I made a hyper-engaging headphone with HD800S drivers

Sorry, long time no update. I got pretty busy and I'm preparing for a trip overseas (and also I'm leaving this weekend!).

But here's a quick update:

1. I finally had time to completely retweak the housing shells for what I find to be the "best" compromise in terms of distance/soundstage/frequency response, etc... (I tried somewhere between 15-20 different variations since the last shell design)
2. Being that I'll be overseas for 1.5 months without any way to print and send out the new shells to others to try, I'm going to upload the .stl files now. Please check top of first post!
3. Yep, that's right, I'm making the files available so everyone can print their own shells and play with them! I can start printing again and send the shells over to friends whenever I get back. Will still send out some shells for friends that have been waiting for me. I do apologize for the lateness!

Didn't have much time to design a better pair of grilles... (nor will I have time to send them out), so also uploading the best ones I have right now.

And here's obligatory frequency response measurement with the new shells:


Won't take much to get to this with the new shells. I got this with just the middle layer of medical face mask and the Brainwavz Hybrid pads.

 

Very considerate providing the STL files for everyone, kudos!

 

BTW, here's a piece of uninvited feedback:



Consider converting this curved fillet into a 45-degree chamfer (even though the capsule could get taller and you'd have to adjust the headband yoke holes to accommodate the extra height while preserving the distance to ear.) This will allow for support-less printing in pretty much every FDM machine out there.

 

Oh, by the way, I can print the whole capsule out just fine without any support, but you are right. Without the right settings, it can cause some weird issues with some FDM printers.

I'll fix this section at some point when I have more time.

 

Yeah, looks doable with decent part cooling, but baseline models seldom have this. Thanks for considering!

 

Just to clarify, these "retweaked" capsules are different from the ones you recently sent out? What did you change?

Does your existing grill design fit the capsules you previously sent out? Please notify when you've uploaded it. Thanks!

 

I got the ZMF HD6xx pads in. Quick impressions compared to my mashed out, heavily angled HD650 pads:

• perf suede: Pretty balanced overall, with significantly more forward (but not shouty) mids, that could be easily reduced with EQ. Surprisingly, sound drier even with more reflective leather surface than Senn velour.
• perf leather: Don't have forward mids of the perf suede. Very similar tonal balance to my modded stock pads. Provides more percussive/tactile bass than Senn velour (as do the suede, but these even more so).

They're quite small and barely fit on @Bill-P's shells. It's fine if you handle them gently, but they could easily be pulled off if you handle them like regular headphones. Overall, a good pairing with BP800.
Hmm ... @Bill-P seems to have disappeared again

 

What earpads do you use on these?

 

^My favorite version of Bill's 800 = Sennheiser Orpheus HE90 pads...and he bought 2 pairs so he could make one matching L/R pair. Not cheap, this.

 

Interesting ... with my modded HD800s, I still need a narrow -5dB cut at 6kHz to "neutralize" them. But with my BP800s, I actually have a broad +1.5dB bump at 4kHz. I've had none of the HD800 face tweeter issues with Bill's capsules and a the Faraday cloth as baffle material.

 

@zach915m had hinted, a long time ago, about maybe providing these for the hd800s but then i think it became sidetracked.
I would like to try it myself.

Have you tried solderdudes extension cord/plug passive filter?

 

And I am back now! Holy thread necro!

But yeah, sorry, I've been so busy at work that I couldn't do much for the past year or so. But... thanks to @ext1's recent request, the forge has been fired up and I've chipped at it again!

New STL files have been updated in the first post. The new prints are also aimed at being more balanced sounding than the old ones. I'll start printing again so just in case anyone would like new prints, please let me know. They will look... quite a bit different from the old prints. Also the ones who have been waiting for me to ship out spare prints all this time... thank you all very much for your patience! I'll send the prints out next week for sure.

As an aside, there's also a new "default" tuning I've arrived at as well. Will reveal more about that once new parts have come in and I have more time to write up a step-by-step guide with photos and all to put this new tuning together.

 

Wow, glad to see you're still working on this!

I've personally been working on a version that uses the he90 pads like your first model that everyone seems to adore. I'll have the files and instructions for them avaible soon.

https://reddit.com/r/headphones/s/jAChNzllu8

 

Ooh, that looks nice!

Yeah, my HE90 one has been completed for a while and just sits here. I still use it very regularly (few times a week at least). I reckon quite a few people have heard it up to this point so here's the most recent measurement I have of it (in the usual 100dB scale this time) in case you would like a reference:



Most of that is from having the HE90 ear pads. I'm still trying to find the right pairing to get the smaller headphone to at least that frequency response. It took quite a few tries to even get a pair of pads with the right balance, but I think this is where I'll want to maintain it for a while.

P.S.: that was made out of DSHA-3FN. I'm not sure if output impedance or any of that jazz means anything here (considering we're dealing with 300 ohm drivers) but it does in fact sound really warm and smooth to my ears.

 

I just got confirmation from sennheiser that they will no longer be producing the he90 pads :, (
I must have snagged the last ones from audio sanctuary.

I've since switched to using esp950 pads. Having a huge front volume seems to be key for these drivers. It got pretty good reception from the people who tried it at Capital Audio Fest.

https://capraaudio.squig.link/Headphones/?share=Diffuse_Field_Target,CA800v3

 

Thank you @Capra for letting us know!!

@Bill-P Do we need to buy a couple pairs of these if we can find them???

 

I'm finding my pair to be a bit dark. What can I do to increase the treble response overall?