Sennheiser HD650 Love (Appreciation Thread)

Thanks to @Gaspasser being extraordinarily generous, I received Dynamat for my 650, but I haven't applied it yet. The PDX meet is this weekend and there will be a modded 650 there, so I thought it would be fun to compare a modded to a totally unmodded pair with the Joti.

 

Really looking forward to those impressions, @Merrick!

 

Just completed the installation of damplifier pro on my baffles thanks to help of this thread! Time to take her for a test drive. Yggdrasil and Jotunheim arrive tomorrow ... Fun times ahead!

 

I only know of NwAvGuy by reputation. I was under the impression that he was a strict objectivst. Maybe he made exceptions for transducers, I don't know. I just came upon a review of his on the HD650 and thought he did a pretty good job, in this case.

Excerpt: "If a lack of audible fatigue with nearly all music and physical comfort are important, the HD 650 should be on your short list of headphones under $500. If you listen to them, give yourself some time to adjust as it’s easy to confuse a lack of high frequency distortion with a lack of high frequency musical content. Once acclimated, my ears often hear more of the music with the 650 but that wasn’t immediately obvious on the first listen."

http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/06/sennheiser-hd-650.html

 

All "objectivists" seem to blissfully and unceremoniously drop "objectivism" when it comes to transducers, for the simple reason---I reckon---that it's a tough proposition to DBT these things, as opposed to DACs/amps/formats... (I.e., how do you double-blind test an HD650 from an Abyss from an Elac B6 from an Apple earbud?)

 

Big thanks to @mawk for sending me some dynamat free of charge. What a lad. Can't wait to mod my HD650 with it and hear what all the fuzz is about. Will most likely happen this weekend.

 

dynamat installed. it does seem to increase focus, better bass impact and control.
the hd650 modded really just makes me listen to music and forget everything about hifi.

 

So - I've been playing around with a few of these mods during the last week. Below you can see my dampening mod using second skin damplifier pro. As you can see I did it a little different than most but seems to work well, better than expected in fact.



Here's my personal take on a few mods:

1) Removal of foam and plastic spider
Difference: Big
Effect: Higher highs and deeper tighter bass. Makes the sound less midrange focused. Highs can become a little bit more tiresome but not too bad
Verdict: Very good mod, recommended

2) Coin mod
Difference: Intermediate
Effect: Higher highs and "clearer" sound. Highs can become a little bit tiresome
Verdict: A matter of taste, music and what other mods are used. Not sure yet if I'm going to be using this one permanently myself. Thankfully the replacement foam pieces are cheap

3) Mesh grill removal
Difference: Minimal
Effect: Perhaps, maybe, a little bit airer sound, but very small. I'm certain I couldn't tell the difference in a blind test
Verdict: Not worth it

4) Covering the venting holes around the driver (picture shows all covered!)
Difference: Intermediate
Effect: More midbass response, covering all the holes gave too much of it
Verdict: Covering all the holes gives too much midbass response, leave just one of them open and it sounds much better. The difference between 1 and 3 open is not so big. But the difference between just one open and none is quite big.

5) Dampening mod (shown above)
Difference: Intermediate
Effect: Tighter mid and sub-bass and tighter image. A little bit faster sound? I also think there is less ringing in the high end? Seems a bit less fatiguing in the treble somehow.
Verdict: Bigger difference than expected. Very good mod, recommended

6) Stuffed pads (stuffing foam under the rear of the pads, raising them up)
Difference: Intermediate
Effect: Airer sound, more neutral response I would guess. More like HD600.
Verdict: Good mod if you have somewhat large ears, stops the headphone from touching your ears. I think I like the change in sound, need to test some more.

Overall: I highly recommend foam+spider+dampening mod if you're looking for deeper and tighter bass. As a bonus you get better imaging. The other mods are more synergy and taste dependant and harder to recommend. I'm not sure the coin mod is for everyone for instance.

I'd be interested in finding some bigger angled pads for the HD650, but it's hard to find any aftermarket velour pads like that. I'd like something like the Audeze Vegan pads but I'm pretty sure they won't fit. If anyone know of any that fit the HD650 let me know

Edit: Found these pads on amazon. Ordered a pair of angled velour pads, could be interesting.

https://www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-An...37460&sr=8-1&keywords=brainwavz+velour+angled

https://www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-Hy...37460&sr=8-2&keywords=brainwavz+velour+angled

 

TwoEars.

Impressive!. I really like the way you did that neat and tidy. Wow!

I liked two paper ports covered best in my system. But cool way to cover all Four and damp the entire frame.

Happy Listening

 

I thought I was done modding my HD650s (rear foam and spider removal, Dynamat Xtreme, nickel-size coin mod), but @cskippy's For those that find the HD650 too dark... thread and @Garns use of foam with a hole punched through reminded me of the "Life Saver" size foam rings from my initial modding attempts. I stuck them behind the driver hole, held on by the exposed bits of Dynamat tar. The mid-bass (and possibly bass overall) is slightly reduced but what I like even more is that the bass is much cleaner now and not as bloomy. Different low freq instruments don't wash out as much into each other. I'd been enjoying the improvements in the bass from the rear foam removal and Dynamat, but often found the bloominess distracting. Only a short listen in so far, but I'm liking it.





Will try @cskippy's felt ring on the back of the baffle and maybe @Hands' rug liner again on the front side to see if it helps with the grain in the treble. The rug liner made the foam touch my ears when I tried it before, but I've got TP stuffed under the rear of the pads to get some angling, so maybe they won't touch now.

 

Oh my goodness Venom just attacked that 650. How do you guys cut stuff so precisely??

 

I believe the way is "very carefully".

 

Sharp scissors work well for the damplifier pro material, it was actually pretty easy to work with I thought.

For the round inside hole I used the point of a very sharp knife and an A4 block underneath it. I traced the outline with a compass drawing tool I had laying around first.

Good lighting also helps.

 

X-acto knife for the Dynamat, nose hair scissors for the foam (as I mentioned earlier).

 

Does anyone else's Damplifier Pro smell really bad? The materials in the Second Skin Audio sampler box smelled, and now that I've modded my HD650, I can smell the damplifier while I'm listening to music

 

@LepakVT - My Damplifier Pro does not have an odor. I smelt the rest of the Second Skin products that came with it, no odor.

 

Yes, smelt like bitumen when I first did it. You'll be pleased to hear it fades pretty quick.

 

Removed the spiders and rear foam from mine, took about 30 seconds. Sounds a bit airier. I was going to do Dynamat until I read the post on Damplifier Pro and the free sample packs, so I ordered some of those, more than one in case I messed it up. Once I'm finished with it if there's any left I will offer to send it out to friends who might need it.

 

Hi, anyone here that use one of the moon audio cables? I tried the Blue dragon, but thought it was to laid back so im gonna send it back and try the Silver dragon instead, any impressions?
Btw, i also have modded my hd650s.

 

So - I got the brainwavz angled velor pads in the mail and while they were very comfortable I immediately noticed that they sucked out the midrange and bloated the bass. But fear not, I found the problem.

Here are the HD650 stock pads vs the Brainwavz pads so you can see the difference:

After doing some comparions vs stock pads I quickly realized that the Brainwavz made the sound worse, not better. My suspicions were drawn to the brainwavz felt material which was attached to the pads. This was then quickly removed, like so:


Heureka! That made a massive difference. Midrange was now back in action and somehow the bass was also less bloated too? Strange. I then attached the Sennheiser foam material to the Brainwavz pads instead and this was a much better combination. While the Brainwavz material sucked out the mids the Sennheiser material maintains the mids but dampens the highs.

I also have to backtrack a bit from my earlier mods above. After some more listening I found that closing off all the venting holes around the driver led to too much midbass and an unnatural sound. So I opened up one of the venting holes and this made a big difference (I think this is in line with what other have found too?):


Hence we get to this:


Let's see here. Mod list:

1. Plastic spider + foam removal
2. Damplifier pro dampening mod (covering 3/4 venting holes)
3. Angled Velor Brainwavz Pads (removed stock felt material)
4. Sennheiser stock foam pieces in front of driver (no coin mod)

I think I'm on to something here.. I think this is the best I've heard the HD650's. Bass is tight and not bloated, midrange is present, soundstage is much improved, comfort is excellent (no touching my ears), treble is clear and extended. I need to do some more listening with these now vs modded HD800.

If I'm nitpicking perhaps the treble is a little grainy (pairing with a "soft-ish" tube amp should be good) and perhaps they could slam a little more. But really - these are seriously good.