Sennheiser HD650 Love (Appreciation Thread)

Downloading Sonarworks free trial. Never used it before, time to see what the fuss is all about. Will be testing with my HD650.

EDIT: How to I run Sonarworks? I've read through the faq on the website but I can't figure it out. It's just a plug-in? So I need to add it to my playback software somehow after installing?

 

Depends what your playback software is. For foobar2k, you can follow the instructions here, but substitute the Sonarworks VST plugin.
http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/the-hd800-eq-ing-thread.1735

 

Looks like I'll have to download foobar then.

I use Music Bee and Mediamonkey.

 

Google is your friend.
http://musicbee.wikia.com/wiki/VST_Host
http://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=43772

 

Thanks! I was planning on checking it out tomorrow after work.

 

From people that have tested both, which of the following do you think has the greatest impact on the sound signature of these headphones?

- Sonarworks
- the physical mods suggested in this thread (removing foam, adding material, etc.)

 

Your first point provided me with about an hour of frustration. I had the hardest damn time fitting them right, and my pads are slightly old so they kept falling off. It took me forever to get them to where I wanted, but I was definitely happy with how they sounded afterwards.

 

Why oh why did Sennheiser shove that foam behind the driver? It seems to be at least partially responsible for the "3 blob soundstage" some people complain about.

 

Driver damping maybe?

 

On my HD650, the foam removal brought up the sub bass which is cool, but the bump at 100 Hz increases by 6 dB. Not everybody likes that.

 

Random question, but does anyone here have any experience about how well the HD650 plays with glasses? I wear glasses and although sticking to open headphones has served me well in the past I always get a bit nervous about seal issues...

Based on my experience modifying orthos I imagine it's an attempt to flatten out the lower FR? Maybe dynamics react differently though, everyone seems to report faster bass after removing the back foam. I would also hazard a guess that they were not willing to put a headphone to mass market with exposed drivers, just think about the amount of returns they'd get.

 

No problem wearing glasses for me sonically, as would be expected with open cans. But the clamp is firm enough to cause a bit of visual distortion due to bending of the frames (this will depend on how your glasses fit, mine bow out slightly at the temple) and I get a bit of squeak from rubbing of the arms against the pads when I move my head muscles.

 

@mawk For me I found stretching the metal band out a bit to reduce clamp a bit really helped with comfort of my HD650 while wearing glasses. Overall I have no issues wearing my HD650's for a long period of time.

In other notes @Mikoss and I modded our HD650's yesterday so that we both have the 3 main mods done (coin foam, rear foam, and dynamat), and wow it makes a big difference, it's like a new headphone! I am really enjoying it so far, it's not as laid back and a bit more fatiguing, but overall very nice! You can really feel the bass now.

 

I also had mine blessed by an old priest and a young priest, cryogenically treated the headband, and also had the drivers signed in invisible ink by Jude (very small area and difficult for a regular sized person to do, but he pulled it off with ease, I just had to pay him quite a bit... but I think it was totally worth it).

 

Glad you went the old priest / young priest route and not the normal blood of a virgin / sacrifical lamb route, as I heard it is too sibilant.

 

In all seriousness, my subjective impressions:

- I did the "coin mod" a few months ago, and felt it brought a bit more treble energy into the 650's. I'm super sensitive to treble and had slight fatigue for a week or two until my ears/brain adjusted. Overall level of detail retrieval was improved; I also felt I had a better sense of intimacy/spatial detailing.

- The rear dampening foam removal/dynamat just bring about a very lively sound, without sacrificing the magic of the 650's. Bass seems to have a bit more visceral impact... Everything still sounds smooth/warm without sacrificing clarity. A less laid back sound overall. I also feel I prefer this more immersive soundstage than the laid back one.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the mod.

 

Wut? Can you share measurements for that?

That's a way different result than I've ever seen documented anywhere else for HD650 foam removal. Would be interesting to learn why that happened for you.

 

IMO I didn't like the rear foam mod it introduced some treble resonances because the driver resonates with the plastic spider behind it (with no foam to dampen it). Removing the spider fixes this and had a bigger impact to sound quality than the other mods IMO.

 

Why would that happen to your pair only??, are you sure you didn't touch anything else?