Orthodynamic Roundup

[No_One411]

Fostex T20 Professional Studio Headphones - eBay (item 330327467080 end time May-10-09 18:54:39 PDT)

Ok seriously? Whats with the sudden influx of people who bid every 2 seconds? This would have gone for way lower if it wasn't for that one bidder who bumped up the price.

 

[ericj]

Given the timing, i wonder if it's the seller's buddy (or one of the seller's other accounts) shilling it up.

 

[wualta]

No, the winning bidder put in a very high bid early today and it looks like the other guy kept probing to see just how high the bid that was beating him was. I don't think there was any shill bidding going on. Maybe some revenge...

A YH-100 for ~ $31 shipped! Shades of 2006! Hope it was somebody here or somebody who will soon show up here.

We finally found out why Joop's and JadeEast's HP-1s have "keepers" on the magnets, thanks to a new HFer named Komi. Turns out they're an on-the-fly production upgrade that gave 2dB more efficiency. The model was still called HP-1 but the upgraded version came in a black box with white lettering rather than a silver box with black lettering, and the magnets are termed anisotropic. So far, the box appears to be the only way to tell which version you've got until you can get a look at the magnets. Everything else about the HP-1v2 looks the same, but is it? We won't know until we can find someone with both versions, or until someone lends JadeEast an HP-1v1.

Kabeer, who scared all of this information up, should be frantically cramming it all into the HP-1 entry on F2D's Wikiphonia very soon.

[size=xx-small]PHOTO BY KOMI[/size]

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[No_One411]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, the winning bidder put in a very high bid early today and it looks like the other guy kept probing to see just how high the bid that was beating him was. I don't think there was any shill bidding going on. Maybe some revenge... A YH-100 for ~ $31 shipped! Shades of 2006! Hope it was somebody here or somebody who will soon show up here. We finally found out why Joop's and JadeEast's HP-1s have "keepers" on the magnets, thanks to a new HFer named Komi. Turns out they're an on-the-fly production upgrade that gave 2dB more efficiency. The model was still called HP-1 but the upgraded version came in a black box with white lettering rather than a silver box with black lettering, and the magnets are termed anisotropic. So far, the box appears to be the only way to tell which version you've got until you can get a look at the magnets. Everything else about the HP-1v2 looks the same, but is it? We won't know until we can find someone with both versions, or until someone lends JadeEast an HP-1v1. Kabeer, who scared all of this information up, should be frantically cramming it all into the HP-1 entry on F2D's Wikiphonia very soon.

Cool. So this HP-1a is the version that has a driver that is very similar to the YH-100?

Btw, its amazing what you can find at garage sales... First a Realistic Pro 30, now a YH-1 that I was able to snap up for 25 bucks. Seems alright, considering the pads are almost worn out and the headband is snapped in more places then one.
It does have a bigger problem though, caused by myself. For some reason, its screws were "stuck". I damaged two while trying to open up the earcups. Does anybody know of a place where I can find replacement screws? I read somewhere in this thread that they were hard to find, but its always good to ask.

 

[wualta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by No_One411 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Cool. So this HP-1a is the version that has a driver that is very similar to the YH-100?

No, I was careful not to use the name HP-1a. Keep in mind that even though by now all the ultrarare Yamahas have turned up, we still haven't seen so much as a photograph of an HP-1a. All we have is an early brochure and a test report from a reviewer at about the same time the HP-1 was being introduced. I'm beginning to think the 1a never existed or it was simply blended into the 1. In any case, the 1 and 1a specs are identical, and drawings of the 1a driver from that old brochure show the square holes I saw in an HP-2 awhile back and no metal plates on the magnets.

 

[JadeEast]

Now what am I going to do with that bonus 2db?
Cool info, thanks to the source!

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta /img/forum/go_quote.gif Keep in mind that even though by now all the ultrarare Yamahas have turned up, we still haven't seen so much as a photograph of an HP-1a.

We do have this blurry photo of the HP-1A from the old review. The old man looks happy but confused. What is he thinking?

 

[wualta]

Hee hee. That's the late Hans Fantel, Austrian-born US reviewer of audio and other electronics for general-readership magazines and newspapers, thinking he'd better get a move on because the article he's working on is a review of 17 headphones. I know I'd feel the pressure.

Because of that, some of his statements are obviously taken from brochures and press releases, including the one we have on the HP-1A and HP-2 (but not the HP-3). Is he really wearing an HP-1A? I'd want to see a closeup of the metal arch to be sure.

Notice that he gets the operation of a standard electrostatic headphone exactly backwards. Keep in mind that the article's intended audience couldn't care less.

.

 

[Faust2D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by No_One411 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Cool. So this HP-1a is the version that has a driver that is very similar to the YH-100?

YH-100 has focusing metal plates on the driver, like YH-1000, I have never seen YH-1 or HP-1 with metal plates, except for that strange picture that JadeEast posted some time ago.

I am going to go on the limb here and say that I suspect that strange HP-1 drivers might actually be YH-100 drivers that Yamaha put in when they had too many of them or something similar. There was no real version just parts overflow. Like that story with Grado HP-100 and HP-1.

 

[wualta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faust2D I have never seen YH-1 or HP-1 with metal plates, except for that strange picture that JadeEast posted some time ago.

Don't forget Joop Nijenhuis' photos. He's always insisted that his was an honest-to-goodness HP-1.


I can understand your reluctance to believe in the HP-1 Anisotropic (should we call it "HP-1v2" ?), but you won't stop us from putting it up on the Wiki, will you?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by JadeEast Now what am I going to do with that bonus 2db?

Enjoy the 2dB greater headroom of your amp; listen 2dB louder; show up at meets and say that HP-1 is all very well, but yours goes to twelve; watch the batteries in your portable amp last 2dB longer; go out and buy new cables capable of handling the lower, therefore cleaner, power; start an exclusive HP-1v2 club; there's no end to the fun you can have with an HP-1v2. If I were you, I'd take more "strange" pictures of yours, just to confound the unbelievers.

P.S. : YH-100 drivers are 2dB more efficient than the HP-1v2's.

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

Speaking of fun, according to the Telefunken catalog, the TH700 that Wualta dislikes so much was well received in Stereoplay 4/80 "Phantastisch linearer Frequenzgang - ausgewogenes Klangbild".

 

[bjarnetv]

some more T30 updates.
got it back from kabeer, who had added heavier damping to it bringing the treble up.
now this might be my memory playing tricks on me, or maybe my ears are now adjusted to the amfiton, but with the heavy damping instead of the moderate damping, the midbass was totally overpowering the midrange, turning them into the ortho equivalent of the DT770

the added damping also took away some of the headstage, combining with the midbass hump to make them feel really claustrophobic.

after listening to kabeers advice, i took of the stock pads in search for a felt lens similar to the one on the t50. unlike the one on the t50 though, it was just glued on to the dustcover underneath the pads, so no serious surgery was needed to remove it.

removing the stock pads (leaving only the circum pads) and the felt lens really did help a lot, and the midbass hump is gone!
comfort is doubled (no sweaty T30 pad!) the deep bass increased slightly, mids and highs are up, and the soundstage is back.
still not as airy as it was with lighter damping, but the added treble from removing the lens should allow me to remove some felt layers and regain some air

overall, the biggest positive change i have heard in a ortho mod to date. if you own a T30, manhandle that felt lens off the driver and replace the pads right now, before your family leaves you!

 

[Faust2D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta /img/forum/go_quote.gif Don't forget Joop Nijenhuis' photos. He's always insisted that his was an honest-to-goodness HP-1. I can understand your reluctance to believe in the HP-1v2, but you won't stop us from putting it up on the Wiki, will you? Enjoy the 2dB greater headroom of your amp; listen 2dB louder; show up at meets and say that HP-1 is all very well, but yours goes to twelve; watch the batteries in your portable amp last 2dB longer; go out and buy new cables capable of handling the lower, therefore cleaner, power; start an exclusive HP-1v2 club; there's no end to the fun you can have with an HP-1v2. If I were you, I'd take more "strange" pictures of yours, just to confound the unbelievers. P.S. : YH-100 drivers are 2dB more efficient than the HP-1v2's.

It's not that I do not believe in it

It is more like I think it's not really a version, but just liberal use of various parts they had at the factory. But yeah put it on the wiki, people need to know the truth*.

"Hey we run out of HP-1 drivers, but have a lot of these YH-100 drivers should we just put them in? Sure, not one will even know."

I am exaggerating, but I think something on the that level happened as it was not an official improved version but more a shift to new production line before it was replaced with YH-1 and sold for a lot less money.

[size=xx-small]*To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, is true

[/size]

 

[Kabeer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjarnetv /img/forum/go_quote.gif some more T30 updates. got it back from kabeer, who had added heavier damping to it bringing the treble up. now this might be my memory playing tricks on me, or maybe my ears are now adjusted to the amfiton, but with the heavy damping instead of the moderate damping, the midbass was totally overpowering the midrange, turning them into the ortho equivalent of the DT770 .......... .... overall, the biggest positive change i have heard in a ortho mod to date. if you own a T30, manhandle that felt lens off the driver and replace the pads right now, before your family leaves you!

It is definately you adjusting to the Amfitons, as before I added that damping the bass was even more monster, permeating the rest of the spectrum, I didnt damp it soo much as I thought that was the signature you wanted, so I damped it to keep as much bass as you had, and bring up treble.

Glad the donut/pad mod I recomended worked, I had a big feeling it would

.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Faust2D /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's not that I do not believe in it It is more like I think it's not really a version, but just liberal use of various parts they had at the factory. "Hey we run out of HP-1 drivers, bu have a lot of these YH-100 drivers should we just put them in? Sure, not one will even know." I am exaggerating, but I think something on the that level happened as it was not an official improved version but more a shift to new production line before it was replaced with YH-1 and sold for a lot less money.

Well, if this is the case, they wouldnt have bothered creating a new box, and specifying Anisotropic Ferrite box specs.
Also the anisotropic version has different efficiency than the YH-100 (which ok, could be false, knowing Yamaha's inconsistencies)

 

[Faust2D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kabeer /img/forum/go_quote.gif . Well, if this is the case, they wouldnt have bothered creating a new box, and specifying Anisotropic Ferrite box specs. Also the anisotropic version has different efficiency than the YH-100 (which ok, could be false, knowing Yamaha's inconsistencies)

Well I am not saying that they did not make a new production run with different box. I am saying I think they did not really attempt to make an new and improved HP-1, more like used the parts from YH-100 that was now in production, before killing the HP-1/2/3 line and starting YH-1/2/3 (selling for less money) line.