[Moonwalker]

Hi!

After owning the MDR-F1 for more than 5 years, I was quite happy with them. The sound was extremely soft and non obtrusive for me and for casual listening or movie watching, nothing could be sweeter

But one day, I found the headphonesguru website and I must say there's lot of truth in what they say about MDR-F1's.
Especially the top end is unnecesarily weak and without sparkle.
I tried to contact the people at headphonesguru and 2 days after my mail the reponse came. They can do some advanced surgery and tuning fot $150, but they say it's too complicated and dangerous to attempt it at home.
So I send my thanks , BTW they're great I think - more to come on their web in future, I'm sure

Here I was late at night, doing things with my poor F1' s with nothing than warning from headphonesguru that I should not attempt this dissection because of danger of damaging the transducer.

Still, I know them well and know what I wanted from them. Especially the details and treble COULD be better for sure.

So here's what i did:
I unscrewed rear grille - easy
Pulled the large circular pads free - easy

Unscrewed 3 tiny screws with precision screwdrivers - the same
Freed driver box from metal frame - with caution - wire is short!
Pulled the synthetic front mesh free - it;s tight fit - carefully
I saw foam on some sort of paper ring on the outer diameter supported by plastic web. - I removed thew foam, and then the paper too.
Sound check - little better, but not enough better.
BTW, the foam was glued to the paper and the paper to the plastic box. Both wrer torn to pieces - this step is IRREVERSIBLE as far as I know.
I saw SECOND paper ring INSIDE the driver box, right above the transparent diaphragm. - this was getting more serious.
I decided to not open the driver box, and using small scrwedriver, I was able to free a piece of that paper large enough to catch it by my small non-magnetic!! tweezers. If they were magnetic, the strong pull from driver's magnet would pull them in, ripping the diaphragm!!!

Small step at a time, half an hour later, both paper rings were gone and I put the F1's back together.

Now I'm in process of evaluating the changes - more on the sound later. I can just say, they're surely more NEUTRAL now IMO, and where before treble were dark, now I thing they're bordering on neutral/bright side. But since the change cannot be taken back easily - I need to compare the sound to my second pair of F1's (stock) to be sure I did more right than wrong here.

PS: No images this time, BIG sorry

Moonwalker

 

[Moonwalker]

Bump

Yes, I always felt there's not much praise for F1's, still, I'm deciding I'll post no more comments in the future about this mod.
I think the very few people here who own the Sonys are using them for specific purposes or put them in drawer long time ago.
I guess no one except me (and headphonesguru) is searching for the best they can afford in terms of sound. They will not compete for the holy grail in speed, detail or finesse for sure, but I thought they can be brought to higher level of satisfaction, after all.
Just my opinion, of course
PS: If someone is interested, I can post more details later.

Moonwalker

 

[ford2]

I have praised these phones before.and I will do so again.
The comfort level is outstanding.[Just like the drivers].
If you have good source and can drive them well, they respond well.
I find that the trade of with sound for comfort is something that is often overlooked.
I am sure that there are a lot of people here that own them,and like them.
It seems that way that if a Sony does not have a 10 or a Q in the name then they are no good.
Nearly worth the price for build quality and looks.

 

[Dual]

I hardly use my F1 now since I received my Denons but they were pretty decent phones and super confortable.

I have tried unscrewing the rear grills but they won't budge. I have twisted clockwise and anti-clockwise but they seem to be glued in place.

 

[Moonwalker]

Hi!

ad ford2: They're still going strong after 5 years of occasional use, even the Ecsaine pads and headband is quite good looking (no smell, BTW)

ad Dual: I used napkin in my palm to force-open them, and Yes!, there was some glue residue on the driver box and the grille. But don't worry, it holds well after that even without the cement.

 

[toneloe]

Hi moonwalker,

any update as to how your mod came out, did you do anything else than what you describe above, and how did it sound compare to the stock.
also did headphonesguru tell you what is done to their mod.

 

[Moonwalker]

Hi toneloe, welcome to Headfi!

Thanks for your interest.
I can say the F1's was always warm, natural and inoffensive sounding earspeaker. More than before, I appreciate their long term wearing and sound comfort, even in it's stock form.

Now, after the mod, they have more sparkle and more definition and speed apparently. I can listen to them like before, only it makes me sing-along more

Before I modded them , I wanted sometimes EQ their treble a bit to 'open' them. Not so anymore.
They are more lively now, but still like an old friend: you always knew how it will sound and they sometimes reproduce some songs even better IMO, but their own signature remains unchanged. It doesn't turn them into some detail-devil or faster-than-light phones

Mellow, sweet and fine-balanced they are now, for sure.

And yes, the headphonesguru know what I did to them and send me (AFTER THAT) some clue how to perform the mod. But there's more that can be done and it includes cutting plastic on driver box and measuring response with precise equipment, I do not have.

But I think I successfully discovered the potential of the F1's and I'm satisfied enough to mod them any further (for NOW)

Moonwalker

 

[toneloe]

Thanks for the update Moonwalker,

can you tell me more on the "clue how to perform the mod."

my findings on the F1 is if you want that highend sparkle, bypass the 1 ohm resistor. and if you want more base and detail, remove the 22 ohm resistor. And to make it even better, i replace the cable with the canare starquad.

my guess on your mod if you remove the 2 white paper ring that is suppose to be the bass lens you will loose the base. The foam ring also help to focus the base, i remove mine and i can tell the base was less. and after my mod. i ended up putting a new foam ring to supress the trebe energy and give it more base for a more balance sound, the center of the foam cutout only need to be alittle smaller than a dime. + the mod. is always reversible, I think it has excelent vocal. I've only tested on the ipod, still waiting on the xin amp.

 

[Moonwalker]

Hi toneloe, you are welcome!

here is the post from headphonesguru describing the mod you want to know:

Hi
Having experience in moding, you can also try to maximally enlarge the diameter of the hole in the front element (that is covered by the silver fabric) and also stick a ring of soft felt on the front (a ring with hole - outer diameter ~6cm, hole diameter
~4cm) .
If you enlarge the hole in the plastic grid, the design is irreversibly changed. But it is worth to do.
For best effect use the softest thick fabric possible. (but only testing different materials in a lab will give the most accurate sound results).
Do not put any damping material behind or in front of the transducer!
Do not remove the second, deeper paper ring!
Do not make any other changes! I tested all mods possible, but the sound is perfect aready with mods described above. Any further tuning should concern the perfectioning of the above changes.

Have fun with these unique cans!!!!

Bests,
Alex

You can post/quote this mail, giving each time the www.headphonesguru.com link

So, according to the rules, link is above

Thank you for the tips how resistors change sound balance, can you solder them back afterwards? (I'm afraid of too small contact terminal area and the possibility of damaging it)

You and headphonesguru both agree that removing second deeper paper ring (bass lens) is bad move. But for me, it opened the cans in a good way, and the bass level is enough for me (I'm no basshead - surprise? - I LOVE F1's !!) - fast, light, but suffiiceient. And it doesn't need to be positioned so precisely on the ear to hear bass in optimal level anymore. Bass extension, believe it or not, has improved quite a bit by removing this bass lens apparatus. I think the midbass and upperbass went down by some 2 - 3 dB, and lower bass went up by the same amount.
That tells me my test using condenser mike and CEP 1.2, well supported by listening test as well.

PS: MDR-F1 are better than I thought

Moonwalker

 

[kostalex]

Hi, Moonwalker. Thank you for all your efforts supporting MDR-F1. I also like these cans and I think they are underrated.

I want mine to be modded by headphonesguru.com, but site is not working. May you help me with any other contacts?

 

[Moonwalker]

Hi, kostalex!

Thanks for your kind words!
I've done all the things according to headphonesguru site and some more surgery - torture to my poor F1

Still headphonesguru seems not working nowadays, but i have no other contacts, sorry.

All I did myself is described in my posts. Still, I have the thin and long cable, I'm not going balanced and even not thinking about cable upgrade, keeping stock one-soded cable as it is sufficient for relaxation and movie watching.

Have a nice day
Moonwalker

 

[kostalex]

Do you have their email? It may work even if site is down.

 

[Moonwalker]

Here it is:

Dark-Audio Labs: dark-audio@o2.pl