bravobs
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2014
- Posts
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- 10
But ... there's only one way to find that out.
Update us if its a worthwhile mod.
But ... there's only one way to find that out.
I tried to take off the white felt from my 2050's - no changes for the better, maybe sound became a little more open (and more tinny as well), but bass disappeared completely. So i return them to factory state and forgot about any possible mods.
I've haven't tried opening it up but I have sealed it and much prefer the "open" variant. Closing it narrows the stage even more to the point where it's the audio equivalent of tunnel vision. I stuffed cotton down the opening and sealed the other end with a few layers of electrical tape. Haven't tried just more dampening w/o obstructing the port hole yet tho. It's been a while since I've touched it.Thanks for the input.
It seems to support more the claim that the drivers are identical to it's closed design cousin, the pro 80's
In that respect sealing the headphone (as opposed to opening it up) sounds more suitable.
I see you have quite a collection of Beyers and from that perspective I can understand your preference for the Takstars.
I tend to gravitate more towards the AKG Kx01 and Sennheiser HD6xx sound, and from that perspective the Somics and Superluxes are more appealing for my ears.
But nonetheless the Takstars are a lot of headphone for the money. Build wise they're far better engineered than Superluxes are for example, and I have owned more expensive headphones which were built more poorly and/or sounded worse.
In terms of modding I want to give the 2050's a few more days to settle in and for me to get used to their sound.
One thing I am inclined to try is drilling some vent holes in the rear side of the cup (where I've put the red dots) to make the Takstars fully open-backed headphones.
Originally Posted by Bobby S /img/forum/go_quote.gif
And then I came across this interesting mod of the Pro80:
http://www.mcfrede.dk/projects/takstar_pro_80_headphone_mods/takstar_pro_80_headphone_mods_01.shtml
Essentially he coated the inside of the cups with car undercoating spray, which functions as an acoustic dampener of the housing itself. That should reduce resonances inside the cups themselves by quite a bit.
After trying it myself on the 2050's I noticed immediate improvements in the lower midrange and mid-bass, which have been tilted a little bit. The tonality also shifted a little bit towards warmer.
The highs on the other hand have remained largely the same, probably a different approach is needed in that department.
It's possible some of the resonances come from the driver unit itself or the baffle it's mounted on.
I'll give the headphones a bit more time to settle in (or for me to get used to them more).
Probably I'll keep experimenting further with dampening different elements of the baffles, maybe different pads.
I'll keep you posted if I make any progress.
The mod from the link is straight forward: spray a sound deadening solution on the insides of the cups.
This is the page where it's presented in detail this (simple) process:
http://www.mcfrede.dk/projects/takstar_pro_80_headphone_mods/takstar_pro_80_headphone_mods_03.shtml
Only difference in my case was the choice of coating. I didn't use a spray, but this instead (simply because that's the only sound deadening compound I have around the house).:
http://www.amazon.com/GT-Liqui-Damp-Automotive-Sound-Dampener/dp/B009PP2TVY/ref=sr_1_3?s=car&ie=UTF8&qid=1394705501&sr=1-3
I just coated the cups with about 1mm thick gooey stuff, using a brush.
The actual dampening of the headphones (the white foam/felt) I haven't touched. I am considering replacing it with something else of different density (wool, cotton, etc).
Dam regret ordering the 2050's after reading this thread, then i read more of the thread then glad i did.
Ahh it's the worst.
Guess i'll wait till i hear em, after all people love the AKG Q701's and i really am not a fan.
I guess if i don't like them i could get the 671's later and use my AD700's until then, throw them to where my Superlux 669's are
The way i see it anything is better than my AD700's