E_Schaaf

Re:thinnest pads possible. Maybe that's why I enjoy the Porta Pros and KSC75 so much. Having the driver that close realy just puts you right into the music.

Closed designs are efficient and yes make amps less important. Exotic materials are for looks/aesthetics, which people do buy with their eyes. 600/650 are damped, but I would not say over-damped. This is why you need a good amp to get through the damped haze. And lastly, more revealing signal chain will reveal how bad recordings are. Lower top end makes things sound more "pleasant" - Harman already figured this out.

Good that you have worked out your personal preferences. Keep perspective that these may not necessarily represent universal Trvths. However sharing provides yet another important data point for all.

ORTF will provide decent results even if the room acoustics are not so great.

I wanted to do ORTF, but the Schoeps CMC641 pair are supercardioid, I thought it'd lack center fill so went for XY

I've used both CMC62 and CMC641 in ORTF to great effect. If room acoustics are good, CMC62, otherwise CMC641.

Sometimes I take the grill off the 6xx to make them more open and reduce reflections. Sometimes I add a layer of foam behind the grill to make them more closed and increase isolation.

No. I prefer headphones that chase one rabbit and catch it.

It would be interesting. I feel to really have a place it would have to offer some unique strengths in both configurations

But I hear you, most earpads suck and I bet most manufacturers just don't try enough or think about them enough to get the best sound from their headphones.

It's also not logical. I have found almost zero acoustic "rules" that apply to all earpads except more leaky generally means a brighter more bass light sound but not always and otherwise it's just seemingly very random as far as midrange presence and things like that.

Hmm I wonder if it's because people _don't_ want to recreate the stage in the recording, they want something that sounds more expansive because some recordings can sound more closed in/intimate than they'd like. For those people, bigger earpads may be a hack to get that; others may like the commissions of tube amps or the like. Just a thought.

nm

That sucks.

That's awful, 5/6...

does this also say something about lifetime and customer support if you use the drivers? For example DOA headphones, or damaged while they packed it in a backpack/suitcase and so on? Would cost you a lot to deal with warranty issues like that I assume

HELL YES.

KEEP THE SIDE VENTS THEY LOOK COOL :)

That is one sexy little driver. Have you been able to listen to them yet? How much of that tactile slammin' sound can it reasonably maintain vs openness of cup/module and rear damping materials?

The only thing with a motor remotely like it is the Utopia. And they don't have that lovely textured bio sound, and $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

Not yet! Arriving shortly. Airflow on the driver frame should be as great or greater than most stock drivers (barring focal drivers) given most stock drivers are used with near complete blockage of rear vents most of the time. Very few drivers run with rear vents mostly open, but I'm hoping with some tweaks to enclosure design I can run these new guys wide open.

The current Mini driver also uses a graphene diaphragm, but no pleated face and only one N52 magnet, and a more typical CCAW coil. Pure copper voice coils are a rarity in headphone drivers and I'm excited to explore that as well. Maybe spc coil later on

Impulse response on the first one mentioned is also rounder and less sharp. They literally sound opposite to how they look vs one another

The only guess I have is that my ears themselves are somehow reacting to the stark differences between them both in terms of sonics and design traits. Grey area... Some kind of fatigue response?

Are they using the same type of transducer? The LCD-X '21 has me reconsidering the same thing.

@Thad E Ginathom my sense of smell is very bad even without covid. Nerve damage from a fall.

Oh! Well, that's my joke fallen flat on its face!

Sorry about your lost sense of smell. Mine is not very good either: I don't know, but I blame 20 years of smoking

Haha don't worry about it.

Diana Ross greatest hits now playing

Egglub & AKTR Split tape spinning now

Kasra Critical Music selections on

$50+shipping. Sorry to hear about the wiring but I'll be happy to repair them in whatever way is needed, including tightening up grill caps and cable cover caps too, plus replacing any necessary parts. DM me for shipping info / address

@Brubaker, In case you are not aware how to DM/PM: click on E_Schaaf’s name and then click Start a Conversation in the pop-up.

Yes, that's what I meant to do, thanks shotgunshane.

To clarify and elaborate on the detail thing. Though resolution defines the fidelity and textural rendering of an individual sound if it isn't married with good separation so that each of those sounds are distinct and speed so that fast sounds do not smear then that detail will be lost. Like pixel density, colour accuracy, and HZ of an LCD. 1/2

Microdynamics could be said to be detail in another category, like the contrast ratio of an LCD. Focals being equivalent to an OLED.

Plankton 'perhaps' its ultimate, or at least it's most difficult to render, form where all those factors have to come into play together. 2/2

I'm not very good at this kind of language, but, back in the day when my ears were more capable of "critical listening," one of my test recordings was an orchestral percussion crescendo from a Mahler symphony (1 or 2: I forget). How much is it a single noise, how much can the individual instruments be made out? That example, for me, would be *detail.* Or *resolution*

https://i.imgur.com/0Q16dyJ.png MiniXL w/ bowls red vs 650 stock in white. Planning to swap in some N55/wool diaphragm drivers with a pure copper voice coil in place of these N52/graphene/CCAW for that last bit of smoothness and oomph. Love the comfort, transients, and stage of the bowls. Exciting times.

MiniMaxi

I'd be very interested in a DIY kit

Sign me up for a DIY AlNiCo kit.

Very interested, I've been wanting to try this for years. I'd want the DIY NdFeB one assuming it's the more powerful, and the TPE diaphragm can take it.

It'll take one hell of a driver to extend well with a pad like this. Hopefully a 50mm driver with dual N55 motor, pure copper voice coil, tpu flexing surround and rippled graphene coated biocellulose diaphragm will fit the bill. If not... Maybe an isobaric config with said driver will bring the juice :)

I didn't realize this model was already this far along! Can't wait to check this out.

Hopefully not the wrong place to ask but there's no thread yet so: I'm assuming this is the evolution of the same supra-aural you guys had at socal meet. Are there any plans to make the same sounding headphone in a HD600 series compatible headband + cup?

Apologies in advance if this is addressed elsewhere and I missed it.

@penguins dematted made a thread here: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/eta-mini-impressions-and-reviews-thread.11855/

My search for an instrument is over before it even began! @ChaChaRealSmooth sold me his old beater silver plated King at a generous low price. Cheers to annoying the neighbors

Awesome. King horns are great, too.

You can always put in a cup mute during hours when others really might not appreciate your practicing.