[jonbmet]

  I have a set of Beyerdynamic DT-990 drivers for transplanting. I'm thinking of trying them in a set of Grado woodies. The drivers are 45 mm in diameter and 8 mm "thick."  
 
The PS-1000 drivers appear to match the diameter but how thick are they?
 
Thanks!

 
I know there are off-the-shelf woodies available, but I don't think it would cost that much more or be that much more difficult to have a custom set of cups turned specifically for your drivers. Just my two cents.

 

[White Lotus]

On a tangential note...trying reverse quarter-mod Sennheiser pads today and can't believe I didn't do this sooner.

Butt-ugly on my SR80 pinks, but soooooo coooooommmmffffyyyyyyyy....

 
Fabric dye to the rescue 

Works flawlessly with Sennheiser 414 pads!
 

 

 

 

[fleasbaby]

Thinking of that...also saw a guy selling them already modded and dyed on eBay...was just toying around finally trying them on a day off yesterday...definitely won't be discounting them as a serious option now.

 

[wje]

Not just any fabric dye.  RIT in the liquid form works best (in my experience).  I've tried other powder-based dyes from places like fabric stores.  Those others barely colored the foam at all.  RIT can be purchased at Walmart or most fabric stores for $3 to $4 a bottle.  I mix it as directed with very, very hot water.  I normally just use a red Solo cup, which can hold about 3 pair at a time.  I mix about 1/4 of the bottle of RIT in the cup with some very hot water that I heated on the stovetop.  Then, I place the pads in for a nice, warm bath.  I stir it up about every 15 minutes.   After 45 minutes, I remove the pads and start the rinse process.  About 15 rinses are required to remove any excess liquid dye.
 
I then move them onto a bath of white vinegar and cool water as I've read this works to set the dye and to prevent it from bleeding, etc.  I then rinse them some more, pat them dry with paper towels,and then let them rest and dry for about a day.
 
I ensure I have at least one latex or rubber glove around when doing the work.  If not, the dye will mess up your hands for several days.  Plus, when I do my work, I do it at the kitchen sink.  If dye drops into the sink, you can easily rinse it before it dries and no stains will remain.
 
As to buying the Sennheiser 414 pads, B&H Photo sells them for under $5.00 a pair, plus any associated shipping.  Just ordered 4 more pair myself a short bit ago.

 

[fleasbaby]

Brilliant, thanks for sharing Wayne...as always, an informative peek into the voodoo of Grado modding .
 
$5 is a bargain. I got had for mine. Paid $9 on eBay.

 

[wje]

More searching  40mm drivers has revealed some more options.
 
JVC XX Extreme Bass.  I think this combination might be dangerous.  Think of Beats meets Grado.  Granted, it's a closed can, but with a bass port.  Not sure how it would behave in a wooden cup, though.  The specs indicate it is capable down to 7Hz.  They only cost about $29.00 a pair.
 

 
Or, JVC HAS400B.  This is the closed headphone from JVC based on the Nanotube technology.  I've had the HAS400B as well as the HAS500B before.  The 400 has the 40mm drivers.  The 500 has the 50mm drivers.  Some say the upper frequencies are tipped up a bit on the 500.  I remember more about the 500 than I do the 400 as the 400 I only had for a few days.  I recall that the 500 had great bass as well as upper frequencies.  The mids seemed a bit lacking.  But, this might have been from the 50mm driver and the additional emphasis on upper frequencies.  Though, for the money (about $50 for the 500), I was impressed with what these were capable of.  What did I not like?  The fit.  The headphones had a tight fit and had the capability to squeeze your head quite hard.  For those who complain about the Grados not being comfortable, they'd really hate the JVC in its form unless they had a very small head.  The 400s run $39.99 and are local for me.
 
I think with the way the plastic baffle is designed, one could cut down the baffle with a Dremel and have it fall in the 45mm range for a better fit inside a wooden Grado cup.  I'm just not sure what would happen to the sound, though.  The rear of the drivers has similarities to others with the mesh on the back and some form of holes on the rear.
 

 

 
If I can get over to the store tomorrow, I might proceed with a purchase of these and give them a spin.  While their price falls between the Koss clip-ons and the PX100 II, I think the driver might be quite a bit better than that of the Koss, but still not sure about using it in an open cup design.
 
I should also jump on some of those $3.00 wonders from China.  I'm just not sure If I'm patient enough to wait 2 to 3 weeks.  But, on the other hand, I could then have a stack of projects to try with the Grado cups over the winter.  Since the 4 wooden cup samples are heading my way, I'll most likely use either the Sennheiser driver or possibly, the JVC HAS400b driver in the testing.  I'll have to give these some thought.  I've had the XX Extreme before, too.  It was just an odd splurge.  I don't remember too much about it other than the major clamping force on my head and quickly suffered headaches.  But, the bass on that unit seems a bit too far out there for serious consideration.

 

[Thedeviling]

Interesting.... Let us know the results of ur findings on the jvc drivers. Especially on open can

 

[fleasbaby]

Just posted these in the StratoKOSSter thread, but thought all the talk about drivers, especially the Koss ones, warranted a repost:
 

 
They are most definitely less polite than my SR80 pinks. Bassier for sure, but I did use Sportapro drivers, not the KSC75s....I suppose the next step is getting some of those, slipping them in and taking notes. Pad swapping might be necessary too.
 
Donors/victims for the build:
Coco cups from fellow head-fier uglyjoe0124
Plattans from eBay (for the headband, pads and the sound dampening material)
Sportapros (drivers and cable)

 

[jonbmet]

  Just posted these in the StratoKOSSter thread, but thought all the talk about drivers, especially the Koss ones, warranted a repost:
 
 
 
They are most definitely less polite than my SR80 pinks. Bassier for sure, but I did use Sportapro drivers, not the KSC75s....I suppose the next step is getting some of those, slipping them in and taking notes. Pad swapping might be necessary too.
 
Donors/victims for the build:
Coco cups from fellow head-fier uglyjoe0124
Plattans from eBay (for the headband, pads and the sound dampening material)
Sportapros (drivers and cable)

What are the cushions you're using?

 

[fleasbaby]

The ones that were originally on the Plattans ...

 

[Thedeviling]

Polished n lacquered gimbals. Looks customed but actually is still the original gimbals. Purely cosmetics tho.

Sorry if im flooding e thread w pics, I'm just v excited w the results.

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

Polished n lacquered gimbals. Looks customed but actually is still the original gimbals. Purely cosmetics tho.

Sorry if im flooding e thread w pics, I'm just v excited w the results.

 
Beautiful!
 
Keep the photos coming.
 
Which drivers, again? 

 

[jeffrocc]

Here's where I'm at so far. Sr 80i drivers, 4 holes vented, blutak, mahogany cups cut 1000'ish style. Very pleased at this point where sound is going, but have to lose the blutak for something black (suggestions please) and I really want to go with the bowls, but have read they suck the bejesus out of an sr 80i driver. I'm an over the ear kind of guy and suspect they are infinitely more comfortable for extended listening. I'm certain it's been toyed with many times, I'm wondering if anyone has figured out a way to mod the big Grado g Cush to save the low frequency response ?

 

[sinnottj]

Here's where I'm at so far. Sr 80i drivers, 4 holes vented, blutak, mahogany cups cut 1000'ish style. Very pleased at this point where sound is going, but have to lose the blutak for something black (suggestions please) and I really want to go with the bowls, but have read they suck the bejesus out of an sr 80i driver. I'm an over the ear kind of guy and suspect they are infinitely more comfortable for extended listening. I'm certain it's been toyed with many times, I'm wondering if anyone has figured out a way to mod the big Grado g Cush to save the low frequency response ?

I use 'black tack', which is a like a pro version of blutak used by photographers:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-black-strength-adhesive-photographers/dp/B0051BT40K

Works a treat!

 

[wje]

Interesting.... Let us know the results of ur findings on the jvc drivers. Especially on open can

 
They are duds.  Why?  JVC advertises them as having 40mm drivers.  But, what JVC didn't state is that they include a good portion of the baffle to get to 40mm.  In reality, the drivers are less than 30mm in diameter.  I didn't want to have to use the Dremel to hack the plastic baffle so that it would fit into a Grado cup.  I can wait until Tuesday when the Sennheiser PX100 II headphones arrive and then I'll focus on that.
 
I did some more searching on what might be available locally.  Headphones from Sony in an economical price category have mainly 30mm drivers.  The get a 40mm driver, you have to go up the line a bit, but then they also quickly move to 50mm drivers.
 
Additionally, I'm currently drafting up a format for the "Non-Grado" Grado thread so we can discuss the driver alternatives as opposed to using this thread that tends to focus more on the Grado mods, but not necessarily the use of non-Grado drivers.  I will continue to create the content of the post off-line to include a fair number of links, setc.  I will not post it until I feel that the content in the first post will be quite sufficient to be of some good value to the forum.