headphone mod

PolarityMan

Interesting upgrade to sennheiser headphones

http://lifehacker.com/upgrade-a-pair-of-mid-range-headphones-to-an-audiophile-1456454424

I have to say not sure id be willing to risk destroying a £112 pair of headphones but its an interesting idea

ecc83

I am deeply suspicious. 

He has not shown us the internals of the more expensive headphones so how do we know that the foam is the only difference? 

Then, transducers are often "graded" for use in certain models. Think of stereo matched microphones?

It could well be that only 10% of the transducers are good enough for the more expensive cans. Yes, factory costs can be low when given in that bald way but if you are selecting for performance that changes the situation. A top grade driver costs the same to make one completely out of specc' but the latter is a total loss.

Dave.

PolarityMan

Interesting followup:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/403963/sennheiser-hd555-and-hd595-internal-comparison-shots/90#post_7010137

ecc83

It would not take an electronics/audio genius to devise some sort of dummy head"coupler" and record the same track thru both sets of cans and compare the results.

Dave.

PolarityMan

Sadly it would require buying both set of headphones though

ICBM

The Sennheiser part number label being the same for both models does look pretty conclusive.

It's not necessarily cynical marketing or 'crippling' a product though - the development process could have resulted in fitting the foam to *cure* a discovered problem with excessive resonance. But then testing might have showed that some people - just possibly, those with more expensive tastes in equipment - actually preferred the *worse* (technically) version. This would not be surprising given that many audiophoolphiles prefer valve equipment when from a technical point of view it's provably inferior to solid-state. And in order to sell to these people, making something more expensive reinforces their decision process… and as one of the posters in that forum points out, the more expensive cans also come with 'posher' fittings and accessories so it isn't a straight price comparison.

On the other hand, when I was a kid a friend had a Rockwell International calculator - this was about 1976 I think, and it cost something like £50 (!)… it was the cheaper model with no memory. The difference was that the more expensive model with memory (which was something like £100!!) had two extra buttons in the top corner of the keyboard, where on the cheap model there was just a Rockwell logo. One day he dropped it and the metal front of the keyboard popped off… revealing two extra buttons! A quick test proved they were indeed the memory buttons, so he drilled a couple of holes in the cover so he could press them with a pencil, and hey presto calculator upgrade . An absolutely clear case of crippling an identical product in order to hit two different price points.

ThePrettyDamned

Nikon did this with some slr cameras. Internally identical, but software crippling to provide for different price points.

Which is funny, because both are no better than even a basic one anyway. I think apple did it to an iPhone camera, too?

ecc83

Re ICBM's point about products been sold downgraded but actually having the gubinsses on board....

Way before EU and "free trade" complex electronics like VCRs would be imported with a minmum specc' because they attracted a lower duty. But almost all the function could be restored to the high flyer version if you snapped off some plastic covers and got hold of the service "overlay" for the remote and instructions. 

I also recall a question being asked at a trade training day about the blanked out area of a large CTV chip. "Texas won't tell us" said the man "We think that bit flies Minute Man Missiles"!!

Oh! And you could drill a 2mm hole in any VHS cassette and have it work on an S-VHS machine!

Dave.

Maxi

I'd rather spend the same money on a set of closed cans  5 - 30,000 Hz that actually look like they were built to last .

martinw

There's a body of opinion that think that this is the reason Gibson use 300k pots in many of their models, only moving to 500k for Custom Shop guitars.

When you compare a Les Paul Standard with a Custom Shop model in the shop, one will sound that little bit more sparkly and alive.

ICBM

martinw said:

There's a body of opinion that think that this is the reason Gibson use 300k pots in many of their models, only moving to 500k for Custom Shop guitars.

When you compare a Les Paul Standard with a Custom Shop model in the shop, one will sound that little bit more sparkly and alive.

I certainly can't think of any other good reason to use the 300Ks.

I think that's the reason why Fender deliberately put the wrong taper MV pot in the Hotrod amps, too - to make their amp seem so much louder than any other amp in the shop, to buyers who don't realise it isn't going to get any louder beyond about 3 or 4 and haven't yet noticed how difficult it is to set quietly.

martinw

ICBM said:

martinw said:

There's a body of opinion that think that this is the reason Gibson use 300k pots in many of their models, only moving to 500k for Custom Shop guitars.

When you compare a Les Paul Standard with a Custom Shop model in the shop, one will sound that little bit more sparkly and alive.

I certainly can't think of any other good reason to use the 300Ks.

I think that's the reason why Fender deliberately put the wrong taper MV pot in the Hotrod amps, too - to make their amp seem so much louder than any other amp in the shop, to buyers who don't realise it isn't going to get any louder beyond about 3 or 4 and haven't yet noticed how difficult it is to set quietly.

Yep very possible.

ThePrettyDamned

martinw said:

There's a body of opinion that think that this is the reason Gibson use 300k pots in many of their models, only moving to 500k for Custom Shop guitars.

When you compare a Les Paul Standard with a Custom Shop model in the shop, one will sound that little bit more sparkly and alive.

WISDOM

daveyh

ThePrettyDamned said:

martinw said:

There's a body of opinion that think that this is the reason Gibson use 300k pots in many of their models, only moving to 500k for Custom Shop guitars.

When you compare a Les Paul Standard with a Custom Shop model in the shop, one will sound that little bit more sparkly and alive.

WISDOM

Absolutely. But when I buy a guitar I don't base it on plugged in sound anyways so HAHA!