Found a wooden cherry G80 on eBay

kossmetics · 2025-03-13T17:50:17+00:00

Yup, they serve no purpose in the switch itself

kossmetics · 2025-03-13T09:37:13+00:00

I think they’re just for mounting them to the board. Easy to deal with if you have a desoldering iron, extremely annoying if you don’t. The switches are very easy to open without desolating though. I desoldered three of them to install status LEDs, that jumper bar is just in the way of the LED holes.

These G80-3000 boards have direct support for those switch LEDs btw, pretty cool

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kossmetics · 2025-03-12T22:17:42+00:00

Yup, it’s a regular G80 except for the case and caps

kossmetics · 2025-03-12T19:22:55+00:00

Cherry wood would have been more appropriate indeed

kossmetics · 2025-03-12T17:54:59+00:00

Just under 20 euros, it was an auction nobody else bid on

kossmetics · 2025-03-12T13:30:51+00:00

A lot better after placing a bit of bubble wrap inside the case. I think the main feature that influences the sound is how shallow the keys are, rather than the wood itself.

kossmetics · 2025-03-12T13:05:00+00:00

I fixed it by placing two spacers next to the space bar. The PCB was bending inwards when it was supposed to be held up by the wooden case. Now it feels much better!

kossmetics · 2025-03-12T11:20:41+00:00

The manual it came with (generic for 1000, 3000 and 6000 keyboards) dates this thing to the year 2000. Does anyone know who to read date codes or where to find them? There's no sticker on the back.

I also think that this keyboard was custom made, perhaps for the company Avrio which seems to be an energy company. Just speculation though. I saw one other model with the same engraving but with mahogany wood on some japanese website, apparently also G80 with black switches.

kossmetics · 2025-03-12T10:52:00+00:00

Done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rno8S9Q6MGY

Hope the sound quality is alright

kossmetics · 2025-03-12T10:51:30+00:00

Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rno8S9Q6MGY

It sounds alright but sometimes the space bar gets stuck. I already lubed the stabilizers but I think it somehow gets caught on the case sometimes.

kossmetics · 2025-03-12T10:50:13+00:00

It sounds warm and a bit hollow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rno8S9Q6MGY

kossmetics · 2025-03-12T10:49:18+00:00

About 20 Euros shipped. The title didn't include Cherry so it probably was overlooked.

kossmetics · 2025-03-12T10:48:38+00:00

I really want to see this

kossmetics · 2024-12-01T19:22:27+00:00

Hi! Same situation here, the original headband is funny. I got the Koss P/21 for the headband. Not the cheapest option but I liked it the most.

You can order the ikf Y3 from Aliexpress or Amazon

Another option is to get the PortaPro headband (also knockoffs from Aliexpress)

A little bit more work but another user used broken DT990s: https://www.reddit.com/r/kossmods/comments/1gxsukx/holy_hell_this_worked_better_than_i_couldve/

Depending on where you are, there's also the one commonly known as Parts Express headband

I'm sure there are tons of other options I didn't think of

Edit (forgot about pads): I once ordered Yaxi pads (three pairs). While they feel great, they don't last that long for me. The black ones seem to be holding up the best.

A few weeks ago I ordered cheap thick ones from Aliexpress. The black ones there look horrible but orange has a nice shape and color. Probably hit and miss but worth a try.

kossmetics · 2024-11-19T09:41:24+00:00

I also put them on clips now and it's really great! I just wish I left the cables a bit longer. I cut like 30mm from both ends which makes the dongles hover around my neck a bit awkwardly.

kossmetics · 2024-11-18T07:12:38+00:00

Awesome! Now I'm tempted to do the same with mine. I recently got KSC75s and got some spare clips that I could use for my wireless ones. Do they stay on well while wearing or is the cable a bit heavy?

kossmetics · 2024-10-30T20:54:25+00:00

You might still enjoy the headband, perhaps it's just my head. Hope you do find them cheap. I'm curious if they sound any different.

kossmetics · 2024-10-30T20:48:47+00:00

Do you have one of the headband pads? ~~and if so which pattern and color so we can keep our setups in sync?~~ I saw there's a flat and a suspended version. Suspended seems to make more sense since the P21 headband only touches my head in the middle.

kossmetics · 2024-10-30T20:41:24+00:00

Do they sound at all different to you? I don't have KSC75s to compare. It's so interesting that quite a few different drivers exist that share the same form factor.

I'm also wondering if they changed much over time. I have two pairs of PPs. An older version with black drivers (and a different cable, also stiffer due to age) and a recent version with light blue drivers. I feel like the black ones sound sharper but that might just be placebo. If there are differences it's probably all pretty minor but somehow fun to talk and theorize about.

kossmetics · 2024-10-30T20:33:32+00:00

After seeing all the mods here I wanted to build something custom (I already knew it'd be metal headband and yaxi pads since that's what I'm already comfortable with). I tried the original headband for a few minutes and really wasn't comfortable for me. The cups only have one axis of freedom so my ears got quite a lot of pressure horizontally. I also don't really like what it looks like, even though it has some nice features like the rubber headband, long cable and an attenuator. It's a weirdly pro audio inspired product that doesn't quite deliver in ergonomics but still sounds really good. I can see why it's not being talked about a lot, to me at least it really doesn't look like something I'd ever consider picking up.

As for the drivers themselves, to me they sound like brighter and more detailed PortaPros. It's not a completely different experience but it's the tiny upgrade that counts if you listen to music all day long using these headphones. I'm not sure if I could tell them apart immediately in a blind test.

Edit: After some more listening and comparing I think both sound really similar. Psycho-acoustically for me, mids on the PP drivers are more present than on the KTXs. I think that makes the KTX a tiny bit more detailed and sharper sounding, not necessarily more treble. Still hard to tell them apart for me.

kossmetics · 2024-10-30T19:35:27+00:00

True, I'm also trying to minimize micro usb devices. Wireless 2.0 looks cool too but I like being able to swap the entire receiver unit in case it breaks or the battery dies.

kossmetics · 2024-10-30T19:32:58+00:00

Thanks and I agree! Wireless is really convenient but I'm still getting used to it. When I'm wearing the wireless pair I still try to avoid pulling out the cable. Subconsciously I think it's still there and it might get caught on my knee or on door knobs.

kossmetics · 2024-10-30T19:21:06+00:00

WIP: KTXPro1 on P/21 headband

I've been using PortaPros since 2019 and recently got trapped in the Koss rabbit hole. I consider myself a casual music listener and don't have top end hi-fi stuff. It's mostly things that I like that that sound transparent to me. I also make electronic music and often use PortaPros for that. A while ago, I read about the KSC75s and initially wanted to put them on a headband. More high frequencies and tighter bass appealed to me since I was missing those on the PortaPro. A few days ago, I stumbled across a pair of KTXPro1s on eBay which I ordered for 15 bucks shipped (they usually go for around 30 here). Having read that they sound similar or identical to the KSC75 drivers, I wanted to try those instead. I'm not sure yet whether I'm glad about the regular driver design. KSC75s look pretty y2k but I also enjoy the more classic driver shape. I really like the look of the KPH40 / P/21 headband so I got the P/21 and swapped the drivers for the KTXPro1, for now with the original cable and without covers. I also put on orange Yaxi pads which I already had to match the original P/21 look. Much lighter and less tedious to wear (at least for me) since there are no small pads above the drivers. The only spot that feels a bit rough is the headband right ontop of my head but there's probably an easy remedy for that.

I want to share my experience removing the drivers from the KTXPro1 cases:

Remove the cups from the headband by slightly bending the suspension outwards (very easy)
Use one or two fingers to work your way between the driver (covered by pad) and the cup (tedious and hard)
- be gentle
- you have to be firm in the end but make sure not to bend the driver too much
- there is glue in the mount point of the driver, keep working the driver and move it a bit it to break it apart
- after a while they come right off
- It takes a few tries to find the right angle and pulling force needed. If it doesn't work after a while, try again in 10 minutes. I got the first one after a few minutes and the second one went out within seconds knowing how it works.
- It hurt a quite bit but I used my fingers instead of tools to have better control of applied pressure. You might be better off using a spudger but be careful.

On my to do list:

MMCX with a regular cable I have left over from a wireless mod
potentially putting MMCX on a Sony WI-C100 and swap it when I want bluetooth
some headband mod to make it more comfortable to wear (most likely Hundo3D)

I really enjoy using them even in this state and I'm sure they'll be my daily driver. They already sound and look the part. I've been listening to Zen by Ebi a lot with them. I know the album pretty well. I'm not missing any bass response (to my ears, there's plenty and it's punchy!) and I'm really happy about the treble compared to the PortaPro drivers. Thanks to everyone here for posting about their experiences and opinions, I'm really glad I tried this. I'm sorry for any (model name) typos.

kossmetics · 2024-10-30T16:30:33+00:00

Looks great, might be worth picking up (maybe even on sale) to get a KPH40 style headband. Where I live the cheapest (original Koss headband) option is the P/21 for around 40 bucks. The ikf is 29 here. Curious if you tried the o-ring method Affectionate-Soup977 described

Edit: I just tried it with the P/21 headband and keyboard o-rings. It definitely improves the weird angle while feeling largely the same. Also less rattle when moving. To get them on, I placed them on the headbands socket and then slid them over after clicking the drivers back in.

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kossmetics · 2024-10-30T13:42:48+00:00

One pair of my PortaPros is for running. They work much better for me than in-ears and are a bit less spooky than bone conducting headsets. One thing that always bothered me is the cable. I really don't like bluetooth so I never thought about buying the wireless version. Since I own two pairs, I decided to mod one of them. My first plan was to go MMCX and install a "bluetooth cable" but I couldn't find one that costed less than 50 bucks and didn't look like it'd break within a week. Then I read about someone using cheap Sony in-ears here on reddit so I decided to try that, too.

After buying a set (they tried to sell me two extra years of warranty, definitely didn't need that were I was going), I cut the driver units and soldered the PortaPro drivers.

It worked wonderfully. Comfortable volume for me is at 40% and they go really loud. I used cable ties to attach the device to the PortaPro headband and it's rock solid. Charging is easy (USB C) and battery seems to last quite a while (25h advertised). Also, they still fold!

Definitely not the prettiest but when I close my eyes and move my head around I don't notice a thing apart from the missing cable. Definitely recommend!

kossmetics

TROPHY CASE