[WallofHooligans]

yes, please remember that these share are based on my setup, preferences, personal flavor but i prefer my NAD RP18 (kapton) modded VS T50v0..
and then i prefer T30 silver fork/jpn version modded than my NAD modded..
so, i choose the duo T30's over many neo ortho..even if i haven't got a chance to audition HE1000..

the black fork T30 can't be sound as open&airy as the silver one, but got thicker body&fuller low note as the silver one..
i believe it has something to do with the neutrik mini jack terminated on the silver germania cable..the neutrik mini jack making a bottle neck, maybe..
the whole damping&treatment inside are the same for both, yet they sound so different..




yes, i'm impressed that Victor using a very good pressed-pulled connection tab instead of using inner wiring like Fostex or OEMs..
and shockingly it is very stable, even without the need of soldering diaphragm to the wiring tab for the cable..
have you trying to dampening them as well? even there's not having much space inside the housing but on D50 using several size&density of felt bring dramatic change on the result..

I've tried just a few different options. The dampening consists of two very simple layers, felt and some sort of fibrous paper. Changing either of these made the sound much worse from my estimation. Without the paper, you loose the bass almost entirely. With thicker felt, you lose a chunk of the high treble. These extend towards the treble more than I'm used to in other sets, but stays just below sibilant. I would consider the highs to be less piercing than the audio technica m50x, but similar. The m50x used to give me headaches, before I sold them.

 

[iQEM]

My T50v0 came with Kapton diaphragms. I believe it's kinda weird as someone pointed out that they didn't know the T50v0 ever had Kapton diaphragms.



I'd say you're not missing out too much if you haven't heard the HE-1000. It's alright. I think Hifiman's own HE-6 is better though I've only demo'd those as well.

oh, using kapton film as well?
nice..then it must be sound similarly to NAD kapton, if both are in their stock form..

courtesy of Mike Tingm of headfonia

here's the pict that Mike taken when i first bring my stock NAD kapton vs stock Fostex T50v0..
they both sound differently, i would say its because the yellow biscuit on the T50v0 are only 1 but in bigger diameter than in NAD RP18 kapton which is 2pcs but smaller diameter..
or the way around, kinda forget which is one..lol
in their stock form, T50v0 are more airy&spacious but lack on speed to NAD RP18 kapton that dark, close-dead-background, warm vocal but have very good speed..

here's my latest pict of NAD RP18 kapton modded with Koss MV1 pads..it sound really differently from their stock form sounding..
from all i remember that it on par with LCD2 with blue dragon cabling..
yet my modded silver T30 are way more superior on upper tone extensions..

I've tried just a few different options. The dampening consists of two very simple layers, felt and some sort of fibrous paper. Changing either of these made the sound much worse from my estimation. Without the paper, you loose the bass almost entirely. With thicker felt, you lose a chunk of the high treble. These extend towards the treble more than I'm used to in other sets, but stays just below sibilant. I would consider the highs to be less piercing than the audio technica m50x, but similar. The m50x used to give me headaches, before I sold them.

you might want to thin covering up inside of the housing with silicon sealer like autosil or foss to remove the plasticy reverb..
i used to add a ring of dynamat circling the driver edge (as a blutak alternative) to make the driver stay put on the baffles..this mod would refine the bass to better qualities and get rid of the sibilant high end..

 

[Feilong4]

oh, using kapton film as well?
nice..then it must be sound similarly to NAD kapton, if both are in their stock form..


here's the pict that Mike taken when i first bring my stock NAD kapton vs stock Fostex T50v0..
they both sound differently, i would say its because the yellow biscuit on the T50v0 are only 1 but in bigger diameter than in NAD RP18 kapton which is 2pcs but smaller diameter..
or the way around, kinda forget which is one..lol
in their stock form, T50v0 are more airy&spacious but lack on speed to NAD RP18 kapton that dark, close-dead-background, warm vocal but have very good speed..

here's my latest pict of NAD RP18 kapton modded with Koss MV1 pads..it sound really differently from their stock form sounding..
from all i remember that it on par with LCD2 with blue dragon cabling..
yet my modded silver T30 are way more superior on upper tone extensions..

I guess you could say mine is "stock" in terms of damping. Just switched the grills, cut out some speaker cloths, and rearranged the damping a bit differently (stacked on top of each other instead of one biscuit glued onto the grill). Otherwise, I didn't add or take anything that would dramatically change the sound. Mine has 2 yellow biscuits on each side.



How comfortable are those Koss pads btw?

 

[WallofHooligans]

I imagine the pads are like the proAAA pads, strange, easy to put permanent creases into, make your ears sweaty and harden very quickly over time... But they also seem to act like a lens instead of pads, as in they don't change the sound very much even though they push your ears farther away from the driver. I prefer them on my t20. Too bad koss stopped selling them in the store...

 

[WaffleIron]

I grabbed some Yamaha HP-3's for pretty cheap on eBay a little while ago. Waiting for them to arrive, but I'm interested as to if anyone has modded them significantly? Judging from the Innerfidelity's graphs I wouldn't like em too much in stock form, but we'll see when they get here. I searched the thread for HP-3 posts but I couldn't find too much. I might actually end up transplanting them into a new housing, which shouldn't really be hard. That said, sometimes older orthos have issues when being taken apart. Is there anything I gotta watch for with the HP-3?

 

[WallofHooligans]

I grabbed some Yamaha HP-3's for pretty cheap on eBay a little while ago. Waiting for them to arrive, but I'm interested as to if anyone has modded them significantly? Judging from the Innerfidelity's graphs I wouldn't like em too much in stock form, but we'll see when they get here. I searched the thread for HP-3 posts but I couldn't find too much. I might actually end up transplanting them into a new housing, which shouldn't really be hard. That said, sometimes older orthos have issues when being taken apart. Is there anything I gotta watch for with the HP-3?

Ah, nice. I'm going to try doing something similar with my own HP-3. I have a secondary pair that I intend on messing with. There should be quite a few mods on this thread, I'd imagine. Problem is that every hp-3 sounds a bit different- since there's a bunch of quality control differences. You'll likely have to hand-tune it yourself- and the same mod may not work well for another user. A housing transplant is probably the way to go.

 

[nick n]

hello guys

a rare find
actually, never heard of this one before
it says "RUEFACH Exclusive"



cheers

szerecsen

szerescen:
I don't know why I didn't notice this before back when you first posted them.
These are the OEM for the Karstadt models also.

MDR30 will also be interested in this.
Very nice to finally know where they fit as they don't look like any other.
I am guessing that the mesh on the backs is actually solid also, and mainly for design excellence.
It might be the model that got OEM'ed out to other companies, since you also mention RUEFACH Exclusive.
This may mean there are also other OEMed ones around still.

 

[iQEM]

I guess you could say mine is "stock" in terms of damping. Just switched the grills, cut out some speaker cloths, and rearranged the damping a bit differently (stacked on top of each other instead of one biscuit glued onto the grill). Otherwise, I didn't add or take anything that would dramatically change the sound. Mine has 2 yellow biscuits on each side.



How comfortable are those Koss pads btw?

ah yes, so NAD is the one that got 1 wider (than in T50v0) diameter yellow mineral wool..
i still think its the best factory dampener though, couldn't find a better replacement for it..
this is the stock form of T50, right?

courtesy of mr.Takato

the koss pads very much comfy on NAD, acting as bass lens so if you still stock it would be very bassy using this pads..
so i've done many positioning mod on the driver as well, not just using transpore/other tapes or treble lens thin felt..too bad i couldn't found any of the picts on the internet since the host time has expired long time ago..

I imagine the pads are like the proAAA pads, strange, easy to put permanent creases into, make your ears sweaty and harden very quickly over time... But they also seem to act like a lens instead of pads, as in they don't change the sound very much even though they push your ears farther away from the driver. I prefer them on my t20. Too bad koss stopped selling them in the store...

yes, precisely..it has the same material&form as Koss Pro 4AAA pads..

i use to experiment with the pads position as well..as you notice, there's a small flat area on the pads edge..i use to put them facing forward to face (or i say 3 o'clock wise on the left pads & 9 o'clock wise on the right side pads)..

its easy to have it clean, quite comfy and feels smooth to the skin..but not recommend to use it on heat environment..

 

[nick n]

One other option for a similar bass lens type of pad might be the Beyerdynamic pads ( part # 907.305 )

http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/129964-Beyerdynamic-907305
they look a little more comfortable

IF they are the right size

 

[iQEM]

@nick n:
oh hi, Nick..
how are you?

hmm, so the MV1/Pro 4AAA have been out from cushion accessories at Koss website..
well that's too bad, nothing compare to their price tag..even the replacement pads for ESP950 only $5 there..

 

[nick n]

HI
Glad to see you back here, if only for a fast visit.
Yes the pads there at Koss are certainly cheap which is good.
There are a surprising amount of high quality pads around these days though for cheap. Maybe something is out there that can work also.

Nice to see you have gone down to only a few headphones. Wish I could do that. I'm close to a big selloff ( I think ) but have been saying that for a long time now.


You mentioned the "yellow biscuit" damping material as being what you liked the best.
I have had both good and bad trials with that stuff. Maybe i should try it again though since my tastes have changed over time , and I might like the stuff better nowadays.

***Your TEAM ORTHO link has expired. what did it originally point to? this thread?

I am looking at the Audiophile Indonesia place now. Too bad the translation tool I use is not that good
93 pages of ortho stuff I see! And then there is the first thread also.

 

[WallofHooligans]

ah yes, so NAD is the one that got 1 wider (than in T50v0) diameter yellow mineral wool..
i still think its the best factory dampener though, couldn't find a better replacement for it..
this is the stock form of T50, right?


the koss pads very much comfy on NAD, acting as bass lens so if you still stock it would be very bassy using this pads..
so i've done many positioning mod on the driver as well, not just using transpore/other tapes or treble lens thin felt..too bad i couldn't found any of the picts on the internet since the host time has expired long time ago..





yes, precisely..it has the same material&form as Koss Pro 4AAA pads..

i use to experiment with the pads position as well..as you notice, there's a small flat area on the pads edge..i use to put them facing forward to face (or i say 3 o'clock wise on the left pads & 9 o'clock wise on the right side pads)..


its easy to have it clean, quite comfy and feels smooth to the skin..but not recommend to use it on heat environment..

I see you've shamelessly stolen mr Takato's image for this one here, right? I'm not entirely sure that the mv1 uses the exact same pads as the pro4aaa. Looks like there's less of a "D" profile going on in the images I've looked at. Truly we come back to that proverbial yellow dampening so often.... There has to be a way to source the stuff. I imagine someone is sitting on a goldmine of material, in some ancient box, in some Foster factory.

HI
Glad to see you back here, if only for a fast visit.
Yes the pads there at Koss are certainly cheap which is good.
There are a surprising amount of high quality pads around these days though for cheap. Maybe something is out there that can work also.

Nice to see you have gone down to only a few headphones. Wish I could do that. I'm close to a big selloff ( I think ) but have been saying that for a long time now.

Hey If you do decide to do that, mind sending me a courtesy PM? Ah, speaking of which, I've still not taken photos of that Toshiba, It's always night-time when I remember to do it.

 

[Tinkerer]

Figured I'd post my old T30 too since folks are talking mods and I had it out. Had to rewire it awhile back because the original cord finally gave out. I'll get around to a proper removable cord at some point. Mostly geared everything around iQEM's original work. Kept the yellow biscuit. Packed some acoustic fiberglass behind that (not sure of the brand but a pink wool). Kept the felt bass lens in the front. Stuck on the new pads with double sided tape and sealed it good. The wool makes them more semi-open than open like they were originally, but really fixed the treble. Imaging is fantastic. The thick pads are needed for the bass. Never thought I'd say that when you compare to the stock T30. Distance from the ear helps the soundstage too, which was compressed by the additional damping in the ear cups. It's very similar to a STAX lambda 202/207 etc but without the lambda upper treble spike.

 

[GREQ]

I found that the yellow biscuit stuff is also the best for the RP18's.
Stock, both variants come with 2 layers, but I prefer to use one layer of yellow and one much larger layer of arctic cotton behind it, basically wide enough to fill the cup to absorb reflections.
Just that and the usual vibration absorbing stuff like sorbothane is all I need to do inside them to get them singing.

@iQEM - I don't think I like the look of those Koss pads very much... but it's probably worth my time buying a couple of different sizes at some point though if they're so cheap. I havn't checked EU prices for a while.
I may check them out at some point.

 

[GREQ]

Wish I could do that. I'm close to a big selloff ( I think ) but have been saying that for a long time now.

Hah, you're not alone there.