Starting a thread to document some info/mod on the SkullCandy Hesh-2 Bluetooth phones. Lets see if the sound quality can be improved.
My reasons for choosing the Hesh-2...it is the over-the-ear type, with pleather pads, should provide good noise isolation, and more importantly, to me at least, it can be had for relatively little $, the refurbished sets are less than $40 sometimes.
impressions from the stock phones (~10 minutes listening):
*Bass quantity is good, but very much one-note, no much bass detail/texture.
* very lay-back presentation;
* Mids are actually quite ok, good voice; but not much highs.
* Resolution is actually ok enough for back ground music listening.
* over all, doesn't sound super bad for a pair of sub-$40 phones.
** my main complain at this point, is that the ear cups are small, barely covers my ears...not very comfy.
then it was time to take it apart:
the ear pads pop right off...
....and take out the four little philips screws holding the cup. Left cup holds the battery and charging circuit....
...big 50mm drivers. no wonder the bass was big...
.... right cup holds the main circuit board. The headphone amp stage uses a SGM4812 chip.....
... drivers are press-fitted into the baffle, simply use a flat screw-driver to pry them out....
DC resistance of these drivers, is around 14 ohms, so they are probably 16-ohm nominal impedance.
Next step: lets replace stock drivers with some Koss KTXPro-1/KSC55 drivers and see how it goes. Stay tuned....
My reasons for choosing the Hesh-2...it is the over-the-ear type, with pleather pads, should provide good noise isolation, and more importantly, to me at least, it can be had for relatively little $, the refurbished sets are less than $40 sometimes.
impressions from the stock phones (~10 minutes listening):
*Bass quantity is good, but very much one-note, no much bass detail/texture.
* very lay-back presentation;
* Mids are actually quite ok, good voice; but not much highs.
* Resolution is actually ok enough for back ground music listening.
* over all, doesn't sound super bad for a pair of sub-$40 phones.
** my main complain at this point, is that the ear cups are small, barely covers my ears...not very comfy.
then it was time to take it apart:
the ear pads pop right off...
....and take out the four little philips screws holding the cup. Left cup holds the battery and charging circuit....
...big 50mm drivers. no wonder the bass was big...
.... right cup holds the main circuit board. The headphone amp stage uses a SGM4812 chip.....
... drivers are press-fitted into the baffle, simply use a flat screw-driver to pry them out....
DC resistance of these drivers, is around 14 ohms, so they are probably 16-ohm nominal impedance.
Next step: lets replace stock drivers with some Koss KTXPro-1/KSC55 drivers and see how it goes. Stay tuned....