[Music818]

Sun shine...... 

 

[nick n]

ELEGA DR214-C
 
20-20,000Hz
100mw
105 db
 
 One vintage I feel really needs no work, it truly is good as-is but of course everything can be bumped a bit.
Sadly the foam has started to go funny, so after a careful cleaning I will replace the foam with Angel Hair and I should be in heaven assuming it stays similar which it should ( but improved ).
Possibly a little Dynamat here and there can't hurt either, maybe a ring around the magnet and the flange of the driver housing there.
Everything seems even across the board, and I forget what I am wearing and just lose myself, like headphones should do I feel. Stay out of the way.
 A real surprise this one.

 
Driver seems mounted to some sort of anti-vibe board or something there, can't figure out what that is. Some sort of ultra dense composite something-or-other.
yes the open backs are open
See it is so dynamic I couldn't even get the shot off properly at first.

Let's pretend I planned that first shot...

 

 

[DJDuck]

  ELEGA DR214-C
 
20-20,000Hz
100mw
105 db
 
 One vintage I feel really needs no work, it truly is good as-is but of course everything can be bumped a bit.
Sadly the foam has started to go funny, so after a careful cleaning I will replace the foam with Angel Hair and I should be in heaven assuming it stays similar which it should ( but improved ).
Possibly a little Dynamat here and there can't hurt either, maybe a ring around the magnet and the flange of the driver housing there.
Everything seems even across the board, and I forget what I am wearing and just lose myself, like headphones should do I feel. Stay out of the way.
 A real surprise this one.

 
Driver seems mounted to some sort of anti-vibe board or something there, can't figure out what that is. Some sort of ultra dense composite something-or-other.
yes the open backs are open
See it is so dynamic I couldn't even get the shot off properly at first.

Let's pretend I planned that first shot...

 

Wow, those look GREAT! 

 Any possibility of a shot of the complete headphones?
How do they sound? Looks like they're using the same driver as my Elega. I've been meaning to try those drivers in a different enclosure since mine's falling apart but I have no idea how they'd sound.

 

[nick n]

Sure! It's really simple inside = a large space.
 Good to know about the drivers being similar, might see about some for a project.
Very even keeled, nice and open sounding, nothing stands out more than anything else basically. As I say I forget about them and get into the tunes all the time, been using them quite a bit.
 I'll have to look at your post and specs.
 
Those are Fostex T50RP pads by the way, stock ones were like old pioneer things. Similar opening size, height, and shape though, just not as wide  since the stock ones are a bit thinner so these Fostex pads overlap cup edges a bit.
 
This is the same housing the ESS Heil Driver headphones used.
 
Thanks for the heads up.

 

 
EDIT: You are right they sure look identical!!!!!
I'll be picking up another set of drivers I think.
Luckily I know what to look for under different names.
 
I would think ANY shell that has a nice open rear would be good for those. I see though yours had felt on them these simply had foam.

 

[nick n]

another shot of the front which is important because that is a major tuning influence.
 
I replaced the earside foam with this "thick" stuff, though it still is thin .
It has a minor effect overall, maybe a touch off the top end.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thin-Thick-Inside-Foam-Disk-Ear-Pads-For-HD545-HD565-HD600-HD650-Headphones-/261515186997?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3ce3851335
 
As you can see the baffle holes and hole arrangement are slightly different than yours also.

 

[takato14]

  ELEGA DR214-C
 
20-20,000Hz
100mw
105 db
 
 One vintage I feel really needs no work, it truly is good as-is but of course everything can be bumped a bit.
Sadly the foam has started to go funny, so after a careful cleaning I will replace the foam with Angel Hair and I should be in heaven assuming it stays similar which it should ( but improved ).
Possibly a little Dynamat here and there can't hurt either, maybe a ring around the magnet and the flange of the driver housing there.
Everything seems even across the board, and I forget what I am wearing and just lose myself, like headphones should do I feel. Stay out of the way.
 A real surprise this one.

 
Driver seems mounted to some sort of anti-vibe board or something there, can't figure out what that is. Some sort of ultra dense composite something-or-other.
yes the open backs are open
See it is so dynamic I couldn't even get the shot off properly at first.

Let's pretend I planned that first shot...

 

Woah.
 
I take it the ESS Mark I used an OEM chassis... makes sense I guess. 
 
I'll keep an eye out for these. Thanks nick.

 

[nick n]

One thing I just figured out and I will try to keep it brief here.
The reason the highs were nice and prevalent is due to the decayed foam directly on the driver rear.
I am compensating and closely recreating that effect by using  double stack of the Legacy Cotton quilt batting ( like a fuzzy felt =2 discs per side, fuzzy side facing driver rear, secured to each other with rings of double sided tape  ) and a couple layers over the rear vents.
Few bits of Dynamat here and there.
Angel Hair in cups makes up for any loss of staging by far and adds dimensionality while cleaning up resonances
Might try 3 discs  per driver rear to make it similar.
 
Will confirm just trying the 3rd now.
At any rate there is real potential here, 'cept i get realllly fussy.
 
I wanted to be clear on what I found  it is a little bit of work but if you have the gumption to get down to it, seems worthwhile.
 
 
 
 
A pal will listen in the next couple weeks and see if I am crazy or not.
 
 
Let's see how it hold up over listening long term.
***mods ongoing  some real work here
 
peace out

 

[nick n]

  Woah.
 
I take it the ESS Mark I used an OEM chassis... makes sense I guess. 
 
I'll keep an eye out for these. Thanks nick.

Sorry for double posting 

but I noticed it is likely that Elega OEMd this shell specifically for ESS, then made use of the remainder of what they made by retrofitting their own drivers in there. Explains why it was only out for a 2 year run at pretty much the same time period or just after ESS released theirs.
 
Specifically take a look at what appears to be a rectangular driver mount frame on the baffle, which serves no other function in this setup shown with the round driver. It fits/bolts into absolutely nothing as seen above. Explains why the round driver in pics above looks to be retrofit.
The rectangular driver mounting frames plus the front baffle holes ( vertical rectangular arrangement ) would only seem to ideally fit their headphone  size ESS Heil AMT driver, which I believe is of that shape and size.
 
A bit of useless interesting ( or not ) trivia I suppose.

 

[nick n]

Peerless PMB 8
55mm

 

[MrTechAgent]

****, wrong thread. 
Sorry. 

 

[nick n]

DJDuck if you want to tame those Elega drivers in an open shell simply try a single layer of 3M Micropore tape ( sold by 3M under the Papertape name, but says Micropore inside the roll )
over the 4 rear pinhole driver vents there!

 

 

[DJDuck]

  DJDuck if you want to tame those Elega drivers in an open shell simply try a single layer of 3M Micropore tape ( sold by 3M under the Papertape name, but says Micropore inside the roll )
over the 4 rear pinhole driver vents there!

 

I might do that when I have time, thanks
 
I actually want to make a pair of headphones that, looks-wise, shoot for the HifiMan HE-x00 series headphones, as in big circular open headphones. With wooden cups and mesh grill and open cell foam on the grill. And then make a removable front baffle and pads (might use Beyerdynamic DT-990 pads) to easily swap drivers.

 

[GREQ]

Hitachi HD-9
 


 
Euro-Channels EH-520 (made in Korea)

 

[nick n]

Isn't that Hitachi thing  one of the special "gathered" types?

 

[GREQ]

  Isn't that Hitachi thing  one of the special "gathered" types?

It is indeed, well spotted