[spinnin]

  Hi MagicMan,
 
Thanks for the response. I have heard about this fabled "Fostex/Foster" driver elsewhere, and I was wondering what the hubbub was about. Now it comes to me I am thinking I was reading a post about the new CAL2 and CAL Gold / Premium or whatever that Creative is about to put out. The consensus seemed to be that a certain driver (Foster), and it sounded like even a certain model, would be desirable. Now, I don't know all that much about headphones. But why is Fostex apparently a cut above the rest? Is it a price and quality type of thing? Is it related to hype and fan-boy ism?
 
Thanks,
cookies
 
My CAL! envisioned below.  "L" is the damaged side that will never move again. I made the cups out of brazilian cherry, jatoba. I just copied the original cups in terms of shape and made up some routing forms. Then I stuck my pieces cherry to the forms and routed em with a simple router bit. DOn't remember the size. I def could have made the things smaller (used a smaller routing bit and less wood) because these things are pretty big and weighty, even after hollowing them out. I tried to solder up some new wires (starquad) with a new jack but I simply do not have the skill to do it apparently. I could not solder it all quite right, or I would end up splitting a wire or breaking the cable. 

 

 
Gorgeous! Love, Love, Love the wood cups!

 

[Quaresma]

Hi everyone.
 
Love this thread! I want to know if I can use other product than Dynamat? The thing is dynamat is really expensive here in Europe... don't know about the U.S?
 
A guy on Amazon recommended doing the mod with wadding. Will that work?

 

[andreamang]

Prova con BUTYFLEX, è un'alternativa economica di Dynamat.

 

[mike1808]

Thank you for your reponse. Unfortunately I have damaged my speaker holder (half arc plastic). I tried to solder broken bolt but it did not work and little area around inner bolt melt =)
I used tape to connect caps with that thing that hold two cups. Works well but i need to retape once a week.
 
Now I am seeking for someone whos CAL is not working to buy from them caps holder.
 
Btw, nice wooden caps. I love them.

 

[cookie42]

Hi Mike,
 
Sorry to hear that. It still sounds repairable though if you are unable to find a replacement. What I did was punch the broken screw through the plastic of the arm with a drill press (after removing the arm completely) and then I found a screw of similar diameter and cut it to the correct length to fit. I then screwed the arm back on and epoxied everything in place and reassembled the whole thing. It's now stronger than it was before. 
 
Cheers,
cookies

 

[cookie42]

Quaresma,
 
If you can't find anything you might consider cutting up some Husqvarnas or other cheap work/ shop headphones for their interiors and cut them to fit into your creatives. It'd  be a $20 USD option if you cant find anything else.
 
Cheers,
Cookies

 

[sannychez]

Do you guys think that the CAL's would work good on alternate music? Its either the cals or the jvc has500

 

[cookie42]

CAL's are typically associated with having a livelier bass than most other similarly priced headphones. If you are into electronica or house or any beat oriented music I would go for the CALs. Dave Brubeck sounds pretty good as well. The King of Limbs fits the bill (in my opinion). I think I've read some reviews mentioning that the lower end can sound muddy because it overpowers treble at times, but I am not as much an audiophile as most others here and can't really differentiate. 
 
I also love playing vidja games with them. Unfortunately I can't speak for the jvc has500 as I've never used them before. Maybe someone else can chime in?

 

[sdlmoab]

 
 
 

 

[sdlmoab]

I tried the markl mod and found that placing Dynamat on the rear side of the driver (the doughnut shaped piece of Dynamat) was attenuating high frequencies to some extent and was making the headphones sound less "open". I removed the doughnut shaped piece of Dynamat, and placed a thin ring of Dynamat on the plastic outer wall of the cylinder that the Dynamat was previously placed on top of, as well as another thin ring of Dynamat on the wall of the next plastic cylinder (further out) on the rear of the drivers. So basically I placed Dynamat on all the plastic surfaces of the rear of the driver that were not covered with white mesh. This appears to have helped control the bass without sacrificing the enjoyable "open" sounding quality of these headphones. 
 
I can post pictures if you like.    

 

[garcsa]

  I tried the markl mod and found that placing Dynamat on the rear side of the driver (the doughnut shaped piece of Dynamat) was attenuating high frequencies to some extent and was making the headphones sound less "open". I removed the doughnut shaped piece of Dynamat, and placed a thin ring of Dynamat on the plastic outer wall of the cylinder that the Dynamat was previously placed on top of, as well as another thin ring of Dynamat on the wall of the next plastic cylinder (further out) on the rear of the drivers. So basically I placed Dynamat on all the plastic surfaces of the rear of the driver that were not covered with white mesh. This appears to have helped control the bass without sacrificing the enjoyable "open" sounding quality of these headphones. 
 
I can post pictures if you like.    

http://www.head-fi.org/t/638514/creative-aurvana-live-my-mod

 

[JoeDoe]

CAL Modders,
 
Two questions:
 
1. For those of you who've recabled, what SQ changes have you experienced? Really hoping that a nice SPC recable will de-bloat the bass on these guys - my only qualm.
 
2. Do I have any options to make roll some slightly larger pads? My ears are kind of big and these start to be a little painful after longer sessions and I think if I can find something to get my ears off of the inner foam, I'll be good to go!
 
Many thanks!

 

[TunneLVisioN42]

My all time favorite mobile headphone broke while I was moving to a new apartment anyone got any ideas? I don't toss old faithful out but I am not a pioneer when it comes to DIY.

 

[Magicman74]

You need a new hanger, I have a set off a Denon AHD 1000 if you want them? Exact same hangers but they are silver.. You'd need both and just replace them. Very simple to do, just slide off the pad, remove the 4 screws, then pop off the hangers. There will be two small screws that hold the hanger to the band, just unscrew and slide the hanger into the band. Really easy to do..
Drop me a line if you want them, I don't log in often but check my email all day...

 

[marone]

Do you guys think that the CAL's would work good on alternate music? Its either the cals or the jvc has500

CAL's work well and have a soundstage and instruments with defined points in space.

The HAS500 have more full instrument harmonics, a bloated muddy upper bass, a deeper sub bass, and a very indistinct soundstage. The instruments sound great, as though you are inside each one, but their location is always this big blob somewhere over in that direction.

Just a guess, get the HAS500.

If you want an 'audiophile' or 'neutral' sound then get the CAL.