BLON BL-30 $110 70mm driver headphone

^ mod6 = mod5 + micropore tape over cup grills. Matched m6 and m5 measurements at 100Hz.

Mod6 doesn't sound bad. Doesn't sound u-shaped, sounds cohesive just a little light bright. Don't think bass lost any oomph. Little tighter/faster and more detailed, but that could be because more trebles too. At this point I think pads are going to be more effective at reaching my preferred tone than rear driver damping.

 

^ mod7 = mod6 minus foam layer

While listening and shopping for earpads I wanted to dial the damping back a bit. Very tiny change but helps (this is why you have to appreciate guys like @E_Schaaf etc. who painstakingly do incremental mods then shares). Mad modder territory is where I lose interest which is why I need to move to padrolling because the differences are obvious.
BTW still think the light bright-ness of mod 7 sounds better than mod5.

edit: Listened for an extended time to mod7. The mended upper mids by micropore made mids to highs transition sound more natural (peaky highs were less striking), but mod7 also added that 1kHz blip that ended up being too much for me. Hopefully padrolling is a game changer. Listening to mod5 now and its preferable.

 

^ mod5 with Defean velour pads in 115mm

115mm is too large. I just ordered some more in 100mm (due friday). The effects of the too large pads are wider ear holes which means more highs, and deeper pads usually results also in more highs (bad) but more bass (good). I have some other Defean velours around here in much smaller sizes 80mm I could try just to test theory. These velour pads I'm not sure if are only velour or if they are pleather wrapped in velour... I suspect the latter because they maintain bass well on the headphones I've tried them with. The oversize pads are decently comfortable and the ear holes are massive. The ear holes and depth increase in size as well as you move up in overall diameter choice. I have some around 70mm and they are barely big enough to fit ears inside.

Coming from Audioquest Nighthawk the BL30 sounds very smooth. Smooth treble, smooth bass. Smooth bass sounds like a bad thing but AQNH can be headache inducing (probably) due to its dynamic bass combined with problematic odd shaped baffle and enclosure. BL30 is a big open heavy metal slab. BL30 bass is not bad at all - its good! Just Nighthawk bass is great possibly. A touch bright for me but I think that can be solved with other pads. These are actually a nice glass of water after shots of Nighthawk. Nighthawk mod is still a work in progress and smells, but there is a gem in that Turd Ferguson (RIP). At current state, I might prefer BL30 modded. That's not meant to sound like a bad thing btw - its good!

 

^ Since I know some weirdos like @E_Schaaf like this incremental mod stuff, here is Defean velour 115mm with all ear cup damping removed (no damp but grills on).

I get the feeling that the BL30 magnets are too weak for such a big driver to sound very dynamic. Removing damping made bass a little more noticeable but a little less clear. Decay increased which seemed unaturally short when damped (makes me think overdamped). Removing damping does add back soundstage which was no longer a strong feature after stuffing cups. Sounds better I think. 2kHz dip not a big deal and not too noticeable, upper mids dip is much more noticeable in Nighthawk. I judge cheaper stuff less harshly though. For example I love Porta Pros! but if they were to cost $250 instead of $25 I might say they suck. BL30 modded is less flawed than Nighthawk, so better all rounder. BL30 still better than 6XX too imo mainly because of bass.

 

Newb ponderings.:

I think I now understand microdynamics vs macrodynamics within the context of bass. Microdynamics is more related to detail, tightness, and transients (attack / decay). Macrodynamics is impactful, physical, the feels of a subwoofer but on a headphone scale. Micro is snappiness and delineation. Macro is physically larger in feel and describes wider contrasts, blends a bit with tone and soundstage but I guess there is a line like mistaking treble for detail.

BL30 is not bad on microdynamics but macrodynamics is where it flexes its 70mm driver. ETA GenG, Nighthawk to a smaller degree, some planars are examples of good microdynamics and I put those headphones in a higher tier because they combine that with good macrodynamics. A lot of the smaller vintage planars were good in microdynamics, but macrodynamics only came with physically bigger planar drivers however their openness (no pressure) make a less powerful physical impression so sound less macrodynamic maybe (imagine an irl explosion without physically feeling vibration).

Damping a driver to a preferred sweet spot is a balancing of tone, and maximizing micro and macro dynamics.

Anyways, I was pondering why BL30 bass sometimes sounded magnificent and other times slow and dull. Great with moody electronic music, unimpressive with real instruments etc.

 

^ HFM headband, no damping, Geekria velour ATH pads


^ Defean pleather Beyer replacement pads

 

BL30 is very sensitive to damping mods which is demonstrated here by how bass is effected by merely the cup grill. I tried to be careful as possible in making comparison test. Left headphone and settings alone, gently removed grill while carefully trying not to move headphone position or to compress pads. Not too difficult with BL30 because of its heavy construction yet pliable grill.

As always measurement and subjective testing could both be flawed but by how much?

BL30 with ATH pads is fatiguing. I think the mids distortion as measured by @purr1n is probably more obvious now due to the now flatter tuning via padrolling. Pattern of ear fatigue = to classifieds.