Sennheiser HD650 Love (Appreciation Thread)

I'll see if I can convince the owner to do the mods. A couple of db cut in the bass level should make it much better. In stock form, the bass is elevated but thankfully not much bloat. Still a bit too high for my tastes.
This RCA grey bottle is some special version, Gurubhai can tell better, I have very limited knowledge. But yes, I was not a fan of it when paired with csf/gec/some giant russian tubes/& possibly a sylvania, don't really remember. But the Toshiba 6080 pairs really nice with it. In fact the best 6080 by a fair margin .

HD650 can scale, I believe now. Am so happy that we have a production headphone that acutally sounds good

 

Oh you do need to do the mods. The quarter mod is a must to remove any veiling. The dynamat tightens everything up.

 

Time to own your own hd650 probably

About 6sn7, its a RCA early 40's VT-231. You have also owned/tried a Tung Sol bgrp, ken rad and Sylvania VT-231 from the same period.

 

To date, I have only done the Dynamat mod and it was an absolute gamechanger for me. It tightened everything up just enough to make the midrange clearer and the bass is much better to my ears. I'm not even sure I will ever do the other two popular mods because I really want for nothing when I'm listening to the 650s now.

 

Have now finished my HD 650's! Thanks for the info and enthusiasm on this site. Did Marv's second Dynamatt Extreme mod! Prior to that I did the quarter mod
to the front foam pads and just went a head and removed the rear foam and spider. I used Walmart's Easy Liner for the shelf liner uder the front foam. I also did something a bit unusual based on a Jerg mod page on head fi that used Easy Liner on an HE 560. They were using this under the front pads. I also read a few things about how closing of the 650's can sometimes flesh them out a bit. I didn't want anything anywhere near that drastic...but I though maybe a bit of damping and smoothing on the grilles could give just a hint of upper and mid bass to balance the sound a bit more to my tastes. I have been using Slants for the last three years.
Indulge me a bit. I think I prefer my neutrality with a hint more in those regions. Well let's just say it worked and I have a new favorite headphone.

Would welcome any comments regarding Damplifier Pro vs Dynamatt Extreme. I know it is denser and possibly a bit easier to work with...but does that extra
density and weight really mean anyting in terms of performance improvement or requiring a different damping scheme.

Thanks and Happy Listening,

jgwtriode

 

Congrats on finishing the mods and glad you like them! I think for the bolded you'll find impressions pretty lacking. Only a couple of us (maybe) have used Damplifier Pro for the mods, and it's likely that anyone doing so wouldn't have also purchased Dynamat Extreme to compare. I didn't.

I posted about the differences between the two products here: http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...-proof-that-its-not-bs.2098/page-2#post-53697. As far as I know, no one has measured a pair of HD650 damped with Damplifier Pro; @Marvey's measurements in that thread were with Dynamat Extreme. Because the foil and adhesive layers are both thicker than on Dynamat Extreme, Damplifier Pro is a more effective damper. Whether that results in measurable improvements (probably, but slight) or requires different placement (doubtful) is anyone's guess.

 

Damplifier Pro is quite a bit better and is much easier to work with...it also looks cleaner. You don't have to cut around the logo since it barely shows. Its basically a dark silver gray against black background. Only shows up close. The sample pack from Second Skin is easily more than enough to do a pair of 650"s.

Lets just say everything got much more solid, bigger, quieter, and more subtle. Added a few extra ounces...who cares! Bass may actually go a little bit lower...but has noticeably more impact and weight and blends perfectly with the midbass upper into the lower midrange. Soundstage space...layering and image focus and specificity also improve noticeably.

I have to do a Shout Out to Hands. He was dead on the money about keeping your damping at least 3mm or morre away from the magnet assembly hole in back.
I had taken it within about 1.5mm and tappered it like a radial horn flare. So now I have about 4mm tapering to nearly a ridge at the edge of the magnet. This was theonly mod that really added a bit of sweetness,besides lessing glare and some upper frequency hardness, to the sound that nothing else quite accomplished. This became even more apparent with the Damplifier Pro!

The Dynamatt Extreme is great...but its a bit of pain and even frozen its not as firm as the Pro! I did exactly the same treatment with both to do the comparison. Again I used Marv's second method. but adjusted it after the fact to cover the vents at the upper and lower edge of the magnet as Hands suggested. It did exactly what he described and I prefered that. So I simply pulled all the Extreme and went Pro!

No measurement equipment...but I trust my ears and rely on a number of vary specific pieces of music I know like the back of my ear lobes...LOL!

These things are sounding ridiculous. And my Dac is out for an upgrade...so I am just listening off the 3.5mm on the back of my soundcard with a short cheapo cable running into my Neco V5. I also just got my Furutech Ft 2PS
connectors so I can switch my Zenwave cables over to Sennie inputs. Even though I have heard the stock cable
is pretty good. The Zens are quite ridiculous...7/9's OCC copper litz wire in a high cotton polyester dielectric. I have to believe, based on what they did with my Slants over the stock OFC wire I had on them originally, this should provide another magnitude of improvement.

Insane!

Happy Listening,

jgwtriode

 

Crap! Now I also have to order Damplifier Pro to compare against my Dynamat Extreme. That it looks better is only a bonus.

 

Yeah but its only 7$ or so shipping for free sample pack which took about 60% of the damplifier pro they sent and you get samples of the other stuff they make. You can redo them in about an hour..

Happy listening
jgwtriode

 

I use Teac UD-503 as DAC/Amp for HD650. It sounds... hm... ok. Teac's amp section is quite good: adding Violectric V100 makes no audible changes to my ears.
But I suppose HD650 could do more.
So which way to choose?
1) Add Valhalla2 into the chain.
2) Add Mjolnir2, balanced connection to the DAC, make HD650 balanced. Is it worth extra $600 in price?
3) Something else? May be some super-duper SS amp? Change DAC?

After reading all mentions here and at HF it seems that Valhalla2 could be equally good or even better than Mjolnir2 for HD650. Looks strange.

 

Budget is not defined actually. Up to $1000 looks reasonable for me right now.

 

I use the Yggdrasil and ZDS with the modded HD650 and I think I don't need to chase anything else. My question to you is this: I am using the Mutec 1.2 for the converter,; should I be chasing anything else for this portion of the chain?

Thanks

 

Lots of tinkering and fiddling over the last three days and finally have the tunning set on my 650's. Pulled the Easy Liner out of the grilles and from behind the front foam!
The sound was great but a bit hooded and just a hint nasal. Nice warmth and liquidity and better than just Easy Liner under the foam. So put in properly cut and sized Contact Premium grip liner as mentioned in this thread. Yup that's the ticket. Rounded side facing out! A touch less liquid...but everything else is just right. Bass is tighter better defined and the blend top to bottom is quite seamless. Soundstage is very 3D. The Zenwave cable made quite a noticeable difference over the stock cable.
Wonderful! Hands if you could explain how the 1/4" open cell foam in front is located and also where I can get some...I will give it a try!

Happy Listening

jgwtriode

 

Thanks Hands I have some 1/4" charcoal black auto upholstery foam coming that is open cell moderately high density stuff that looks like it should work nicely!

In the meantime I am trying 1/8" felt from Walmart. The Damplifier Pro helps keep it down along with the grilles and trim pieces. It works. Upper midrange and highs are
smoother and slightly more detailed. You can hear slightly more into the harmonic structure. Little details pop out in songs that I have not ever heard before. Can't be certain if the midrange is really better...it may just be that some of the upper glare and brightness is gone. Sounds more lifelike! The Bass is actually a hint more tuneful and musically resonant...meaning that it seems I am hearing less mechanical resonance.

The sound is noticeably more pleasing then without the felt. I also cut out a felt rring to go over the damplifier pro that encircles the driver magnet. I think it may have a very slight effect...but it is not nearly as pronounced as the felt doughnut around the backframe. Could also do a color trim with the felt...but I chose black...just to understate the whole thing.

These things sound about as coherent as anything I have ever listened to right now. Can't really hear any specific weaknesses compared to the Slants. I think it actually works the other way around. I really need my DAC back to really hear whats up!

Amazing,

Happy Listening,

James Whiting

 

@James Whiting, I sent you a private conversation about this, but could you please post pictures of the mods that you've been describing? Would be a helpful resource for the thread.

 

Yeah...my phone camera is a bit crappy but should allow you to see what I've done...will get it in next couple days.on day off!

 

Well tried some soft 1/4" packing foam I had...small piece but had enough. The stuff I ordered was higher density upholstery stuff...not sure about it. Made a foam doughnut same as the felt and removed the felt...al very easy to do. Sounds much thinner and dynamicaly anemic...base loses impact and is muddy and lower in level. Worse than completely stock. Will stick with felt at this point... May try another layer of it right at the edge where grilles snaps on...but just like a third or a 1/4 width of the current felt doughut...as wide as the distance from outer to inner edge of the silver baffle material.

 

Zonto here is the picture...not the greatest. You can see the damplifier . The light and shadow cause color variation! You can see how I have done the felt.
Cut slits at the clip points for the trim piece. The trim piece does sit slightly askew on the frame...but that is minor. You may have to squeeze the grille and cup
slightly at the base to get the cable plug to insert. The Furutechs I use are pretty thick and so I really squish it when inserting. Anyway I much prefer the sound
of this to any other combo I have tried so far. Will also be trying 1.2mm merrino wool felt. Have some on order. I am going to try a liner around the inside edge of
the grille itself as well. Adhesive backed foam would be good bout 1/8" I think. Some is available on ebay from a private seller. I have some open cell foam I cut
up into to strips and am going to double side tape it down to test out the premise. Its just to eliminate any direct
reflections that may be coming off of the the inside edge of the grille covers.



Happy Listening!