[Slater]

Well, it's like Leonard Smalls said, it's not what you or I think it's worth, but what the market will bear...

Agreed.

If that guy sells those for $5k, I will literally eat my shorts (and will record it).

Well there was one difference with the MDH8500, the is a giant plastic tab next to the driver that isn't there on the HF2011.

Did you happen to get a photo of the tab?

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

So, I decided to have a look at my ISK MDH8500. They are very nice looking, already have a detachable cable, but sound pretty bad. I pop them open and they are the same thing as the ISK HF2011. Literally the same thing. Which is the same thing as the ISK HF2010, except they are closed. Well there was one difference with the MDH8500, the is a giant plastic tab next to the driver that isn't there on the HF2011. It was a bit of a PITA to remove, but once I removed that tab, it sounds exactly the same now as the HF2011. Which is better, but not as good as the HF2010. Still, I pop off the outside closed pieces then lo and behold they sound like the HF2010. I do the same thing to my Marantz MPH-4 (the ISK HF2011 clone I have). I do the same and they all sound exactly the same. They sound SOOOOO much better in open config compared to closed config.

Speaking of which, the ISK MDH8500 is only around $40 off aliexpress shipped.

https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20180511171933&SearchText=isk+mdh8500

They already have the detachable cable setup on them. Which means to mod them to be an HF2011 is just to remove that giant plastic tab in the cups. That's it. I am thinking of getting a grill and making them all open at this point.

The MDH8500 come with much nicer earpads and a much nicer headband pad too. Also, the 3.5mm jack used in them is the same I used to do my detachable cable mod except being brass instead of silver in color.

those clones all have a distinct Beyer 770/880/990 look...do they have a similar sound?

 

[Slater]

40mm Foster BIO-DYNA XB700 cushions (P.R.C Version). DTX910 frame, MODHOUSE BASS cups

BTW, how are you guys attaching the XB700 pads? They have no "back" lip, so they do not attach like regular pads.

 

[Humblepie]

those clones all have a distinct Beyer 770/880/990 look...do they have a similar sound?

Not really. They aren't nearly as treble hot.

BTW, how are you guys attaching the XB700 pads? They have no "back" lip, so they do not attach like regular pads.

I use velcro, but double sided tape or glue would work.

 

[SHAMuuu]

You paid $5,000 for that? You serious?

Ha! No. I was poking a little bit of fun on ridiculous mods.I stopped taking tips from ZReviews after his SHP9500 mod.

That ^ was my version of it with xb1k pads

For the guy who was asking how i fit them. Well the stitching on the back of pad acts like a lip when stretched. Either it is tight enough to stay on, or you use superglue.

Chinese pads vary in quality. Some tear when stretched, others don't.

On the 9500, i superglued the xb1k pads to the 9500 pad disc. The disc that the original pads are glued onto.

OEM is best but rare, and then I think Geekria makes replica pads.

I made the "5k$" headphones today.

And well if someone wants to pay 5k....well

Nah, I would probably not even take it,

I just did it to kill time, took a few hours only to make from spare parts.

I was kidding about those SHP9500 cups. I would never recommend them to anyone.

The driver is CAL! 40mm

BTW it seems ZReviews, dSm3TV, Joshua Valor are teaming up and trying to get into the business

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

Ha! No. I was poking a little bit of fun on ridiculous mods.I stopped taking tips from ZReviews after his SHP9500 mod.



That ^ was my version of it with xb1k pads

For the guy who was asking how i fit them. Well the stitching on the back of pad acts like a lip when stretched. Either it is tight enough to stay on, or you use superglue.

Chinese pads vary in quality. Some tear when stretched, others don't.

On the 9500, i superglued the xb1k pads to the 9500 pad disc. The disc that the original pads are glued onto.

OEM is best but rare, and then I think Geekria makes replica pads.

I made the "5k$" headphones today.

And well if someone wants to pay 5k....well

Nah, I would probably not even take it,

I just did it to kill time, took a few hours only to make from spare parts.

I was kidding about those SHP9500 cups. I would never recommend them to anyone.

The driver is CAL! 40mm

BTW it seems ZReviews, dSm3TV, Joshua Valor are teaming up and trying to get into the business

Zeos definitely jumped the shark with those cups.

 

[SHAMuuu]

Zeos definitely jumped the shark with those cups.

Yeap I was still in noob stage. Oh well, live and learn.

My brother is kind of getting into it, and I tell him to stick to the trio (AKG/Beyer/Senny) which I now do.

then find one endgame down the road.

No need for the GIANT KILLERs

But I had to learn the hard way

At the same time, i learned my lessons by falling for hype.

Such is Life.

 

[kman1211]

Yeap I was still in noob stage. Oh well, live and learn.

My brother is kind of getting into it, and I tell him to stick to the trio (AKG/Beyer/Senny) which I now do.

then find one endgame down the road.

No need for the GIANT KILLERs

But I had to learn the hard way

At the same time, i learned my lessons by falling for hype.

Such is Life.

Definitely know what you mean. Honestly I find it best to stick with the classic trio of brands in regards to dynamic headphones, it took a lot of trail and error but I realized to stick with the trio myself. There are dynamics headphones I truly like outside the trio but those tend to be rare and/or stupid expensive. Honestly if I'm going to mod headphones, I'll personally stick with those three, though I tend to favor Beyers for modding as I find them the easiest to mod properly as I am most familiar with how their drivers respond to modifications. I tend to leave my Senns stock. Need to get another good AKG sometime and try modding it, I haven't attempted to mod an AKG in a long time and I gained a lot of modding experience since then. There are very few headphones with drivers good enough to be giant killers with some modding in my experience.

 

[Mad Max]

Definitely know what you mean. Honestly I find it best to stick with the classic trio of brands in regards to dynamic headphones, it took a lot of trail and error but I realized to stick with the trio myself. There are dynamics headphones I truly like outside the trio but those tend to be rare and/or stupid expensive. Honestly if I'm going to mod headphones, I'll personally stick with those three, though I tend to favor Beyers for modding as I find them the easiest to mod properly as I am most familiar with how their drivers respond to modifications. I tend to leave my Senns stock. Need to get another good AKG sometime and try modding it, I haven't attempted to mod an AKG in a long time and I gained a lot of modding experience since then. There are very few headphones with drivers good enough to be giant killers with some modding in my experience.

Same here.

 

[SHAMuuu]

Definitely know what you mean. Honestly I find it best to stick with the classic trio of brands in regards to dynamic headphones, it took a lot of trail and error but I realized to stick with the trio myself. There are dynamics headphones I truly like outside the trio but those tend to be rare and/or stupid expensive. Honestly if I'm going to mod headphones, I'll personally stick with those three, though I tend to favor Beyers for modding as I find them the easiest to mod properly as I am most familiar with how their drivers respond to modifications. I tend to leave my Senns stock. Need to get another good AKG sometime and try modding it, I haven't attempted to mod an AKG in a long time and I gained a lot of modding experience since then. There are very few headphones with drivers good enough to be giant killers with some modding in my experience.

Speakin of modding Beyers

I'm not going to make bold claims on this 50 year old headphone.

After a month of tinkering though, i got it where I want /// for now...

 

[SHAMuuu]

Another Beyer that needed some tweaking to its "V" shape

Again no wild claims, but its less problematic for my ears for the specific genre I tuned these for... oldschool hip hop ... its more of a slight U shape now.

yMMv

The bass reflex system on the dt770, and dt660 have potential for use in other Beyer for modding.

 

[kman1211]

Speakin of modding Beyers



I'm not going to make bold claims on this 50 year old headphone.

After a month of tinkering though, i got it where I want /// for now...

More intensive than my mods, good you keep the opening unobstructed, I mainly focused on using sorbothane on it and some front dampening and pads, have you adjusted the magnet any on the DT 480? I want to re-cable my DT 480's internal cables sometime, swapped the headband cable on my two pairs, I believe my 25 Ohm is from the 80's and the 8 Ohm is from the 70's, it made a notable difference. The cables on the vintage headphones honestly need replacing in my experience. I think we both know how good that headphone is with some modding.

 

[SHAMuuu]

More intensive than my mods, good you keep the opening unobstructed, I mainly focused on using sorbothane on it and some front dampening and pads, have you adjusted the magnet any on the DT 480? I want to re-cable my DT 480's internal cables sometime, swapped the headband cable on my two pairs, I believe my 25 Ohm is from the 80's and the 8 Ohm is from the 70's, it made a notable difference. The cables on the vintage headphones honestly need replacing in my experience. I think we both know how good that headphone is with some modding.

No, I have not disassembled the dt48 driver. This 480 was a nightmare modding. I tried all sorts of cotton/foam/ blue tac etc. 3M tape damping etc. But then i wanted more clamp and broke the headband. LOL

I wanted to cry when it happened. I got these used, and one driver was dead initially or so it seemed, and a new cable brought them to life, and I was HAPPY. When it happened, I was just bummed out. Luckily, I had the dt100, so i used its headband, and glued the dt480 nameplate and 'Beyerdynamic" nameplate onto it. Also, I had a wire pinch while closing and it broke open. Luckily with some superglue and electrical tape it is fixed. At first the sound died, and I almost had a heart attack. I thought the world had ended.

So , all in all after getting this mod done, i'm going to enjoy it a while before opening it up. Rest my brain, and heart. I would rather get a dt48 and play with it grado style with the bass reflex systems from the 660/770. They have differences.:

DT770 ^ vs

^ DT660 Bass Reflex system.

I tried them on the 480, but the cups would not close, there was a 1/2cm to 1cm gap. I wasn't feeling brave enough to have such an "open type" cup and play with it. But the foam disc I made was "inspired" by them, and they would work with a dt48 with some mods I imagine, if the backplate was removed.

^ This with a bass reflex system and wooden cups would be something I am putting on my bucket list.

I opened up my open back modded dt660 to show the bass reflex system, and since I had some spare Dynamt left I decided to spice it up a bit.

Anyway all my mods were practice to work on the dt480. And it was because of your love for them I risked and got them and super happy. Thanks again!

You're defo another level up in the mod game as you have dissasembled, and adjusted the magnet system. I am not feeling BRAVE enough atm to make more mods after the headband incident. But I will down the road or perhaps with another dt480 / dt48

 

[kman1211]

No, I have not disassembled the dt48 driver. This 480 was a nightmare modding. I tried all sorts of cotton/foam/ blue tac etc. 3M tape damping etc. But then i wanted more clamp and broke the headband. LOL


I wanted to cry when it happened. I got these used, and one driver was dead initially or so it seemed, and a new cable brought them to life, and I was HAPPY. When it happened, I was just bummed out. Luckily, I had the dt100, so i used its headband, and glued the dt480 nameplate and 'Beyerdynamic" nameplate onto it. Also, I had a wire pinch while closing and it broke open. Luckily with some superglue and electrical tape it is fixed. At first the sound died, and I almost had a heart attack. I thought the world had ended.

So , all in all after getting this mod done, i'm going to enjoy it a while before opening it up. Rest my brain, and heart. I would rather get a dt48 and play with it grado style with the bass reflex systems from the 660/770. They have differences.:




DT770 ^ vs



^ DT660 Bass Reflex system.

I tried them on the 480, but the cups would not close, there was a 1/2cm to 1cm gap. I wasn't feeling brave enough to have such an "open type" cup and play with it. But the foam disc I made was "inspired" by them, and they would work with a dt48 with some mods I imagine, if the backplate was removed.



^ This with a bass reflex system and wooden cups would be something I am putting on my bucket list.

I opened up my open back modded dt660 to show the bass reflex system, and since I had some spare Dynamt left I decided to spice it up a bit.



Anyway all my mods were practice to work on the dt480. And it was because of your love for them I risked and got them and super happy. Thanks again!

You're defo another level up in the mod game as you have dissasembled, and adjusted the magnet system. I am not feeling BRAVE enough atm to make more mods after the headband incident. But I will down the road or perhaps with another dt480 / dt48

The DT 480 has been a bit of a pain for me too, I broke the solder contact on my 25 Ohm and I have had issues with the screws stripping on the 8 Ohm, so I have to tape it shut. May transplant the drivers in a DT 100/150 housing down the road and get some silver internal cables. Sadly I don't know how to solder, could teach myself but never bothered. Glad you are enjoying them. I'll likely do a new round of modding with them soon, for now going to divert my attention on other mods, summer is pretty much here now so I need to focus on open-backs.

I am going to mod AKGs now, AKGs were my favorite brand for the longest time, realized why after deciding to mod my K240, the sound is pure beauty and oozes emotion, it's like listening to everything the first time all over again. I guess the K240 is the first headphones I truly fell under the spell of for a reason. It's very crystalline, natural, and holographic. Finally got that evil treble spike under control and the bass extension is good enough now. Going to get myself a K7 series and mod it here soon.

The DT 660 looks exactly like the DT 831 inside, except the DT 831 is dual-entry and has a different headband and has 250 ohm drivers, same bass reflex thing too.

 

[SHAMuuu]

The DT 480 has been a bit of a pain for me too, I broke the solder contact on my 25 Ohm and I have had issues with the screws stripping on the 8 Ohm, so I have to tape it shut. May transplant the drivers in a DT 100/150 housing down the road and get some silver internal cables. Sadly I don't know how to solder, could teach myself but never bothered. Glad you are enjoying them. I'll likely do a new round of modding with them soon, for now going to divert my attention on other mods, summer is pretty much here now so I need to focus on open-backs.

I am going to mod AKGs now, AKGs were my favorite brand for the longest time, realized why after deciding to mod my K240, the sound is pure beauty and oozes emotion, it's like listening to everything the first time all over again. I guess the K240 is the first headphones I truly fell under the spell of for a reason. It's very crystalline, natural, and holographic. Finally got that evil treble spike under control and the bass extension is good enough now. Going to get myself a K7 series and mod it here soon.

The DT 660 looks exactly like the DT 831 inside, except the DT 831 is dual-entry and has a different headband and has 250 ohm drivers, same bass reflex thing too.

I cannot source a pic of the 831 internals, but I am a BIG fan of the 660 , and its bass reflex system. For me the 660 is more to my liking than the 770/880/990, especially modded open.
I tried the reflex system over the dt480 driver, and with some slight mods it should be able to be mounted, but i feel this would be better with dt48 with back casing off, and a few "teeth" removed.
Will need a dt48 first

As for AKGs , they are a pain to mod for me anyway. I am not as big a fan of the monitor 240 as I am the sextett, which i have some 1540 pads on. Its musical. As far as 240 and K7 (Slovakia) for me, they are not up to snuff as my Beyers.
Beyers are just so easy to mod. the 660 is much easier to open close than the 770/880/990

Also dt660 open without the bass reflex is basically the 860 after looking at internals of 860.

You basically have 3 headphones with 660. Closed, Hybrid of 660/860, and 860

Good luck on your modding quest and I look forward to more knowledge on the AKG mods, as i would like to spice up the monitors.