[Acix]

Quote:

These are the 'A''s, which were designed for audiometric testing, I think, and also for use with the Nagra tape recorders. this one has a plug that looks like it would fit right into the jack of the old Nagra recorder I uploaded above. What makes you say that a two pronged plug would be mono? The seller told me they are over 50 years old which would make them like 1960 vintage. I'm going to try to pick up another 'A' pad and then I can stick the 'E' pads on top of that.....or even a fostex t20 pad perhaps. It should be interesting to hear them anyhow. I think the driver is the same as the 'E' driver.

 
I thought the A model are only 5 ohm (need to ask Judi). It's a great idea to try to mount some pads over the audiometric pads.

 

[lejaz]

Quote:

 
I thought the A model are only 5 ohm (need to ask Judi). It's a great idea to try to mount some pads over the audiometric pads.

I'll check the Beyer website. They're still selling the A version at present. I think they're 25 ohms, but not totally sure. All the ones with the round cups are the 'A' AFAIK. The E and the S have oval shaped cups.....at least the E does, for certain.

 

[Acix]

how is the audiometric pads attached to the cups?

 

[lejaz]

You're right, the A is 5ohms. I'm pretty certain I got one of the Nagra's then. It says Kudelski on the cups and he's the guy who designed the first  Nagra tape recorder....way back in the early 50's. the plug on mine looks like it fits the monitoring output jack of the Nagra in the photo.

 

[Acix]

Quote:

You're right, the A is 5ohms. I'm pretty certain I got one of the Nagra's then. It says Kudelski on the cups and he's the guy who designed the first  Nagra tape recorder....way back in the early 50's. the plug on mine looks like it fits the monitoring output jack of the Nagra in the photo.

 
Very cool man, now you just need to get the Nagra tape recorder.

 

[lejaz]

Quote:

 
Very cool man, now you just need to get the Nagra tape recorder.

Ha, no.... no time to mess with tape unfortunately. I barely have the time to work in digital. I bet those go for a hefty price, just for their value to collectors alone. They were the number one tape recorders used in the film industry AFAIK....the best available. From the wiki page: 
 
Nagra-brand tape recorders were the de facto standard sound recording systems for motion picture and single-camera televisionproduction from the 1960s until the 1990s. Their physical appearance, with the single transport selector and large reel-to-reel tape deckare still the stereotypical image most people have of a professional tape recorder. A Nagra IV-S recorder prominently appears in the 1981 movie Diva, which features an opera fan making bootleg recordings of his favorite opera singer; another Nagra (a Nagra III) features prominently in the 1981 John Travolta film Blow Out about a freelance sound effects engineer. Another Nagra III may be seen in the Beatles' movie Help!. In the film The Informant! the FBI installs a Nagra in Matt Damon's character's briefcase to covertly record conversations related to ADM price fixing. A Nagra SN is featured in the 1974 psychological thriller The Conversation.

The analogue Nagra recorders have a reputation for extreme ruggedness and reliability, essentially being the "Swiss watch" of audio tape recorders. Their cases are highly durable, and every component, from the transport rollers to the gain pots, have the feel of excellent engineering. The feature that gave Nagra the edge in quality and film use was Stefan Kudelski's development of the Neo-Pilottone system, where synchronization data could be recorded on the tape in the middle of the audio track, but without crosstalk onto the program recording.

 

[lejaz]

I opened the back of the cups on my dt48A's....the date on the back of one of the drivers appears to be Jan 30, 1967. It's pretty blurry, but I'm pretty sure it's '67, not 57. So far I'm only getting sound out of one side....at least it's nice and clear. I have no idea what I'm doing with the wiring of the plug though.  I can't see anything obviously wrong when I take the backs off the cups. Hopefully my friend, who has an electronics background, will be able to look at them next week. Until then, I've still got my '80's 'E'.. 

 

[Acix]

Quote:

I opened the back of the cups on my dt48A's....the date on the back of one of the drivers appears to be Jan 30, 1967. It's pretty blurry, but I'm pretty sure it's '67, not 57. So far I'm only getting sound out of one side....at least it's nice and clear. I have no idea what I'm doing with the wiring of the plug though.  I can't see anything obviously wrong when I take the backs off the cups. Hopefully my friend, who has an electronics background, will be able to look at them next week. Until then, I've still got my '80's 'E'.. 

 
It's easy to solder the cable to a stereo plug,
 

 

[lejaz]

Acix, thanks! Hopefully my fiend will do it next week, or else I have to learn to solder. I took an old cable from a broken set of phones and cut off about a foot long piece with the plug on the end. Then I stripped the wires and twisted them around the bare wires on the end of the dt48A cable. It's possible I connected them wrong, but after watching the video I don't think so. I'll check again later. It's possible there's a short somewhere I suppose. I hope one driver's not dead, but they sure look very sturdy/solid. And the drivers themselves are aluminum.

 

[Acix]

Quote:

Acix, thanks! Hopefully my fiend will do it next week, or else I have to learn to solder. I took an old cable from a broken set of phones and cut off about a foot long piece with the plug on the end. Then I stripped the wires and twisted them around the bare wires on the end of the dt48A cable. It's possible I connected them wrong, but after watching the video I don't think so. I'll check again later. It's possible there's a short somewhere I suppose. I hope one driver's not dead, but they sure look very sturdy/solid. And the drivers themselves are aluminum.

 
 
Yes, this way you can check them up...I hope for you the drivers are okay. Also check out the old cable plug.

 

[lejaz]

Quote:

 
 
Yes, this way you can check them up...I hope for you the drivers are okay. Also check out the old cable plug
 

 

Yes, it could be the old plug, since they were cheap junk phones. I'm going to try to pick up a 1/4" plug at Radio Shack next week. They have one with small screws on all the contacts, so you don't have to solder the connections. I guess the original cable on the phones could have a short somewhere too. But, I'll give the new plug a try and see how it goes. .

 

[maniacal71]

Nice Vintage DT48 A you caught there, they aren't Nagras though, Nagras are silver chrome and come in 5Ω 25Ω, so far i have and seen. I have one 5Ω and 2 25Ω, of one is written Kudelski instead of Beyer. The Black 5Ω that you have are also sought after and are pretty rare, the headband is just like KBI's if i'm not wrong, he has one of that.
 
Don't go believing that the DT48 isn't made for music, the A model doesn't have as bad a roll off as the DT48 E using the same new version oval pads. It is difficult to take the word of someone pinching quotes as compared to one such as myself and LeJaz who physically has them and the trick is to find clean and complete sounding equipment to pair.
 
Oh and thats correct about the plug, its a mono separated channel plug, meaning Stereo when it reaches your ears, I have one just like yours but no Nagra Tape recorder to use them with

 

[lejaz]

Thanks for the info, maniacal71! Did I mention that there's a date on the back of the drivers...Jan. 1967. One little problem though....one side is still not working even after putting on a new plug. One of our forum members told me to tighten up the screws on the contacts on the driver, and I'll try that next....however the soldering on the contacts looks fine. I can't figure out what would kill one of the drivers. Judging by the two pronged plug they were only used with a Nagra tape recorder, not for monitoring or listening to music. It could be the cable I guess, but it looks like it's brand new even though it's 45 years old. The phones themselves look barely used.. 

 

[maniacal71]

Quote:

Thanks for the info, maniacal71! Did I mention that there's a date on the back of the drivers...Jan. 1967. One little problem though....one side is still not working even after putting on a new plug. One of our forum members told me to tighten up the screws on the contacts on the driver, and I'll try that next....however the soldering on the contacts looks fine. I can't figure out what would kill one of the drivers. Judging by the two pronged plug they were only used with a Nagra tape recorder, not for monitoring or listening to music. It could be the cable I guess, but it looks like it's brand new. 

Most of the DT48 that i had, came with mono or those 2 prongs, but no problem with music once changed to a stereo plug or direct to the back of an amp. Open up the driver cover and see if the screws are loose, most likely the problem lies on the cable at the strain reliefs.

 

[maniacal71]

Quote:

 
Oh, that's a surprise. Like to share som tracks you've been listening to?

Really wide range, i really don't know where to start, Trance, Classical, Pop, choose a category for me to start, Most notable upgrade was pairing them with the ODAC + O2.