Sennheiser HD650 Love (Appreciation Thread)

The opposite, it's thicker hence warmer, which works great with the other mods in my experience.

Here's the full mods on my side: http://imgur.com/a/Sfe7u
Back: foam removed, plastic removed, Dynamat on magnet, holes and targeted locations - this improves bass control, bass bleeds far less in the mids, more emphasized treble but also smoother overall than without Dynamat.
Front: AKG K240 foam with the hole in front for more air. Again treble is up but this foam is thicker (also much harder to cut), gives it a bit more warmth this brings it closer to stock but with the added improvements. I recommend the K240 foam for it's price and the way it brought it all together.

YMMV as always but I love it all the minor changes add up to a better headphone to my ears. It's getting more head time than my HD800.

 

I got done with my HD650 Mods. Here's the end product:



The wooliness now gone and the entire headphones sounds a bit cleaner for it. The mid-bass bleed is also gone, so the mids sound better as well. The resolve and resolution seem a bit better without the distortion as well. I may have went a little overboard for some, but I quite like the increase of quality.

I'd say it's what one would expect the HD700 to be if they didn't know about its brightness. I wouldn't claim it's the HD850 though, but I hear where that name would come from (as it takes some of the properties...but not a lot of them.)

 

Man, I'm so fortunate I found a modded pair with all 3 mods. It's funny because the day prior I sold my HE400 too for the same price I bought the used 650.

Proof that someone above is looking after me?

 

Mr taco, did you try less damping material and it was not adequate? Curious as you are the first to add this much. Maybe more damping is needed. Anyone this they applied too much and it sounded worse?

 

Your pics aren't showing up for me.

 

I started with Dynamat at "Stage 1" and liked it, but thought the bass could use a bit more control. "Stage 2" adds strips to the outer ring top and bottom (red) and a second layer left and right (green). So far, I wouldn't say adding this much DE has had a negative effect. Bass seems more controlled, but now it feels like I'm missing out a bit on treble, so I took out the single ply of TP from the front I was using to reduce sibilance. I think stock foam is good for me now for all tracks.

Stage 1: http://imgur.com/iXO1J1F
Stage 2: http://imgur.com/WiJtlS7

I'll listen for a while and later try adding small wedges to the magnet at top and bottom and perhaps to the baffle outside the silver mesh.

BTW, I can see @PacoTaco's pics on my phone, but not on my PC.

 

Here you go:


I posted it from copying what I did in discord, so it didn't really show up here well.

I should add that this makes the bass a lot more powerful than most people would prefer. It actually extends pretty well down to 20hz according to the bass shaker test. I took off the 8 pieces covering the pad-holes and the four on the very end of the sides of the cup there (to the right and left of the magnet.)

 

Between the 600 and 650, which one has the larger soundstage?

 

You might want to dial back on the dynamat, this is what I landed up with after fiddling around the past few days. Found that too much of dynamat on the magnet made the mid/sub-bass to be way too overpowering, but still does not bleed into the mids.

 

I have mentioned here before the glare issue that I have with my HD650's. Perhaps it is due to resonances created inside my ear and will be heard by no one else. Or maybe manufacturer error has caused an anomaly. If you dare, try and use a parametric EQ to create narrow notches (abut -5db) around the following frequencies:

2250hz
6950hz
10,100hz

EQing at these points should reveal the glare. EDIT: Just wanted to add that I see this as more of a phenomena than a oddity of the measured performance of these cans...

I would love some feedback on the impressions of others, even if many here consider the HD650 is considered invincible, timeless, masterpiece that should be seen in Star Trek because even centuries from now, they will never be surpassed.... Okay, I might have gone a little too far there, but you get the idea.

 

I may have finally found the headphone sound I have been looking for thanks to this thread. I just finished the three mods on my HD650's and they sound sweet beyond words. I have sold my Nighthawks and the Ether C's are losing their footing. I still need a closed set so they will likely stay until something better comes along (Hello LFF?).

Instead of Dynamat, I used a self adhesive roof repair product that I have used for years in place of Dynamat in automotive sound systems. It is essentially the same with an aluminum layer, then a tarry adhesive layer, and then a release paper. I have found it to be as good or better in automotive applications and quite a bit less expensive.

 

But is it Extreme?

 

Haha that's awesome man!! So I haven't heard the ether C, but the hd650 + lff paradox slants would be the pair I'd keep as my "desert island you can only take 1 open and 1 closed back with you" phones.

I'd consider enigmas or zmf but the wood might suffer on said desert island.

 

Yes, it is in the Extreme Roof Repair section at Home Depot.

 

The Ether C's are settling in a little thin for my liking. They have a lot of fine qualities, but the "A Ha!" is not there.

 

The modded HD650 (sans "quarter") and ZMF Blackwood are my open/closed combo. If the 650s were closed with the same sound, but a bit more low end extension and slam, I think I'd need only one phone.

T50RP Mk3 modded gets me through work and ER4P for mobile so I think I might be done with transducers for a while.

 

So I got my dynamat in from Amazon and maybe went a bit crazy haha I spent like 2 hours in total cutting out paper outline of the pieces I wanted as you can see in the first picture and then cutting them all out. Dynamat ain't the easiest material to work with.

And I can't be totally sure, as it's been a while since I got to listen to them, but I do think the bass is cleaner and tighter, worth the effort and monetary input for what I got I would say.

I did remove the plastic cage that the foam was in on the backside, I did also remove the little support that protect the front side of the driver as well, figure I'm an adult and can just be careful since it gets rid of things being in the way of the sound.





Edit: after some more listening I do think that the soundstage even improved a slight amount, along with instrument separation, maybe it was the removal of the plastic braces, or maybe it was the dynamat, we'll never know I guess haha

Edit 2: Does anyone know how you remove the silver screens behind the foam on the front of the driver? just pushing it from behind didnt seem to do the trick...

 

Definitely the most aesthetically appealing 650 Dynamat mod I've seen so far!