[takato14]

The driver tech has some interesting merits to say the least. For some reason, one that I cannot explain, the ESS Mark 1 somehow manages accurate phase; they actually sound like speakers in regards to imaging and soundstaging. No joke. This coupled with extremely good resolution, dynamics, and separation makes them very revealing of bad mastering, and the treble is the smoothest I've ever heard bar none, neither dynamics nor planars or even stats are even in the same tier as these for treble timbre.
 
That being said, it has some serious caveats as well. They do not seem to handle high SPLs well, as the louder you turn them the "closer" everything sounds, which can cause things to intersect each other and the speaker-soundstage illusion collapses. Additionally, the way the driver moves prevents it from moving air, at least in the same way as a dynamic or planar would, so it struggles with bass response. In stock form, the drivers are kept really close to the ear to mitigate this, but it doesn't really work and messes up the crazy soundstaging. The driver technically moves air from side to side, which needless to say causes some weird acoustics in both the cups and earpads; because of this I switched them to the most absorbent pads I had (HM5 velours) and used tons of damping on both sides. I also taped the earcups shut, to boost the bass response. The result is a very realistic sounding closed back, that is crazy clean and resolving.
 
I'll go into further detail later. Working on in-depth posts for each of these six beauties. 

 

[Negative818]

How about some close ups on all of those?
 
What are the bronze ones?

 

[ruhenheiM]

  How about some close ups on all of those?
 
What are the bronze ones?

i think that's rotel 930. oem from toshiba hr810

 

[WallofHooligans]

I would love to know what's happening inside that little passive transformer bit at the end of the plug.

 

[ruhenheiM]

you mean this?
 

 
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&rurl=translate.google.co.id&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://20cheaddatebase.web.fc2.com/aurex/HR-810.html

 

[WallofHooligans]

  you mean this?
 

 
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&rurl=translate.google.co.id&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://20cheaddatebase.web.fc2.com/aurex/HR-810.html

Yes! Awesome, that's beautiful. The page you linked says the switch is an impedance adjustment? "8 Ω / 300 Ω / 1,000 Ω switching"

 

[ruhenheiM]

yes.in some model it only has 2 switches between low and high impedance.i think in some model the impedance also go to 2000 ohm.anyway  that plug also has the transformer needed to power up the back electret for the old model. while the newer model, like toshiba hr v(x) model they put the transformer inside the headphone cup i think.so the plug just a normal like any 1/4 plug

 

[JadeEast]

 
I'll go into further detail later. Working on in-depth posts for each of these six beauties. 

I'd love it if you did go into more depth on the ESS cans. I agree with the sentiment of your impressions.... super smooth but feels like they roll off the bottom and don't quite have the air and top end details as one of the better orthos to my ears. 

 

[GREQ]

  I'm just gonna leave this here...
 

 ​

It's been a while since I've gone back to look at a photo again multiple times.
I'd love to get all of those in my light-tent for a photo shoot ^_^

 

[chungas7revenge]

Hosiden DH-450

 

[GREQ]

Hosiden DH-450

How d'ya like 'em?

 

[WallofHooligans]

So I found a pair of headphones I've been looking for, and I'm impressed by the sound, but there's one problem: the smell. It's seriously offensive. It's not like bad smoke smell from cigs, it smells explicitly like fart. Just on the inside of both cans, they are pungent from a few inches away. It's like someone spent the last year farting only into these headphones. What do I do to purify them? Where can I buy holy water online?

 

[GREQ]

So I found a pair of headphones I've been looking for, and I'm impressed by the sound, but there's one problem: the smell. It's seriously offensive. It's not like bad smoke smell from cigs, it smells explicitly like fart. Just on the inside of both cans, they are pungent from a few inches away. It's like someone spent the last year farting only into these headphones. What do I do to purify them? Where can I buy holy water online?

I would try to remove the drivers and cable and bathe the rest of the headphone in mild white vinegar solution for a couple of hours.
Let is dry out.
Seal it in a box with bicarbonate of soda - the longer the better.
And repeat all steps if necessary.
 
As long as the plastics/vinyls etc are the hard wearing type, you should be able to safely use stronger vinegar solution. 
 
It's always better to try to remove the smells than mask them. With masking you always just end up with a mix of 'nice' and 'disgusting'.... which is just mostly disgusting. 
 
If the headphone uses aluminium, avoid vinegar, as these two will react.
Steel should be fine.
Vinegar will also clean up the old copper cables, but you probably want to avoid dipping the cable in vinegar, as this will only remove the oxide layer, exposing the fresh copper underneath leaving it to react with the air, effectively 'weathering' the wire thinner and thinner.

 

[WallofHooligans]

Vinegar sounds a bit scary, but baking soda is a snazzy idea. Maybe i'll find some way to encapsulate it, and then keep it in between the two cushions... Could make a little "tea baggy" type dealy.

 

[Hutnicks]

  Vinegar sounds a bit scary, but baking soda is a snazzy idea. Maybe i'll find some way to encapsulate it, and then keep it in between the two cushions... Could make a little "tea baggy" type dealy.

Somewhere on here is a thread about a guy who deals in spirits who got a wicked deal on a pair of HD800's because they had an evil smell to them. The thread is about his odyssey in identifying and finally getting rid of the odour. I believe it was a product intended for hospitals that finally did it. If you search a bit it should come up. A quite entertaining read as well.