HD580 Mods

Discussion in 'Modifications and Tweaks' started by Noodlz, Apr 1, 2016.

  1. Noodlz

    Noodlz Almost "Made"

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    Didnt seem to see any threads dedicated to this gem so i guess i'll start a thread on these. Thought I should share some of my experiences with these underrated gems so far.

    Shout outs to @Bill-P who showed me what they were capable of with his mod, off of which the strength of i bought two, one for him to mod and one for me to tinker myself lol. Stock they're kinda ugly but with some part swapping with my HD 650 they actually look pretty bad ass.

    So far i've made some really simple mods, and they already sound better than my modded HD650's (which has the foam removal + qtr mod + dynamat. Sold my LCD 2, LCD3, HD800 etc and kept these). More clear, better soundstage. the only thing right now is that it doesnt quite have the lushness the 650 has in the mids. but ridiculously nice nevertheless.

    Mods so far:
    - HD650 headband
    - Brainwavz hybrid pads (destroyed the original hd580 pads to get the ring to clip the pads on. i just cut the padding part off the ring with scissors
    - HD 650 grills
    - HD 650 cables

    Before:
    [​IMG]

    After:

    [​IMG]

    now everything is all black (minus the headband) and beautiful plus it sounds amazing. Now waiting to get my modded 580 from Bill which sounds way nicer from memory~


    Side / experiment notes:
    - Tried the Shure 1540 alcantara pads. sounds pretty good (slightly more open sounding) but the hybrid pads are more focused sounding / more impactful / clear / solid.
    - HD580 grills actually sounded really good on the modded HD650, surprisingly. Better bass response and tightened up everything without sacrificing the mids and highs. swapping over the 580 headband onto it actually looked ok too.
    - Shure 1540 alcantara pads on the HD650 improved the bass but brought back the veil in the mids, would need to qtr mod this but dont wanna cut up these $40 pads..

    Would love to hear thoughts from anyone else who's played around with these~
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2016
  2. Tim Thomas

    Tim Thomas Friend

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    Great headphone!
     
  3. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    Fine. Cat's out of the bag. :p

    People never had a good look at the trio HD580, HD600, and HD650, but... they are practically brothers and sisters.

    Now, the one thing people never noticed after all these years, and which is an important thing to note IMO, is that... if you think HD600 is too bright/peaky, and HD650 is too dark/dull, then the HD580 sits squarely in between. Check this out.

    [​IMG]

    Note: HD600 and HD650 that I measured are the new silver metal screen/mesh versions, not the old silk-screen. The HD580 is silk-screen, though.

    HD580 with HD600's grill is very very very good looking, and on top of that, is exactly what the HD600 should have sounded like at stock IMO. The HD600's grill is about $27 + shipping from Sennheiser as of this point if you're considering that.

    At the time of my post, the HD580 can be had for <$200, which is a STEAL considering it's actually more neutral than the HD600 and HD650 to my ears... and that's without any mod. Modded, it's simply at a much higher level than what can be done with the other 2, simply because its driver is tuned to a better tone.

    Mod guide will come whenever I've received the parts necessary for the mod, but... trust me, this is a very serious contender even at stock. ;)
     
  4. philipmorgan

    philipmorgan Member of the month

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    @Noodlz I'm curious how you attached the Brainwavz pads to the HD6xx mounting rings. Specifically, did you remove the pleather "flap" on the Brainwavz or leave that in place? How did you adhere the Brainwavz pads to the mounting rings? TIA for your input on this.
     
  5. No_One411

    No_One411 Fired by Jude

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    They should just sit in place with the mounting ring, similar to the original pads.

    You may need to trim a little off the Brainwavz pads to get them to fit comfortably on the mounting ring. Not too much, just the line/ring. Grab a xacto knife and take your time to avoid cutting up the pad.
     
  6. Noodlz

    Noodlz Almost "Made"

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    @philipmorgan sure thing~ I actually just cut up the old pads that came with the 580 and reused the plastic ring it had, put it inside the pleather flaps of the brainwavz and pressed them into the 580. as @No_One411 said it would be nicer to cut off the excess of the liner of the ring to get it to fit better, i was too lazy so i just kinda pressed it in, and it fits in pretty snugly

    Edit: Some pix

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2016
  7. philipmorgan

    philipmorgan Member of the month

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  8. Yeskey

    Yeskey Friend

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    Would you consider it worth buying the Hd580 to mod if I already have the modded Hd650? I'm curious about the sound, but I also have my eyes on a Sunrise III tube amp and my budget limits myself to one or the other.
     
  9. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    Get the amp. These two headphones share too many similarities and you arguably picked the better/more technical one. If you haven't modded your HD650 give it a try!
     
  10. philipmorgan

    philipmorgan Member of the month

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    The modded 580s I listened to were noticeably brighter than my modded 650s, which made the 580s seem more detailed. I prefer the 650 tonality, but I can see the appeal of the 580 tonality. It felt like a "baby HD-800" to me.
     
  11. Yeskey

    Yeskey Friend

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    Oh I went full crazy on my Hd650, even the spider cage is gone! With that said, I think I'll put the Hd580 on the back-burner for the amp, but I definitely want to revisit this thread in the future.
     
  12. Noodlz

    Noodlz Almost "Made"

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    I might be biased here, but i think it depends on what amp you currently have. Personally i'd go for the 580 modded as long as you already have a decent amp. both headphones scale like crazy, but the difference between the two widens significantly as you move up the ladder. the modded 580 vs modded 650 is not a small difference when on a decent amp (such as the GOV2 or GOV2 + Vali 2). My 650 is modded with dynamat, quarter mod, and rear foam removed, but spider cage still intact.

    Note: for my 580 it was slightly bass shy compared to my modded 650 when i did the initial pad swap / filter cutout / grill change. I've since added a ring of blu-tac onto the grills and its much much better in bass and more neutral, yet highly detailed / musical. the soundstage has also improved a bit.

    Edit: here's a pic of what i did to the gril with the blutac. the amount & position of them added was based on what i felt like was the best sounding to me~ since this is only on the inside of the grill the outside still looks very clean and if i ever wanted to i could remove all the blutac

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2016
  13. jowls

    jowls Never shitposts (please) - Friend

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    I've managed to track down one of these unicorns and I am considering buying it. Any chance of that mod guide (or even some pointers?)
     
  14. Noodlz

    Noodlz Almost "Made"

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    if you can wait, send them to bill lol. His version is for sure gonna sound better.

    If u cant wait though or just want to do it yourself you can try what i did** , which is pretty simple:
    - get the brainwavz hybrid pads & cut out the center entirely
    - get an extra pair of 580/600/650 aftermarket stock pads to cut out the plastic holder thing (or you can just gut out the original one it comes with)
    - put the plastic holder thing + the brainwavz pads (see above posts for pix)
    - remove the foam in the spider cage in the outside of the driver (just like what you'd do for an hd650 mod)
    - change the 580 grills to 600/650 grills (you can add blu-tac to the inside of the grills like i did or to your own taste)
    - the foil tape per bill's recommendations addeds an extra level of focus and clarity. i put 4 inside in the baffle on each side, and one long strip on the top side of both cups on the outside (see pix):

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Oh and this is the tape i used:
    http://www.amazon.com/AMACO-ArtEmboss-4-Inch-16-Feet-Aluminum/dp/B000XAHG9K

    ** i was super curious and impatient when i heard what bill did so i bought 2 pairs, one for him to mod and one for me to experiment with until he's done =)

    hope that helps!
     
  15. jowls

    jowls Never shitposts (please) - Friend

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    That's awesome, thanks!

    The unicorn has been secured. From the sounds of things it is pretty much NOS. Fingers crossed...
     
  16. philipmorgan

    philipmorgan Member of the month

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    @Noodlz @Bill-P What does the foil tape on the outside of the cups do to the sound on the 580s? I'd guess the foil tape covering the baffle holes does something to change the bass response, but I have no idea what the tape applied around the outside of the cups would do...
     
  17. gibtg

    gibtg New

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    @Bill, I would be thrilled to see your mod guide! Have any of the 580's with the aforementioned hybrid pads been measured here?
     
  18. Noodlz

    Noodlz Almost "Made"

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    @philipmorgan honestly i'm not sure exactly why / what it does, but in general (to my ears) the foil increases the clarity / focus of the sound overall. it makes things more solid / crisper if that makes any sense. I think from what i remember bill telling me, is that it improves the rigidity of the structure & the way the sound would bounce, or something to that extent.

    All i know is that after doing the mod to my 580 i started putting it onto my other headphones and things sounded great. (i actually modified a pair of extra cheap takstar hi 2050's and they sound pretty nice now with the foil tape. i added a ring of foil tape around the driver and also on the inside baffle. kinda fun to do try out, totally reversible and super cheap
     
  19. philipmorgan

    philipmorgan Member of the month

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    @Noodlz Cool! Can't wait to try it out on my 650s then :)
     
  20. JoshMorr

    JoshMorr Friend

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    @Noodlz any updates? Buying a pair to mod and see what I can do with em. I've never heard @Bill-P 's set, and don't have access to a measurement rig, so will try and tune and mess around with by ear for now. By the way, great work!
     

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