[Review] Philips SHL3300 "DJ" Headphones - Most Underrated Headphone?

[wigglepuff]

is there a way to mod or add something to make the treble more forward? i tried transfering the drivers with an old gaming headphone with open back, the bass response and mids are perfect (reference) but the highs are seriously near inaudible.
 
and is there a material thats super cheap that can lessen reverb from plastic cups? will ordinary cotton work, or cotton fabric for pillows? Dynamat is too expensive and not availble in my area.

 

[Slater]

  is there a way to mod or add something to make the treble more forward? i tried transfering the drivers with an old gaming headphone with open back, the bass response and mids are perfect (reference) but the highs are seriously near inaudible.
 
and is there a material thats super cheap that can lessen reverb from plastic cups? will ordinary cotton work, or cotton fabric for pillows? Dynamat is too expensive and not availble in my area.

 
There's a few things you can try.
 
1. You can perfect the sound with EQ. I am treble sensitive, so I EQ almost everything I own to either cut treble on overly bright headphones, or boost certain frequencies to get the sound I want.
 
2. You can also switch the pads to velour pads. While this won't "boost" treble like an EQ can, it WILL reduce bass (effectively changing the sound to seem somewhat brighter). This is why most open (neutral) headphones use velour pads, and why people often complain that open headphones have "too much treble".
 
3. You can play with the vent holes on the driver, tuning the sound. Cover up 1 or more holes (using tape, modeling clay, or Bluetac) and see if you like the change; uncover 1 or more holes and see if you like the change. I tune many of my headphones like this. Generally, holes that are on the back of the MAGNET control bass; the holes around the outside control treble and midrange. Here's some photos so you get an idea of what I'm talking about (click for larger view):
 


 
4. If the headphone has anything in between the driver and your ear (felt, fabric), you can remove it to allow more treble through to your ear. These things are added to slow high frequencies, and removing them will improve clarity, make the headphone sound less veiled, and almost always brighten the treble.
 
 
As far as material to dampen reflections on the cheap, use the foam rubber from a computer mousepad. You can buy a generic mousepad for under $1. Peel off the thin fabric layer, so all that you're left with is a hunk of rubber. Then trim it to shape with scissors, and attach the mousepad rubber to the inside of the headphone cup using glue.
 
You can also use adhesive-backed foam, available in rolls at any hardware store. It's used for weatherstripping applications, costs a few dollars, and looks like this:

 
The adhesive is very weak on some of the adhesive-backed foam rolls, so test it out in the store to make sure you get one that is very sticky. And clean the plastic of the headphone cup using alcohol really well (letting it dry) before sticking the foam on so it sticks well.
 
Hope that helps,
- Slater

 

[Slater]

COOL im trying to see if the top circle part is free of obstacles. Ill look to see if your pics have that area.

 
Yeah, the top half of both cups are clear of obstacles.
 
However, there is slack wire going to each driver, and when they close up the cups at the factory, the excess length of wire will be coiled up and could be located anywhere.
 
So again, just be sure to open up the cups when you do this mod, both to make sure you don't drill into any wires but also to clean out all of the plastic dust and shavings from the drilling process.

 

[actorlife]

Rhanks slater for the tips. That BASS needs help indeed. From your pics there is clearly alot of stuff in there that might jab something. I did that mod on the MEElectronics HT-21 last year with holes and the quality improved. You should try them slater great pair and cheap.

 

[Slater]

Rhanks slater for the tips. That BASS needs help indeed. From your pics there is clearly alot of stuff in there that might jab something. I did that mod on another HP last year with holes and the quality improved.

 
I have yet to run into a headphone where doing some sort of venting mod (on a closed headphone) hasn't improved the sound! The only downside is some loss of isolation, but I will take that over the sound improvement anyday!
 
My most recent "open" mods was to one of my Meizu HD50:
 

 
I used the same tweeter grilles I used for my SHL3300 grille mod, because I had an extra set of tweeter grilles left over. The grilles fit 100% perfectly into the HD50, and turned it from an already great-sounding headphone, to THE best sounding headphones I own. It has beat out my beloved Sennheiser Momentums, which before now nothing I own has come close to surpassing. It is literally a different headphone now, and every time I listen to one of my stock (closed) HD50s, it puts a frown on my face. It's like driving a 1985 Yugo to run an errand to the store, when you also have a Porsche 911 Turbo sitting in your driveway. When would you ever NOT want to drive the Porsche (except maybe in 2 feet of snow)? So my plan is to get more grilles and mod the rest of my HD50s.

 

[actorlife]

I remember that M50 thread when it started. I never got a chance to buy them maybe in the afterlife. I own the famous dap they had. I still have it somewhere. I bet you can do wonders to the HT21. Nice work man looks damn good.

 

[Slater]

I remember that M50 thread when it started. I never got a chance to buy them maybe in the afterlife. I own the famous dap they had. I still have it somewhere. I bet you can do wonders to the HT21. Nice work man looks damn good.

 
I always wanted to try out some other Meizu products (like that DAP).
 
If their phones were compatible with my US carrier, I wouldn't hesitate to get a Meizu phone.
 
Their products all seem to be manufactured with premium quality, equivalent to Apple or Xiaomi, for a fraction of the price.
 
The Meizu HD50 are still readily available, in black white or red, and on special from time to time for $50 or less. The build quality is amazing - all aluminum and folds up ultra small. I'm not normally a fan of on-ear headphones, but these are the most comfortable on-ears I have ever worn.
 
The stock round pads aren't replaceable, but I found a way to not only replace the pads, but add larger over-ear oval pads:
 

 

[actorlife]

Man I'm gushing those look great. I bet they sound fantastic. Meizu did a good job with their products. Did you do a cable mod on them? Or were they detachable.

 

[Slater]

Man I'm gushing those look great. I bet they sound fantastic. Meizu did a good job with their products. Did you do a cable mod on them? Or were they detachable.

 
Cable was already removable; I didn't do a thing to it. It's a nice OFC copper, kevlar-reinforced cable with alumimum mic and volume controls.
 
I've been experimenting with the HD50 for a while now, trying different mods and building upon what worked to squeeze out additional improvements. Some mods didn't work out or didn't make any difference; others worked out better than I could have imagined.
 
Here's just a few...
 
 
1. Internal port tuning holes - ignore the grille (didn't keep once I went full-open, but still interesting):

 
 
2. Open mod (more dynamic, richer sound, less bleeding, improved instrument separation, crazy wide soundstage):

 
 
3. Removal of stock nylon driver fabric (less veiled, improved treble, improved clarity):

 
 
4. Plastic baffle mod (improved clarity; improved midrange, similar idea as removing SHL3300 plastic grille):

 
 
5. Dual magnet - waiting on the correct diameter to arrive (tighter response):

 
 
6. Oval pad mod (better comfort, slightly reduced bass for a more neutral sound, wider soundstage):


 
 
They sound out of this world. I am floored every time I A/B them with the stock HD50.

 

[actorlife]

Magnet was in there already or you put it in? I'm thinking you have two HD50? Was the white cap easy to remove? WHAT did it improve soundstage and clarity. Im sure they already have good bass and mids out the box.

 

[Slater]

Magnet was in there already or you put it in? I'm thinking you have two HD50? Was the white cap easy to remove? WHAT did it improve soundstage and clarity. Im sure they already have good bass and mids out the box.

 
Driver already had 1 magnet. I added 2nd magnet stacked on top (creating a more powerful magnet). It's an old subwoofer concept, that you see from time to time (KZ even has a few double magnet in-ears).
 
The magnet looks like this:

 
You try and match the magnet as close in size and thickness as you can, and if the stock driver magnet has a vent hole in the center, you use a similar magnet with hole (so as to not cover up the vent).
 
It's a cheap mod, as these magnets are only a few dollars for 5-10 pcs.
 
As far as the cap, yeah it was really easy once I figured it out (took me a few weeks of trying different things, because I didn't want to damage anything). It's basically snapped on with 2 posts and a few dabs of glue:

 
As far as the stock sound, yeah it has really good sound right out of the box. Typical v-shaped, but it is very mid forward. It also has veiled and rolled off treble because a lot of the highs are being blocked by the plastic grille, nylon fabric driver cover, and then a fabric cover attached to the earpad with the R and L on it.
 
The drivers are something special - a bio-fiber (wool) with a film surround:

 
They have a very unique sound - really smooth. But you don't hear how special they are until you open them up with the grilles and let them breathe.

 

[actorlife]

Dang big magnet next to the quarter. I bet my JBL S500 are like that. They are 50mm drivers. S500 are my favorite headphone. SQ is the best to me. The bass it has is the tightest I've heard. They are 50-60 on ebay.

 

[Slater]

Dang big magnet next to the quarter. I bet my JBL S500 are like that. They are 50mm drivers. S500 are my favorite headphone. SQ is the best to me. The bass it has is the tightest I've heard. They are 50-60 on ebay.

 
Oh, that's just some stock photo I found on Google. It is a nice large magnet though.
 
Most rare earth magnets on headphone drivers are 3/4" to 1.25" in diameter, and about 2-3mm thick. So I just measure the stock magnet, and order one the same size or smaller.
 
It's also important to perfectly center the 2nd magnet on top of the 1st, so the magnetic field stays consistent along the same pole (to ensure the voice coil functions as designed).
 
According to this site (http://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=doubled-forces), adding a 2nd, identically-sized neodymium magnet results in a magnetic force increase of ~169%. Why not exactly double (ie 200%) - the layers of plating on the magnets caused a slight reduction in magnetic force.
 
What effect does it have on sound? According to Fostex, higher magnetic flux density improves attack and decay for a crisper, more detailed sound signature. They specifically use very powerful magnets (that exceed 1 tesla ie 10,000 gauss) in theur high-end headphones like the TH-X00 and others.

 

[actorlife]

Oh, that's just some stock photo I found on Google. It is a nice large magnet though.

Most rare earth magnets on headphone drivers are 3/4" to 1.25" in diameter, and about 2-3mm thick. So I just measure the stock magnet, and order one the same size or smaller.

It's also important to perfectly center the 2nd magnet on top of the 1st, so the magnetic field stays consistent along the same pole (to ensure the voice coil functions as designed).

According to this site (http://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=doubled-forces), adding a 2nd, identically-sized neodymium magnet results in a magnetic force increase of ~169%. Why not exactly double (ie 200%) - the layers of plating on the magnets caused a slight reduction in magnetic force.

What effect does it have on sound? According to Fostex, higher magnetic flux density improves attack and decay for a crisper, more detailed sound signature. They specifically use very powerful magnets (that exceed 1 tesla ie 10,000 gauss) in theur high-end headphones like the TH-X00 and others.

HEY what do you have to lose at least the mod is inexpensive. There is one Fostex phones i was interested in just never got a chance to try them. I hope you post impressions once you get the mod done.

 

[Slater]

I'm thinking you have two HD50?

 
I actually own 4 (2 still in sealed boxes). Everytime I'd see them go on sale for under $50 (which isn't that often), I'd order a backup pair. Now that I've modded my main pair & have seen what these things are truly capable of, I'm sooo glad I have so many!
 
Once my daughter's beloved Beats Solo finally die, the plan was always to switch them out for for the HD50. She's 13, so she doesn't know any better (yet). Kids of her generation think the Beats are the best thing since sliced bread - of course a lot of it is the fashion aspect of them.
 
I'm tired of fixing them though; they are made so cheaply and everything has broken on them at 1 point or another. The HD50 is built like a tank, and will last her 20+ years LOL