Hello,
If you are so keen on the rosewood, you can take the ones from Emu or ask them.
Even if the ones from Mark are nicer and might give you more sound.
That’s why it’s extremely difficult for me to find the right ones for him, because not all wood is the same.
Surely he is helpful, maybe it helps to ask the question what would come closest after rosewood or before it or nearly to it.
The problem is also that he won’t take you back, especially when it leaves the Usa.
Why wood is not the same as wood I experienced bitterly with the Th x00 mahogany, when they came out and against the Ebony of Emu came in they were extreme worlds.
That’s why I would be a little bit careful.
Even on the Denon D7200 I see a lot of potential in making the corner better with other cups without wanting to soap up.
To be honest, I didn’t think the tuning of Zeo’s sound demo was wrong.
But I still think you should be careful and describe your wishes as exactly as possible about your sound.
Then I think that he can help you too.
Compare your current mugs where you think there is room for improvement or air up there where you say hey a little bit more bass and better mids would be great for example.
What I noticed about the headphones.
The denser the wood is the darker it gets and the less dense it is the lighter it gets.
This is my conclusion where I take from the Tr x 00 mahogany and emu cups made of rosewood and ebony which are made to standard measurements.
I also have to say that Marks Cups are moderately different in volume from the standard emu cups that use the standard volume of traditional cups.
Marks cups are a bit bigger and more voluminous that can and will certainly play a role.
It could even be a second pair if it goes wrong, because of the special processing and manufacturing of the cups this is a completely different league in my opinion.
Because what you’ve heard so far will make the Fostex a corner better, and more details will come around the corner.
At least that’s what I imagine.
I admit that I also had an eye on his rosewood cups but that will probably be a thing of the past.
These are my tips that I can give you now.
At the end of the day you decide in my opinion how you want to proceed.
Well I got a pair along with some pads because why not. Also it was very nice that Lawton is willing to send the dampening separate so you can tinker if you’d like.
Quick first impressions, so far so great. The FR thankfully didn’t change much accept for the bass region. From what I can tell the upper bass is a bit warmer, the bass is bigger, and I think the sub-bass is better extended. I think the upper mids might have changed as well, but I’m not totally sure. Overall I’m very happy with Lawton’s work so far. I already know I’m going to be pad swapping these again, especially since I have the Lawton pads to try now.
So I messed with some pad swapping today and can definitively say the ZMF Ori hybrids are the best pads for my taste. They have satisfactory bass even without attenuation rings, but I’m going to keep using my attenuation rings. The bass with rings is not overwhelming or bloated imo and I really like how deep and clean it is. The mids are still slightly warmer tilted, which I like, and the upper mids are not shouty but still allow for a good vocal presentation. The highs are defiantly bright but not overly so and I never find them to be sibilant. This kind of sound, and the superb comfort, are the reasons why I liked these pads before getting Lawton chambers and I’m glad they still work even after the full Lawton mod.
The Lawton pads are actually quite nice. The huge ear hole means there is no chance of these sitting on your ear, even if you have Dumbo ears. The only downside for comfort is the lack of memory foam, but it’s not detrimental. They fit my head well and can still make a seal even with my glasses on. As for how they sound, they are basically what you would use if you wanted your X00s to sound damn near neutral. The bass is reduced, but still has very good extension and impact. It is is about equal (maybe a touch less) than the Ori hybrids WITHOUT rings. The mids are a bit more neutral (not slightly warn like the Ori hybrids) and the upper mids are elevated a bit, making vocals more forward. The treble is a bit brighter but still not too much and still never sibilant. These are good pads and if you can spare the extra $80 I would say get a pair. Even if they don’t work out for your Lawton mod they will probably work on something else if you feel like pad swapping. I have a feeling these pads are probably pretty good for the TH-900/TH-909 since they come with larger ear holed round pads stock so I don’t think these will change the sound to horribly much.
The last pair I tried was the Dekoni X00 sheepskin pads, and overall they where kind of disappointing. With the stock cups they sounded just as good as the Ori hybrids but warmer and a bit more intimate. Now with the Lawton chambers they just sound dull and stuffy. The highs are reduced and kind of muffled and the lower half of the mids feel a bit bloated and congested. Like I said, kind of disappointing.
So i took the screen/foam thing from the black edition dt880(600 ohm) and put it in my th900 Lawton type 4, helps with the treble A LOT, i don’t think it takes much of anything else away, but regardless enjoying it. The dt880 with certain pads was a little muddy, so i took it off and got the idea to put it with the Lawton. now the dt880 sounds cleaner, and the Lawton is more smooth. WIN WIN haha
So just an idea /tip if anyone wanted to try
Edit: I put the foam disc in the lawton pads themselves, tucked between the fostex mount disc and lawton pad
hadn’t occurred to me that the 880 and 990 foam damping might be different. I didn’t think 990 damping disks helped in my Lawton, but now you have me curious…
and maybe the black dt880 has different foam discs too lol idk, but its gotta a good thickness to it @WaveTheory let me know if you open up your dt880 and see, cause the one i have was bought used and was modded a lot, so someone may have grabbed it from another place lol
Could a fella if he was so inclined be able to get dt880 foam discs, like as a replacement set?
And what model dt 880? I’m looking at the replacement parts but several flavors of dt 880?
It’s not that big of a deal except I really at the moment like the Lawton modded fostex and a primary reason I did not look for a th-9xx to mod was because of my fear and slight loathing of over-treble.
Edit answered my question - I think. I found the above for the dt 880
its a black special edition dt880 600ohms, the foam discs themselves seam pretty basic, but im sure there are numerous ones, let me look to see if i can find some similar
A full repost inbound from the Biodynamic thread… Ill post just posts with pics, thoughts and answers to questions and leave the others there.
I ordered 4 sets of Lawton Cups a couple weeks ago. They’re in-country now so hopefully arriving in a couple days! (to Australia - for TH610s) I’ll let you know how they sound because I had the same thoughts about moving on to something else but from all the reviews I couldnt really find anything that compares and I’ve already listened to all the top contenders except for the new Focal Radiance…
All Museum Grade except for the Black Limba which is Exhibition Grade.
I’ll be assessing the full frequency response in different ranges.
sub bass (below 50hz)
bass (50 - 100hz)
mid bass (100 - 250hz)
lower midrange (250 - 400hz)
midrange (400 - 1khz)
upper midrange (1khz - 4khz)
lower treble (4khz - 8khz)
treble (8khz - 16khz)
upper treble (16khz - 20khz)
though my hearing as far as my 50year old ears can go is about 14k.
I’ll be using a variety of music from single drum kicks, snares, toms and cymbals to piano notes, violin, cello and double bass, as well as jazz vocals/music, orchestral, Pop, rock, hard rock, edm, dance and short burst test tones.
Ill be comparing to HD600, Sony MDR-1A with RME ADI-2 DAC, and iBasso DX220 with a few different amp modules. (and maybe a FiiO Q5 with different amp modules though thats really starting to push it s its going to take a long time as it is and already get confusing without it!)
Just WOW WOW WOW… amazing in every way… (Wild Chechen Type 4)
The fit and finish is spectacular!
The sound seems tighter but also deeper and fatter and also smoother in the upper midrage and lower treble where the stock TH610’s have a tendancy to be siblant on some brightly recorded tracks.
The sparkle, air, separation, width and staging is there and even sweeter since the edge has been just so slightly taken away at around 5-6k.
Im my opinion this has made the TH610 the perfect headphones with the Wild Chechen. Not sure how I’m going to go with the others since this has spoilt me now I think!
The bass is just sooo good, just sounds like a really good fat dynamic and fast kick that you get in a good live gig in a small/medium room with warm and tight bass from bass guitar.
Listening to everything from Glitterbox EDM night club stuff, to Steely Dan Gaucho, Tracy Chapman Baby Can I Hold You - nice bass… Super Tramp Still in Love…
And Hoff Ensemble - Polarity… WOW - feels like im in the room with that beautiful double bass and Piano!
Stock TH610 pads. They are comfortable and from what I’ve read everyone thinks they’re the best sounding Pads. A lot of the others Pads end up sounding a bit bright. While you might get better width and staging with thicker pads it thins the sound out a little and brightens them too much. Not to mention the bigger opening in some of them creates issues with bloated bass and sharpness in the sibilance range… So i’ll stick with stock thanks!
but that will probably be a thing of the past.
hadn’t occurred to me that the 880 and 990 foam damping might be different. I didn’t think 990 damping disks helped in my Lawton, but now you have me curious…
Wild Ziricote
Wild Chechen
Flame Marbled Walnut
Black Limba
