[RikudouGoku]

Here's my review of these headphones: https://www.antdroid.net/2019/10/thieaudio-phantom-planar-magnetic.html

Thanks for the review, will you review the M570 or the Blon B20?

 

[Hawaiibadboy]

Enjoyed the review. I'm a fan of the post-modded version. I think you've nailed telling the story of this headphone. I agree with some who've said you shouldn't have to do all of those things, but I went into it knowing I'd have to mod it, so it didn't bother me.

I never heard any ringing, but I added a fuzzor mod to the inside and out and added a 3mm piece of foam instead of the fabric on the grill side.

The end result for me was really pleasing. Never fatiguing, love the little details that I just don't hear in other headphones. Percussion is fantastic, really enjoy the quality of the guitars (Jim Croce is amazing on this headphone). They just have an extra thickness/quality to them. I do agree vocals are recessed, but to me it just sounds like the vocals are part of a band, instead of dominating. I don't have to turn down the volume as much (like I do with the HE-560). Another characteristic I've noticed is if I play a song where instruments sound mushed together due to the recording, the Phantom seems to handle it better and I can hear those parts clearer than on other cans in my collection.

The more I try other headphones since I've bought these (HD6XX, HE560, Elex, NDH20), the more I appreciate and love them more.

Thanks for the review!

Yeah I am a full on custom grill buying fanboy. Also a big Jim Croce fan

 

[Tsunzo]

Got some grills made by LUCILLE667 today. They look awesome with wood finished stained in Ebony. So, after reading on forums I did all the mods suggested and these sound very good. I am not sure how to post up images but I will post links here of the Grills and Mods I have done.
First thing when i got these headphone was to take out all foams on both grill and pad sides including the 2 little circle ones. I then added some 2mm sound foam disks replacing the original cloth piece that came with the original grills. At this point, the highs were still a bit harsh on louder volumes, so i added the fuzzor mod on the pad side and replace the stock pads with Brainwavz XL Elite Hybrid Pads. Lastly i replaced the metal grill with a wood finished grill so there wont be any magnetic interference with the drivers. These sound really good to me now.

https://ibb.co/GHnz5xc
https://ibb.co/RCDnFGN
https://ibb.co/z7bq5K3
https://ibb.co/cTKYyN2
https://ibb.co/JsmhCLQ

Link to the 2mm foam disks:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fine-Tune-Sounds-Foam-Sponge-Disk-Ear-Pads-For-Monolith-M1060-Planar-Headphone/172784788247?

 

[XylefMTG]

Finally put my grills by LUCILLE667 on. Dark chocolate stain. The guy does really good work!
White Fabric

 

[jsmiller58]

Finally put my grills by LUCILLE667 on. Dark chocolate stain. The guy does really good work!
White Fabric

Looks great!

Two questions...

What material are you using behind the grill?

Have you noticed any sound difference by using a non-metallic grill?

 

[XylefMTG]

Looks great!

Two questions...

What material are you using behind the grill?

Have you noticed any sound difference by using a non-metallic grill?

I linked the fabric in my post. It's just a solid mesh. Just something to make the grills pop. I haven't really noticed a sound difference with either change. Maybe a tiny bit more detail with the fabric over the 3mm foam I had.

 

[pigdoyou2000]

How much does a custom grille cost and where do I buy it?

 

[OldDude04]

How much does a custom grille cost and where do I buy it?

Contact @LUCILLE667 here on site. That is who made all the wooden grills you've seen in this thread.

 

[JustAE]

Does anyone know a good headband to swap onto these?

 

[OldDude04]

I have done all the sound mods I wanted and now I've been looking for a suspension headband to mod to my Phantoms that didn't require doing any permanent modification to the cups. Turns out the HiFiMan Enhanced Comfort Headband was perfect choice. (Any of the HiFiMan headbands with the plastic yokes should work, but I went with the new Enhanced version because it has the stainless steel strengthening band inside the plastic and shouldn't be prone to breaking like the old headbands are known for.) Of course I bear no responsibility if you somehow harm your headphones following this, lol. That shouldn't be an issue, it was an easy swap. Anyway, here is the process and the final product:

You need to remove the 4 screws like the one pictured here:


Once those screws are out, you will have these mounts (2 per cup, total of 4):


Pull the tiny plastic pieces off the end of the mounts, some may stay in the earcup. Don't lose these:


Take the new headband and sand down, or use a razor knife like I did, and trim the little ring of plastic at the tip of all 4 pins that is a slightly larger circumference than the rest of the pin:


Then place the little round plastic pieces back into the ear cups:


After that, all you need to do is put one end of the yoke into one side of the ear cup and then pop in the other side of the yoke, repeat for the 2nd earcup, it's super easy. Here is the end result:

 

[jotaku]

I have done all the sound mods I wanted and now I've been looking for a suspension headband to mod to my Phantoms that didn't require doing any permanent modification to the cups. Turns out the HiFiMan Enhanced Comfort Headband was perfect choice. (Any of the HiFiMan headbands with the plastic yokes should work, but I went with the new Enhanced version because it has the stainless steel strengthening band inside the plastic and shouldn't be prone to breaking like the old headbands are known for.) Of course I bear no responsibility if you somehow harm your headphones following this, lol. That shouldn't be an issue, it was an easy swap. Anyway, here is the process and the final product:

You need to remove the 4 screws like the one pictured here:


Once those screws are out, you will have these mounts (2 per cup, total of 4):


Pull the tiny plastic pieces off the end of the mounts, some may stay in the earcup. Don't lose these:


Take the new headband and sand down, or use a razor knife like I did, and trim the little ring of plastic at the tip of all 4 pins that is a slightly larger circumference than the rest of the pin:


Then place the little round plastic pieces back into the ear cups:


After that, all you need to do is put one end of the yoke into one side of the ear cup and then pop in the other side of the yoke, repeat for the 2nd earcup, it's super easy. Here is the end result:

@OldDude04 That looks absolutely amazing! great job, and thanks for the tutorial!

 

[JustAE]

Do you think it would be possible to get the headband from the phantoms to work on a pair of Hifiman headphones with the enhanced comfort headband? I'm considering buying a pair of 35x's, switching the headbands, and selling the Hifimans to a friend.

 

[OldDude04]

Do you think it would be possible to get the headband from the phantoms to work on a pair of Hifiman headphones with the enhanced comfort headband? I'm considering buying a pair of 35x's, switching the headbands, and selling the Hifimans to a friend.

In theory it should work. The mounts for the Phantom with the little plastic receptacles still on would be too big, but since the little plastic pieces are used to mount the HFM headband to the Phantoms, the mounts should be be the right size to go into the 350x's.

 

[JustAE]

Buying a pair now. Knowing how expensive it is to get the headband new from hifiman, this might be the most cost effective way to get your hands on the headband.

 

[Ultrainferno]

Our Phantom review is now live!
https://www.headfonia.com/thieaudio-phantom-review/