Sony MDR-1R

They show up used for around $100-ish once in a while on ebay/head-fi forums/Amazon Marketplace brand new. With some mods, they're pretty good for that price.

Definitely, definitely, definitely don't pay retail for them.

 

Yep - comfortable, and stock they're kinda terrible.

Figure I'll link these here for future search purposes: Marv's before and after modification measurements (and instructions) are here. My instructions over at head-fi on how to do the mod (with step-by-step pictures) are here.

 

Yeah, owned these and I actually didn't like them that much. The MDR-1A though, although way bassier, I love because it doesn't have that upper-mid bump I hate. They were just fatiguing to me...

 

I must say I've been considering the Dynamat mod since I came across it on Chang for a literal year now, but had reservations about throwing another 30 bucks at the bass flub. The change after the dynamat treatment is actually pretty eye opening, bass finally has impact and bloom is reduced. Midrange actually became more focused and coherent. Bass still dosent have adequate ground because of rolloff so I was wondering what materials lining the cup could improve that...or maybe some material that can absorb some of that spike at 9k?

 

Oh wow thanks!! TP at the front or back of the driver? Also (potentially stupid question) could a lining of felt do something about the rolloff in bass? I swear when I get around to learning how to solder better im punching out the drivers and sticking my KSC's in there...with some foam lining from my HD600 box

 

Thanks AV for the modding post, this inspired me to pick up a (relatively) cheap used pair for gym duty, as a liked the 1A well enough, but especially for comfort. Marv's original post is down, but I have a question, I can't find anything called "Polyfill acoustic fiber" just regular Polyfill. Is this the same thing, or will it work well enough? I'm really just going for well enough, cheaply, as these are just gym/beater cans and I have no future plans to ever need the stuffing again. Or if just the dynamat leads to most o the gains I can just stop there.

 

This is what I used.

 

Thanks, appreciate it. I'll have to mull if I want to put that much more money into these cans, but will respond back with Dynamat mod impressions at least when completed.

 

I can stuff some in a padded envelope either this weekend or early next week if you want. (The bag they give you is gigantic, and you don't need that much for the mod). Just send me your address and I'll get it out to you.

 

PM'd you're awesome

 

An update on the mods to my pair of Sony MDR-1R:
The stock pads are quite thin and horrible, I've since replaced them with aftermarket MDR-1A clones that are deeper and more comfortable. The pleather quality is pretty impressive and is identical to the MDR-1A.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/A-Replacemen...828896?hash=item567fb61d20:g:m7AAAOSw5IJWcSUa
While browsing around MDR-Z7 mods, I came across mods using paper gauze tape to line the cups and baffles of headphones. The lining of tape helps remove internal reflections, which I believe is a major reason why the MDR-1R starts distorting at higher volumes. The steps taken are simple, line as much of the cups and baffle with the tape to cover the plastic and dynamatted portions. This material can be found in most pharmacy sections.

I can definitively say that this mod solves a lot of the initial weaknesses of the headphone. Immediate impressions are that midbass is much less pronounced, the bleed into the lower mids is all but gone. The soft distorted sound of the bass is replaced with a slam and cleanliness to the bass that is extremely uncharacteristic of the model. This gauze tape is really effective at eliminating cup reflections, and whenever I put these on, I feel like I am only hearing the driver, without the cup that it is in (which is a far more important characteristic for a closed headphone than I thought). The previous dynamat and fiber mod had its own set of tradeoffs that included a less spacious area for the bass vents to work with, and what I believe is the inherent reflection of the aluminum backing of the dynamat and plastic cups. This mod can probably be carried over to other types of headphones that lack in a similar manner, and I am so impressed by this material that I'm probably going to line the dynamatted portions of my HD600s with it.