[alexpea]

Just discovered a unique difference on my 750's. When I remove the pads, and just lay the dirver on my ears, everything sounds better imo. If I then again press the cups harder on my ears, the sound gets drastically better. The mids gets more forward, and the bass is tamed some notches. The highs gets much cleaner and more clinical. This is just insane!! And it actually doesn't hurt on my ears either, surprisingly. Positioning on the ears are important to achieve the right sound, however.

This discovery has tempted me at trying to make new pads for the phones. The core of the pads is just a plastic ring, formed in a certain way. That should be very easy to make out of wood. Then I can choose which material to fasten, and which shape to have. Cuz the shape of the pads certainly aren't any good !! A VERY thin leather-pad-surrounding would be immense, imo

 

[MaZa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexpea /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just discovered a unique difference on my 750's. When I remove the pads, and just lay the dirver on my ears, everything sounds better imo. If I then again press the cups harder on my ears, the sound gets drastically better. The mids gets more forward, and the bass is tamed some notches. The highs gets much cleaner and more clinical. This is just insane!! And it actually doesn't hurt on my ears either, surprisingly. Positioning on the ears are important to achieve the right sound, however. This discovery has tempted me at trying to make new pads for the phones. The core of the pads is just a plastic ring, formed in a certain way. That should be very easy to make out of wood. Then I can choose which material to fasten, and which shape to have. Cuz the shape of the pads certainly aren't any good !! A VERY thin leather-pad-surrounding would be immense, imo

It has been said before, even by ultrasone representatives that the placement of headphone on your ear is very important due to its unorthodox driver placement and aligning. Theoretically its possible, that some earshapes might never even get optimal sound no matter how you move it around on your head.

There was a mod for Ultrasones though. Wrap a rubberband around the pads so they are bit squeezed together. Should hump up the bass region (though does it seriously even need more humping...

)

 

[alexpea]

Proline's doesn't provide the sound directly into your ear-canal. The driver is placed down front of the ear. I hate this actually, and it feels better when I place the driver on my ear-canals.

I will get back when my mod is finished

Woody-leather-pads for the 750's

 

[EnOYiN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaZa /img/forum/go_quote.gif (though does it seriously even need more humping... )

More humping is always good....

Errr.....

 

[alexpea]

I like to hump

 

[MaZa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnOYiN /img/forum/go_quote.gif More humping is always good.... Errr.....

Quote:

I like to hump

Ummm... We dont really want to know.

 

[lmilhan]

Congratulations!

You've just discovered what I've known all along:

A Supra-aural headphone configuration can greatly change the sound characteristics of a headphone often times for the better. I believe that the Supra-aural design plays a huge roll in what makes up the Grado 'magic'. It is my theory that the way the parts of your ears interact with the pads/earcups with a Supra-aural design can add a nice visceral and sometimes even tactile Bass impact, and slightly forward mids. Supra-aural phones tend to have a 'loudspeaker like' presentation, at least to my ears. And of corse, the closer the drivers are to your ears, the more the quantity of Bass will increase, and the highs will decrease. To contrast, I have yet to hear a pair of Circum-aural phones that can do what a pair of Grados can do. And believe me, I've tried quite a few because I am searching for such a pair of phones. Please, if anyone knows of such a pair of Circum-aural phones - share with us.

I guess it is no suprise then that the KOSS KSC-75s are of Supra-aural design, as are the AKG K81DJs, as well as the Grado phones (with one acception) - all hugely popular phones among the Head-Fi community. Now that's not to say that there aren't a bunch of Circum-aural phones that aren't popular among the Head-Fi community. It is just that circum-aural phones and supra-aural phones are different animals.

To further prove my point, here is a little experiment to try if you doubt my theory.

If you are a Grado fan, and haven't yet tried a pair of GS-1000s with the default Bagel pads, do so. The 'Grado magic' goes right out the window - at least it did for me with rock/metal music. Now swap in a pair of Bowl pads - boom the Magic is back. Also, you can run a similar experiment with any of the other Grado phones, just remove the bowl or flat pads, and swap in a pair of Headphile C-Pads. Sure they are more comfortable, but the sacrifice is that the Grado 'magic' goes bye bye, or at least it does for me.

So my advice is:

If you are going for a Pad modification of some sort, make sure it is of a Supra-aural design. It also seems like you want the Supra-aural design to place the drivers close to your ears. Sounds to me like you need something similar to Grado Flat pads, and you would be all set! SInce the Ultrasone cups are designed as Circum-aural and are large, this may prove a difficult task to complete. So as you mentioned, it may require some sort of custom work.

Anyway, that is my theory on Supra-aural phones versus Circum-aural phones, and I'm sticking with it!

 

[alexpea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmilhan /img/forum/go_quote.gif Congratulations! You've just discovered what I've known all along: A Supra-aural headphone configuration can greatly change the sound characteristics of a headphone often times for the better. I believe that the Supra-aural design plays a huge roll in what makes up the Grado 'magic'. It is my theory that the way the parts of your ears interact with the pads/earcups with a Supra-aural design can add a nice visceral and sometimes even tactile Bass impact, and slightly forward mids. Supra-aural phones tend to have a 'loudspeaker like' presentation, at least to my ears. And of corse, the closer the drivers are to your ears, the more the quantity of Bass will increase, and the highs will decrease. To contrast, I have yet to hear a pair of Circum-aural phones that can do what a pair of Grados can do. And believe me, I've tried quite a few because I am searching for such a pair of phones. Please, if anyone knows of such a pair of Circum-aural phones - share with us. I guess it is no suprise then that the KOSS KSC-75s are of Supra-aural design, as are the AKG K81DJs, as well as the Grado phones (with one acception) - all hugely popular phones among the Head-Fi community. Now that's not to say that there aren't a bunch of Circum-aural phones that aren't popular among the Head-Fi community. It is just that circum-aural phones and supra-aural phones are different animals. To further prove my point, here is a little experiment to try if you doubt my theory. If you are a Grado fan, and haven't yet tried a pair of GS-1000s with the default Bagel pads, do so. The 'Grado magic' goes right out the window - at least it did for me with rock/metal music. Now swap in a pair of Bowl pads - boom the Magic is back. Also, you can run a similar experiment with any of the other Grado phones, just remove the bowl or flat pads, and swap in a pair of Headphile C-Pads. Sure they are more comfortable, but the sacrifice is that the Grado 'magic' goes bye bye, or at least it does for me. So my advice is: If you are going for a Pad modification of some sort, make sure it is of a Supra-aural design. It also seems like you want the Supra-aural design to place the drivers close to your ears. Sounds to me like you need something similar to Grado Flat pads, and you would be all set! SInce the Ultrasone cups are designed as Circum-aural and are large, this may prove a difficult task to complete. So as you mentioned, it may require some sort of custom work. Anyway, that is my theory on Supra-aural phones versus Circum-aural phones, and I'm sticking with it!

Words of wisedom. But I disagree that the bass increases and the highs decreases when you place the drivers closer to the ears. It's imo the direct opposite. I haven't had much time lately to build these customs yet, and I'm very glad for any suggestions on the way

I'm gonna make a foundation out of wood, which screws into the cups, and then add some kind of material on top of that. The easiest way would be just to glue on some kind of soft material, and then cover it with coating-fabric (leather, nylon, or...? )

What do you guys think? I actually don't think the phones are hurting even though the drivers touch my ears. BTW - will get back very soon with initial impressions of the AD2000's I've got on the way

They were shipped some days ago from Japan.

But damn... I have notiec a flaw in my setup. The left channel is playing MUCH more bass, and also clearer and louder. The right channel doesn't sound destroyed, it's just noticeable worse sounding than the left. And this applies to any headphone I connect to my setup - so it's probably the soundcard which is broken... Or could it be the 4-pin firewire on my laptop, which the soundcard is connected to? (external soundcard)

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexpea /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm gonna make a foundation out of wood, which screws into the cups, and then add some kind of material on top of that. The easiest way would be just to glue on some kind of soft material, and then cover it with coating-fabric (leather, nylon, or...? )

Personally I'd rather change headphones than going for such extreme.
Looking forward to your impression on AD2000. (no impact and such.

)

 

[oqvist]

If my AKG K81DJ is to go from they have such a bass impact it get painful. Running a THX subwoofer excursion test they surely have more impact then my DT 770, Proline 750 and other circumaureal headphones so maybe...

Everyone that has the proline 750 knows that bass is not really a weak point with them

.

Running this test it feels like my ear drums are going to explode by the pressure. It´s to much to be honest lol. In the long run I wonder if supraaural headphones damage your ears more then circumaureal

. I mean it really shows everything right into your ear canal...

 

[benjamind]

I used to own the 750s and then sold them. I regret selling them. I want to get them back. The bass and low mids were in a word...phenomenal. The sound stage was so beautiful. The only thing is the upper mids were a bit sharp. But I didn't burn them in enough, so I'll give them a second chance.

 

[xinoxide]

those low mids can be a neussance in certain types of music. but sometimes you need them there. from my experience low mids on very bassheavy cans can make music sound kind of warbled, an example would be strong pads riding on the bassline, like in "underworld - two months off" a song that sounds rediculously amazing on speakers, but always seemed to struggle in headphones. with the proline 750's, the aural euphoria i seem to get with that track gives me a.... nevermind.

moral of the story...

image courtesy of: http://www.geocities.jp/ryumatsuba/