[warrenpchi]

Wow, so many modding ideas... this thread is turning five different flavors of awesome now! 

 

[Theta Alpha 1]

Well this thread seems to be coming along...
 
 
I can believe the AKG K701 impressions [that the A1000 may excel it] since that headphone doesn't have very good value or sound to start with, and was voted "most overrated" here once and so forth.
 
I can believe it surpasses the AD700 as well.  It seems like the A1000 is competing with the AD900X, but that one costs over $200, even though in Audio Technica terms it sounds like $400, they cut that in half after slashing the "Made In Japan" ethos, which was a perennial mistake.
 
It would be nice if it was compared to the Sony SA3000, which is one of the most popular headphones in Asia when it comes to price versus sound, but it doesn't seem to have much presence on head-fi, and a lot of users here seem to favour sub-bass levels a lot, which honestly are not all that vital in open-air full-sized headphones.  You'll never get very interesting bass from an open-air headphone, compared to a powerful in-ear monitor, or decent sub-woofer.

 

[Argyris]

Quote:

Well this thread seems to be coming along...
 
 
I can believe the AKG K701 impressions [that the A1000 may excel it] since that headphone doesn't have very good value or sound to start with, and was voted "most overrated" here once and so forth.
 
I can believe it surpasses the AD700 as well.  It seems like the A1000 is competing with the AD900X, but that one costs over $200, even though in Audio Technica terms it sounds like $400, they cut that in half after slashing the "Made In Japan" ethos, which was a perennial mistake.
 
It would be nice if it was compared to the Sony SA3000, which is one of the most popular headphones in Asia when it comes to price versus sound, but it doesn't seem to have much presence on head-fi, and a lot of users here seem to favour sub-bass levels a lot, which honestly are not all that vital in open-air full-sized headphones.  You'll never get very interesting bass from an open-air headphone, compared to a powerful in-ear monitor, or decent sub-woofer.

 
Audeze doesn't count? Sure, they're planar and not dynamic, and since I haven't personally heard an LCD-2 or LCD-3 I can't evaluate them personally, but I think there's sufficient consensus about their bass performance to challenge any assertion that open designs are incapable of authoritative (not necessarily enhanced) bass.

 

[Theta Alpha 1]

I've heard the LCD-2 and it has great bass indeed but it costs $1000 so it didn't really cross my mind.
 
 
The AD900X has very decent bass for a dynamic driver open-air but I think the lower mids to high treble should be the main focus with dynamic driver open-airs.  That's what the Sony SA3000 is focused on btw, mids and treble, a bit sharp with a specific flavour.
 
I'm also very interested in the Shure SRH-1440 since that's supposedly an open-air SRH-940, which has the most luscious mids ever, but then we're starting to talk $$.
 
I should add that closed-back headphones, while being more efficient at bass levels and extension, often is only the result of "capturing" the bass so it reflects into your ear, instead of escaping, which isn't exactly high quality bass if it's reflected.
 
Thus, open-air dynamics with bass do deserve credit for, not doing the above.

 

[gikigill]

Just tried the AD900X pads on these and those pads definitely improve the bass with more impact and a more rounded sound without losing any details.

 

[TekeRugburn]

K just finished all my mods and the bass has improved greatly. Definitely not bass monsters but the bass has improved in my eyes.

First put some dynamat behind the driver. Directly behind the magnet and around d the ring thing as shown. It helped with bass in general added a little mid bass thump and sub bass as well.

Next the driver baffle thing has a completely open space from the cups. So I closed it off with some electric tape as shown in the pics and definitely helped with the sub bass rumble. Still definitely not bass monsters but feels better to my ears.

Last did a dual entry mod with OFC wire to help with the slight channel imbalance. Also, added some weight to the bass and lower mids. Gave some body to the treble for its not as harsh and tinny.

Still left the original felt covers off so their was harshness in the treble but a over night burn of super bass heavy music tamed it down a bit. Will continue burning it in to see if it smoothes out even more.

Now these are still not bass monsters but the bass greatly improved to my ears.

 

[TekeRugburn]

From what u read the x1 is a bassheads open cans

 

[Argyris]

Is it possible that the dynamat also might have contributed to the better treble you heard because it improved the damping? The measurements for the SE-A1k showed a lot of ringing on the 300 Hz square wave and a noisy impulse, which usually indicates poor damping. I'd imagine if this ringing were cleaned up the treble would be of better quality, even if its overall level and contour aren't significantly altered.

 

[TekeRugburn]

Is it possible that the dynamat also might have contributed to the better treble you heard because it improved the damping? The measurements for the SE-A1k showed a lot of ringing on the 300 Hz square wave and a noisy impulse, which usually indicates poor damping. I'd imagine if this ringing were cleaned up the treble would be of better quality, even if its overall level and contour aren't significantly altered.

It might but dynamat isn't really meant for dampening. It's meant to reduce driver vibration/rattle. Something like foam or felt in the cups are meant to dampen the sound to reduce reverb and harshness. That's what I understood. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Maybe I'll put some silver stone acoustic foam to dampen the sound a bit.... Maybe on the inside of the ring where the dynamat is on the outside.






Edit:

Ended up putting some silverstone acoustic foam covering most of the silver plastic outlines on the inside of the cups. Thought those would be the most reflective part of the inside. Most of the harshness is gone I think. And with the felt cover removed along with the foam give it some good extension without the harshness for some nice sparkle.

 

[TekeRugburn]

Tested out some t50rp pads and they sounded like garbage. The pads were thick enough so it brought the drive to close to the ear I think. Everything sounded congested and soundstage shrunk considerably

 

[TekeRugburn]

Well tried out a warmer amp to see how it sounds. Did some listening with my friends project sunrise 2 amp.... Sounded quite amazing. Live vocals was the highlight of the session.

Well that's all I'll post for now as no one talks about these anymore.

 

[imagic]

Well tried out a warmer amp to see how it sounds. Did some listening with my friends project sunrise 2 amp.... Sounded quite amazing. Live vocals was the highlight of the session.

Well that's all I'll post for now as no one talks about these anymore.

If I've been off the thread it's because every time I get into a listening session with the SE-A1K I'm getting totally lost in the music. I'm using the Can Opener connected to my Pioneer Elite SC-55, and I'm finding the combination is very compelling. At this point I'd say I'm content with the bass quantity, if not utterly thrilled. Bass quality is very good, and that's where superior HP amping helped the most. I've found the highs settled down, a combination of break-in and better amplification deserves the credit. I got my third pair in, the one;s I plan on modding. Thank you for the exploration you've done already.

 

[NA Blur]

I could not find these results within this thread so I figured I would post a link:
 
Pioneer SE-A1000 Charts measured via Tyll Hetsens at Innerfidelity.com
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/PioneerSEA1000.pdf
 
The charts remind me a tad of a Grado headphones.  Flat in the midrange, slightly peaky in the treble, and some serious roll off in the bass.  This includes the strangely shaped square wave responses.
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/GradoSR60i.pdf
 
Heck if they are more comfortable than a Grado and sound similar it might be a great option for tons of people out there.

 

[Argyris]

Quote:

I could not find these results within this thread so I figured I would post a link:
 
Pioneer SE-A1000 Charts measured via Tyll Hetsens at Innerfidelity.com
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/PioneerSEA1000.pdf
 
The charts remind me a tad of a Grado headphones.  Flat in the midrange, slightly peaky in the treble, and some serious roll off in the bass.  This includes the strangely shaped square wave responses.
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/GradoSR60i.pdf
 
Heck if they are more comfortable than a Grado and sound similar it might be a great option for tons of people out there.

 
I posted them a short while ago. The main thing that concerns me is the ringing on the 300 Hz square wave and on the impulse. If we had CSD plots, this would likely show up as portions of the spectrum (most likely the peaks) that continue sounding well after the original impulse is halted. Ringing like that often results in edginess that can't be EQ'ed away.
 
Some people don't have a problem with this (e.g. Grado fans), but I'm quite sensitive to it. Therefore I'd really like to hear a headphone that measures like that before committing to it to make sure I can handle it. Sure I could just order it from some place like Amazon with a pretty liberal return policy, but I always feel guilty sending stuff back just because I don't like it. I've only ever done it twice (once with HeadRoom, from whom I later made a more expensive purchase to sort of make up for it; and once with Amazon), and it never felt right either time.

 

[imagic]

I posted them a short while ago. The main thing that concerns me is the ringing on the 300 Hz square wave and on the impulse. If we had CSD plots, this would likely show up as portions of the spectrum (most likely the peaks) that continue sounding well after the original impulse is halted. Ringing like that often results in edginess that can't be EQ'ed away.

Some people don't have a problem with this (e.g. Grado fans), but I'm quite sensitive to it. Therefore I'd really like to hear a headphone that measures like that before committing to it to make sure I can handle it. Sure I could just order it from some place like Amazon with a pretty liberal return policy, but I always feel guilty sending stuff back just because I don't like it. I've only ever done it twice (once with HeadRoom, from whom I later made a more expensive purchase to sort of make up for it; and once with Amazon), and it never felt right either time.

At this price, the guilt should be minimal.