#post-17686234

 

[ludoo]

Sooooo.... after a 10-year hiatus and a detour in Stax-land and some of the non-TOTL planars, I came back to my original love for the HP-3, and with the help of modern materials figured out a damping scheme that seems to work much better than what we used to do with felt or similar materials.

I've been discussing it with Kabeer privately, and it might be worth to show it here too. I skipped the last 10 years of postings, so this might have been already discussed. In which case I'm curious about your experience with similar materials.

Material #1: synthetic fibers used to soundproof motorbike exhausts, labeled "rock wool" but it's polyamide

Material #2: speaker cabinet polyester damping

These absorb sound and reduce the speed of the backwave, without impeding driver movement like felt does. I can stuff cups full of dense balls of these, and I never get the typical overdamped, constrained sound that is so easy to get with felt.

In the HP-3, I use a ball of the first material against the driver, and then I shape a donut of the second lighter material to cover the vents around the cup. I also remove the paper ring and dust cover on the front of the driver and glue it in place with a ring of thin strong 3M adhesive film, very much like the old Stax Lambda phones. I also change the old cable with Mogami mini quad, but that is probably unnecessary. If pads are worn, there are excellent cheap 65mm spares on ebay, and 3M film replaces the old adhesive.

The effect is surprising: treble gets a slight boost, bass and deep bass come out, mids are the usual warm Yamaha mids. The modded HP-3 stand up very well to the lower end Audezes I have like the LCD-1 and Sine, and I actually prefer them to both. This damping scheme also requires less amplification compared to the old felt-based schemes, as the diaphragm encounters very little air resistance.

I don't have any pictures of the insides, I can open a pair if anyone is interested. This is my cheap, very good sounding balanced planar setup:

 

[Armaegis]

Wow, now here's a name I haven't seen in ages. There's a few of us old timers

Perhaps the most boutique polyamide stuff that I've seen in discussion here is "Twaron Angel Hair" which is now sold under Mundorf. Might be worth checking out if you can find some.