Construction
Very straightforward. Just carefully follow the well done assembly instructions.
A few suggestions-
– pay careful attention to the wires that connect the baffles to the cups. Be very gentle. (My 8323s came with the wire pinched between one of the screw posts and the baffle during factory assembly, crushing the insulation a bit and exposing some wire. They worked fine anyway so I left it alone)
– Burnishing the metal damping is very important, just as is admonished in the instructions. I found that a ¼†dowel, cut down to about 4†and rounded over a little with sandpaper to be the ideal tool for most of the work. A chop stick would work as well. For the tight spaces I used large finishing nail (not the pointy end!)
– Removing the backing from the wool felt is a royal PITA. Rolling it back and forth a little helped with getting the backing away, but I often had to use an Exacto knife and curse a lot. Eventually, my fingernail enhanced wife bailed me out.
The six foot cable was easy to assemble. The Mogami cable Doc has chosen is supple and very easy to work with.
Performance
I initially listened to the stock 8323s for about an hour to try to get a baseline and then connected them to an old DAP and let them run for about 36 hours wrapped towels and placed in a box.. Just before surgery I listened again. The bass seemed to have improved and the mids had improved a lot. The treble was somewhat rolled off and grainy.
My Crack is fairly stock, with just the Speedball upgrade, a 23 step attenuator, Mullard CV4003 and RCA 6AS7G.
Once modded, these headphones definitely perform well above their price point. Doc’s mod’s have resulted in a nice, punchy but controlled bass and good mids. As Doc has mentioned, the transients are very good and “punchy†is a good overall description.. The treble continues to even out over time. These are much more “fun†cans than my HD600s and will suffice quite nicely for those times when closed headphones are called for. The HD600s are much more refined and neutral. They will remain my go to cans for the Crack, but these are definite keepers. They’ll hang right next to my HD600s and I can see myself going to them whenever I want a little more energy and fun in my listening or when circumstance demand a closed can.
I live in a Brooklyn apartment. Though my neighbors are great and very quiet, come the time of year when the windows are open and city noises intrude, or when the AC is running (most all of July and August), these will be very helpful.
Mods I’ve made already:
I am not a fan of either TechFlex or adhesive shrink wrap but I originally built the cable to the assembly specs. I soon found the cable too stiff for my taste, and combined with the stiff heat shrink on the earpiece connector, it rubbed at my shoulder during listening. I’ve removed the TechFlex and installed another 3.5mm plug. This is, of course, mostly a matter of individual taste. For me, the cable is now more flexible and quiet.
The ear pads included are very soft and pretty comfortable but are nowhere near circumaural (unless you have ears the size of dried apricots). Perhaps I have big lobes, but I found the pads slightly uncomfortable after a longer listening sessions. I replaced them with a pair of Shure 840 pads. The Shure fit somewhat loosely so I cut a set of adapters from 2 ply (@ 1.5 mm) mat board that I fit in the grove between the baffle and the cup along with a narrow gasket made from shelf lining material. This allows the Shures to fit nice and snug and stretches them out to full size. The added benefit is definitely a better, more solid bass and much better isolation. For around $15 I strongly recommend these pads. I'll take photos and post them along with a drawing of the adapter tomorrow.
I didn’t use the supplied foam piece for the headband. Instead, I sent away to the Tempur-Pedic folks for a free sample of their memory foam (just go to their website to request it) and got a 3â€x4†sample about 1†thick. I cut a 95mm x 10mm piece and used it instead. It’s white/cream color so if looks matter you may want to skip this. The memory foam is extremely comfortable in this application.
