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Post by c61746961 on May 27, 2014 4:40:40 GMT
So my pair has arrived, they are both smaller and lighter than I pictured, which probably is a good thing. Pads may be smaller than some people expect, I'm guessing they will not fit around big ears, they fit mine great, though. The drivers are angled, though apparently a little less than those in the M50/x. No acoustic treatment on the inside of the cups, so I quickly added a pair of round cosmetic wedges I had laying around (made of dense open-cell foam), so sorry, no 'stock' impressions, but I don't think the difference will be dramatic.
First impressions are very positive, they are quite a smooth listen, if unexpectedly a bit bassy, sibilance is controlled for the most part, but they won't smooth over bright recordings. Imaging is very good, I guess the drivers must be decently matched. They do not offer the 'unencumbered' bass experience that the planar drivers offer, it sounds a bit like it's coming out of a sub-woofer (most moving-coil drivers I've heard do this, particularly closed ones) and it rolls off quickly below 30 Hz, though there's something still going on at 20 Hz. It's nicely textured, though. Not the most dynamic sound I've heard, but not compressed sounding either. Resolution is good, it helps a lot having such a smooth FR.
About an hour in, I think I will be very happy with these. So far no sign of the ringing, we'll see about that later.
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solderdude
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Post by solderdude on May 27, 2014 4:48:37 GMT
Mine are scheduled to arrive today.
Given the small differences between the 40X and 50X in your plots and reviews I expect a headphone that is on the bassy side. The reviews out there all say it is a nice sounding midtier headphone but perhaps modding can improve them.
Fortunately I can return them for free within 60 days if not satisfied.
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Post by c61746961 on May 27, 2014 5:32:40 GMT
I'm looking forward to your findings
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Post by solderdude on May 27, 2014 15:36:41 GMT
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Post by c61746961 on May 27, 2014 17:15:31 GMT
Wow, that's a LOT jumpier than expected, I didn't run a sine sweep yet, though, I'll have to check if my pair features the same imbalance in the bass. Have you tried plugging around the cable entry with malleable eraser or something of the sort?
Edit: Yep, mine seem to have the bass imbalance in the same channel, I'm guessing it has to do with the cable assembly. The elevated treble also explains the slight fatigue I experienced when I got them off after my commute, I will have to put something in front of the driver to lower that HF hash, fortunately it is mostly outside the sibilance region.
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Post by solderdude on May 27, 2014 18:36:26 GMT
I haven't taken a closer look but you may well be right. I see no obvious leaks at the plug. Possibly it has to do with the amount of space the plug takes up.
In that case it could be easy to 'equalise' L and R.
Perhaps stuffing the cups will lower the bass (but alas also subbass ?)
Will try to play with EQ first, this way I can still return it.
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Post by solderdude on May 27, 2014 19:20:48 GMT
Tried it with felt but this didn't work out as other things happened. Just quickly whipped up a filter which 'cured' the treble peak. red = original, blue is passive filter. Consists of parallel circuit: 470uH // 330nF // 56 Ohm. Can still be improved though just a quick attempt. The filtering works.
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Post by c61746961 on May 27, 2014 19:52:46 GMT
That's nice, 'cause the peak is proving to be a bit much for me.
Edit: Have you tried blocking off the centermost perforations of the baffle to attenuate the highs without damping the driver too much?, this works with the T50RP.
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Post by solderdude on May 27, 2014 20:06:18 GMT
Need to address the bass, improve the treble filter (if possible) and see what can be done on the imbalance issue.
Biggest hurdle seems to be the fact that the Left channel is the one with the peak the R channel seems 'flatter'. The left channel has the cable entry and suspect this takes up a lot of space inside and causes this (unwanted) rise in the FR. If that is the case, the connector has to go and a fixed cable entry may be the solution.
With the bass reduced and the filter in place I like the sonic signature and although it isn't 'flat' it is still 'pleasant'.
haven't explored mechanical mods (except for the felt which didn't work)
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Post by c61746961 on May 27, 2014 20:12:31 GMT
Yeah, I'm guessing the extra kick is more of a good thing for my use case (portable), the extra 'air' is just fatiguing without being grating somehow.
Edit: What didn't work about the felt, no sufficient attenuation or unintended side effects?
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Post by solderdude on May 27, 2014 21:33:05 GMT
the attenuation was enough but a bit to broad and a large dip appeared in both channels. The filter only addresses those frequencies that need correcting.
The headphone sounds good with the bass set to -4dB (FiiO X3) + filter for the highs.
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Post by c61746961 on May 27, 2014 23:34:41 GMT
Aside form the raised bass, I wonder why the 1 KHz lump and the hyped highs didn't appear in my plots, they are there in the Beyer's and the Shure's. The flat FR was too good to be true after all.
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Post by solderdude on May 28, 2014 5:24:07 GMT
The 1kHz peak is actually shown in your plots. It just isn't as obvious because of the difference in dB scales and frequency scales. In my plots there is a 6 dB rise from 300Hz to 1kHz and then a 7dB drop from 1.5k to 4k In your plots there is a 4dB rise from 200Hz to 1kHz and about 5dB drop from 1.5k to 3k Your plots are 'measured' on a real dummy head with Pinna while mine isn't. That seems to give a discrepancy of a few dB around 3kHz area. the dummy head has an (not completely corrected?) ear canal and Pinna which alters the amount of trapped air so they won't measure the same. They both do show a 1kHz increase and around 4dB increased treble above 10kHz. It is mainly the area below 200Hz that differs the most. Given the sonic signature I am more inclined to believe my plots than the one derived from the recordings. I think the dummy head signal has received an extra 'room compensation' to lower the amount of bass to 'mimic' room sound. I still don't get it why most do that (Tyll does it the other way around b.t.w. and adds bass and lowers treble). A headphone isn't a room and also is not interpreted that way by our puny brains. I am still curious about one thing. In your derived plots is there also that difference in bass between L and R channels ? It seems the derived plot is of the 'best' channel.
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Post by c61746961 on May 28, 2014 14:00:42 GMT
Here's a FR overlay of the two channels: Here's the M50x for reference: Perhaps if I had done that before I could have been wary of potentially poor matching. Have you played around with pads? I put on the horrible TH02 pads for 'shits' and thought the resulting FR was smoother. Edit: I inspected the cup assembly and the only places where the seal could be compromised is where the cable makes contact with the lip of the entry (the cable plug is rubberized in this spot) or where the cup meets the baffle, both can be tested with electrical tape without disassembly. Otherwise I'm inclined to attribute the issue to the placement and quantity of a piece of damping material that goes inside the central venting hole in the driver, I noticed my pair had either different quantities or differences in compactness. The plug assembly is not that bulky to account for such a difference in displacement, I reckon. I fixed my treble issues for the meantime by using micropore over the centermost rows of the driver holes (only the outermost row is unblocked), not aware of any side effects yet, I would need measurement rig to be sure
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Post by solderdude on May 29, 2014 12:45:28 GMT
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