This mod is designed to use the GS1000 salad bowl (circumaural) pads for the SR325is. Unadulterated the pads (whilst giving better sound stage and being more comfortable) do decrease bass response because the same sized driver is being employed in a larger space walled by a greater amount of non reflective acoustic foam. Essentially the un-altered salad bowls are in effect more open.
This mod is designed to balance out this effect by simply letting less air move through the foam. By adding thin material to the outside of the pads greater bass response is achieved. There is no reason to follow my mod exactly but I tested several different methods looking for the result of rebalancing the pads so they sound the same as the original Donuts supplied with the SR325is.
You can test this without doing a permanent mod – simply create a small paper wall around the edge of your pads and tape it into a loop so you can slide it on and off – this will give you an idea of what we’re aiming for.
So what materials have I used? Well if you find some materials you like better that’s great – this is a simple and basic mod that I would love to see others improve for their own tastes. There are copper tapes, aluminium tapes, the really skilled craftsman out there might turn some wooden sleeves or access to a vacuum former could yield great results but I’ve gone with what I know and my method is pretty non destructive and could be improved on at a later date.
You will need
Gaffer / Duct tape (or any reliably sticky and dense tape you like – Metal? Fabric?)
Good quality thin plastic sheet or card (I used a thin type of sheet acetate)
Sharp knife / scalpel
A decent cutting surface / board
Sharp scissors
A ruler
A pair of compasses (for drawing circles)
Tape measure
Grado GS1000 pad
Obviously you need to do a mirror image repeat of this for the second ear pad!
1 – Each pad will eventually have received 2 layers of tape around the circumferences flat outside edge. The first job is to accurately measure this circumference. Also measure the width you want the tape to cover. I made mine the exact width of the outside edge until the curved bottom lip.
2 – I ran a length of tape along the edge of my cutting board so that the perfect width was overhanging this edge giving me a perfect line edge to cut along with the scalpel. I added 1
cm to the length of the circumference to give a comfortable overlap when it is applied.
3 – So you should have a piece of tape a little longer than the circumference of the pad. Firmly and carefully apply this tape tightly so there is no slack but not so tight you distort the pad shape.
4 – Now it’s time to make the cone shaped insert – I found this the hardest part – First of all measure the diameter of the pad. Using the pair of compasses carefully and accurately mark out a circle with a diameter 2cm wider than that of the pad onto your card or thin plastic. Now mark another concentric circle from the same centre point but decrease the diameter by 3cm. Hopefully you are now looking at a 2D donut with a width of 1.5cm.
5 – It’s time to add the tabs that will keep this section in place, draw six small 1cm long trapezoid evenly spaced on the outside of your donut keeping the bit touching the donut to under 0.5cm and the other end a little wider.
6 – With the scalpel cut a neat line from the centre to the edge of one of the tabs. Now cut this crazy shape out as carefully as possible.
7 – Bend the tabs down and curl this shape along the edge of the conical part of the pad, you should be able to find a position where this sits neatly with the tabs overhanging the edge and a decent overlap, remove most of this overlap and use a small neat piece of tape to join this new conical shape and keep it fixed. It should now be sitting in its final position on top of the conical section of the pad with tabs sitting on the original layer of tape.
8 – This step is similar to step 2 with the circumference (+ 1cm) length bit of tape but this time we will make it slightly wider, only by about 0.5cm, so when it is wrapped around the circumference this time it will hold the tabs in place and have a small lip to tuck over onto the edge of our conical section sealing that edge.
And you should be complete!
Good luck and happy listening
More Information
For more information on the SR325is or any of the Grado Headphones range please visit the HiFi Headphones store.
ACS have completely redesigned their T1 triple driver Custom In Ear Monitor for 2010, below is our review of this exciting new earphone.
At the top end is a combined unit providing specific drivers for the highs and mids engineered into a single unit with an ultra-compact crossover optimising the response for each, this is then combined with a clear and powerful bass driver to deliver rich and full-bodied bottom end. All driver builds are hand-made and individually tested by the technicians in Banbury to ensure that each configuration is a perfect fit.
Using carefully selected drivers from Knowles Electronics the T1 utilises a combined unit with independent high and mid-range speakers to give the optimum definition, clarity and punch without being overbearing. Next to this, the T1 engages the biggest bass driver in the range providing rich, smooth and deep bass that perfectly compliments its partner drivers. The finishing touches to the T1’s sound are applied by two acoustic filters giving a smooth and balanced signature.
Fit and flexibility
The shape of your ear canal changes with the movement of your jaw and having a flexible earpiece not only gives you the obvious benefits of greater comfort but also helps to maintain a more consistent seal, particularly during vocal performances. Not only that, but using a softer compound means that your monitors warm to body temperature more quickly giving you complete comfort, flexibility and isolation in just a few minutes.
Tailored from top to bottom
Making sure that the right cable is used to deliver your sound is as important as every other aspect in the design of in ear monitors so ACS make sure they are just as well thought out. Starting with the best conductive core they then add kevlar threads for strength and flexibility, each cable is sheathed with a special finish that reduces the transmission of friction noise to the earpieces so there’s as little interference as possible. The cable is then clamped at the Y divide with a custom pressed lengthened binder to give it extra strength where you need it most. Finally, each cable is finished with a custom moulded right-angled plug offering high levels of resilience as well as quality with a gold-plated 3.5mm connector and iPhone compatible shoulder design.
All in the detail
It’s the finishing touches that make every pair of hand-made monitors completely unique from a choice of cable colours to a selection of bespoke silicone finishes. Every monitor can be laser etched with lettering or logo of your choice and is supplied in a customised rugged case to ensure your monitors are protected wherever you might travel.
Your ears on file…
ACS has introduced of a new state of the art scanning technology that means all customers that order custom made hearing protection and in-ear monitoring products from ACS will have their ear shape on file at ACS for up to 4 years. The device will scan the impressions and save as a file on the database so customers can order new products or replacements instantly without the need to have new impressions taken. What’s more, this service will not cost customers anything extra on top of the standard product charge!
The scanning service began on May 1st 2010 so will only apply to customers that ordered thereafter.
ACS T1 Custom IEM Review
What do you get for your money?
Options – Silicone and cable colour
Audiologist appointment for impressions
Ear impressions kept on file
Personalised options – Engraved name / logo
Excellent hardcase
Comfort – Soft silicone helps make the T1 incredibly comfortable, though not immediately. In the first few minutes after insertion they feel weird and intrusive, however this sensation quickly evaporates and within the half hour they feel like a part of your body. Eventually when you remove them it is as if you have lost a finger.
Sound
The ACS T1 reproduces each section of the audio spectrum with subtlety and confident definition. The isolation provided by the medical grade silicon is second to none so nothing gets between you and the music. I gave the T1’s a good 50 hours burn in time which made a significant difference from new.
Bass – There is weight and texture in their reproduction of the bottom end, providing the sensation that the bass notes really move with emotion, that kick drums punch the chest, and that kettle drums and low toms feel full but don’t linger. Bass is felt as tough and visceral in nature, articulate and involving. It is continually enjoyable that they describe so much detail in the lower register – whilst being beefy and solid there is no flab to trim here.
Midrange – A sweet spot here, forward and detailed in their presentation of this part of frequency spectrum, the midrange is a wide powerful backdrop against which the treble is layered carefully over the top. Vocals are sweet, dry and emotional, guitars and strings impressive and never woody, pianos feel real, and horns are particularly vivid without becoming oppressive. I initially worried this power would become fatiguing, but actually the balance is really good and listening compulsive so I really don’t want to remove them from my ears. Make no mistake – the T1’s faithfully reproduce every detail and go about it very boldly.
Treble – Immediately noticeable were the slightly rolled-off highs. The T1’s reproduce treble frequencies faithfully and they do not feel recessed – but some tracks which are normally painfully bright were really tamed. I’m not sure how this is achieved without total relegation of the treble frequencies to the background but there is something very clever at work here. Cymbals and high-hats still cut through and articulate well without becoming harsh and overbearing. To my ears this felt odd at first, I like music bright but I could not detect a loss in detail. As I listened further this initial subjective impression faded as I just really started enjoying the music.
The new ACS T1 is an impressive piece of sonic engineering. With it’s chunky but measured bass, a revealing and solid midrange coupled with a detailed and delicate top end you get the impression the technicians listened to a lot of IEM’s and a lot of peoples criticisms of them. Nothing here feels overcooked and there is no sense that you are missing anything either, the longer I listen the more impressed I become. There is excitement and finesse here in measures that scream musicality.
Stereo imaging – The other point worth mentioning is that they image about as well as I’ve ever heard from any IEM. The music pans through the corridor of Left to Right without stutter, there is a natural ease which stops you from questioning the position of a sound, thereby preventing distraction. The T1’s provide each instrument with it’s own space without completely isolating elements and preventing detailed harmonic interaction. Everything sounds highly intimate and emotional without resorting to the sort of fireworks which detract from the music itself.
Professional application – The first job that the T1’s were invited on was the recording of a live performance music video for a seven piece soul band. I knew it would be a noisy affair as the video part would mean a lot of extra people in the room. There was to be no audience which I initially was pleased with – later I realised the T1’s isolation was so good it wouldn’t have mattered how many screaming folks filled the venue. I took a pair of HD 25’s and some Beyer DT100’s but never touched either, I’m not sure I’ll even pack them in the future. I’ve since rehearsed drums with them and will not be playing using anything else.
Who uses ACS Customs? – Well quite a lot of musicians as you might expect, Pendulum, Pink Floyd, U2, Lily Allen, The Prodigy, Paulo Nutini, Radiohead, Stephen Fry, Ash, Basement Jaxx, Muse, Ladyhawke, The Futureheads, Super Furry Animals, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and lots of other people – I’m sure you get the idea.
Overall – So whether you are purchasing T1‘s as a pro audio monitoring tool or an extremely high end headphone, can you be confident that this is £650 well spent? I think this type of purchase isn’t about a product being perfect (for this we would surely all need our own laboratory), it is more about the elimination of imperfection. What ACS have done is to take a wish list common to both the audiophile and the musician of what is necessary, of what is desirable and what is inexcusable to include in an contemporary IEM and worked very hard to balance these elements with clinical precision. Whilst using the T1’s a colleague recently asked me “What do you think of your new monitors?”, over mouthing the words as he knew I couldn’t really hear him. “Yeah! They’re perfect” I shouted back without thinking.
The new Audéo PFE Perfect Bass 012 and 022 from Phonak offer music lovers not only perfect bass, but also an extremely natural and defined sound experience.
Audeo PFE earphones suppress external noise for undisturbed musical enjoyment. This guarantees precise, crystal-clear sound even at lower volume, without causing damage to hearing.
All Audéo PFEs offer excellent sound quality and will bowl you over with comfort and their unique design. The ergonomically-shaped earphones sit perfectly in your ear and can be adapted to your ear canal thanks to the different-sized silicone ear tips included.
Audéo PFE is one of the lightest earphones on the market, weighing only 14 grams.
Our Opinion
We think that £ for Pound this must be a future champ, with improved bottom end grunt the PFE sounds chunkier and more contemporary. Having heard the new Audeo 012 Perfect Bass it is hard to believe that such a refined balanced armature earphone will be on the market for less than £80. They also feature the same updated cabling and strengthened materials found on the Award Winning Audeo PFE 111, 112, 121 and 122.
The new Beyerdynamic Flagship model, the Tesla T1, is now available in the UK. We have been lucky enough to borrow Beyer’s Demo pair and it was love at first listen.
Delivered in it’s aluminium flight case the Beyerdynamic T1 is hand crafted in Germany and it shows – they have a solid industrial beauty that exudes high end build quality. The coils are hand wound as a machine is not capable of the necessary dexterity to achieve Beyer’s exacting standards.
Behind the detailed mesh grilles on the beautifully finished aluminium and plastic earcups, the drivers are fitted to the front angled back towards the ear. The diaphragms are made of two-ply foil, which features low moving mass and good inherent self-damping. The Beyerdynamic T1‘s skill is a very low-mass diaphragm in a very dense magnetic field of 1.2 Tesla. The result is a crisp, fast and transparent sound with low distortion (quoted at 0.05 per cent).
These completely redesigned transducers achieve values of over one Tesla (a unit of measurement for magnetic flux density). The increased efficiency also leaves the T1 with greater power reserves for dynamic, undistorted sound and nearly lossless conversion of electric signals into sound waves. The extremely lightweight 600 Ohm voice coil provides transparency and perfect impulse fidelity.
Beyerdynamic A1 Amplifier
The perfect partner to the T1, with its unique intelligent-circuit concept the Beyerdynamic A1 is capable of reproducing an amazingly wide frequency range which stretches way above human perception. Underneath the large front-panel-mounted aluminium volume control is a high grade ALPS-potentiometer for smooth volume adjustment. This is just part of the attention to detail that ranges from the outer unit construction to its quality integral components – use of a generously-dimensioned toroidal core transformer, plus a combination of carefully selected components allows even the highest-impedance headphones to be driven flawlessly over the entire frequency range.
Our Impressions
We felt the sound was fluid and natural, there is a fast sense of detail that is crisp and precise without being fatiguing. The headphones themselves are surprisingly light and in typical Beyer style really comfy. The Beyerdynamic T1‘s give a lush wide soundstage with excellent instrument separation drawing you into the recording, the stereo image being nothing short of 3D. The focus here is in the highly detailed treble and midrange but the bass is warm, deep and well pronounced giving the overall sound superb transparency, weight and authority. Joining the big boys, the T1 must be auditioned alongside Grado’s GS1000 and Denon D7000 before you make your ultimate headphone purchase.
Klipsch have added an in line mic and iPhone controller to their top of the range Image X10i.
One of the world’s smallest and lightest in-ear headphone designs, using a single wideband balanced armature driver, for comfortable wear and audiophile-quality listening. Although tiny, each machined aluminium and finished in anodized copper ear piece looks stunning. The X10i also includes an advanced mic and 3-button remote (as seen on the Klipsch Image S4i) for taking calls and controlling the music content on your iPod, iPod touch or iPhone 3GS.
The X10i positions its in-line microphone and remote at the yoke—where the two cables meet at chest level—to create a more natural feel when answering calls and controlling music.
Because the microphone is a highly responsive 360° design, you don’t have to talk down into it or hold it close to your mouth. The microphone has also been designed to cancel echo, which keeps it from picking up surrounding noise reflection so your voice always sounds clear as a bell.
Inside the well designed box you get a sleek hardshell carry case, an aeroplane socket adapter, a 3.5mm-to-1/4″ adapter, the X10i, a clothing clip and a variety of single and dual-flanged ear tips.
Just like the Image X10 before it, the Image X10i gives a big warm bottom end which is solid and defined. They cope with vocals beautifully and have a crisp contemporary presentation that will see iPhone owners Dubstepping, Rocking out or relaxing to Acoustic chillout in style. Be aware that the X10i is not for casual listening. If you rip your digital music files using a low bit rate, the high resolution Klipsch Image X10i earphone will uncover the flaws in your content.
Compatibility
While the Image X10i serves as a pair of premium headphones for any device with a 3.5 mm headphone jack, its mic and remote system handles the music and/or voice control of the following Apple products: iPhone 3GS, third generation iPod shuffle, second and third generation iPod touch, fourth and fifth generation iPod nano models and the iPod classic 120GB.
If you have an iPod touch or iPhone and Wi-Fi access, you can also use the Image X10i with VOIP (need an adapter for PC or Mac), Skype and iChat.
If you are one of the lucky ones who managed to get tickets to The Gadget Show Live at the NEC before they all sold out then we have a great way for you to save some money on a pair of high end IEM earphones – the Phonak Audéo PFE.
When you get to the show just grab a copy of the show guide where you will find a voucher for a 10% discount on the price of any of the Phonak Audéo PFE models.
Have you ever tried an award winning pair of earphones?
Find out what you’re missing. Audéo PFE are more than just earphones – they are designed to fit perfectly and deliver perfect sound quality, while reducing unwanted external noise.
For those who love music, from those who know the most about hearing. Audéo – perfect fit for perfect sound.
How healthy is your hearing?
Visit Phonak at booth G31 for a free 5 minute hearing assessment, courtesy of Hear the World, or try the Audèo Perfect Fit Earphones for yourself.
Phonak has unrivalled knowledge of the human ear and has been producing state of the art hearing systems for more than 50 years to help significantly improve peoples’ ability to hear clearly.
See the full range of Phonak earphones.
Visit the Phonak Stand – Booth G31- at The Gadget Show live and try the Audeo PFE for yourself
