Orthodynamic Roundup

[Kabeer]

Heh well I lost the auction to some ginourmous bid

, but opinions?
Universum Kopfhörer 200 ohm on eBay, also, Sonstige, Hi-Fi-Raritäten, Audio Hi-Fi (end time 15-Nov-08 00:20:35 GMT)

 

[smeggy]

Heh, well I just got an old T40 to play with, pretty good right from the start. Muted treble, boxy/honky/yodeling or whatever but very nice overall and good bass powah! Given that they're circum they really do slam it out. Also surprisingly comfy, the headband design is really good. The cups on the other hand are as cheap and nasty as can be and need replacing, with... something......
mmmmmmm

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kabeer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Heh well I lost the auction to some ginourmous bid , but opinions? Universum KopfhAPrer 200 ohm on eBay, also, Sonstige, Hi-Fi-RaritACURten, Audio Hi-Fi (end time 15-Nov-08 00:20:35 GMT)

We've seen this frame before a few times. We suspect that it contains the same low-profile mylar cone driver as many thin headphones of that era.

Note that the earslabs are parallel. I suspect that your ears are not. These are not well made headphones.

 

[Kabeer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif We've seen this frame before a few times. We suspect that it contains the same low-profile mylar cone driver as many thin headphones of that era. Note that the earslabs are parallel. I suspect that your ears are not. These are not well made headphones.

Ahh thanks,
Good thing I was outbid then. I didnt think about the U70 rip-offs. Though this does seem a bit different, your most likely right.

 

[wualta]

They were the best cheap headphone of their day, but they're not planars. Since it's the Headphone With A Thousand Faces (by Joseph Campbell), you'll see it under many names. Stamped aluminum frame with laceratingly sharp edges, two shiny spring-steel strips covered by a vinyl headband, parallel "cups". Pick one up if it's only a couple of dollars just to see what the '70s were like. Maybe stick an SFI driver in there to make your own U70.

Smeggy, before you do anything else, grab your T40 and check for echo (not to be confused with the Ukraine Эхо) by yodeling into the earcup. Also see if you can hear the ocean in them. If we can't run this joke into the ground before the day is out, my name isn't Humblebert Yimpidinck, by Gott. But you say your cups are cheap 'n' nasty? Are they all beat up?

And good bass powah, you say...? ..[size=xx-small]eh?[/size] Anyway, sounds like you're itching to get the drivers out for a transplant. Let us know what sort of clamp you come up with, and what kind of saw works best.

 

[Faust2D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta /img/forum/go_quote.gif They were the best cheap headphone of their day, but they're not planars. Since it's the Headphone With A Thousand Faces (by Joseph Campbell), you'll see it under many names. Stamped aluminum frame with laceratingly sharp edges, two shiny spring-steel strips covered by a vinyl headband, parallel "cups". Pick one up if it's only a couple of dollars just to see what the '70s were like. Maybe stick an SFI driver in there to make your own U70. Smeggy, before you do anything else, grab your T40 and check for echo (not to be confused with the Ukraine Эхо) by yodeling into the earcup. Also see if you can hear the ocean in them. If we can't run this joke into the ground before the day is out, my name isn't Humblebert Yimpidinck, by Gott. But you say your cups are cheap 'n' nasty? Are they all beat up? And good bass powah, you say...? ..[size=xx-small]eh?[/size] Anyway, sounds like you're itching to get the drivers out for a transplant. Let us know what sort of clamp you come up with, and what kind of saw works best.

Эхо = echo

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeggy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Heh, well I just got an old T40 to play with, pretty good right from the start. Muted treble, boxy/honky/yodeling or whatever but very nice overall and good bass powah! Given that they're circum they really do slam it out. Also surprisingly comfy, the headband design is really good. The cups on the other hand are as cheap and nasty as can be and need replacing, with... something...... mmmmmmm

Welcome back!

 

[mypasswordis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeggy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Heh, well I just got an old T40 to play with, pretty good right from the start. Muted treble, boxy/honky/yodeling or whatever but very nice overall and good bass powah! Given that they're circum they really do slam it out. Also surprisingly comfy, the headband design is really good. The cups on the other hand are as cheap and nasty as can be and need replacing, with... something...... mmmmmmm

Yay, someone else that has experienced the goodness of the T40. If you end up replacing the cups and don't want them, I'll buy them off you.

 

[smeggy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Welcome back!

It's been a busy few days. I see your phones are in Colorado springs at the minute so you should have them pretty soon. Your package arrived here safe and sound thanks.

 

[smeggy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mypasswordis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yay, someone else that has experienced the goodness of the T40. If you end up replacing the cups and don't want them, I'll buy them off you.

I think only the backs will be salvageable as the drivers look like they'll need to stay fixed to the baffle or the whole driver assembly will shoot apart as they don't glue the drivers together

I'll probably have to turn the plastic baffle plate down to inset in a wood baffle. I'm even thinking of making them an open portable as the drivers sound damn nice in the open. But yeah, nice sounding.

What parts were you were looking for?

 

[smeggy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta /img/forum/go_quote.gif Smeggy, before you do anything else, grab your T40 and check for echo (not to be confused with the Ukraine Эхо) by yodeling into the earcup. Also see if you can hear the ocean in them. If we can't run this joke into the ground before the day is out, my name isn't Humblebert Yimpidinck, by Gott. But you say your cups are cheap 'n' nasty? Are they all beat up? And good bass powah, you say...? ..[size=xx-small]eh?[/size] Anyway, sounds like you're itching to get the drivers out for a transplant. Let us know what sort of clamp you come up with, and what kind of saw works best.

Yes, I held them up to my lugs and heard a veritable ocean

The cups aren't beat up, just thin and bleh, apparently designed that way. All shiny inside and when you clank the cups together it has that really cheap hollow plastic box sound. As I posted earlier, I'm going to keep the driver in it's mount, whittle it down and secure that to a wood baffle. It's easier that way.

 

[mypasswordis]

My cups aren't in completely immaculate condition, so I thought I might try replacing them. I also need to buy earpads and a cable from Fostex, so I'm going to ask them if I can just buy a NOS T40. I'm also going to get a new T50v3 next time they show up on the 'bay, which will bring up my Fostexen total to 3 and my Yamaha total to 0, which I have no problem with.

The biggest complaint I have with my T40's sound after my modding is that the highest treble is rolled-off (17-18+ kHz). There is a slight amount of echo but I can live with it, and probably can get rid of it with more mods. The bass is also a bit rolled off, but still fairly decent.

 

[smeggy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mypasswordis /img/forum/go_quote.gif My cups aren't in completely immaculate condition, so I thought I might try replacing them. I also need to buy earpads and a cable from Fostex, so I'm going to ask them if I can just buy a NOS T40. I'm also going to get a new T50v3 next time they show up on the 'bay, which will bring up my Fostexen total to 3 and my Yamaha total to 0, which I have no problem with. The biggest complaint I have with my T40's sound after my modding is that the highest treble is rolled-off (17-18+ kHz). There is a slight amount of echo but I can live with it, and probably can get rid of it with more mods. The bass is also a bit rolled off, but still fairly decent.

Once I pull these apart to work on them you can have the cups, cable and earpads if you want them.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Smeggy - the SmeggySFI sound great! I can't listen for long right now, since I have to take my son to his Tae Kwon Do class. First impressions are that they are clean and fast with crip highs slightly overshadowed by forward mids, and tight bass that isn't huge but isn't lacking. They don't seem to strike me as having any nasty colorations to the sound at all, anywhere. They do male vocals with Jack Johnson very well, but a tiny bit or Nora Jones' growl is missing in the lower mids.

As a lark, I tried them on the way home out of a 2nd Gen 8gb iPod Nano. Forget it. They require huge amounts of power, which fortunately I have a few powerful home amps to choose from that can drive them to big volumes cleanly. They sound the fullest and get the best bass from the Woo WA6, and still sound very good from the Single Power Square Wave XL.

So, not thinking about using them portable, although I did try most of my portable amps for fun of it, and the only portable amp that does them ANY justice is the TTVJ Portable Millett Hybrid (teeny tubes hybrid). The Pico was second followed by the Headstage Lyrix Pro (both with AD8397 opamps), but the TTVJ clearly stood out as being best and even the TTVJ was still slightly underpowered. My poor little iBasso D2 boa and D3 Python, as well as Meier Headsix really struggled to drive them.

I will report more on these later!

 

[smeggy]

Great news, Larry.

I really like the sound of the closed SFI, it has few of the quirks which generally plague orthos so I feel happy with how they've developed. I did a side-by-side with the Pro 30 and there were all those quirks again, receding top, boxy mids and slack, hollow bass.
I'm sure the driver size and magnet configuration aren't helping much, but for the little $6 things they are, pretty damn impressive. Get a good seal on the ears and you'll hear bass below 20Hz. Not sure how they are at lower volumes but they really bloom with lots of power and a little cranking.

Volume-wise, my T40 runs loud enough even from my DAP, however the bass only really comes out to play when wired to my speaker outs. Phone outs really don't cut it.