[Nirmalanow]

I have been noticing for a while that if I press lightly on my AT-W1000 closed headphones while listening that it improves the sound. Everything tightens up and it is easier to follow the sound of individual instruments.

One possibility is that I am simply moving the drivers closer to my ears and thereby changing the sound and increasing the volume, but the effect is still there even if I just lightly rest my fingers on the wooden cups of these closed headphones. That makes me think it is more likely I am damping the resonances in the wooden cups and this is what is improving the sound. Kind of like a temporary version of the part of the Markl mods for the D5000 where he adds dynamat to the cups to reduce vibrations.

I do not want to spend my entire listening time with my hands up on my headphones so I do not do this constantly, but when a favorite song comes on or if I am listening critically to hear the effect of another change to my system I find I naturally reach up and press on my phones to hear the music more clearly.

Has anyone else noticed this effect with closed headphones? There also might be other ways to dampen the vibrations without having to hold your hands there, or without opening up the headphones. I remember seeing a vibration dampener that attached to the outside of speaker cabinets to reduce resonance. Maybe there is something similar to attach to the outside of a closed headphone.

I have ordered a pair of Markl modded D5000s. I will be curious to see if they still are affected by pressing on the cups or if the steps he has taken to dampen resonance will make this temporary "tweak" unnecessary.

 

[dakkar]

You probably improve the seal of the headphones on your head by pressing lightly. Better seal=better sound. IMHO.

 

[wavoman]

I agree with dakkar that this is simply the seal. Better seals come from increased headband clamping pressure, measured in "newtons", or N. like 5.2N.

The tradeoff is that your head hurts if you wear high N cans too long.

"PRO" phones meant for recording studios have higher N values, like 5 or 6. Audiophile phones are typically 2 or 3. Consumer phone even less.

Many manufacturers don't show N values, and don't answer emails. There is an ISO standard for this, they have no excuse. Really ticks me off.

Audio Technica, Beyerdynamic, and Ultrasone all have models meant for recording studios, and have tight seals. I thin Senn does too --check out the web sites. I find the Ultrasone Ed 9's way too tight, but I want a good seal so I just ordered the PRO 750's, new for 2008 they say they have improved the padding, and I figure good padding will mitigate the effect of a high N. Ed 9's are like 5.2 N, can't get the figure for the 750's, despite 6 emails.

Another example: Beyer 880's for audiophile have like a 2.5N while 880's PRO have 3.5N.

BTW, Beyer now lets you customize 880's on-line, so I figure with a real leather headband for comfort and 600 ohm -- new choice for consumer 880's -- I might get close to PRO performance without the higher N ... who knows.

I have put my hands to my head so many times with my Senns to push the cans in ... I feel your pain! And I expect to feel head pain when I switch to the Ultrasones! But this is what closed-back is all about, I'm afriad!

 

[Nirmalanow]

Makes me wonder if there is a way to modify existing phones. Maybe something as simple as a elastic cloth band worn over the cups or perhaps up higher on the headphones original headband to apply more pressure to the cups. I may experiment with this idea.

But there might be a bit of the dampening effect. As I said the effect is still there somewhat even if I lightly rest my fingertips on the headphone cups without applying enough pressure to enhance the seal.

 

[dazzer1975]

all my cans have an improved and increased bass depth and clarity when pressing them against my head, most noticable with the audio technica's though

 

[Exediron]

When I do it, I just hear more bass. I don't notice any improvement in sound quality.

 

[wavoman]

The damping argument is interesting. Need to experiment. Even light pressure improves the seal, but you can test this by playing music on your speakers, not the phones, then press lightly and see if the speaker sound is attenuated. That would be the acid test, seal vs vibration damping, no?

 

[ziplock]

I too believe it to be a sealing issue. I have observed this effect on the many different headphones I have owned, most noticeably on the "consumer" non-studio style type. Wavoman pretty much nailed it on the head there.

I'm not so sure about the resonance that you speak of. In order to rule that out you would have to apply clamping force in a manner that would not react with any resonating surfaces. Such as using metal coat-hanger wire to form a ring which can be attached to say, the outer ear pads? Something along those lines. Use your imagination and be creative.

Ways to improve seal?

These suggestions are more general and broad, rather than targeted towards the ATH-W1000s. Most should apply.

Adjust your headband to a smaller size which may allow greater clamping force.

Change out the ear pads on your phones. Brute force is only part of the picture in determining a seal. Cup material can have a impact on this as well. The problem here lies in changing the sound signature too much. You'll just have to experiment and see what happens.

Stuff the inside of the ear pads (between pad and driver housing) with some foam rings which will beef them up, thus increasing clamping force. Only problem here is that you may introduce additional sound stage which may or may not be desired.

This next suggestion would be considered a bit of an advanced mod to the headphones. Acquire some curved spring steel and attach to the none adjustable portion of the headband. You would have to experiment with different widths and configurations to get the tension just right. A single piece would be the simplest to implement while using several strips would allow greater configuration.

Shave your head with no clipper guard! Summer is nearly here and it will serve a dual purpose in the least. Staying cool while enjoying a good seal on your cans. Whats not to like?

Hmm, one other comes to mind, but it is the least practical. Purchase a large C-Clamp from the hardware store and adjust to desired level. This should pretty much take care of any sealing problems!

Good luck!

~Z

 

[Fitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nirmalanow /img/forum/go_quote.gif Makes me wonder if there is a way to modify existing phones. Maybe something as simple as a elastic cloth band worn over the cups or perhaps up higher on the headphones original headband to apply more pressure to the cups. I may experiment with this idea.

Yup... people were doing this a couple years ago with the W5000: clicky

 

[Nirmalanow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fitz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yup... people were doing this a couple years ago with the W5000: clicky

Thanks for the link. I will try the rubber band idea as pictured in the link.

 

[Nirmalanow]

I think the improved seal is the most important factor. I just tried the rubber band around the extra headpads on my AT-W1000s as shown in the link above, and it definitely tightened their grip. With this tighter grip in effect, pressing lightly on the headphones no longer affects the sound noticeably, but I can still hear a difference if I press hard. So it would seem that most of the effect is from the increased seal provided by even a slight bit of extra pressure. If it was from the reduced resonance of the cups, then it would still sound different to press lightly on them even with the rubber band in place.

How nice that there is such an easy way to add a little more grip to the Audio Technicas by looping a rubber band around the extra headpads situated above the headphones themselves. I also tried it with two rubber bands to double the amount of extra grip, and while the sound is further improved, there then starts to be a bit of a comfort issue. For me one rubber band seems to add just enough grip to tighten up the sound without a big loss in comfort. I definitely am not going to try a big c-clamp....although I am sure it would work!

 

[Nocturnal310]

Sure it improves sound quality BUT it gives u in-the-head feeling...

which means the already messed up Soundstage is further screwed up.

 

[omegaman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nirmalanow /img/forum/go_quote.gif Makes me wonder if there is a way to modify existing phones. Maybe something as simple as a elastic cloth band worn over the cups or perhaps up higher on the headphones original headband to apply more pressure to the cups. I may experiment with this idea.

There is always the " Kieth Moon Mod ". Just duct tape them to your head

;

 

[b0dhi]

Other than improving the seal, you're also holding the earpieces more stable, which means there's lower reactance at lower frequencies. In other words, better coupling. You are probably also dampening the outer enclosure of the earpieces, which would also improve the sound.

 

[h4n9m4n]

You guys have to take note of the downsides of this.

Doing this will reduce your coolness level by a factor of 10!
I've also heard similar reports that doing this also increases your geekiness level by 76.87%