[wualta]

Quote:

I like how they can be taken apart without any tools, though. I decided to change the damping and this little intricacy came to mind. No stripped threads... ever! Such a breeze to work on. 

One of the things us old radio guys noticed when first encountering the HD 414  40 years ago. You could completely disassemble the headphone "in the field" without tools and get replacement parts from Sennheiser. Needless to say, we were very impressed. This kind of construction makes modding a snap.
 
Har. Snap joke.

 

[MDR30]

Regarding the Sennheiser HD535 (and equally the HD565, 580, 600 and 650):
 
Quote:

I like how they can be taken apart without any tools, though. I decided to change the damping and this little intricacy came to mind. No stripped threads... ever! Such a breeze to work on.

Quote:

One of the things us old radio guys noticed when first encountering the HD 414  40 years ago. You could completely disassemble the headphone "in the field" without tools and get replacement parts from Sennheiser. Needless to say, we were very impressed.

 
Even more important, it makes assembly quick and efficient = cheaper production. The HP50 strikes me as another genious construction regarding number of parts and ease of assembly. And good styling too! (Even if Bellini wasn't involved... or was he?) Few headphones have impressed me like this one in almost all aspects, from design to sound.
 

 

[avid2010]

that photo looks familiar, almost forgot about it. The HP50a/s are my all time favorite as it was a joy to mod and whenever I need to go portable.
 
Though I'm still wondering how I can successfully mod the YHE50 without damaging the clips...
 

 

[vid]

Damping with bubble wrap? Why not?
 
The blue line in this raw response graph is the left HP-50S driver stock, i.e. damped with foam. The black line is with one layer of thin bubble wrap added against the back of the cup (doesn't cover the vents) + the stock foam on top.

 
Same for the right driver. Salmon pink line is stock; black line is with two layers of bubble wrap + a thin polyester disc on top (the right side on my pair is a bit more bassy than the left).

 
The channel balance isn't quite as good as before, but the sound is better. The soundstage isn't as overly compressed and dead, which gives a more lively sound. I like it.

 

[MDR30]

 

 
 
Quote:

that photo looks familiar, almost forgot about it. The HP50a/s are my all time favorite as it was a joy to mod and whenever I need to go portable.
 
Though I'm still wondering how I can successfully mod the YHE50 without damaging the clips...
 

 
Sorry avid2010, I didn't keep notes of your "toothbrush" post! You should have gotten a credit for the illuminating photo:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/111193/orthodynamic-roundup/17925#post_7767209
 
What's your portable rig? I'll post a pic of mine later on.

 

[roBernd]

I was wondering how you guys power your Yamahas... so far the best thing I tried was a beefy cmoy on steroids.
 
Weren't they designed to run at 1W? (HP-50s variants?)

 

[wualta]

I ran my YH-100 from a simple Cmoy with bass boost and everything. Pretty darn good, I thought. I was impressed. Would an hulking STA-2200 be even better? sure. So get one of each, and use them where appropriate.

 

[vid]

These orthos... no good for the tinkering OCD.
 
The HP-50S run fine out of my '80s Technics integrated, which was a budget model then and now.

 

[avid2010]

Quote:

 
Sorry avid2010, I didn't keep notes of your "toothbrush" post! You should have gotten a credit for the illuminating photo:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/111193/orthodynamic-roundup/17925#post_7767209
 
What's your portable rig? I'll post a pic of mine later on.

no apologies needed, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the photo as I had totally forgotten about it, it was the first ortho that I bought
 
Just took some quick photos of my portable rig with the HP50a/s siblings...
 

 

 

[kalbee]

Since this thread has a good amount of DIY involved, may I ask those that have previously used dynamic headphones as shells how they removed the drivers?
Finally decided I'd try to use the shell of my SJ5 to house them SFI drivers but ah... did not realize it was this difficult to take them off; the driver is glued really solid on the baffle.
Ideally if I can remove the drivers without destroying them (not likely considering the voice coils exposed on one end), but otherwise keeping the baffle intact is my main priority.
 
Guess the MDR-XD200 would have been a fun shell to play with (with the movable bass port too) but the plastic construction is way too loose and loud to allow for music enjoyment.

 

[Armaegis]

Quote:

Since this thread has a good amount of DIY involved, may I ask those that have previously used dynamic headphones as shells how they removed the drivers?

 
Carefully. With a sharp and thin knife. 
 

 
More lunacy here... http://www.head-fi.org/t/554183/ortho-transplant-fostex-t40v1-driver-into-phiaton-ps-500-many-pics

 

[vid]

Starting to enjoy the HP-50S. Not sure why.
 
The soundstage is a bit off - seems like there's a sweet spot in the center but the rest is out of focus. A somewhat confused sound that doesn't work very well with multi-layered songs.
 
Yet they're somewhat (-ish) (a) quick, (b) detailed, and (c) neutral.
 
A confused yet responsive sound... I don't know. But they keep me up all hours.

 

[nick n]

Quote:

Starting to enjoy the HP-50S. Not sure why.
... I don't know. But they keep me up all hours.

that's a great sign I think.

 

[kalbee]

Quote:

 
Carefully. With a sharp and thin knife. 
 

 
More lunacy here... http://www.head-fi.org/t/554183/ortho-transplant-fostex-t40v1-driver-into-phiaton-ps-500-many-pics

Thanks!
Persevered and finally cut through and got the drivers out! now to gut the other headphones in case the first just doesn't fit.
Only to find out the SFI drivers are still giving clamping issues (thought it was more or less fixed previously).
Got to fix that again.

 

[leeperry]

Is there any way to disassemble the yamie cups and metal headband? I'm kinda very much tempted to give them a glossy white stormtroopish twist