[yklee118]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Camper /img/forum/go_quote.gif If this does allow more bass output, wouldn't cutting the current ring do similar?

When experimenting with the material, I cut the pieces to match the stock foam rings. To my surprise, the bass frequencies were improved however the treble levels were down significantly. Specialized equipment to measure this are not as good as using your own ears to listen to sound signature. That is where I started fiddling with the center ring diameter and cut-out. It was a hit and miss and surprisingly, the hit was a pleasing result. I manage to reinforce many of the subtle nuiances in a music track such as Alan Hovhaness City of Light.

The only downside I can hear with my modification is a deadening factor applied. The original foam rings basically introduced clarity and rather dry sonic sound-stage quality. With this dry quality, introduces a bit of harshness that can actually destroy the overall listening experience in the form of fatigue. My ears are rather sensitive to a very broad range (tested by a doctor from 10hz to 26KHz) and the K701 really makes my ears hurt before the modification that is. After the modification and careful experimentation, I have finally reach a point that the only way to gain significant improvement with these headphones is by changing the cable. I am very fond with what Moon Audio has to offer, however the only reason I haven't taken the plunge is the flexibility factor. The stock cable is much more flexible than that of the upgraded cable.

I will post more results as time and sound progress.

Until then, have a great week.

thanks for keeping this thread open.

 

[smaugem]

Thanks everyone for this valuable thread. I purchased a pair of K701s a couple of months ago for about 50% mixing and 50% listening. I was impressed with the detail, especially for acoustic music, but found anything with prominant cymbals or distorted guitars to be overbearing. Following this thread on balancing phones, I ran some sweep tests with Logic Audio and found my k701s to have large peaks in the 6-8kHz range. I was able to largely remove these peaks with four parametric EQ filters, but really wanted a better solution.

So I read with interest this thread on mods, and immediately went out to find a replacement for the sponge donuts. My search turned up some perforated foam from an auto shop (5 Swiss Francs) and I eagerly cut out replacements. My first attempt was 3 inch circles without the cutouts and proved to be exactly what I was looking for. The detail in the phones definitely remains, but gone are overbearing sibilants and cymbals.

Here's the foam I'm using:

Thanks again to all.

 

[Happy Camper]

Sorry to have abandoned this thread. My 701s were down for a few weeks. I got them repaired at our meet and had a few people listen to the c-pad vs a couple month old 702. Common remarks were that the bass did get more weight at the cost of some resolution. It was my impression that the 702s were still being broken in since the pads were still pretty stiff so the newer brightness was still influencing them.

I am going to try cutting more out of the center ring to see what it would take to get the resolution back fully without loosing the improvements.

Good work guys.

 

[yklee118]

I actually tried what SMAUGEM did with the perforated synthetic chamois. The overbearing harshness was virtually non-existent, however the sound-stage went with it. The cut out that I made actually brought out the sound-stage with all of its glory without the overbearing harshness. In fact this modification tightened and strengthened the bass levels without it also being overbearing. The peaks within the upper midrange were reduced to near flat response. This is based on my observation.

Take care everyone.

 

[spinali]

A question on materials: are we talking about any synthetic chamois at all, or will even a ShamWow do the trick? Any specific brand of synthetic chamois?

 

[yklee118]

The material that I used was purchased in Germany. The name of the item is "Vileda" and it feels like some type of spongy type cloth. As for synthetic chamois, the best item I have seen is non-perforated type synthetic chamois (non-specific brand name). I hope this helps.

 

[yklee118]

Here is an update. As of May 1st 2009, I have added (not replaced) the original foam damper rings on top of the piece that I installed and the overall bass response has improved. I am now getting the deeper end of the low-frequencies while also increasing the overall sound stage. It would seem that I have recovered nearly all of the openness of the headphones plus the deeper extensions of bass and improved the mid-range while not sounding harsh and brittle at all. Non of the problems of this headphone exist to my ears, even at rather high volumes (ouch my ears too loud). This is after about 3000-hours total on the headphone.

Headphone is the AKG K701 with stock cable coupled via Moon Audio Blue Dragon V1 and through the Little Dot MKI+ factory settings.

Have great month of May

 

[saintalfonzo]

sounds like you ruined your K701.

 

[nickchen]

Very interesting procedure you've tinkered out there. In principle, the K701 has the ideal tonality for my taste, if it had just a bit more bass & emotion. Otherwise, I would have bought one long time ago. Taking the Alessandro alley alternatively wasn't exactly cheap...

 

[yklee118]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saintalfonzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif sounds like you ruined your K701.

The AKG K701 is a great reference class headphone, however there is something that I really didn't care for is the overly bright overtones. Once the volume level set on par with the other reference headphone that I have, the Sennheiser HD650, then I can make this claim of bright and lacking of deeper notes. This modification brings out the fullness that I now fully and truly admire in the K701. To ruin this headphone would be to basically poke holes in the driver or the housing.

This is my opinion I guess and everybody has their own idea as to what a reference class headphone is suppose to sound like.

Everybody have a great month of May.

 

[saintalfonzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yklee118 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The AKG K701 is a great reference class headphone, however there is something that I really didn't care for is the overly bright overtones. Once the volume level set on par with the other reference headphone that I have, the Sennheiser HD650, then I can make this claim of bright and lacking of deeper notes. This modification brings out the fullness that I now fully and truly admire in the K701. To ruin this headphone would be to basically poke holes in the driver or the housing. This is my opinion I guess and everybody has their own idea as to what a reference class headphone is suppose to sound like. Everybody have a great month of May.

You must mostly listen to music that needs the numbing effect of the 650. For anything other than metal or badly recorded older rock music the K701 destroys the HD650. Of course we all have different ears, and I respect your opinion.

 

[nomoneyx]

love my k701s

 

[yklee118]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saintalfonzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif You must mostly listen to music that needs the numbing effect of the 650. For anything other than metal or badly recorded older rock music the K701 destroys the HD650. Of course we all have different ears, and I respect your opinion.

I primarily listen to what is listed in the title. Classical, Jazz, and many of the Beatles albums. I listen to little bit of light rock and RB. Going back to the unmodified method, I lose a little bit of the low frequency thump, however I gain a slight bit of openness. Unfortunately the harshness returns along with a slight hint of bright and brittleness. Something I can tolerate, however I would tradeoff some of these qualities to have long and non-fatiguing listening experiences. This is my preference. This mod may prove helpful in the burn-in stage for those who listen to headphone changes over time. I feel that these headphones will reach a settling level, but for now, the mod that I perform will stay in place.

Thanks for the comments and no I am not a rock n' roll or heavy metal person.

 

[koreanano]

yklee118:

First and foremost, I must thank you for introducing this method of modification to the astounding well-made, affordable AKG K701. I myself read through the entire thread and found mixed comments about your mod - and I thought I might try it out myself since I already have synthetic chamois that looks exactly like yours. It's my first post here in fact. I must also declare now that I love the original AKG K701 sound and I've listened to it over 300~400 hours with an additional 500~600 hours of burn-in.

--

So I put on the headphones with the mod and ta dah~ I am SURPRISED by the amount of change such a little modification could do! Okay that apart, here are some of the main points that I gathered from my listening of about 30 minutes or so. Note these aren't words from a pro musician or a technican, they are just my simple, humble impressions:

1. The vocals seem to lose some of its shine or brightness - yet at the same time, there's something else changed that I cant really define
2. The foreground music seem to be brought out more while the background remains the same
3. Bass sounded like "DU DU DU" last time, now it sounds like "BOOM BOOM BOOM"
4. Loss of some detail from instruments such as electric guitar
5. It was a less fatiguing (if I may use such a word) experience

The extreme detail of the AKG K701 could be what you described as the harshness. I noticed that the lovable twang and strum of guitars and the sizzle of electric guitars seem to be slightly covered, or disappeared all together with the mod. I'm surprised however the level of comfort that came with it. Because this 'harshness' was taken out, I was less particular and absorbed in the music and simply enjoyed the rhythm and the vocal. Despite the vocal seeming to lose some of its shine, the position of the voice seems different and I think its a welcome(-able) change.

I'm rather half-hearted about the change in bass. Previously it was precise and neutral, now it seems more like a real boom. I'm not sure which I prefer yet personally, but I welcome the change again.

Finally I noticed that the sibilance/coarseness of Sarah Brightman in "I will be with you" was slightly less but not eliminated all together. I believe its a problem with my source but its still for the better.

It may seem that what i've highlighted seem to be bad points - but I think that this modification is interesting and deserves to be tried. Although it may make the AKG K701 not what it was so renowned for, I think it is still a desirable change from the standard K701 to something different, especially so for long-time AKG K701 users. I like the sound signature and I'll keep the cloth in there for at least a few more weeks, let my friends test it out and watch their reaction.

 

[deathg0d]

i have tested the mod myself as well and i have tried a couple of some other materials and through it i realise that foam purpose. it kinda enhance the sound from the drivers and without it, k70x will sound very dull and unfocus. so far i find using a very thin piece of paper cloth like material has the best result. i cut the full ring and replace the original foam with it and it sound wonderful.

no lost of details with a very good bass.