Orthodynamic Roundup

[ludoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DefectiveAudioComponent /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have the review here with picture, frequency response curve, and impedance measurements here, now where did I put it...

LOL! (says after having seen said review)

 

[smeggy]

Now he's just teasing.

Bad DAC, bad!!

Evidence or I'll be sending the Stax mafia to pay you a little visit..

 

[spritzer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faust2D /img/forum/go_quote.gif All that knowledge and it is still not documented Thanks for the info spritzer.

There are other projects taking precedence but I'll get to that...

Quote:

Originally Posted by DefectiveAudioComponent /img/forum/go_quote.gif The reviewers at Hi-fi musik thought that the Unipolar also beat the Stax (sr-e I think) from the same review. They found the Unipolar to be the can of that year.

I've never seen a good review or even a kind word said about the Unipolar so that reviewer really must have liked the supposedly bright signature.

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

I found this review of the Hosiden today. It was on the other side of the U70 review.

The review finds it to sound very good, that is very different from all other Hosidens they tried. They have some complaints about comfort, the pads appears to be made for people with perfectly circular ears, and are made of plastic that get sweaty after a while, and don't seal well. The cans also easily falls off the head of one leans forward.

It has the same good sound as other orthos from Peerless, BO, and Yamaha. The bass is not quite as loud as the Koss Tech/2 cans that they reviewed at the same time (not orthos) but good and clean, the mids are above average, and the highs are not quite up to the level of electrostats. Sound is open, spacious and with depth.

They accept quite high volume without distortion.
Impedance 150 ohm, measurements give 140 for the left side, and 154 for the righ side.

In the bottom of the article, you find a +/- list summarizing the review.
Left column: Treble, mids, bass, resolution
Right column: Efficiency (?), comfort, construction, value for money

Bigger image:


(now, let's see who can dig one of these up first... I had a quick look at my usual places and found nothing)

 

[mypasswordis]

I really dig the looks of some of these vintage orthos and electrets. The only colors are black... and black... and machined metal. Too bad the Hosiden is apparently rather uncomfortable.

Thanks for the pic, Faust. I might need to buy some of this bitumen stuff or some other acoustically deadening material after all, for the final mod...

I might just be a treble freak, that or my other 'phones are treble-happy, so things just sound funky when I switch between them and the T50RPv2.

 

[cetoole]

Yeah, tell me about it. At first glance, I mistook those for the Pioneer SE-700, though there are a few differences now that I look again. Still, I love the aesthetic, and they sound pretty good. You are right though, a lot of these old headphones are quite uncomfortable.

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

The main complaint about comfort from the review of the Hosiden is the pads, and that's not too hard to replace, I would guess. It would need fixing anyway since the review mentions that they don't seal properly. Also, note that the Hosiden has an unusual cable (for an ortho, that is).

And from my experiments with the HOK, I'm sure that pads can make a huge difference. Especially with the bass level.

 

[cetoole]

Probably though like my SE-700 the earpieces dont swivel, or if they do, it is only very limited. Different pads help, though what I really like to do is put a pair of circumaural pads over top of the stock supra pads, to make a combo arrangement. Need to get some new pads though, since I sold the K271 I had been using pads from.

 

[scompton]

The pads on the SE-700 aren't bad, but they're still uncomfortable. The T30's the same way. They made for heads that are perfect cubes like smeggy's.

 

[wualta]

[looks at Hosiden review]
Oh, cool! [rubs hands with glee]

I'll ask Santa to bring me one.

.

 

[smeggy]

Makes you wonder just how many orthos are out there in limbo land.

There seems to be quite a few species yet to be discovered.

 

[dBel84]

just waiting for more squareheads to discover em

..dB

 

[smeggy]

You may laugh, have you ever tried getting those stupid curvy phones on a square head? It's no joke I tells ya.

 

[dBel84]

forgive my humour at your expense - I have a small pip and have yet to find an uncomfortable pair of headphones - short term. Even the Yamaha's set to their smallest size barely stay on.

what can I say , I don't need all that superfluous white stuff that connects it all together, just random firing and disconnect of ideas

..dB

 

[cetoole]

Bless me Father Wualta, for I have sinned...

Ok guys, I have a confession to make. I was handed a set of ESP/950 today, and even though I am using the stock E/90 amplifier right now, it is kicking the bejeebus out of everything else I have, or have had here. Normally I dont like to make statements like this about headphones I havnt heard in a while, like the PS-1 which spent about a month here several years ago, or the HD650, with or without headphile woody cups, but as I had a strong preference for headphones I had both then and still own (HD580 over HD580 and PS-1), I feel reasonably secure in making this statement. I also have a pair of Grado HF-1, modified with deep woody cups, and driven balanced out of a balanced M³ amplifier sitting here, and while I was enjoying that rig earlier tonight, more than any other grado I have heard, none of it comes even close to this ESP/950. I havnt actually listened to my SR404 yet, having no suitable amp or even an adapter to the koss plug, and I have yet to fix the little headband issue.

Still gonna buy a T50rp though. Whatever other orthos I can within my means too.