[Jun Raito]

Two years ago I bought RP-HTX7 in Akihabara, Japan (such good headphone is nearly impossible to find in my country). I bought that one based on many positive reviews on the net. So I got it, my first monitor headphone...It sounds good, bright and punchy, more worthy than its price.

One years later my headhone got dead due cabling issues. After suceed change the plug, it revives again. After that I just got curious about recabling and modding headphone. So I searching on the net about headphone recabling and modding then found Sunneebear's post about modding RP-HTX7. Modding is so interesting if I can add values on this cheap and weary headphone.

First thing I do is recabling my RP-HTX7 using Canare L2T2S. My skills at soldering is still not good, so I decided to pay an expert to do this. After recabling, I found that my headphone become louder (due the smaller impedance).Thanks to Sunneebear, I just got the idea about modding RP-HTX7 driver. I tried another configurations, in searching best combination of driver airflow possible. It's not just about electricity, it' is about headphone's architecture and airflow inside it.

After 2 weeks of modding and several trials, finally I got an ultimate version of RP-HTX7. The hard work is so rewarding and unbelievable. I don't have another headphone to compare with, so I just asking opinion about this mod to my audiophile friends. Here I'm gonna share my final configuration to unleash RP-HTX7 true potent.

Materials and tools:

For materials I'm using 3M Micropore, Scotch Tape and some foam from unused earmuff (has good noise absorbing)


Here is my concept about airflow inside RP-HTX7:


This is my latest modding concept:



Impedance from original RP-HTX 7 cable still needed to control membrane power.

How to Make these "seal":

1. Open the hole using screw driver (beware not to damage driver membrane inside)


2. Cover it using Scotch Tape



3. Make a tiny hole using a needle ( I was using a needle from a pair of compass), (beware not to damage driver membrane inside)


4. Make 0.5 cm foam box (four times: two for upper, two for bass)


5. Put it over the tiny hole



6. Seal it using 3M Micropore



7. Strengthen the seal using Scotch Tape/ duct tape, so it won't easily teared off.

After done these mod, I am widening mini holes (Air Intake) on the body using compass's needle (just a little bit).



Review from me personally:
The Bass is deeper, nicer, softer and not punchy anymore. Middle is so clear and nice. High/upper mid is clear, but still little spiky sometimes (fix that later). Got amazed with improved clarity, staging, and timing.

Update: The final driver configuration in page 2

 

[Jun Raito]

There is some tips about advancing the mod based on my concept:
 
1. Cabling using larger cable = Less Impedance = More powerful membrane movement = More Airflow = More hole needed to maintain it's clarity.
 
2. Volume of foam = Sound intensity absorbed
 
3. Control bass, mid, and high/upper based on it's section (look my concept about airflow in RP-HTX7). Opening hole at each sector will add more it's intensity/clarity. Closing it with 3M micropore will make it an airflow tunnel. Closing it using duct tape will make it as membrane (not recommended, will add unwanted white noise). Seal it using foam will diminishing intensity (good for controlling excess parameter)
 
4. Diameter of the Driver will affect depth of bass, since it will allow more air traveling distance (based my airflow concept)

 

[Jun Raito]

Quote:

High/upper mid is clear, but still little spiky sometimes (fix that later).

 
SOLVED, somehow it got softer over time...

 

[Jun Raito]

===UPDATE (IMPORTANT)===
 
New Ear Pads (custom) was added!!!
 

 
 
 
Review: Suddenly my RP-HTX7 became so bright and harsh, the great sound vanished..... So I found some more important facts about RP-HTX7:
 
1. RP-HTX 7 has a great quality driver, but sounded bright and harsh due excess of high frequency sound (at 12 ~ 14 kHz). Once it got right amounts and position of driver holes, it will naturally balanced and unleash its potential: more clarity, more timing, more panning, and more music liveliness. Right amounts of driver holes totally depends on cable impendance .I guess it's about 2~3 driver holes for standard RP-HTX7, 4 driver holes for partial recabled RP-HTX7 ( Canare L-2T2S + default RP-HTX7 cable, like the image above), and 5~6 for fully recabled RP-HTX7 ( Canare L-2T2S + Canare-282AT or Canare L-2T2S ). Fully recabled RP-HTX7 sounded awesome, but become dangerous due excess air movement that may blow your ears. Then I found that partial recabled RP-HTX7 has the best and balanced presets.
 
2. The Mod I' ve  done before, only works without ear pads. The distance between driver and ear will add "brightness", which means thinner ear pads will works better on this headphone. Without ear pads, the RP-HTX7 has very awesome sounds but the sound isolation is bad and feels like bear trap overtime . That's why I am doing some adjustment for my new ear pads now.
 
3. Remember the default RP-HTX7 driver holes preset?
 

[picture taken from suneebear's thread]
 
Each hole is epicentrum of it's own parameter (from the left to the right of image: bass, middle, high frequencies).
 
 
Here is some tracks in my playlist which used to monitor each RP-HTX7's parameter:
 
She - " Atomic " - mp3, 320 kbps (bass, sub bass, middle, panning, timing)
She - " Chiptek " - mp3, 320 kbps (bass, sub bass, middle, high freq, panning, timing)
She - " tokyo nights " - mp3, 320 kbps (bass, sub bass, middle, high freq, panning, timing)
Digitalism - " Pogo " - mp3, 320 kbps (bass, sub bass, middle, high mid, high freq)
M83 - " Midnight city" - mp3, 320 kbps (high mids, high frequency)
Dream Theater - " 6:00 " - mp3, 320 kbps (overall quality,  soundstage)
E.S Posthumus - " Ebla " - FLAC (overall quality, panning, clarity, timing)
E.S Posthumus - " Nineveh " - FLAC (overall quality, panning, clarity, soundstage)
Jon Brion - " Little Person " - mp3, 128 kbps (sub bass, bass, middle, soundstage)
Royksopp - " Sombre Detune " - FLAC (bass, sub bass, high frequency)
Mondo Grosso - " Still in the rain " - mp3, 128 kbps (panning, bass)
Skankfunk - "Anthem 4 Pipe Dreams" - mp3, 320 kbps (bass, sub bass, panning)
Skrillex - "First of the Year Equinox" - mp3, 320 kbps (overall quality)
Skrillex - "First of the Year Equinox (JMD Remix)" - mp3, 320 kbps (bass, sub bass, timing)
Mondo Grosso - " FACE (M.G. 2.7 Stepped Mix-Edit) " - mp3, 256 kbps (bass, sub bass, panning, timing)
Beethoven (Pianno Concerto and Sonata by Gulda) - " Beethoven Klaviersonate No.8 in C minor, Op.13 - Rondo-Allegro" - ape (clarity, soundstage)
Beethoven (Pianno Concerto and Sonata by Gulda) - " Beethoven Klaviersonate No.14 in C# minor, Op.27 No.2 - Presto agitato " - ape (clarity, soundstage)
 
I hope next time, I'll post the final results of this mod.

 

[johnnycab]

great thread, very well done!
 
how did you make those ear-pads?
 

 

[Jun Raito]

Quote:

great thread, very well done!
 
how did you make those ear-pads?
 

 
Good question......
 
One day, the default ear pads teared off due usage hours. Just put the "donuts" on your ear then put the RP-HTX7 still will do...
But unfortunately, I just dropped one pad somewhere, and never seen the dropped pad anymore. Since finding replacement parts is costly and likely impossible in my country, I tried to make one...
The custom pads may don't have the best sound isolation, but you could make your own experiment about best material that can be used (design and color too!)
 
Some wise men says that a drawing can told more than thousand words...So here is some scrappy instructional drawing for you

 

 
Materials and Tools used:
1. Any cloth or fabric that you favored ( I used a flexible cotton type )
2. Any Thread
3. Any Needle
4. Some Fleece (like a plush toys/ pillow  filling)
5. Sharp scissors (for cutting the fabric/cloth)
 
How To Do:
 
#1  Make pattern on cloth/fabric.
#2  Cut the pattern.
#3  Fold, then sew it into tubular shape.
#4  Reverse the side, so the stitch become unnoticeable.
#5  Fill it using some fleece
#6  Bent it into ring shape, (make the right size, compare it with RP-HTX7 size, then cut the excess length) then sew its end point
#7  Last thing is sew and tie it tightly into RP-HTX7 ear pads part using thread.
 
[My momma help me doing these sewing parts (using a sewing machine at step #4), and step #6

]
 
Hopefully it'll gonna being like this:
 

 

 
Looking good eh? Everything is perfect except the sound quality which has an excess parameter at high frequency.
I thought ear pads design is truly an important matter that gonna affect the overall sound quality.....(Just look at great headphone designs, the ear pads part must be designed pretty seriously)
That's why currently I do some adjustment like this:
 

 
This adjustment is made especially for RP-HTX7 (Just look at "angled" driver position on driver part, soon you gonna get a clue). After doing these adjustment, the pads become more comfortable with good sound isolation and more important, the mod likely works very well, the tiring high freq has gone/ reduced greatly! ......
Due my business, maybe the mod will be completed about one week or two weeks later.....Just wait the update!!!

 

[Jun Raito]

Quote:

Here is some tracks in my playlist which used to monitor each RP-HTX7's parameter:
 
She - " Atomic " - mp3, 320 kbps (bass, sub bass, middle, panning, timing)
She - " Chiptek " - mp3, 320 kbps (bass, sub bass, middle, high freq, panning, timing)
She - " tokyo nights " - mp3, 320 kbps (bass, sub bass, middle, high freq, panning, timing)
Digitalism - " Pogo " - mp3, 320 kbps (bass, sub bass, middle, high mid, high freq)
M83 - " Midnight city" - mp3, 320 kbps (high mids, high frequency)
Dream Theater - " 6:00 " - mp3, 320 kbps (overall quality,  soundstage)
E.S Posthumus - " Ebla " - FLAC (overall quality, panning, clarity, timing)
E.S Posthumus - " Nineveh " - FLAC (overall quality, panning, clarity, soundstage)
Jon Brion - " Little Person " - mp3, 128 kbps (sub bass, bass, middle, soundstage)
Royksopp - " Sombre Detune " - FLAC (bass, sub bass, high frequency)
Mondo Grosso - " Still in the rain " - mp3, 128 kbps (panning, bass)
Skankfunk - "Anthem 4 Pipe Dreams" - mp3, 320 kbps (bass, sub bass, panning)
Skrillex - "First of the Year Equinox" - mp3, 320 kbps (overall quality)
Skrillex - "First of the Year Equinox (JMD Remix)" - mp3, 320 kbps (bass, sub bass, timing)
Mondo Grosso - " FACE (M.G. 2.7 Stepped Mix-Edit) " - mp3, 256 kbps (bass, sub bass, panning, timing)
Beethoven (Pianno Concerto and Sonata by Gulda) - " Beethoven Klaviersonate No.8 in C minor, Op.13 - Rondo-Allegro" - ape (clarity, soundstage)
Beethoven (Pianno Concerto and Sonata by Gulda) - " Beethoven Klaviersonate No.14 in C# minor, Op.27 No.2 - Presto agitato " - ape (clarity, soundstage)
 

 
For anyone that still not knowing about what sound quality parameters are:
 
Frequency Ranges:
 

[dang, I forgot the source....]
 
Soundstage and panning can be tested on this kind of video:

Headphone Test - Luigi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5X9oUNSYyE
 
Hope this gonna be handy 

 

 

[Dyaems]

very nice bro! props to you =)

 

[Mheat122134]

Nice!

 

[Jun Raito]

Quote:

very nice bro! props to you =)

 
Quote:

Nice!

 
My pleasure sir...

 

[navii]

Love your little sketches!

 

[kalbee]

Good stuff man! And that drawing is gold.

Another way you can make rounded earpads is you can cut out two donuts of approximate size you want, with the exterior face facing each other, sow around the hole in the middle. Once that is done, flip one of the sides over from the hole in the middle. Get your filler, and sow the external edge of the donut

 

[wje]

This is a great thread. It shows how a bit of experimenting and a bit of time can really go towards bringing out the best in a headphone. It seems the manufacturer is too quick to properly resolve some items with the build, so they rush them to market so they can start making money. Yet, there are many ways that they could have made the headphone so much better. Then, we have the issue of the manufacturer not making the most out of their offering because they don't want to hurt sales of their higher priced items. But, by unlocking these "hidden secrets" you've basically beat a company at their own game. You've achieved a great sounding headphone, even though you purchased one of their lower offerings.

I've experienced this myself with Sennheiser and Fostex.

 

[Jun Raito]

Quote:

Love your little sketches!

 
Quote:

Good stuff man! And that drawing is gold.
Another way you can make rounded earpads is you can cut out two donuts of approximate size you want, with the exterior face facing each other, sow around the hole in the middle. Once that is done, flip one of the sides over from the hole in the middle. Get your filler, and sow the external edge of the donut

 
Thanks for the compliment. Back then, drawing is kind of my routine at 2 years ago...http://junoatdeviant.deviantart.com/
Oh, I remember where the idea of making ear pads come from: http://www.head-fi.org/t/486173/custom-ear-pads-pics
 
Quote:

This is a great thread. It shows how a bit of experimenting and a bit of time can really go towards bringing out the best in a headphone. It seems the manufacturer is too quick to properly resolve some items with the build, so they rush them to market so they can start making money. Yet, there are many ways that they could have made the headphone so much better. Then, we have the issue of the manufacturer not making the most out of their offering because they don't want to hurt sales of their higher priced items. But, by unlocking these "hidden secrets" you've basically beat a company at their own game. You've achieved a great sounding headphone, even though you purchased one of their lower offerings.
I've experienced this myself with Sennheiser and Fostex.

 
Agreed, very agreed.....Once my wise economy lecturer said: "the price is only an imaginary thing on your head, what truly matters is value".
That's why I do and share my experience in this forum, hopefully this gonna helpful for anyone who wants added values at their headphones.
 
I've experienced that on Philips SHP 2700 (price around 30$ at my local shop),  just wondering why such crappy body used on such a good driver....
Just already seen some owned SHP 2700 headphones and found some of them cracking or broken....
 
Btw wje, you're sure an expert. I've seen that you've modded some headphones there and there....I'd love to learn one or two things from you (about Dynamat things especially)

 

[kalbee]

Quote:

 

 
Wonder what happened to my quoted content...
but nice stuff there!
In the event you'd want to make pads with something more like leather or pleather, the seam joining the tube into a ring might be felt on your skin. In that case you can try doing it this way (as below, doesn't it look kind of like donuts? )

Or as nick n graciously taught me how to start off: http://www.head-fi.org/t/111193/orthodynamic-roundup/19530#post_8286136
 
Loved those green pads in the custom pad thread