[7keys]

Quote:

My technique probably differs from the rest of you guys since I am using a shopsmith power station with the lathe setup, and an improvised setup involving a drill press chuck and forstner bits to hollow the wood. I don't mill the center out with anything but the forstner bit, and adjust the offset of it to widen the openings.

I will do a single shot video of my work when I do my next cups in Honduran rosewood so you guys can see how easy the shopsmith makes this!

 
I'd like to see that, thanks.

 

[kvtaco17]

stripping cups to refinish them is a pain, just fyi lol

 

[7keys]

Quote:

I find it interesting that people don't seem to play more with the selfsame tone woods as found in guitars. Mahogany is, after all, an incredibly popular choice for guitars where thick sustain is desired and forms the body of many a rock guitar. Then there are people who prefer basswood. I don't think its a particularly good looking wood, but it's easier to work with and gives a warmer sound. Maple can be used and can have stunning grains but a brighter sound. It's rarely used as the main body of guitars because of this, as well its weight. However, it is common to the necks of electric guitars and as a cap over mahogany to add some sparkle to the top end (and some snazzy sunburst stains). Ebony is also a common fretboard wood. Both are brighter, ebony seeiming like a sweet spot on higher-end guitars between maple and rosewood with Rosewood being a more popular choice for a mellower sound. On the Fender side, many of their guitars are made of ash if I recall correctly, swamp ash being the most prized. Has a stunning grain and is the lightest of the guitar tone woods IIRC.

What about... Doing the inners out of some nice mahogany and then outer part with a "cap" of maple? That would be like a Gibson Les Paul of Grado cups

. Or an outer cap of spaltted wood? Fews grains are more beautiful, IMO.. And curly, flamed and birdeye maples? Wow. So many beautiful woods out there to experiment with.

 
I've seen cups made out of almost all of the woods you mention except swamp ash. 

 

[kvtaco17]

So, I need a new project. My sound targets are...
 
the breathy treble and soundstage of the audio technica ad900x
the midrange of the rs1
and the bass response of the ps500
 
must be super light over ear goodness
 
I'm thinking I may start with magnum drivers, and the padouk cups I'm getting soon...
 
probably use the g-cush, dampen the driver... that should get me most of the way there, minus the bottom end.
 
any thoughts on other drivers or venting the magnums?

 

[MetalHealth30]

Quote:

So, I need a new project. My sound targets are...
 
the breathy treble and soundstage of the audio technica ad900x
the midrange of the rs1
and the bass response of the ps500
 
must be super light over ear goodness
 
I'm thinking I may start with magnum drivers, and the padouk cups I'm getting soon...
 
probably use the g-cush, dampen the driver... that should get me most of the way there, minus the bottom end.
 
any thoughts on other drivers or venting the magnums?

From what I've heard, g-cush should make the bottom end hard to achieve. I personally find my magnums with plenty of bass using quarter modded 414 pads, but the comfort leaves something to be desired. Maybe you could start with that and try to make pads that are both comfortable and bassy? Iirc the closer to the ear the driver is the more bass.

 

[kvtaco17]

I've put g-cush on plenty of grados... my ps500 lives with them lol. I've even made a bassy 225i with g-cushions... I'm looking more for what driver to use. I felt the v5 was bass lite when I had them. However I did vent the one working driver I still have and it sounded close to what I want.
 
Has anyone vented a magnum driver?
 

 

[hatefulsandwich]

I've seen cups made out of almost all of the woods you mention except swamp ash. 

I suppose it's more that I'm surprised that people don't take what they've learnt from tone woods with guitars and applied them to the Grado cups. I mean, sure, people probably have, and there's only so much difference material is going to make. If you play a basswood guitar for someone and then a mahogany one, they're going to be hard-pressed to tell the difference unless they know what to listen for. And of course the amount of wood in a guitar is substantially more than that of an earphone cup.

How about Purpleheart? Looks like you'd get some stunning cups out of that.

 

[7keys]

Quote:

I suppose it's more that I'm surprised that people don't take what they've learnt from tone woods with guitars and applied them to the Grado cups. I mean, sure, people probably have, and there's only so much difference material is going to make. If you play a basswood guitar for someone and then a mahogany one, they're going to be hard-pressed to tell the difference unless they know what to listen for. And of course the amount of wood in a guitar is substantially more than that of an earphone cup.

How about Purpleheart? Looks like you'd get some stunning cups out of that.

 
 People have taken what they've learnt from stringed instruments, that's the first place to look to find info on tone-woods, you can't find that info any where else? I'm sure everyone here who is making cups has spent a lot of time studying the tonal qualities of tone-woods. 
 
Check out martincustomaudio you'll see cups made out of every tone-wood under the sun.
 
I don't know where you got this idea. 

 

[7keys]

Quote:

 
 
Has anyone vented a magnum driver?
 

 
What do you mean by vent?

 

[fleasbaby]

He means the barbaric practice of taking a ball-point pen to your Grado/Magnum drivers and putting holes in the felt that you see on their backs, around the magnet. The holes correspond with the holes you see when you hold the driver up to the light.

I've only heard of someone putting holes in an aluminum cup, wood sleeve build with 4 or 3.5 Magnums (I forget) to mimic the PS500 sound.

Some of the higher end Grados come with a few holes from the factory.

 

[7keys]

Quote:

He means the barbaric practice of taking a ball-point pen to your Grado/Magnum drivers and putting holes in the felt that you see on their backs, around the magnet. The holes correspond with the holes you see when you hold the driver up to the light.

I've only heard of someone putting holes in an aluminum cup, wood sleeve build with 4 or 3.5 Magnums (I forget) to mimic the PS500 sound.

Some of the higher end Grados come with a few holes from the factory.

 
 
Right! Well yes, I punched four holes in both my SR60I and Magnum V4's , I was a little afraid to punch any more.
 
I've had my Magnums for about a year and am still very impressed with them..........but I wanted a little more bass out of them. Punching holes didn't give me the bass I want. 
 
Right now I have a Fostex T50RP that I'm modding hoping to get a bass heavy can to complement my Magnums. 

 

[fleasbaby]

I always think about doing it, but chicken out

I run my Grados out of a Graham Slee Voyager at the moment, so anytime I want some bass I hit the contour switch. Makes it nice and rich. Senn pads also make a nice difference, bit it's less clean.

 

[MetalHealth30]

What pads are most people running with their magnums? Just curious, I wanna know if I should try something else. Currently using senn quarter modded pads.

 

[joseph69]

I don't have magnums, but I use the (L) cushions on my 80's and 325's and have also used the (S) and (quarter modded (S) and (G) cushions, and found the (L) to the the nicest sound for me.

 

[pallentx]

L Cush here. I honestly don't hear that much difference between the L Cush and Senns with the Quarter mod. A little more space, but its a subtle difference. I like the comfort of the L Cush a lot more the flat pads irritate my ears after a while.