[Saintkeat]

I highly doubt these are the imitation jumbos that's supposed to sound like bowls without being as big as the original jumbos.
 
Reason why, is these jaben jumbos may be tiny bit different but the shape seems exactly the same. And as project86 mentioned they seem to sound the same.
 
I'm now pretty convinced the ebay pads are the illusive jumbo bowls since they seem to sit flatter and that indicates they aren't as far out.
 
I'll be picking up a pair tomorrow or so. But I can't post results till I get my cups. BILA BILL! Please make me my cups =D

 

[ib1dance]

Quote:

Like your test results, mine were essentially the same with my SR325i Grados.  I used Dynamat (with the foil removed) to apply to the insides of the driver cups, like you did as well as to the back of the magnet.  The whole exercise took about 30 minutes to perform - yet, I felt that there were no benefits to taking this much time to line the insides of the cups for no appreciable difference in sound.
 
 

 

A Guess Grado have already tested many variations & found that the next logical step was using a  Aluminum air chamber with the SR325i.
 
Is the Alloy Air chamber exactly the same design as the plastic chambers.From what I can read the SR325i use the same drivers as the SR80i.
 
I have a friend whom is a precision engineer .He may be able to replicate the plastic design .Though I'd only proceed with this if I knew that the SR325i was essentially like the SR80'i but made in alloy with a few extra tweaks here and there .

 

[lawrywild]

What are you on about? There are no "jumbos that are supposed to sound like bowls" there are only my impressions on how the fake jumbos supplied with jaben cups sound fairly similar to how my bowls sound with them, that's it. Who ever said anything about them not "being as big"? I certainly never said that, they're the same size. They're designed to be cheap knock offs of the Grado ones. The shape has little to do with how they sound, the porosity of the foam does more.
 
This is a photo of the official G-Cush. Notice the difference mid way through. 3 different densities of foam are used, you can see 3 layers on the right hand one. The 'fakes' are cut from a single piece of foam.
 

 
Quote:

I highly doubt these are the imitation jumbos that's supposed to sound like bowls without being as big as the original jumbos.
 
Reason why, is these jaben jumbos may be tiny bit different but the shape seems exactly the same. And as project86 mentioned they seem to sound the same.
 
I'm now pretty convinced the ebay pads are the illusive jumbo bowls since they seem to sit flatter and that indicates they aren't as far out.
 
I'll be picking up a pair tomorrow or so. But I can't post results till I get my cups. BILA BILL! Please make me my cups =D

 

 

[Mike OC]

Hi All,
 
As I'm sure you'll notice this is my first post to Head-Fi.  I just finished reading all 250+ pages of this thread and couldn't help but join up.  Big thanks to everyone who contributed to this, it's been a fascinating read.
 
So I guess the next logical step is to pick up some Grados and get my hands dirty, no?  I have the opportunity to pick up some 225is for around 125 bucks (the guy is throwing in HD414 pads, although judging solely on looks I'm partial to the bowls).  He mentioned a 'small break in the cable' that he has since 'fixed,' but says they sound flawless.  Am I crazy to pass up?  I might be able to get him down closer to 100.  My soldering skills are non-existent, so the 'fixed' cable makes me wary.  Thoughts?
 
Thanks a bunch again to everyone contributing, especially (but certainly not limited to) Bilavideo--hope you're healing up well.
 
Take care,
Mike

 

[lawrywild]

Welcome, must've taken a long time to read through..
 
Sounds like a good deal. I'd just recable them with some mogami/cardas or silver if I was you, it's a good incentive to learn to solder, just practice on an old PCB first that's how most of us learn. You won't have to worry about the cable and you get the sound improvement too.
 
Quote:

Hi All,
 
As I'm sure you'll notice this is my first post to Head-Fi.  I just finished reading all 250+ pages of this thread and couldn't help but join up.  Big thanks to everyone who contributed to this, it's been a fascinating read.
 
So I guess the next logical step is to pick up some Grados and get my hands dirty, no?  I have the opportunity to pick up some 225is for around 125 bucks (the guy is throwing in HD414 pads, although judging solely on looks I'm partial to the bowls).  He mentioned a 'small break in the cable' that he has since 'fixed,' but says they sound flawless.  Am I crazy to pass up?  I might be able to get him down closer to 100.  My soldering skills are non-existent, so the 'fixed' cable makes me wary.  Thoughts?
 
Thanks a bunch again to everyone contributing, especially (but certainly not limited to) Bilavideo--hope you're healing up well.
 
Take care,
Mike

 

 

[lawrywild]

Only just noticed this post and yeh as Big Bill said, no dye should come off. No dye came off my 'fake' ones either, so I don't know what pads you have been testing.
 
Quote:

Sounds fishy, I recently purchased a pair of real G-Cushion and no black dye came off on my fingers.
 

 

 

[wje]

Quote:

A Guess Grado have already tested many variations & found that the next logical step was using a  Aluminum air chamber with the SR325i.
 
Is the Alloy Air chamber exactly the same design as the plastic chambers.From what I can read the SR325i use the same drivers as the SR80i.
 
I have a friend whom is a precision engineer .He may be able to replicate the plastic design .Though I'd only proceed with this if I knew that the SR325i was essentially like the SR80'i but made in alloy with a few extra tweaks here and there .

Grado might use the "same" drivers as the SR80i on their SR325i, but on their specs sheet, the driver information for the SR325i shows that they're matched more closely (0.5dB vs. 1.0dB) like the other SR series drivers.  As far as the aluminum chamber and its benefits to the quality of sound, the verdict might be out on that one.  Yes, it's my belief that it does enhance the sound.  But, it's also believed that it tends to give the bass a bit more of a "metallic" sound.  
 
Bilvideo is graciously sending me a pair of wooden liners for my SR325i headphones.  I'm going to slip the liners in and see where and how the bass potentially changes when the chamber has a bit of wood in there instead of just the straight aluminum.
 
 
 

 

[Mike OC]

Thank you for the thoughts, I'll look into it and report back.
 
Quote:

Welcome, must've taken a long time to read through..
 
Sounds like a good deal. I'd just recable them with some mogami/cardas or silver if I was you, it's a good incentive to learn to solder, just practice on an old PCB first that's how most of us learn. You won't have to worry about the cable and you get the sound improvement too.
 


 

 

 

[ib1dance]

Quote:

Grado might use the "same" drivers as the SR80i on their SR325i, but on their specs sheet, the driver information for the SR325i shows that they're matched more closely (0.5dB vs. 1.0dB) like the other SR series drivers.  As far as the aluminum chamber and its benefits to the quality of sound, the verdict might be out on that one.  Yes, it's my belief that it does enhance the sound.  But, it's also believed that it tends to give the bass a bit more of a "metallic" sound.  
 
Bilvideo is graciously sending me a pair of wooden liners for my SR325i headphones.  I'm going to slip the liners in and see where and how the bass potentially changes when the chamber has a bit of wood in there instead of just the straight aluminum.
 
 
 

Ok thanks I will probably leave my SR80i's as they are then .I'm happy with there bass now so can't hear any point in punching more holes ........? though it is tempting to punch 1 more as it does open up the sound more,maybe I will buy that felt after all.
 
It will be interesting what change you notice with the wooded liners .

 

[KneelJung]

Quote:

...The shape has little to do with how they sound, the porosity of the foam does more.
 
This is a photo of the official G-Cush. Notice the difference mid way through. 3 different densities of foam are used, you can see 3 layers on the right hand one. The 'fakes' are cut from a single piece of foam.
 

 

Thanks for the impressions Larry. Question for you. Have you heard both the G cush and the Jabens or just the Jabens? Your thoughts about the porosity of the foam effecting the sound more makes sense. My new cups are kind of heavy so it doesnt take long before the phones start becoming uncomfortable. So I end up switching to the jumbo's for the comfort factor, they sound alright, but the bowls sound way better. I'm just looking for a compromise and curious as to whether the knock off jumbo's can provide it. 
 

 

[Bilavideo]

Everybody, I'm late to take my six-year-old to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, but I wanted to share something really cool.  While working on a project, I had one of those "bilavideo moments."  Think of it as Alzheimers in reverse.  Long story short, I've redesigned the "skinnies."  The new lathe has opened up a new window of opportunity to create what is essentially a "shell within a shell" - completely out of fine tonewood.  I just spent the last three-and-a-half hours cutting pairs from every tonewood I could think of.  I'm not done yet - and my ETA is off because of this party - but before the night is over, I hope to have something interesting to share.
 
The lathe is forcing me to rethink so many things.  I'm just psyched about the possibilities.  I've got wood.  I've got the technology.  Now, all I need is daylight (or dispensation from the wife to lathe some more in the house).

 

[Dobrescu George]

ok, i have seen some g-cush information... but really... 3 types of foam still does not explain the price of 40$... i mean in my country the price is about to this.... and i consider it a little too ridicolous for two pieces of foam.... but i will test them anyway...

 

[Majestic]

Quote:

ok, i have seen some g-cush information... but really... 3 types of foam still does not explain the price of 40$... i mean in my country the price is about to this.... and i consider it a little too ridicolous for two pieces of foam.... but i will test them anyway...

You have to consider what is involved in shaping the foam. From the looks of my my L-Cush pads they are made from three foams as well than they most likely lathed. Similar to the way we used to cut down our foam tires for R/C racing. You used a mini lath and a sharp blade and cut it down while the tire spun at high RPM's to true it.  I'm sure it goes deeper than this but the price is reflective of the process and the different materials used. 
 
 

 

[Saintkeat]

OK not going to comment anymore on the pads since I seem to have stirred up some angst. I'll just choose whatever pads at my own discretion.
 
Back to mods. I'd like to know if any of you have taken a multimeter to your recable job and found that the ground on and signal seem to be linked using the continuity test?
 
I was testing my viablue plugs and took a multimeter to it to check which pins I'll have to solder to and realised that the signal and ground seem to have "merged" on my jack. I checked my solder and its all clean and very seperate. what makes sense to me is probably the plate that we use to solder the wires to seems to be the cause. This being my first and only driver mod, is this normal?

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

 
Dynamat Extreme mod V1 .
 
I only applied the Dynamat extreme mod V1 to one shell so I could compare my results with the un-modded shell .Some people compare there results from memory, though memory can be extremely subjective.I prefer using physical evidence to Gage my sense's  .I would of also liked @ hand some scientific instrumentation to measure any change but I'm not a Audio engineer so used my ears without any secondary and conclusive evidence  .
 
I thought I'd begin with having lots of dynamat, thus hopefully get a distinct change in sound that I could then use as a benchmark .
 
The Dynamat extreme mod V1 did not improve the sound .As you'd expect, covering most of the acoustic inner chamber in a energy/sound absorbing material dampened the vibrancy of the headphones & narrowed the sound stage .
 
I then began de-modding the Dynamat extreme modV1 ,removing a peace of Dynamat and then comparing the results with the non Dynamat shell .When I had removed all the Dynamat without noticing any improvement in audio quality, I then  methodically re-applied some Dynamat but without the silver foil coating . But having still not heard any improvement I have now removed all the Dynamat from my SR80'i shell .
 
Conclusion:
 
It is possible that placing Dynamat or any other type of relatively high energy absorbing material may soak up some unwanted distortions . But when using such small amounts,like on the back of the driver for example, any change  will most probably not be within human hearing range.
 
Though all these small changers can mount up to one Big change ( That's how we can save our natural environment for example ) .
 
Using Highly sensitive Instruments that can measure any subtle improvements in sound ,is the way to add up all these subtle audio improvements into Big Audio improvements ,
 
Obviously that is how science has been building upon measured evidence &  evolving our technology ever since the first scientific instruments were created .We could not  land Robots on planets like Mars that can be anywhere between 56 million to 400 million km apart by using subjective idea's .
 
And exactly the same evidenced based discipline applies  to Audio engineering .
 
I think I'm going to have to do a little research into what methods headphone manufacturers actually use when developing their headphones .
 
 

Grado dampens the back of the magnets on their higher up models.. That's why we replicate it with dynamat here. I'm fairly sure. Actually, damn near all of these mods are taking differences between the higher and lower models and bringing them down to the lower models. If that makes any sense.
 


Quote:

What are you on about? There are no "jumbos that are supposed to sound like bowls" there are only my impressions on how the fake jumbos supplied with jaben cups sound fairly similar to how my bowls sound with them, that's it. Who ever said anything about them not "being as big"? I certainly never said that, they're the same size. They're designed to be cheap knock offs of the Grado ones. The shape has little to do with how they sound, the porosity of the foam does more.
 
This is a photo of the official G-Cush. Notice the difference mid way through. 3 different densities of foam are used, you can see 3 layers on the right hand one. The 'fakes' are cut from a single piece of foam.
 

 


 

I think I was the one that might have misquoted you about saying they sounded like Bowls.. I know I heard it somewhere, obviously not from you.. Anyhow, sorry mate.