HD800 "French Mod" aka "SuperDupont Resonator"

Discussion in 'Modifications and Tweaks' started by sorrodje, Jan 17, 2016.

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  1. sorrodje

    sorrodje Carla Bruni's other lover - Friend

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    Logscool's was squished, Purrin's are squished. What the f**k US post are doing with letters ? :confused:

    I used better envelopes for the 10 last pairs. I'll wait some feedback before to ship more. Maybe I'll have to add some protective material around the Resonators. :drunk:.

    @purrin : when you'll put the resonators in the HD800 push it at the bottow and then pull a bit the Creato ring to extend the felt. then the paper circle is at the bottom and the creatology foam is flush to the top.
     
  2. Tyll Hertsens

    Tyll Hertsens Grandpappy of the hobby - Special Friend

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    A multi-media extravaganza to squish your resonators by!

     
  3. JoshMorr

    JoshMorr Friend

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    I thought it went a bit more something like this....

     
  4. johnjen

    johnjen Doesn’t want to be here but keeps posting anyways

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    Letters are read by a scanner and they squish the letters as they go thru the sorter/reader.
    If you want them to arrive un-squished either a box or some non standard letter sized container with padding/protection is needed.

    "Culling and Postmarking
    Postal workers send the letter through a machine that rapidly separates mail by shape, separating letters from large envelopes and packages (the culling operation). The machine orients letters so that all addresses face the same way and are right side up. It then applies a postmark with the date and place where the letter was sorted and cancellation lines so the stamp cannot be reused, in order to protect postal revenue.

    Scanning and Lifting Images
    Every letter gets identified by a code consisting of a series of florescent bars imprinted on the back. The address on the front of each letter is scanned by an optical character reader. Images of letters that could not be successfully read are transmitted to a remote encoding center for further processing. All letters are placed in trays and moved to the next piece of automated equipment for barcode application."

    Here is an example of a high speed sorter.
    Notice how the letters are pushed up against the rotating inserter/ feeder at the 30 second mark…
    Resonators don't stand a chance…


    JJ
     
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    HD800 vs HD800 + French Mod
    frenchmod.png

    It should be obvious which is which. I took a few measurements (headphone on / headphone off) to make sure the alignment on my rig was close to perfect. Was able to duplicate results without +/- 0.5 db, so I didn't bother averaging multiple measurements.
     
  6. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Distortion Check - pretty much the same thing. One the cats are moving around on top of the box during the HD800FM sweep.

    HD800
    HD800.png

    HD800 FM
    HD800FM.png
     
  7. Riotvan

    Riotvan Snoofer in the Woofer

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    Are you using your "For Science™" HD800's or can you also give some subjective impressions?
     
  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I'm using "For Science™" HD800's, but honestly I've already tried the mod and variations of it using similar materials to same effect (in addition to the Z28 straw mod). The mod does work. I've simply kept away from the kitchen because too many cooks in the kitchen is never a good thing. I prefer these resonator type mods in combination with the base SuperBAF mod. (@The Alchemist was given an early version of the SuperBAF mod with the straw material with his HD800.)

    I would categorize the effect of the mod as still very much an HD800, but a more bearable HD800. A huge part of the hardness and glare is gone, but it is still a bright headphone. I didn't notice anything different with transient response; but I also tend to isolate frequency response from transient response. With the SuperBAF material, comes a less diffuse stage, more precise localization of instruments, and better filled in mids. Some may prefer only the french mod without the SuperBAF mod. Mix and match to what one's heart desires.

    I've read and traded notes enough with @sorrodje to understand where he is coming from - although we have different preferences, I can calibrate where he is coming from and I trust him. Plus the increased low bass distortion (I know it seems hard to believe) from the HD800S is concerning. If he sold off his HD800S in favor of HD800 + FM mods, I'm inclined to go the same direction he did (if I still cared about headphones). I'm not the kind of person that needs to validate everything for myself. It's nice knowing where people are coming from and being able to totally trust them.
     
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2016
  9. JoshMorr

    JoshMorr Friend

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    Now where would you place the cork mod? Must do step, slight change, not necessary? Planning to do all three, but dont want to dampen to point of losing clarity.
     
  10. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    No idea on cork mod.
     
  11. Riotvan

    Riotvan Snoofer in the Woofer

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    Thanks for your impressions Marv! Can't wait to compare the HD800 with EQ/sonarworks to the HD800SD or a mix of some sort. There sure is potential and thanks to the good work by the people on this forum options are plenty. Perhaps the HD800 will get to come out of the box in favor of the HD650 more often.
     
  12. sorrodje

    sorrodje Carla Bruni's other lover - Friend

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    Thks @purrin.

    Seems your results are in line with Tyll's measurements then. No degradation in distorsion. I'd like to understand why me and logscool got more disto with the mod.

    BTW thanks to confirm the benefits are real. Hope last batch shipped will arrive in good shape and I'll find something to protect better next batches.
     
  13. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Nope. Some minor spikes in the FM measurements which I'm sure were caused by my cat running around on top of a box.
     
  14. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    LOL, just read Tyll's article and measurements on the HD800S and SDR / FM mods. I've been sort of out of it lately. (This is what happens when you get good turntable setup guys).

    The HD800S warmth... Hmmm. maybe Sennheiser also doped the driver a tiny bit to help with the peak at the expense of increased distortion in the bass. (Warmer sound can also result from increased bass distortion, it's not just a frequency response thing.)
     
  15. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Ha, cats causing distortion. Like my wife typing on her mechanical keyboard. Fun to watch how things like that affect measurements.

    Anyway, carry on...
     
  16. Tyll Hertsens

    Tyll Hertsens Grandpappy of the hobby - Special Friend

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    I can see when trucks roll down the street on my THD plots.
     
  17. iDesign

    iDesign Almost "Made"

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    Can the driver mesh on the HD 800 be more easily removed if its slightly warmed with hair blow dryer or heat gun? Mine likely will not lift from the glue without tearing the mesh and I'm not about to find out.
     
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2016
  18. TwoEars

    TwoEars Friend

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    A heat gun sounds like a particularly bad idea. I used my nail and a pair of tweezers, went pretty easily.
     
  19. SKiring

    SKiring Friend

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    That's what @sorrodje described from the beginning. It's firm but with a bit of force comes of easily. It just feels like it's ripping but I've succesfully done my own about 10x for testing and 3 other HD800s from friends.

    Tweezers are your friends, just pull when you've pushed a few spots in a bit on ond of the outer edges and you'll be good!
     
  20. johnjen

    johnjen Doesn’t want to be here but keeps posting anyways

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    The VERY last thing you want to do is heat stress the driver membrane.

    It will be an expensive repair (≈ $300) to replace them.

    JJ
     
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