Sennheiser HD650 Love (Appreciation Thread)

I removed the spider from just 1 side first, and did an A and B and I liked it without the spider, it took away some of that nasty harsh treble and even more clarity and details. So I did it to both drivers now. Amazing! can't wait for the dynamat to come in.

I think I voided the warranty at this point.

 

I just put my HD600 pads in my HD650 wow! I love it like this! It softened the HD650 sound and still very detailed. If you guys have HD600 pads try swapping it with the HD650 pads.

 

Maybe your 600 pads aren't as worn in as the 650 ones,

The same pads are used for both headphones.

 

The HD600 pad is the older pad. It sounds different to me.

 

You are both right. The pads are the same for both headphones, but used pads perceptibly change the sound, both perceived and measured.

This was measured over at Changstar, by ... stratocaster? or solderdude? maybe hands? I can't remember. Anyway there was a comparo with genuine "used" pads versus "new" pads, as well as simulated "used" pads by squishing them down so the driver is closer to the measurement device. I don't even remember the specific result, but remembered thinking "the used/simulated used pads are not for me".

 

Solderdude measured it. It's in his massive PDF on HD 650 mods at diyaudioheaven. All the current pads are the stiffer, more neutral pads.

 

I Did the hole in the front foam mod today and liked the results more detail and resolution. Seems every mod is heading towards resolution so far, very good. Now I just wait on that dynamat to come in.

So is dynamat on the driver itself a bad idea? I see some of you guys did it and some might be against it. having nothing behind or infront of driver approach has got me this far and I love the results; I am a bit skeptical about putting dynamat on the magnet driver itself. I think my 600 needs the dynamat way more than the 650 I will try dynamat to the modded 650 and my stock 600 also.

I am also worried about dust getting inside the drivers is there a thin non atteunating fabric material I can get to cover the drivers?

 

The 650 really is good.

 

I finally got another pair of HD650's a week or so ago. I bought them used, and thought I'd try to carefully remove the driver foam. Much to my surprise, it was already gone, must have been removed by a previous owner.

Now I wonder what they are like with the foam, as it's been a couple of years since I've owned or heard them. They seem to have much more mid bass boost than I recall, and a bit more (or more prominent) top end detail than I recall. The coin mod has not yet been done to these, nor the dynamat, as I've lost track of my sheet of dynamat.

Any reason i should try and replace the foam? If so, anyone want to loan/sell/give me the driver foam, and any chance it would actually go back into the driver?

Thanks all!

 

@aamefford My experiences removing and replacing the rear foam back before I did the Dynmat:
http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...ove-appreciation-thread.44/page-17#post-26143

Basically, even if you had the original foam you'd never get it back in as it's pinched between the "spider" and the magnet (I'm pretty sure they install the foam and then the magnet on top of it). But you can cut a smaller diameter piece of similar foam to fit in the space over the hole in the magnet to simulate replacing the stock foam. I did a quick search and there's a decent photo here so you can get an idea of the density of the stock foam so you can try and find something similar. http://www.vinylaudio.net/index.php?topic=433.0

My suggestion is to leave the foam out and add Dynamat. It takes away the bloat/bloominess added by removing the foam, tightens everything up in general, and leaves moar bass than stock. No measurements from me, just my by-ear impressions.

 

Has anyone measured the weight of the HD650s after the Dynamat mod? I'm expecting an increase of around 50g

 

Weight increase would depend on how much Dynamat you use (obviously). Mine are noticeably heavier, but much less so than with the amount of BluTack I had in there. Not too heavy for me, but I'm used to ZMF Blackwoods

 

I felt the spider behind the driver made the treble harsh without the foam. Removing the spider got rid of the harshness. I was really happy with the sound at that point.

Dynamat came in and i tried putting it on the magnet and it did make the bass different I didn't like it. It felt that it put some of the veil back into the sound with the dynamat on the drivers. The better result was having dynamat off the drivers. I felt the dynamat wasn't a huge significance. Removing the whole spider was the best for me.

 

I'm simply inquiring since the added weight obviously reduces bass distortion by a large amount. Considering the heaphones with the lowest distortion are mostly over 300g (HD800:330g,SR-009:450g, LCD-whatever: definitely over 300), I'm trying to figure out the exact amount the HD650 would need to lower distortion to an acceptable level. Aren't we all trying to create more consistent results here? Having a guideline as to where to put the Dynamat and how much would help a lot of people

 

Thank you for the help. Looks like I'll try and find my dynamat, or buy another sheet - the Best Buy at least used to have it in their car adio install area. Coin mod, and dynamat - sounds like dynamite placement is in the experimental stage still? Is there a consensus on where to put it, or just attempt to dampen the driver and frame? I recall from my last modding experiments years ago, that a little dynamat goes a long way as far as deadening vibration?

 

No need to go overboard with the dynamat. See below. Others have done more, but I think there is a certain point that the plastic baffle is mass loaded enough that you will not significantly tighten the bass any more.

 

I and others have put some on the magnet as well. Found that a bit more than what's pictured above tightened and increased the bass.

Just search the thread for "Dynamat" and you'll find pics people have posted.

 

So I finally acquired my pair of HD650's and my basic Schiit Stack isn't working for me right now. I was looking at upgrading to the Valhalla but I wanted to get some opinions on some tube amps. Another thing, are there other tubes that "better" than the stock ones that come with the product or should I be getting something else?

 

Listened to the Valhalla 2 with my modded 650's this weekend and thought it was a really really good match. Preferred it over my Lyr 2 in a side by side.

I also own the bottlehead crack (w/ speedball) and think that is a really nice amp as well. The valhalla with sound cleaner and more neutral where the crack will give a warmer more laid back presentation. Also one has to be built and the other you can just buy.

Sorry, not too much help on tubes - unfamiliar with what val 2 can roll with.