Hi Everybody. I’m Bill-P. You may know me from Head-Fi or SuperBestAudioFriends (formerly Changstar). I have done a lot of headphone modding in the community and have recently been doing some headphone modding for Massdrop. This led to some questions from Massdrop employees about headphone modding and why I do it. They thought you might like to know how I got into modding headphones and some of my ideas on how to mod. At the end, I’ll also share what I was able to do with the new HiFiMAN HE-350 in making them sound the way that I want them to. Why do I modify headphones? Basically, I really want to make headphones sound better for everyone and I think that manufacturers should hear how good their headphones can sound if they take more time to tune them. When you buy a high-end model, you expect that the manufacturer has already done all of the engineering for you- from tonality to frequency response to resolution. You assume you’re going to get great design and...

We at Massdrop have a special relationship with Sennheiser. They’re a company who believes in delivering the highest quality products to the Audiophile Community, and we’re always listening to the needs and ideas of our members so in this it's a perfect match. Since our first collaboration with Axel Grell and the Sennheiser team, we’ve been able to come up with more ways to bring more products to the community. Starting with the HD 6XX, a Massdrop Made take on the company’s flagship headphones. The PC37X, a headset produced for competitive gaming. And now, the 58X Jubilee. Headphones tuned by Axel, and designed with feedback from the community. Currently, Sennheiser has a team specifically dedicated to our collaborations, and this proves their commitment to always listening and to continue bringing the very best of what they can do to those who are most passionate about it. Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee Headphones SEE DROP: www...

It's All Greek to Me As with any expensive electronic product, doing research and reading reviews on headphones is a good way to reduce the risk of buyer's remorse. Physical characteristics such as the build quality, comfort, and accessories are easily described and understood, but when it comes to describing how something sounds - that's a whole other ball game. Understanding the frequency range of sound and how it affects the music is a great running start towards understanding your own preferences and what sound signature of headphone is best for you. When deciding what headphones are best, we have to start with frequency response. The Spectrum of Sound The deep rumbling of a bass guitar. The lively tweeting of a piccolo. Both of these sounds begin as vibrations, carried through the air from the instrument to your ears. As the speed of vibrations is directly correlated to pitch, the low notes on the bass guitar vibrate the air slowly as compared to the higher...

I cannot tell you the number of times I have heard a conversation about amplifier power go like this: “I hear that B&W speakers need at least 400W,” or, “I heard that Paradigm speakers are very power-hungry.” The fact is, there IS a way to figure out how much power your speakers will need and how to pair an amplifier with the speakers you already own or are looking to purchase. To determine the amplifier power, you will need the following items: Speaker sensitivity specification (typically dB SPL /1W /1m) Number of speakers you are using Distance from speaker(s) How loud do you want your music to sound, for general reference 70-80dB for speech only 80-95dB for light music 95-110dB for heavy music Rules to Remember Every time you double power or double the number of speakers, you increase the sound pressure level (SPL) by 3dB. Every time you double the distance from the speaker, you decrease SPL by 6dB. A speaker specification of 95 dB SPL/1W/1m means that at 1W of power, the...

In light of the recent release of the Fostex TR-X00 headphones with a factory detachable cable, an update many have requested ever since the first drop, I immediately began to feel buyer's remorse and jealousy. I decided to take it upon myself to update my TH-X00 with detachable cables and bring you along through the process with pictures so that you may be better informed to endeavour if you choose to do the same. Here's the completed assembly of what we'll be doing: PREFACE: It goes without saying that doing this will void any form of warranty on your headphones. Also, you could permanently damage components of the headphones. Continue at your own risk. There are a few things I would like to cover before we go ahead with the step-by-step. Connectors: There are many types of connectors available for this mod. I decided to go with 3.5mm jacks and plugs since these are the most readily available and easy to find parts. Pre-made cables with 3.5mm connectors are also easy...

Hello everyone! I’ve been here in Drop/Massdrop for a few years, also on Head-Fi since 2008, and I’ve seen a few common questions and gaps in knowledge over the years. So, to try answering them so that I (or you) can simply link a video when a common question comes up, I “rebooted” my YouTube channel with new videos to serve as a guide for new and intermediate personal audio enthusiasts! Thanks for accepting my amateur production with a “shrug” and a subscribe, I’ll try to upload 1-2 videos a week and add them here as well. Go ahead and leave audio questions you think others would also want answered! YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4bc2SQk0h2TrE0K07t2WI5by66ArtDAb

Back when I visited CanJam NYC in 2016, I got to talking to the two founding members of Bluewave, and had an extended conversation and demo of their soon-to-release Bluetooth receiver/DAC/Amp, the GET. They argued that the quality of Bluetooth has reached a point where the internal components used had a bigger impact on the final sound quality than the fact that it was wireless, and their device would have better sound quality than the headphone jack in my smartphone. I thought this was an interesting challenge, and I had to research and rethink my perspective on Bluetooth audio. You see, Bluetooth is a digital transmission, so it bypasses capacitance and EMI factors of headphone cables. Then, the Bluetooth receiver must then use a DSP (like a computer) to decode and decompress the transmission, a Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) and an Amplifier before outputting to the headphone transducer (speaker). When you buy a Bluetooth receiver, you’re also buying a DAC and an amp! With a...

Pairing up a gamer with the right headphone is a bit like playing matchmaker! In this video, linked at the end, I boil down over 10 years of community advice into 3 Personality types: • Competitive • Entertainment • Immersion I share a few keywords to look for, as well as some software and settings suggestions. I think everyone has a little bit of each type in them, but which type is dominant for you? Thanks to the sponsor of this video: DekoniAudio.com Dekoni is a headphone accessories company, unique for providing frequency response graphs on their website so you know what effect their various pad options will have. Thanks also to Drop for giving me permission to share here. I hope it helps everyone! The video: https://youtu.be/42SRsSlIj-c

Hello, to preface, I've at one point owned Massdrop x Fostex TR-X00 Ebony, TH-X00 Mahogany, E-Mu Teak, and Denon AH-D2000. To be honest I actually have no issue with their stock pads in terms of comfort, but the reason why I dive into this pad swap journey is because my AH-D2000 is getting old the and old pads are flaking/dying. Denon AH-D2000 is also discontinued so now I'm out of luck finding OEM pads, so I've been trying different 3rd party pads and when I do I'd try them on the other headphones too. IN SHORT, STOCK PAD HAS THE BEST SOUND HANDS DOWN. So if you're too lazy to keep reading, basically just stick to stock pads. But if you're curious about what other possibilities you might have (or other failures), read on. Also keep in mind that I don't own EVERY pads out there so some are just from what I read during my research, so feel free to correct me/update me if you know anything I don't know, thanks...

Among life’s great questions—Why do we exist? What is the key to happiness? Where is the remote?—stands one that continues to vex music lovers and newcomers to the audiophile community: What is an amp? How It Works Lots of us might have a basic idea of what an amp does, but exactly how it functions (and the many benefits it can provide) are larger questions worth considering. The word amp is derived from the latin word amplificare, which means “to expand” or “to enlarge.” The basic function of an amplifier is to increase the power of a signal by taking energy from a power supply and converting it to a larger amplitude—therefore boosting that signal. When sound is recorded, an electrical signal is generated through a series of vibrations and fluctuations in air pressure. First, sound waves move a microphone diaphragm back and forth, and the microphone converts that movement into an electrical signal. Then, a recorder encodes that signal as a pattern in a certain format...

The original bundled cable for DT 177x GO is very stiff and makes it a Desktop Headphones instead of a Portable one. With this, you can bring DT 177x GO anywhere you want. First, here is the diagram. In case if you want to make a balanced cable with 2.5mm TRRS plug, you can refer to the following. Thanks to @DeepSpaceus for suggestion to add balanced. You can use 4-pin XLR to TRRS adapter to connect to balanced desktop amp. https://drop.com/buy/drop-4-pin-xlr-to-trrs-adapter Now with these diagrams you should be able to create your own custom cable/adapter. Here is what I made. !!! I find the photos are not properly displayed, please click on each photo to get the whole picture. Here are what I had to prepare. 1 x TA4F 4-pin Connector https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BravoPro-TA4F-4-pin-Connector-for-Shure-Wireless-Systems-Black/303298557896 1 x 3.5mm Female TRS Connector https://www.ebay.com...

Picture this: You’re going on a date and they choose the scary movie that just came out and looks super terrifying in the trailers. You’re not a huge fan of horror flicks, and you’re afraid you will jump out of your seat an embarrassing number of times… But you like them a lot, so scary movie it is. You get to the theatre, late, but in the knick of time right after the previews and before the film begins. You scramble up the steps and settle into your seat in the back row near the corner, trying to figure out how to look brave and hide your sheer terror. The movie starts… A few minutes in, you realize you don’t feel scared at all. The audio seems abnormally quiet and the screen looks pretty small and dull. You and your date are yawning throughout the entire movie, and, to your surprise, you haven’t jumped in fear even once. When it ends, you both are pretty disappointed at how un-scary the movie turned out to be and decide it was just “meh.” Why did that happen? Well, it’s...

We might not give them much thought, but while we go about our day-to-day lives, our ears do some pretty incredible stuff. By transforming vibrations into electrical impulses that our brains can perceive as sound, they allow us to hear the world around us, tune into that new album, groove out at a live show, and so much more. The process is complex, occurs in a split second, and goes on around the clock. It’s happening right now. (And now... And now...) Plus, these little organs pull double duty by helping us maintain our balance, too. Sweet, Sweet Sound The three parts of the ear (outer, middle, and inner) work in tandem, like three bakers in a kitchen working together to make a cake. Think of the sound waves traveling through the air as the batter, and the electrical impulses as the cake: The sound must be in this finished form for our bodies to be able to digest it. And like one baker might be in charge of mixing the ingredients, one building the tiers, and one adding...

Want better sound quality and more volume from your iPhone/laptop/MP3 player? You need a DAC. What is a DAC? A DAC, or digital-to-analog converter, converts digitally-stored information into the analog sound that we can hear. A USB DAC is like an external sound card that can easily be plugged into your PC, laptop, tablet, phone or other music player. Why does a signal need to be converted at all? The original analog sound made by our favorite bands is recreated in a digital format, for storing convenience. While computers can understand these digital signals, we humans (I'm making an assumption here about our readership) cannot, nor can your speakers or headphones. So before we can listen to it, the digital signal needs to be returned to analog. A standard DAC is built into laptops and music players. However: the better the DAC, the higher quality the conversion, and therefore the better sound you’ll hear from your speakers or headphones. I’ve never used a DAC before, so why...

Ahoy, audiophiles! Hot on the heels of the launch event for the mech keys community, we are kicking off the Audiophile Rigs product tagging launch event (with a bonus giveaway for those who participate!).  Check out all the Rigs submissions thus far! Audiophile Rigs What’s this about a giveaway? More details can be found at the end! The short version: we will be giving away $100 Drop Rewards credit to one lucky winner (randomly selected) from all participating users who contribute and tag their Audiophile photos using the "Rigs" flair! In order to be eligible for giveaway prizes, your photo must include at least two tagged items (not required to be Drop products—see Tagging Non-Drop Products below). Post must be made in the first two weeks (by 2023-05-10 11:59PM PT) in order to be entered. What is Product Tagging in Photos? Product tagging allows you to tag any products in a Photo post—both those found on Drop currently, as well as write-ins that will be manually approved and...

I am more of a hifi/speaker guy and recently I got poisoned into headphones. Started going into headphones only last year and Massdrop is eh..hmmm...yay! Am looking for other possible alternatives (preferably concealable) as the current setup of using clothes rack (less than $15 on Amazon) is only temporary. Plus: Affordable. Easy to push around the house. The rods are thick enough that it does not hurt the headbands. I can easily select and swap headphones at a glance. The little bag on the lower right holds all the cables. Minus: It can get a little dusty. It looks like eh...a clothes rack...lol Will not work well if you have to move the rack between floors. Super minus: My wife is able to see the entire collection...and trust me, no headphones can block out her nagging - "They all looked the same to me. Why do you need so many pairs of headphones? How much did you spend? Tell me the pricing! Do you have a lot of money? How much savings do you have?" She said I might as well...

Dekoni Audio is excited to introduce our new Dekoni University video education series. Check back frequently to see our latest videos.

Product specifications often list the signal-to-noise ratio, sometimes written as "SNR" or "S/N," but what does it mean? While the math behind SNR is technical, the concept is not, and this value can impact a system's overall sound quality. SNR compares the level of a signal to the level of noise. In other words, it compares the ratio between the relevant (wanted) and the irrelevant (unwanted) information. It is most often expressed as a measurement of decibels (dB). Higher numbers generally mean a better sound quality, since there is more useful information (the signal) than there is unwanted data (the noise). A decibel is a logarithmic ratio in which every 20 dB represents a factor of 10. For example, going from 80dB to 100dB means increasing by 10 times. This means that an audio component having an SNR of 100 dB will have 10 times less noise than one that has 80 dB. The chart below shows how different dB ratios actually compute. For illustration, let's say that...

It's awesome that Massdrop has forum section where people can discuss their interests. In the audiophile one in particular, talking about gear, asking for help, and giving recommendations is something that I see is done a lot. I personally love this; we're all in this hobby together, whether you're a newbie or a veteran, whether you're stretching to scrape together $100 for your next purchase or able to drop several grand. For those perusing the audiophile forums for advice on gear, I do hope you'll find your answers here. However, there are things you can do to help us out so that we can give you the best recommendation! Granted, all of us have our opinions, but by following the steps below, you give us the most information to work with, meaning you'll get response better-tailored to help YOU! Be specific: Don't just throw out a post like "What's the best headphone?" Telling us things like your budget, your previous experiences with different gear (if you're new mention that...

Want to learn how to design and install the ultimate home theater experience? THX is now offering an online Home Theater workshop designed to help both pros and amatures level-up their audio visual talents. The course includes specialized insider-knowledge of the tools and techniques to implement the latest in audio visual technology. Use the THX Professional Portal to navigate study guides, course exams, and exclusive certification resources. Here's a special offer for our Massdrop community - save 25% if you sign up before the end of the year.