dBel84

I quite like the headband - simple lines, looks comfortable and very adjustable. I will be pestering folk at RMAF to go and listen to them ..dB

just when you thought it was safe to play in the woods, along comes little red riding hood to tempt you deeper ..dB

oh that was some time ago and it allowed me to update it a little and use better fixing options , it was never meant to leave my desk ..dB

heh , i steer clear of any threads discussing the HD800 ..dB

Assuming we are talking lcd1 ; no , it sounded pretty much the same before I switched cables. There is quite a bit i did inside , nothing crazy just something that worked ..dB

If my stacker had not looked like this after a run in with the postal service, I would have sent it off to Texas for a visit. I am sure there is going to more than enough to keep you busy with ..dB

I am sure they will find a good home phew ..dB

you will soon - looking forward to some feedback..dB

Best wishes ..dB

should go in the mail tomorrow - today was an early start but I should have a breather tomorrow..dB

I ended up doing 2 things to secure the cable 1. I used hot glue as in the original 2. I used a small cable tie which takes up the slack on the inner edge of the cup = I didn't think it would but after test fitting them it was evident that this could be done. My mind rests easier that there is more than just some glue holding it all together. Having re-read my cryptic response to Nates question, it seems ambiguous even to me . The cable reference was to the original and not the cable that I replaced it with. Yes Saachi, that is quite a wad of glass fibre and yet, I added even more stuff inside. ..dB

hehe - would i dare to critique the work of a master ..dB

Recabled and ready Marc sent me his pair to play with and I have to admit, I thought they were kind of alright when I first got them. Having just had the pleasure of his T50v1, I knew that these paled in comparison. They were a little better on the top end perhaps but they were not such an improvement over most of the vintage planars i own. In fact, I preferred my YH100s. The weakest link was identified early on and I won't rehash it. BUT this has to be said, the baffle is very well made, solid feel, non-resonant etc and it is then bolted on top of this thin plastic frame and held in place with 2 measely screws. What's with that? This frame is holding back the potential of these drivers. Modding - they respond well to modding as I had presumed they would. One of the most important things is to try and seal in the back wave from leaking out of the sides of the driver, I have not fully succeeded but I am hoping I have 98% of it blocked. In ortholand this backwave leak is much like the dysenteric ooze - it doesn't take much to spoil everyone's fun. The drivers are capable of tremendous bass but it is being cancelled to some extent by this leak. I used a thin neoprene gasket wedged under the edge of the pad to add some additional sealing but this is not airtight as I would have liked it to be. I damped the driver additionally without losing the soundstage ( to my ears ), once Marc has them back and he approves, I will post the specifics of the mod for any interested. Personally I think it takes them to a different level. Bass is not as present as I would have liked but they are not bass shy - using my test tones, they are audible from 25Hz (lowest tone) right up to 20kHz without significant change. Possibly a little roll off between 40Hz and 25Hz but nothing to get excited about. Other comments: Pads - very delicate, be very careful when working with your headphones. The velour is not as big a problem as I anticipated but a thin leather pad would have been nice. cables - they are sonically competent but a real PIA to use as they are neither supple nor light. ..dB a few earlier images for those who don't browse the HF ortho page. screw locations to open up the headphones

well there are 2 - one highly modded stock cups ( no holes drilled ) and the gradoesque yh100 - both sound very good but the transplant takes the lead due to its expansive soundstage ..dB

no need to hide this, I thought it sounded pretty damned fantastic too ..dB

I think their original plan was to sell drivers but there is much conflict of interest for their long term business plan. I would be surprised if we see loose drivers on the market..dB or they will sell them as described above

I don't normally care for dac reviews, or many reviews in general but have to agree with the general sentiment that this is the sort of review I appreciate - no bs , just succinct subjectivity. my view on dacs have changed over the past few years, I mostly considered them unnecessary as I was very happy with the sound of the CDP I had ( used PCM63 ) but a recent switch in players sent me looking for alternatives. I am curious to know where the assemblage line fits into these murky waters. I have the transdac and have NoNoNoNoNoNo's modded dac2.0 on loan..dB

I wonder if it has anything to do with the grado driver I used ? or maybe it's the Yh100 pretending to be a grado ?? craziness abounds ..dB

welcome to the dark side hahhahaha ( REJ voiceover) ..dB ps for what it's worth, my YH100 in stock cups sound anything but veiled

A 2 driver option is most definitely a possibility, i was hedging towards one of the smaller yamaha drivers but there is only one way to find the answer ..dB Steve, that foaming wall filler may work - the pores are pretty dense but perhaps not dense enough?

This deserves further exploration ..dB

I guess I screwed this one up, if mods would be so kind as to move this thread over here ..... am I past it? ..dB

Impressions: Great food Very glad to have finally got to hear the JH13 So it is good? no question; is it OTT good , no. It scales well with amplification and source and is pretty stellar out of a DAP. It will not replace full size headphones imo. The universals are a little cumbersome, i would believe the customs would take care of that and improve sq a little further. My surprise was how close the JH10 sounds to the 13 while the 11 was totally off for me - tuned to the dark side. I loved the WA6SE with the sophia princess 5U4G , just a very cool amp and shows Jack's attention to detail and passion for what he does. It was a perfect match for the ampless D7000 which I initially didn't take to amped from the little TTVJ Millett. Being a meet in my backyard, there was no shortage of Orthos and thanks to luvdunhill, we had the almighty T50v1 grace our meet. To quote Brian "it's just not right" referring to the fact that it shouldn't be allowed to sound so damn good. I will openly admit o being biased towards the orthos and not even the JH13 was enough to draw my allegiance. One of the more interesting sub themes was the O2 vs ESP950 fracas. They both have strong points but for the price point, the ESP950 is a serious bargain in the ES world. Opinions were drawn over the DAC shootout with my preference going to the assemblage DAC2 over the ultraclocked, silver wound RAM citydac. I thought that it would be the perfect place to unveil the new uber stacker ii but the power must have been all over the place as it kept tripping - it has been rock solid for the past 2 weeks and Alex agreed to allow me to show it off , I would have liked to please all the folk who wanted to get to hear it but the stars did not align. Pics: What else? The Maximo IM590 - I know Andrew sponsored the gig and one would expect some payback or loyalty but for those of you who know me, if i don't like something I usually don't have much to say. I compared this iem to some of the lower end iems turbos, .... i forget their names but there was only one other that was tuned to anything near to what I prefer. Andrew has spent a fair number of years in the recording industry and has a good ear, this I respect after spending some time with his iems. They are not the be all and end all but for their meagre cost of $60 - serious contenders for people like me who tend to leave things on public transport. I did get to hear the HF2 - they're grado's , who woulda thunk. I know I am forgetting to mention a ton of folk and tidbits but I went to hang out with the people and had fun listening to some of the gear. ..dB

Audio Gear: Sources: Parasound DAC-1100H/D Assemblage DAC 2.0 Sonic Frontiers Trans DAC Yamaha SACD player Alesis I02 USB dac/Midi interface Ipod 5th gen Sony DVPCX995V 400 DVD/CD/SACD Sony SCD-CE595 FireWire 410 Dac 707USB EeePC+Pico DAC/Amp Pico DAC Uber modded RAM transport and DAC Exemplar 2900 Denon DVD- 5000 Amplifiers: Stax SR-717 Stax SR M1-MK2 Cavalli Audio EHHA (x2) Cavalli Audio Stacker + Stacker II Cavalli Audio CTH (x4) Cavalli Audio SOHA 2 Indeed tube amp Fiio E-3,E-5 Woo WA6SE Two prototype amps by tevian Doge AV123 x-head ver.2 TTVJ Portable hybrid amplifier Headphones: JH Audio JH-13 Pro JH Audio JH10x3 Stax O2 AKG K1000 ATH-M50 Stax SR-001 portables Fostex T50V1 Wharfedale ID-1 Wharfedale ID-2 Fostex T10 DIY SFI Pickering DIY SFi KingPickering DIY SFI Smegma pucks DIY SFI megma pucks with extenders Yamaha HP-3 Yamaha HP-50 (x2) Yamaha YH-100 Yamaha YH-100 woody Yamaha YHD-2 Fostex T-50RP Audeze LCD-1 Maximo -iM590 Leak 3000 Koss ESP-950 DIY SFI Smegma pucks Pioneer SE-305 (Vintage 70's, with Denon 2K Drivers and Dynamat) Senn HD202 Milian Acoustic SVT UE SF5 Pro JVC HA FX500 Signet TK33 electrets Grado SR-125 Grado SR-60 Grado HF-2 (maybe) Sennheiser HD580 Sennheiser HD600 Denon D-7000 Sony MDR-V6 Alessandro MS-1 HD600 and HD580 Denon D2000 I have modded the list but this was MORE or LESS it.

Just got back from meeting up with everyone, had a great time and thanks to Andrew for supporting the event. His new maximo i590 were the best of the affordable iem's , a humble servant in the shadow of the JH13 but can stand its own anytime. Tons of top end gear to enjoy and good to share time with old acquaintances. A scrambled slide show to tease, more later ..dB