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Post by puffin on Apr 1, 2010 10:17:27 GMT
I received another pair of these as a presnet for my son. Before reminding myself what they sounded like straight out of the box, I bent the headband so that they are a snug fit on my head as I did with the modded pair. Well, they don't sound as I remember my pair did. They sound very good, if perhaps a little shut-in at the top end, but then they have not had any holes cut. Bass was much deeper than mine.
I then took out the foam I had inserted in mine behind each driver (which I thought was an improvement) and the sound is in fact much better without. So what to make of all that?!
Have I got used to the "house sound" of these and my ears have adjusted accordingly? I have to say that I find even the modded 681's far inferior in all respects apart from the fact that they gop lower in the bass. The 681's simply can't compete on clarity and mid-range.
I would like to hear what Mike thinks of these compared with the HD660's as he commented that the 660's were more neutral than the 681's
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Post by JohnnyBlue on Apr 1, 2010 10:58:19 GMT
I received another pair of these as a presnet for my son. Before reminding myself what they sounded like straight out of the box, I bent the headband so that they are a snug fit on my head as I did with the modded pair. Well, they don't sound as I remember my pair did. They sound very good, if perhaps a little shut-in at the top end, but then they have not had any holes cut. Bass was much deeper than mine.This sounds exactly like my pair: very bottom-heavy/top-light (but also strangely compelling and enjoyable to listen to!).
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toad
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Post by toad on Apr 2, 2010 8:58:32 GMT
This sounds exactly like my pair: very bottom-heavy/top-light (but also strangely compelling and enjoyable to listen to!). Just mod them via paper removal a hole at a time until you get the sound you like. I think a lot of people are missing out on these great cans by not modding them. Once modded they really are world class headphones. These £13 wonders really are on par with my £200 + AKG K701s after a few bits of paper have been removed. I kid you not. Ian
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Post by JohnnyBlue on Apr 2, 2010 15:13:14 GMT
I've cut out the five bits of paper, as recommended (I'm afraid I was too lazy to try doing it a step at a time, not so much for the cutting out, but the re-fitting of the pads and then listening again!). They're certainly better balanced, tonally, with the cut-outs, but I fear they may have lost a little something at the same time (tunefulness?).
What is true for me is that they make the HD-681s sound very out-of-tune when I go straight to them after the Skytronics...
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toad
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Post by toad on Apr 2, 2010 16:02:58 GMT
They do gain some of that "tunefulness" back as the mature. You can always cover a hole or two with sellotape or similar to get some of the bass ehavy top light presentation back.
Ian
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Post by JohnnyBlue on Apr 3, 2010 8:06:38 GMT
I haven't been able to put too many hours into them yet (perhaps about 30?) because they look so different from the Sennheisers and Superlux HD-681s, I daren't risk having them out and about in general use. (The local headphone Stasi already queried the Superlux, but I managed to bluff through that, passing them off as the Sennheiser HD25s I'd had in the bedroom!)
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toad
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Post by toad on Apr 3, 2010 9:16:49 GMT
They take a good long while to bed in. I'd say a good 100 hours to realy tighten up the bottom end, for the mids to smooth out and for the top end to gain nice detail.
Surely the headphone Stasi aren't worried about you spending £13 on headphones?
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Post by JohnnyBlue on Apr 5, 2010 7:35:00 GMT
No, it's not so much about the £13, it's the collecting and hoarding that gets the headphone Stasi riled: I have about a dozen sets around the house (in the main system, office, bedroom, and at least half of which are hidden away at any one time) and, apart from the Skytronics and Superlux, they all cost at least 3 figures.
I think I may have a problem...
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Post by clausdk on Apr 5, 2010 10:46:17 GMT
No, it's not so much about the £13, it's the collecting and hoarding that gets the headphone Stasi riled: I have about a dozen sets around the house (in the main system, office, bedroom, and at least half of which are hidden away at any one time) and, apart from the Skytronics and Superlux, they all cost at least 3 figures. I think I may have a problem... only a small problem, I have dedicated an entire cubboard to my phones and still need space ;D ;D
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toad
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Post by toad on Apr 6, 2010 8:37:31 GMT
I was listening to Elgar on the Skytronics last night and they presented possibly the best soundstage I've ever heard on headphones. All the instruments were in their own space including different heights and depths. Bass behind cellos, Violins slightly left of centre, percussion above and behind violins etc.
The orchestral brass sections through the Skytronics are easily the best brass has ever sounded on any headphone I've heard. The brass sound blows my K701's out of the water.
Although not quite as detailed, or quite as delicate as my 701s, I still find myself reaching for the Skytronics more and more.
With the free paper baffle mod these cans are simply the best audio bargain out there.
For me, they are now way better than the standard HD681s, in fact, they are better than the modded HD681s IMHO.
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Post by JohnnyBlue on Apr 6, 2010 11:02:45 GMT
OK, Ian, time to own up: you are 'electromartuk2000'!
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toad
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Post by toad on Apr 6, 2010 13:22:21 GMT
LOL if I was I'd be selling them for a lot more than £12.99 John I have toyed with the idea of buying a shed load and modding them, then selling them for £44.99 hehe. TBH If I'd paid 50 quid I'd still be happy. They blow my Sennheiser HD595s out of the water and they still sell for £70+ I do think there doesn't seem to be enough interest in them. I'm just trying to get the word out. They are in my and a couple of others opinions I know of, better than the modded HD681 and can be had for £12.99 I'm surprised there hasn't been more interest tbh. £12.99 cans that perform like something well over £100. It's a no brainer really Oh and by the way I modded my spare standard unmodded Skytronics with just filter wool as per Claus' suggestion and they sound great. You were right Claus the open baffle mod and filter wool mod were counteracting each other. They're not quite as good as the paper baffle modded version but you get something more akin to a semi open can, better for noisy environments and with a surprising amount of the soundstage that the more open paper baffle mod produces. Bass, mids and highs are streets ahead of the stock can. I will keep them like that as they are better at keeping sounds out and music in than the paper baffle modded version. Ian
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Post by clausdk on Apr 6, 2010 21:34:06 GMT
Oh and by the way I modded my spare standard unmodded Skytronics with just filter wool as per Claus' suggestion and they sound great. You were right Claus the open baffle mod and filter wool mod were counteracting each other. They're not quite as good as the paper baffle modded version but you get something more akin to a semi open can, better for noisy environments and with a surprising amount of the soundstage that the more open paper baffle mod produces. Bass, mids and highs are streets ahead of the stock can. I will keep them like that as they are better at keeping sounds out and music in than the paper baffle modded version. Ian Told ya Try mould the wool to a sausage and let it go around the driver, but not on top of it, along the sides of the cup and a thin layer on the innerside of the cup.. A donout and a lid This should help giving more stage while retaining the rest of the good stuf, sometimes it just sounds very strange
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toad
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Post by toad on Apr 29, 2010 13:59:47 GMT
I got around to trying the donut and lid thing today Claus and it has improved the soundstage a little. Overall a very nice sound and worth keeping for it's better isolation properties but still not as good as the baffle modded cans. If I only had one set of the Skytronics I would have to go for the baffle mod as it is better in all respects bar a slight bit of bass and isolation. The mids and highs more than make up for the bass though. However, with them being so cheap I don't need to choose
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Post by lecky on Apr 29, 2010 16:11:02 GMT
Excuse my dim question, but where do you buy these headphones from...?
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Post by clausdk on Apr 29, 2010 16:34:14 GMT
I got around to trying the donut and lid thing today Claus and it has improved the soundstage a little. Overall a very nice sound and worth keeping for it's better isolation properties but still not as good as the baffle modded cans. If I only had one set of the Skytronics I would have to go for the baffle mod as it is better in all respects bar a slight bit of bass and isolation. The mids and highs more than make up for the bass though. However, with them being so cheap I don't need to choose Hmmm. great.. It could be time to pack out some foam rings with lids ;D ;D Perhaps some donutshaped rings under the pads to take the drivers a bit further from the cranium, this does not always work as planned, but worth a try as the costs are very low, which is something everybody likes.. Have you tried the velourpads from the AKG/Superlux ?? they also brings some air to the show. My Skytronics is still waiting for me to go bonkers, most of my modding these days are spendt with my bastards. Superlux 660 for the form / cJAYS drivers/Phillips HP1000 pads and Samson 850 form/ Phillips HP1000 drivers/ AKG pads. The first one is the best to my ears it is a closed phone with an very open sound a bit similar to DT880 in the signature, but a bit more neutral.. the second one sounds like a luxery HD681, better in all regards and without the bloated bass.. I am tinkering with some wodden enclosures for both phones, inspired by "Nickchen's" work.. If only I had the time, I long a bit for some snow "so many phones, so little time"
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Post by JohnnyBlue on Apr 30, 2010 11:11:50 GMT
Excuse my dim question, but where do you buy these headphones from...? Here you go.
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Post by lecky on Apr 30, 2010 12:52:14 GMT
Thanks John!
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Post by lecky on May 5, 2010 10:26:42 GMT
OK, I have a set of these, and whilst there is a deficit of treble and a bit of mid-bass congestion or colouration, which I presume the mods will cure, I found very quickly that Stax O2 pads fit these things and make them outrageously comfortable and increase soundstage and perhaps add a bit of clarity. Mind you, my O2 pads belong on my modded Fostex T50RPs so they're not staying on these Skytronics, and the idea of putting £70 pads on a £13 headphone is even more mad than using them on £70 headphones. It does suggest that some serious spacers under the stock pads might be useful.
Roll on burn in time before I start modding! Can hardly wait.
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Post by lecky on May 5, 2010 10:46:19 GMT
OK, I've put some padding behind the pads at the rear of the headphones lifting them by about 4-5mm (angles the drivers forward just a bit which presumably can't hurt). A big improvement in comfort is immediate as my ears no longer touch the baffles. I'll report on what it does to the sound later (nothing too obvious at this stage), still in early burn in, so it's much too early to comment.
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toad
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Post by toad on May 5, 2010 14:29:13 GMT
Hi lecky,
The stock cans are a boppy, fun listen but are by no means accurate. The paper baffle mods open thing out considerably with much more soundstage. The bass becomes smoother with less bloat and there is lots more detail in both the bass and mids, the mids are excellent after the mods IMHO. The highs become detailed but remain non fatiguing.
The end result is a very well rounded neutral sound.
They are still the can I reach for most of the time and I am well past the new toy stage.
Enjoy them.
Ian
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Post by lecky on May 5, 2010 15:04:04 GMT
Thanks Ian, I'm planning your mod, but will hold off for as long as possible for burn in to do its thing (I might not be able to hold off too long).
I've been playing around a bit more with spacers behind the standard pads. I've also tried Beyer DT990 pads which give the very airy but diffuse soundstage of a DT990, but also with a bit of an exaggerated DT990 U shaped signature - big bass, over sharp in treble and sucked out in mids, not good for me, but interesting, and it demonstrates the truism that changing pads can dramatically change signature.
The other thing I've done with them is to put some dynamat style tinfoiled butyl on the edges and closed centre of the inside of the cups (not on the open grille bit of course), which seemed to sharpen up detail a bit, although difficult to be certain due to ongoing burn in. If it hasn't helped, it certainly hasn't hurt. I might damp some other bits too in this way, but I like the lightness of them and don't want to make them too heavy.
Such fun headphones to play with.
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toad
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I am the Super Toad, the Original Toad, the Whole Toad and nothing BUT the toad.... don't forget it!
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Post by toad on May 5, 2010 17:50:12 GMT
Such fun headphones to play with. That's the great thing about these cans. They are so cheap you can try almost any mod you can think of and the worst case scenario is you're out of pocket by £13. Even then, the chances are you have some spare pads and a nice non microphonic cable to transplant onto another pair of headphones
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Post by lecky on May 6, 2010 7:22:29 GMT
Well, I couldn't wait and opened up three holes late last night. Playing some frequency sweeps through them yesterday night after opening the holes the treble was all over the shop, spikes and valleys. With a night of fairly loud white noise, and when playing the same sweeps, the treble has fairly substantially evened out - much more acceptable. The effect on music is that three holes were quite treble-hot last night and not this morning.
Perhaps I'll open another hole or perhaps two today.
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toad
Been here a while!
I am the Super Toad, the Original Toad, the Whole Toad and nothing BUT the toad.... don't forget it!
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Post by toad on May 6, 2010 9:57:36 GMT
I found the treble takes longer to bed in on the Skytronics than the mids and bass.
Keep us posted.
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