[BossBorot]

Quote:

I used to have some braided copper string from Radio Shack that I used to use.  I'd heat up the solder and then "wick" the solder away from the connection with the copper braid.  However, they no longer carry that product in their stores

wow radio shack doesn't even sell desoldering wick anymore, how the mighty have fallen
 

 

[chrislangley4253]

 
Quote:

 
Fortunately, I was just heating up the solder to disconnect the wires, then reconnect the wires.  So, I just softened the solder, removed the wires.  Then, when it came time to reconnect them, I just reheated the old solder and attached the wires.

+1 except a couple of my wires pulled off a good amount of solder with them, so I had to add some.  A friend of mine has a solder removing pump or something along those lines. But, he has been sick/busy and I'm impatient

 

[BossBorot]

If you are looking to remove some solder but not resolder the connection a wick would be a better option. A solder sucker is less delicate for removing some solder as it is designed for removing solder form through hole components not removing just a bit of solder from wire attach points. Also excess solder shouldn't hurt anything unless you are shorting the driver. It does effect conductivity but if you are worried about conductivity in your solder points you should be using silver solder.

 

[lawrywild]

I have wick and a solder sucker/pump. The solder sucker is much faster and easier and should be fine on headphones (though it has to be used with care on some more delicate SMD components though as it could just suck the pad right off the PCB). Wick's more accurate, but you also get more chance of overheating a component when using it because it takes longer. Best way I've found is to place the wick braid over the solder, then apply the tip on top of the braid, takes a bit longer for the solder to melt as the heat is indirect, but as soon as it does it filters nicely into the braid.

 

[BossBorot]

Both of them will work well if you are starting from scratch however he already has the connection resoldered to his new cable so for that application I think a wick would be better plus he wouldn't have to wait for his friend to lend him a pump. However if he doesn't have access to a good soldering iron it would be better to use a pump to avoid possibly overheating the connection to the voice coil.

 

[wje]

I'm working on the Cabillas / MS-1i combination today / tonight a bit.  I've taken the holes that were initially opened from 3 up to 6 per driver.  Also, I was able to visit Michael's crafts store today and get some modeling mesh.  I've cut it to size for my cups and have been applying coats of black paint.  It looks like it will go into position - and without that bulge that appeared in the picture that I posted of the headphones a few nights back when I finished setting them up.
 
I'm also working on the Burl / SR-225i headphones.  I've re-worked the wooden gimbals and took them from the clear maple to a satin black.  The re-work on them was pretty major and will lend itself nicely to the adjustment of the fit and comfort of the headphones.  I also decided to go with some smaller patterned mesh as mentioned above with some coats of black paint on it.  The mesh has a diamond pattern to it - as opposed to the square pattern of the aluminum screen material that I first used.
 
Listening impressions? I'm sure those of you who are following the Cabillas / Alessandro MS-1i combination are looking to hear how this is turning out, right?  Unfortunately, I don't have a LOD cable for the iPod Touch of my daughter's.  However, I did have the basic cable - mini to mini male connector.  I did connect it to my FiiO E11 and ran it in double-amp mode since I didn't have the LOD.  I still only had 3 holes opened up on each driver of the MS-1i at this point of time.  I then set the bass boost on the E11 to the "1" position from the default of "0".  My daughter has lots of hip-hop on the Touch (Black Eyed Peas, other songs with explicit lyrics, etc.).  I'm not a fan of this type of music - I prefer my blue, jazz, etc. music.  However, we went through a few of her songs on the Cabillas / MS-1i headphones.  I don't know how anyone could ever claim that this combination is not a hip-hop headphone.  Dayum.  The bass was hitting hard.  It made me feel like I was at a traffic light in my car and someone was next to me with their sub thumping.  However, there was no car, no intersection and no subwoofer.  Just the plain old MS-1i headphones and the FiiO amp doing the work.  Oh my.  

 

[CABILLAS]

Great!, the hole is a little smallest for a perfect ansemble with driver, without glue if you want. The mesh i used is cuting a black cheap bin, this costs 4€, and you will have for your life.
Come on, you got it!.
Enjoy the way my friend.

 

[CABILLAS]

Oh, i was working in my new "Frankenstein proyect", if you would like to see:
The finally is do it a wood sell for them.
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/557975/closed-grado-sr-225#post_7532661
 
See; .

 

[Nightslayer]

Quote:

Great!, the hole is a little smallest for a perfect ansemble with driver, without glue if you want. The mesh i used is cuting a black cheap bin, this costs 4€, and you will have for your life.
Come on, you got it!.
Enjoy the way my friend.

An $8 mesh bin is cheap? Goodness gracious me. Also, have you tried using Jumbos with your cans, by any chance? I've been wondering what they would sound like. As always, props on the shells, they look fantastic.

 

[CABILLAS]

Thanks. Yes, for me is cheap, because i had made a lot of mesh. No, i never try, in Spain all people says that it´s a bad idea.

 

[chrislangley4253]

I love that people are doing these mods in many other countries now. It just speaks for how well they work Still loving my bloodwood cups, I don't know how these mahogany ms pros are going to compare, but, I really can't foresee them blowing my woodies out of the water. Time shall tell. Meanwhile, the amount of detail I'm getting with my silver cable and my source is astounding. I listened to some live recordings last night and literally had a tear rolling down my cheek. 
 
*I can't say for sure if the silver cable is coming to play with the details, but I can say I saw a huge jump in quality on my portapros with silver. They don't make things brighter, just a ton more detailed (including the upper end). 

 

[xaval]

Quote:

I love that people are doing these mods in many other countries now. It just speaks for how well they work Still loving my bloodwood cups, I don't know how these mahogany ms pros are going to compare, but, I really can't foresee them blowing my woodies out of the water. Time shall tell. Meanwhile, the amount of detail I'm getting with my silver cable and my source is astounding. I listened to some live recordings last night and literally had a tear rolling down my cheek. 
 
*I can't say for sure if the silver cable is coming to play with the details, but I can say I saw a huge jump in quality on my portapros with silver. They don't make things brighter, just a tons more detailed (including the upper end). 

Great sounding music can do just that. It makes it all worth it imo (whatever "all" maybe haha)
 
 

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

Great sounding music can do just that. It makes it all worth it imo (whatever "all" maybe haha)
 
 

it wasn't even the nicest recording either. It was just the first time that I heard all these little nuances that I was never hearing. Mostly the crowd, it was still really cool

 

[wje]

Quote:

*I can't say for sure if the silver cable is coming to play with the details, but I can say I saw a huge jump in quality on my portapros with silver. They don't make things brighter, just a tons more detailed (including the upper end). 

Chris,
 
One of the pairs of my woody Grados has Mogami cable covered with Techflex.  There is definitely a very unique sound to the music with those headphones.  How much of it is attributed to the rear holes?  The wood cups?  The cable?  I'm not sure.  But, with everything together, that is where the magic happens.
 

 

[unchain]

I'm having some serious problems with bilavideo.
 
On 6/10 I sent him a PM that will let you in on what I've been going through:
 
Quote:

Bill, what is going on here?
 
On 5/30 I asked "Bill, did you get my cans busted out yesterday?" You said "Yes." It's 6/10 now, which would be 12 days since you claimed to finish my cups. No sign of them. I'm starting to feel pretty cheated. I paid you $60 on March 18, 2011 for cups and $25 on April 8, 2011 for you to help fix my headphone problem.

You claimed that my cans would be in the mail on April 8th, April 15th, April 18th, April 25th, May 1st, May 9th, May 21st and most recently you said that they had been finished on May 29th. I understand that things have come up, but come on Bill, how is that ok? If you read through our conversation, you'll see all these dates.
 
Bill, I'm trying so hard to be patient and to have faith that I'll be getting my headphones soon, but I mailed my headphones to you on March 30th. I paid for the cups 12 days before that. My headphones have been out of my possession for over seventy days now. When I sent the cans off, I was expecting them be one for one week. This is literally 1000% longer than what was originally projected.
 
Please. Just be real with me. Where are you at with my headphones? Are they in the mail? Have the cups even been made? I'm not trying to be rude Bill, please do not take it that way, I'm just very concerned...I've asked for pictures of the cans/cups multiple times and not once got a response. Again, I don't mean to seem like I'm attacking you or anything...I just want to listen to my Grados.

 
I got a reply the next day (6/11) from bila, blaming school for taking up all his time and saying that he would make them that very day and have tracking info for me later on that day.
 
It's 6/18, no headphones, no tracking info, but I did get lied to again and bila has a much less polite PM sitting in his inbox. It's been 81 days since I sent my cans to him, so I'm pretty confident that I got scammed and I'm likely now out a pair of headphones (Grado SR-80i) and 85 bucks. So cool! Just what I always wanted! To get ripped off on the internet.
 
Even if bila sent me my cans without the shells and gave me my money back, I'd still be screwed because he broke my inners trying to liberate my driver to fix it. I'm really in shock about this whole thing. Am I being unreasonable? Do I not have a right to be mad at this point? If I was you guys, I wouldn't deal with bilavideo until he proves that he's changed his ways. I tried being patient, I tried being nice, but it's gotten me nowhere.
 
I hope some of you expecting things from him have better luck...
 
-Jacob
 
(P.S. For anyone who cares, I'm healing up well from the accident, leg is still in a cast and my ribs hurt a bit when I breath real deep, but otherwise fine. Cops found the lady who hit me, I'm doing the legal thing and totally going to win, so yay from that side of things.)