[Majuto]

The right side in this photo is the part of the pad behind the ear.


Not really, think about how most of the openings are behind your ear, there's only one tiny opening in front of the ear. So it still hits your ear hard before dissipating.
The pads are like $30 right? Just give it a shot. Also consider how much people love the SR1a which literally has no pad at all lol, certainly even with three holes the CA-1a can get more bass than that.


I'm definitely an open pad guy. Just not worth the clarity/air loss with the closed pads. Loses a lot of what makes the CA-1a magical imo, makes it sound closer to a planar and less like a ribbon or estat. Still get excellent bass with the open pads anyway. Also I compared an SR1a to my CA-1a previously and came away from that happy with just the CA-1a. With the open pads (especially with the modded open pads), the CA-1a gets 90% of that open magic the SR1a has, but while having better bass. A worthwhile trade imo.

Thanks. I guess Raal Ca-1a pads offer exceptional opportunies for experimenting with pad modifications. Have you tried Mitch's filters with these modified pads?

 

[Hiker816]

I'm definitely an open pad guy. Just not worth the clarity/air loss with the closed pads. Loses a lot of what makes the CA-1a magical imo, makes it sound closer to a planar and less like a ribbon or estat. Still get excellent bass with the open pads anyway.

Definitely the closed pads muffled the midrange too much imo.

Was messaging with some audiophile friends of mine recently--ones who have been deep into this hobby for longer than I have--and was surprised when they all chimed in that they preferred the closed pads. Decided to give them another whirl. Nope. The bass is only slightly more impactful and the loss of clarity and slight smearing just wasn't worth it. I hear it the same way you guys do.

 

[nfandi]

Was messaging with some audiophile friends of mine recently--ones who have been deep into this hobby for longer than I have--and was surprised when they all chimed in that they preferred the closed pads. Decided to give them another whirl. Nope. The bass is only slightly more impactful and the loss of clarity and slight smearing just wasn't worth it. I hear it the same way you guys do.

Alex said that the closed pads were good for genres like EDM but I could never listen with them for more than a few minutes. Mitch’s filters did change them significantly but I can only listen to my music with the open pads.

 

[jlbrach]

the closed pads didnt do it for me either

 

[cAsE sEnSiTiVe]

the closed pads didnt do it for me either

Me neither. The mid-range became smeared and suffered noticeably from a lack of definition. No bueno.

 

[SageM]

I bought Raal Ca-1a and Jotunheim R 115v which I should get working in 230v network. Has anybody experiences with voltage transformers and/or voltage change repairs. I live in Finland, no Scheet audio here. I'd be thankfull for possible comments.

Internally, near the fuse and power switch, there are bare wire jumpers that facilitate mains voltage selection. Once you open your Jot R, it's self explanatory because you will see graphics on the circuit board which show how to wire for 115V or 230V. It does require good/careful soldering skills. Best, Danny

 

[gammi]

Thanks. I guess Raal Ca-1a pads offer exceptional opportunies for experimenting with pad modifications. Have you tried Mitch's filters with these modified pads?

Yup, I use the open filter with my "extra open" pads and it works well imo.

Alex said that the closed pads were good for genres like EDM but I could never listen with them for more than a few minutes. Mitch’s filters did change them significantly but I can only listen to my music with the open pads.

I will say Mitch's filters do greatly improve the closed pads, it gets rid of a lot of the bloat/fullness but still not as airy and clear as the open pads with or without filters.
So I suggest anyone who doesn't like the closed pads because they're too full, try them with the filter and who knows, maybe that will be your favorite combo.

Actually, it would be pretty fun to take a pair of closed pads drill a hole in the side, listen, repeat adding holes until it's exactly at the point you no longer find the closed pad bloated. That should be an easy way for everyone to find their ideal balance and the pads only cost $35.

 

[normie610]

Was messaging with some audiophile friends of mine recently--ones who have been deep into this hobby for longer than I have--and was surprised when they all chimed in that they preferred the closed pads. Decided to give them another whirl. Nope. The bass is only slightly more impactful and the loss of clarity and slight smearing just wasn't worth it. I hear it the same way you guys do.

I did prefer the closed pads with Mitch filter. The sound signature with closed pads & Mitch filter reminds of Valkyria. Yes it’s not as open sounding as the open pads, but the overall “smoother” presentation is quite appealing to me. Having said that, now I’m back with open pads + filter (maybe after almost 2 years) and having a blast

 

[Majuto]

Internally, near the fuse and power switch, there are bare wire jumpers that facilitate mains voltage selection. Once you open your Jot R, it's self explanatory because you will see graphics on the circuit board which show how to wire for 115V or 230V. It does require good/careful soldering skills. Best, Danny

Thanks a lot! I mediate this knowledge to audio service, where I left JotR for service. I guess the inner voltage change work might succeed. This is good news!

 

[Majuto]

I've been wondering about the CA-1a listening experience with different cables and their relation to Mitch Barnett's HLC and neutral filter sets for open and closed pads. Star 8 silver is praised in some reviews, especially when filter sets are not in use.
I bought a litz silver, gold palladium as an upgrade for SC2 cable. It's sound level is anyhow maybe 15 db under that of SC2. Hopefully it works better with JotR.

 

[nfandi]

I've been wondering about the CA-1a listening experience with different cables and their relation to Mitch Barnett's HLC and neutral filter sets for open and closed pads. Star 8 silver is praised in some reviews, especially when filter sets are not in use.
I bought a litz silver, gold palladium as an upgrade for SC2 cable. It's sound level is anyhow maybe 15 db under that of SC2. Hopefully it works better with JotR.

The SC2 and Star8 cables are impedance matched with the headphones so that you get the full frequency response. If the impedance of your cable is too high you will experience roll-off of the high frequencies.

 

[normie610]

I've been wondering about the CA-1a listening experience with different cables and their relation to Mitch Barnett's HLC and neutral filter sets for open and closed pads. Star 8 silver is praised in some reviews, especially when filter sets are not in use.
I bought a litz silver, gold palladium as an upgrade for SC2 cable. It's sound level is anyhow maybe 15 db under that of SC2. Hopefully it works better with JotR.

Like @nfandi mentioned, make sure that the new cable is within the impedance spec provided by Alex somewhere in this thread. I once used a DHC cable with CA1a and the sound becomes quite messy.

 

[ra990]

I sold my star 8 cable and have gone back to the stock, and besides the weight of the stock cable, I don't really miss the star 8 for sound.

BTW, Mitch's filters were created using the stock cable (I verified), so you're going to get the desired frequency response output using those filters with the stock cable. The Star8 cable does change the frequency response, especially in the highs.

 

[Majuto]

I sold my star 8 cable and have gone back to the stock, and besides the weight of the stock cable, I don't really miss the star 8 for sound.

BTW, Mitch's filters were created using the stock cable (I verified), so you're going to get the desired frequency response output using those filters with the stock cable. The Star8 cable does change the frequency response, especially in the highs.

Thanks! So Star 8 might be a bit unnecessary investment with HLC and neutral filter sets? Perhaps Star 8 silver cable aims especially to refine the pure CA-1a sound fidelity like Dana Lazuli with Hifiman 1000 se or Abyss 1266 tc's special cable.

 

[ra990]

Thanks! So Star 8 might be a bit unnecessary investment with HLC and neutral filter sets? Perhaps Star 8 silver cable aims especially to refine the pure CA-1a sound fidelity like Dana Lazuli with Hifiman 1000 se or Abyss 1266 tc's special cable.

The biggest thing star8 did for me was make the headphones feel a lot lighter because it's a very thin and light silver cable, compared to the stock, which kind of weighs the headphones down a bit. The stock cable does have a slightly warmer presentation, which I kind of prefer. The star8 likely offered a tad more resolution.