ohhgourami's HE-6 info and mods

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by ohhgourami, Mar 28, 2016.

  1. ohhgourami

    ohhgourami Friend

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    I've been wanting to make a dedicated thread where I can dump all my knowledge about the almighty HE-6 and people wouldn't need to dig through post after post in different threads.

    My mods:

    Audeze "Vegan" or microsude pads - The Vegan pads add amazing comfort without the need for the Lohb suspension strap. Very pillowy and adds good clamping pressure which make the HE-6 feel a lot lighter. The pads also make the soundstage much larger, add focus to the imaging, and increase bass quality and quantity while taming a few high freq peaks a lot of people are sensitive to (supposedly since they never bothered me). I've also modified the pads by cutting off the hairscreen up to the inner diameter of the pad's mounting lip which adds a bit more clarity and opens up the sound a bit more (those who are extra sensitive to highs, try it with hairscreen first). I've also used the double sided tape that Audeze provides and cut it into sections so the diameters match. Tape it as close as possible to the stitching. Once finished, pick up some lint by sticking it on a t-shirt a few times so it's not too sticky. If you don't, your pads will tear when you remove them!

    [​IMG]
    Vegan felt ring - I use the standard adhesive felt from Michael's and cut it based on this template. Print out the PDF, file will be printed to scale. You can see that the pleather on the back of the pads is now covered which reduces reflections. The idea was proposed by @Negura as a much better mod that jerg's fuzzor since it's much easier and doesn't take away clarity.

    [​IMG]

    Grill-less - Remove the grills by slipping your fingernails between the housing and retention ring. There are tabs that hold the ring down in the 2, 4, 8, and 10 o'clock positions. This will open up the soundstage a massive amount.

    [​IMG]

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    What a beauty! The music will no longer be trapped in your head. You are no longer listening to headphones; you are listening to music!​

    Blutack - Final and messiest mod. Notice the blue line a drew right under the sandwich of plastic rings and felt. You'll have to roll up a nice thin noodle of blutack and wrap it around. Smash it with your fingers so its nice and flat then smoosh the driver back into the house so the blutack fills up the gap between the outer circumference of the driver and the inner housing. Yes, that's an air gap there which makes the bass muddier. The bass will become reference quality when you didn't think it could be any better!

    [​IMG]

    End result should look like pic below (except for the jerg fuzzor!).

    [​IMG]

    Rub off excess so the double sided tape on your pads don't pick up blutack.

    [​IMG]

    Measurements:
    Measured with full mods with hairscreen on pads by @takato14. Thanks!

    [​IMG]
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    [​IMG]

    4 vs 6 screw:
    The 4 screws being the original production which ended sometime around 2011. I don't think it is unit variation and I've been able to compare 3 different units of 4 screw which sound exactly the same. I also had a 6 screw to compare with 2 4 screw together and the 6 screw definitely sounds different. The 4 screw tends to be a bit leaner and brighter. The 6 screw sounds slightly warmer and closed in comparison.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Mar 31, 2016
  2. ohhgourami

    ohhgourami Friend

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    Reserved for future add-ons.
     
  3. BioniclePhile

    BioniclePhile The Terminal Man - Friend

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    I may have to try these on my HE-500 and see if it makes stuff cool. At lease the vegan pads and grille removage bit. I'll blab when/if I do it
     
  4. knerian

    knerian Friend

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  5. BioniclePhile

    BioniclePhile The Terminal Man - Friend

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    I don't have anything that could possibly power it! 50 watts into 50 ohms minimum!

    Besides, I'm working on a phono pre and a cart now, I don't wanna go off on another headphone/amp tangent. I'm plenty satisfied with what I've got right now, but I'm thinking the future may hold an HE-6 for me, and something from First Watt too!

    Actually, they're black, who the feck am I kidding, I NEED ONE
     
  6. knerian

    knerian Friend

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    This is the best HFM headphone, period. Don't worry about the amping, it will demolish your HE-500 even if underamped.
     
  7. Thujone

    Thujone Friend

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    Awesome thread, @ohhgourami. I've been visioning the blutack mod wrong this entire time. I literally thought people were spreading the layers of the driver, i.e. magnets and diaphragm, and squeezing blutack in there like a sandwich. I'm glad this isn't the case, this actually makes sense!
     
  8. ohhgourami

    ohhgourami Friend

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    Updated with measurements thanks to @takato14
     
  9. takato14

    takato14 God of Ruin

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    Concur on the sound of these. They sound just as good as they measure, which is to say, ridiculously well. Very fast, powerful, clean, and huge sounding.
     
  10. frenchbat

    frenchbat Almost "Made"

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    Thanks for the measurements Tak, is that with all mods on ?
     
  11. Serious

    Serious Inquisitive Frequency Response Plot

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    Are these measurements of the 4 screw version? Does anyone know if there are measurable differences between the versions?
     
  12. takato14

    takato14 God of Ruin

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    It's a 6 screw modded by Ohhgourami. I didn't change the mods. If someone can get a 4 screw in my hands I can try measuring it for differences.
     
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2016
  13. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Need more measurements of known headphones from your rig to say one way or another what your results really mean.
     
  14. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    Measure a HD650 or HD600 if you can.
     
  15. takato14

    takato14 God of Ruin

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    I have a BUNCH of measurements lying around at home guys, I'll try to get them up soon but I'm really busy for the next few days

    I'll put up the HD650 stuff when I get home, thought I had some pictures already exported from REW but I don't :|
     
  16. PoochZag

    PoochZag The Shadow knows - Friend

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  17. takato14

    takato14 God of Ruin

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    75g sounds like plenty to me, though I didnt perform the mod myself.

    Here's some quick stuff for the HD650:

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    [​IMG]

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    HE-6 appears mostly cleaner in CSD save for very short lived treble behavior, and much better in distortion. HD650 looks a little bit faster in transient response decay, but less clean. This is contradictory to Tyll's measurements, and is likely a side-effect of the pressure chamber between the driver and ear (thanks to the seal introduced by the blutak and taped pads). For what its worth, the HD650 seems to resolve slightly better than the HE-6, but neither are being driven anywhere close to their potential.
     
  18. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Cool, thanks. Measurement rig and methods look like they could still use some polishing, but otherwise the comparative results do help.

    IR on planars is expected to kind of keep going even if cleaner to start. More like a trampoline in that regard. Whether or not that matters, I dunno.
     
  19. IceUul

    IceUul Friend

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    I wonder someone has tried the audeze leather pads for this mod?
     
  20. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I have J$ leather pads on mine and it requires an extra layer of felt to damp out some upper mid tizz (for the record: I prefer this arrangement over the vegan pads)
     

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