When the timing is right…
Dan Clark’s operations are in San Diego. (I imagine it’s gotta be hard to be productive in such a nice place, but Dan has always seemed driven.) We checked in with Dan a couple of times throughout the years about working together and usually he is improving his headphones, developing new models, and keeping up his production. Earlier this year, he said that with enough time to plan he could increase production capability plus he had some ideas for our project. We were a go!
Thrilled to have a couple of prototypes bouncing back and forth (between Dan, ourselves, and a couple of community members) we made some adjustments to the frequency response and subjectively validated the balance of spatial & tonal considerations. Targets are a balanced, open-sounding tonality with a soundstage that has natural sonic size and weight.
Some concepts at work with MrSpeakers:
DIY Spirit = Appreciating the people & process of improving headphones with modifications
Kaizen = Discipline & Practice of Continuous Improvement
Customer Care = Making improvements available to existing customers
Dan comes from the DIY audiophile community, where he originally worked on tuning Fostex T-50RP headphones. Eventually, he set a goal for himself and a new company: offer commercial mods on Fostex T-50RP headphones and save up to launch a whole new headphone line made entirely by MrSpeakers within 3 years.
DIY spirit we give Dan credit for: making upgrades available for existing headphones. When possible, Dan offers new tuning upgrades for purchase and self-installation. When the mod requires more than swapping out easy tuning materials such as foam and felt, he has allowed people to send in their headphones for swapping of updated drivers or baffles at reasonable prices. This speaks to Dan’s ethos of wanting people to have the best sound he can make.
The MrSpeakers line of Fostex T50RP modded headphones:
Mad Dog
Alpha Dog
Alpha Primes
Those are the steps Dan took so he could make the leap to his Ether line of headphones.
MrSpeakers did in fact release the first headphone from the ground up within three years: the Ether Open with new V-Planar drivers.
Flying V
V-Planar Drivers utilize MrSpeakers’ proprietary version of the planar driver diaphragm knurling technique invented by Bruce Thigpen. This is an accordion-type of folding method that adds surface area to allow for more linear excursion with the rapid tensioning of diaphragms during dynamic music. The goals are natural sound with high dynamics and low distortion, even when stressed.
Closed Back, Open Sound
In general, with open-back headphones, pressure doesn’t build up as much in the earcups and reverberations or ringing is minimized. Sound is natural, open, and clear. (Imagine speakers playing in your backyard vs. in your closet.)
However, sound leaks in & out of an open-back headphone. With a closed-back headphone, more care needs to be taken in order to absorb reflections and pressure from a closed system but benefits through isolation from outside noise. If you can pull it off, the ideal for many is the sound of an open-back headphone with the advantages of a closed-back design.
Business is now Open AND Closed
No sooner than he successfully launched his Ether Open, I know that Dan started getting requests for a closed version. (I was one of those people.) Luckily he had the chops from all his T50RP modding days and the Ether C (Closed) was created…
Fast-forward another few years and our new Massdrop x MrSpeakers Ether CX contains continued improvement on the original (non-Flow) platform of the Ether C.
The Ether CX is still using the extremely clean V-Planar drivers along with some changes to damping and ear pad material/shape to get the sound we were searching for.
Product goals for our flagship closed-back headphone:
· Isolating
· Accurate
· Open-sounding
· Resolving
· Fast
· Clean
· Sleek
Personally, I’m stoked about the clean sound these produce, how they feel in the hands/on the head, and I LOVE how they look. Designing and tuning closed back headphones is not for the faint of heart- or people wary of driving towards constant improvement. We’re so happy to be adding these to the exclusive Massdrop Made product line and to have our flagship closed back headphone at last…we hope you enjoy!
Dan Clark’s operations are in San Diego. (I imagine it’s gotta be hard to be productive in such a nice place, but Dan has always seemed driven.) We checked in with Dan a couple of times throughout the years about working together and usually he is improving his headphones, developing new models, and keeping up his production. Earlier this year, he said that with enough time to plan he could increase production capability plus he had some ideas for our project. We were a go!
Thrilled to have a couple of prototypes bouncing back and forth (between Dan, ourselves, and a couple of community members) we made some adjustments to the frequency response and subjectively validated the balance of spatial & tonal considerations. Targets are a balanced, open-sounding tonality with a soundstage that has natural sonic size and weight.
Some concepts at work with MrSpeakers: DIY Spirit = Appreciating the people & process of improving headphones with modifications Kaizen = Discipline & Practice of Continuous Improvement Customer Care = Making improvements available to existing customers
Dan comes from the DIY audiophile community, where he originally worked on tuning Fostex T-50RP headphones. Eventually, he set a goal for himself and a new company: offer commercial mods on Fostex T-50RP headphones and save up to launch a whole new headphone line made entirely by MrSpeakers within 3 years.
DIY spirit we give Dan credit for: making upgrades available for existing headphones. When possible, Dan offers new tuning upgrades for purchase and self-installation. When the mod requires more than swapping out easy tuning materials such as foam and felt, he has allowed people to send in their headphones for swapping of updated drivers or baffles at reasonable prices. This speaks to Dan’s ethos of wanting people to have the best sound he can make.
The MrSpeakers line of Fostex T50RP modded headphones: Mad Dog
Closed Back, Open Sound In general, with open-back headphones, pressure doesn’t build up as much in the earcups and reverberations or ringing is minimized. Sound is natural, open, and clear. (Imagine speakers playing in your backyard vs. in your closet.)
However, sound leaks in & out of an open-back headphone. With a closed-back headphone, more care needs to be taken in order to absorb reflections and pressure from a closed system but benefits through isolation from outside noise. If you can pull it off, the ideal for many is the sound of an open-back headphone with the advantages of a closed-back design.
Business is now Open AND Closed No sooner than he successfully launched his Ether Open, I know that Dan started getting requests for a closed version. (I was one of those people.) Luckily he had the chops from all his T50RP modding days and the Ether C (Closed) was created…
Fast-forward another few years and our new Massdrop x MrSpeakers Ether CX contains continued improvement on the original (non-Flow) platform of the Ether C.
Product goals for our flagship closed-back headphone: · Isolating · Accurate · Open-sounding · Resolving · Fast · Clean · Sleek
Personally, I’m stoked about the clean sound these produce, how they feel in the hands/on the head, and I LOVE how they look. Designing and tuning closed back headphones is not for the faint of heart- or people wary of driving towards constant improvement. We’re so happy to be adding these to the exclusive Massdrop Made product line and to have our flagship closed back headphone at last…we hope you enjoy!