SuperBAF HD800 mod (formerly BTAmod)

Discussion in 'Modifications and Tweaks' started by zerodeefex, Oct 15, 2015.

  1. SKiring

    SKiring Friend

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    @zerodeefex It's gonna cost me $125 to ship this material to the Netherlands... Damn...
    I'll cover any costs to ship a batch or 2 to me haha.

    And hopefully all the material I have on order is in next week so I can do one final draft for my mods. Then I'll send pre made batches to you, Marv and maybe Tyll and Bill for extra measurements. And I'll post a new thread when I'm ready including multiple material tests and sonic impresions. |\/|

    Anyway awesome stuff, looking forward to hear this. :bow:
     
  2. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Do you want me to cut you a couple of pairs and ship them your way? Or would you rather have the material and cut it yourself?
     
  3. SKiring

    SKiring Friend

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    Cool, pre cut would be easier but either way works. Might be interesting for me to cut 1 pair in to the shape I'm using now, instead of the regular rugliner, to add to my mod and having the full BTA mod to test both.
     
  4. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

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    I don't have a hd800 or plan to get one in the future but I have friends who would be interested. Thanks for the hard work!
     
  5. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    No problem :)

    Once I have some spare cash later this year (spent a lot on materials for this, went through almost 30 different things), I'll try to get an HD800S and optimize for that too.
     
  6. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    Well, I got home, had dinner, refreshed, and now I can report that...

    This mod really did it! It supersedes every other mod that has ever been conceived, including mine!

    And it's not really something that requires my hands, so that's good. Plans are underway for an HD800S-esque mod in case people don't want to replace their HD800 for whatever reason (colorware? sentimental value?).

    Measurements in 3... 2... 1...
     
  7. eddypoon

    eddypoon Friend

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    Hello @zerodeefex, is it possible to get one shipped to HK? Will pay shipping & mats... Very excited and looking forward to this!!
     
  8. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Give the beta folks two weeks to acclimate and get over the honeymoon. Once we have more confirmation and measurements, I'll cut more and see what I can do.
     
  9. lukeap69

    lukeap69 Pinoy Panther

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    Hey Zero - count me in if you can ship to Dubai (I don't see any reason why you can't)
     
  10. kevnin

    kevnin #facetweeting - Friend

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    Awesome stuff! Really appreciate the efforts you have done to go through so many materials and find the best one.

    And you're using it to make headphone mod pieces. Like a Boss!

    hd800mod.jpg
     
  11. CEE TEE

    CEE TEE MOT: NITSCH

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    Yes- I liked the Billmods with certain parings. But today at the SBAF mini-meet, I thought the BTAmods were a success and brought things back a bit + worked with more gear. Was a fast assessment, so looking forward to confirming over time. (Bill is awesome and helping me covert to the BTA mods.)

    Congrats and thanks to ZD for the legwork and OCD rolling of materials and mods to get to this point. Laser cutting is fantastic as it helps ensure consistency and bring us all to the same place. Quickly, easily, inexpensively, effectively.

    Bill showed some great mod chops and went all out (with HD580/600/650 as well), thanks to him too...lots of control with materials & techniques have pushed mods forward in a short/quick time.

    :headbang:to both!!
     
  12. songmic

    songmic Gear cycler East Asia edition

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    Since I will be getting an HD800S soon (already sold away my HD800), I'm more interested in how this mod would improve upon HD800S than how it turns HD800 closer to HD800S's sound. Since the mod was originally developed with the HD800 in mind, is it possible that this mod may work unfavorably with HD800S? Or will it bring the HD800S even closer to that ideal "HD850" sound we all want?

    A solid comparison between stock HD800 / BTAmodded HD800 / stock HD800S / BTAmodded HD800S would be very enlightening. In case the BTAmodded HD800 turns out to be the best sounding among these four (better than HD800S both stock or modded), then there would be no need for me to order the HD800S.
     
  13. Eric_C

    Eric_C Friend

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    @firev1 you're in Singapore too, right? Maybe we can ship in the mod together? And anyone else in the country
     
  14. drfindley

    drfindley Secretly lives in the Analog Room - Friend

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    100x this! I had the priviledge of having a Bill-modded HD800 which worked with my current setup at the time, but now with a Studio I needed a different tone. Luckily Ravi worked on getting an awesome all-around sounding mod that's super easy to make. We're lucky he went through all the time and materials to make this happen, because it's quite a jem.

    Bill's modded HD580s were magical as well. Truly his best work.

    From what I can gather, the HD800S kills the 6khz peak/resonance, but leaves everything else the same. I'm betting the tone gets better with both.
     
  15. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Measurements tonight after I get back home. Some history and maybe a little story. We are going to rename this the SuperBAF HD800 mod. Lots of people here were involved directly or indirectly in the making of this mod, so attribution to the community here as a whole is more appropriate. Besides, I don't even know BTA stands for. Getting a little bit ahead of myself, but this mod does not hammer the HD800 into something that it is not.
     
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2016
  16. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Thread renamed and now sticky. In two weeks, once we have more impressions and things have settled, I'll publish everything we have.
     
  17. firev1

    firev1 Friend

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    Probably will get a few so you know, I will not be the only bugger in the country with a SBAF/CS related mod. Really can't wait for the peer review on these.
     
  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    As usual, I will be succinct. Just some background on the goals of the mod, which did evolve somewhat:
    1. Stupid easy to install. No tape. No scissors. No sticky stuff. No spending more than 30 seconds trying to get something to fit right.
    2. Tame the 6kHz peak, but not change the sound of the HD800 to something too different, e.g. make it warmer, or more bassy, darker, etc. If there is one thing I realized from feedback on the mods is that most HD800 owners don't want an HD650.
    3. Bring up the recessed mids.*
    4. Reduce the overly diffuse nature of the soundstage and make more precise the localization of sounds.
    *Almost thirty different materials were tested. During this process, certain materials stood out as being able to bring out the mids more. The recessed mids is something most HD800 owners inherently know about, but sort take for granted without complaining too much. The fact that a certain material did something to lift the mids was a plus.

    Subjective Notes
    I would say that the chosen material met the goals to a decent or in some cases a huge extent; but they did not completely perfect the HD800. But nothing is perfect and we didn't expect perfection, just improvement. With the mods, the HD800 isn't any less bright, but the peak does seem smoother, and most importantly, the mids are brought up. This SuperBAF mod isn't intended to be "better" than other mods (the other forks, Bill-P, z28, Tyll, etc.), but it does represent a consensus among the people most intimately involved as meeting the above objectives the most.

    Measurement Notes
    We see the peak still evident, but the nature of the peak is smoother and the decay more even. The narrow sharp 6kHz ridge of the stock HD800 has for the most part been eliminated. The distance between the top of the peak and the mids around 500-1000kHz is much closer together.

    SuperBAF HD800 Mod (RC1)
    HD800BTAFR.png
    HD800BTA2.jpg
    HD800BTA2.jpg

    HD800 Stock
    hd800stock.png
    HD800 stock L.jpg
    HD800 stock L.jpg
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2016
  19. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    not bad for a mod completely tuned by ear...

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2016
  20. spoony

    spoony Spooky

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    GJ! Man, that liner looks very sexy, I want some for my K7XX.
     

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