Sennheiser HD650 Love (Appreciation Thread)

$2 dollars for samples, you would have to use it sparingly though. It's similar to dynamat.
http://www.b-quiet.com/products/samples

Dynamat License plate kit is what we usually use here.
http://www.amazon.com/Dynamat-19100-License-Plate-Kit/dp/B00020CATW

 

I couldn't get to the base of the spider because I already had Dynamat layed in there. But each "leg" snaps off very easily when twisted with a pair of needle-nose pliers. As Hands said, they're only attached at the very outer edge.

 

Finished all the mods. Listening now!

 

Recording my thoughts after a few days of listening here for posterity.

Being so used to DT990s I thought I'd hate the 650s, but I definitely do not. It's a little rolled off at both ends, but after the initial shock of losing the treble energy I haven't had any problems with the overall presentation. I do still miss the bass impact though, and I think the recessed mids of the Beyers are tricking me into thinking that the 650s' lower mids are a bit congested.

I do think I'm getting more detail, although I can't be sure it's not just shiny-new-toy-syndrome. I'm definitely hearing a lot of crud in cymbals and female vocals that I assume were masked by the hot treble on the Beyers.

Build and comfort leave a bit to be desired. I don't think I've had a cheaper feeling pair of headphones since my Alessandro MS1s. Not that it really matters mind you.

Very excited to see how the mods change things! I'll give it a week or so for brain burn-in to happen and then I'll start destroying things.

 

Cheap feeling, yet one of the most durable. That soft plastic just won't ever crack

 

Do you guys recommend removing the spider before applying dynamat? I just ordered the sample from the link posted earlier.

 

Funny thing about these mods..... So when I started I was determined to make things look nice. The coin mod went pretty well but my good resolution didn't survive first contact with the Dynamat. About five minutes in I gave up any pretense of artistry. Once the dust settled it looked like a robot had shit all over my headphones.

Sounds pretty good though.

 

I might've missed it.. but do we have any info/impressions on the acoustic effect of placing a "dynamat donut" on the driver?

 

Yeah you can remove the spider before dynamat.

I hope you are able to utilize that small sample you ordered, it might not be enough. Post here when you mod it with the be-quiet sample, just curious to see if it was enough.

 

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...d650-dynamat-mods-proof-that-its-not-bs.2098/

 

Thanks to everyone for the helpful advice, especially over the past couple weeks. Finally had time today to do the community HD650 mods and thought I'd share some resources I found helpful, pictures, and a little about process.

Sennheiser HD650/HD600 Disassembly Tutorial




Materials Used

1. Xacto #1 knife with cap
2. Scissors (like these)
3. Fine-tipped gel pen
4. Cutting pad (like this)
5. Coins: quarter, dime, nickel
6. Cloth tape measurer
7. Plain paper for notes and to make patterns to use for repeat dampener pieces
8. Second Skin Damplifier Pro from sampler pack (used this instead of Dynamat Extreme for the reasons discussed here)

Coin Mod

Spoiler: Coin mod process

1. Ensure proper lighting behind the driver.
2. Center dime coin over driver.
3. Once centered, lightly trace around dime with fine-tipped pen.
4. Remove ear pads and lay foam on cutting pad.
5. Center nickel coin over the circle you traced around the dime.
6. Eyeball to ensure the nickel looks centered. (Can also measure distance of nickel to the edges of the foam if you care; I didn't.)
7. Press down nickel firmly.
8. Cut lightly with Xacto knife around the nickel. Did maybe 2-3 passes to ensure a clean cut. I found it easier to spin the cutting pad itself rather than try to spin the foam.
9. Replace foam/pads.

Removal of Rear Foam and Spider Cage

Spoiler: Rear foam and spider cage removal process

Rear foam removal: Covered in the first post of this thread. Others have pointed out this is reversible if you're patient.

Spider cage removal: This is irreversible. Per recent helpful suggestions here, I used small, side-flush wire cutters to remove the spider cage after rear foam removal. Any remnants of the spider cage nubbies were easy to clip off to make that plastic ring flush with the magnet for later dampener treatment. Remember to cut the spider cage off while the cup is upside down.

Stealth Driver and Baffle Damping








Ninja vanish!




The original size of this piece of Damplifier Pro from my sampler pack was 3" by 3.25". I dampened both sides of my HD650 without using a single piece of dampener with the logo showing on the foil. There is also a piece of Damplifier (1mm vs. Pro's 2mm) included in the pack.

Spoiler: Dampener application process

1. The donut is the hardest, the most time-consuming and will be the ugliest. This is because you need to use the Xacto instead of scissors (if you care about a somewhat clean edge), and it's hard to cut through the bottom paper through the foil on other side with the Xacto.
   • Use a quarter for the outer diameter of the donut. This ensures the outer edge of the donut is flush with the plastic ring around the magnet (where the spider cage used to connect).
   • The inner diameter of the donut (for the vent) is almost identical to the base of the Xacto knife I linked to above. I traced that knife base with my pen once I had the outer donut hole cut out.
   • I had to make multiple passes with the Xacto from the bottom (paper side). Then, once I could see the marks from my cuts on the paper side showing up on the foil layer, I flipped the piece over, placed the coin on the foil layer within those marks and did more Xacto passes around the coin on that side. Eventually you can push the donut out, and trim the excess dampener that oozed out.
2. I used scissors for each piece except the donut.
3. The dampening material is rather malleable. As you press down to cut around a coin or patterns you make, the adhesive will ooze out even if you had a clean edge before. Use the Xacto to trim these edges up when that happens. Once this is done, you can reshape the edges a bit.
4. Ensure that you wipe down the plastic you'll be applying dampener to with a slightly damp rag and dry off before applying. This helps the adhesive to seat better.
5. Remember the adhesive needs to be room temperature or warmer to be properly applied. (Some car audio installers use heat guns and metal rollers when installing this stuff on a car's sheet metal.)
6. Create patterns with paper for the pieces around the lollipop and around the edges of the baffle as you'll need multiples of those.
   
7. A couple measurements:
   • The lollipop rectangle piece I used is about 5/16" by 15/16"
   • The pieces on the outer edge of the driver housing in the middle are ~5/16" squares.

 

Damn, that looks clean. Great job!

 

Mine looks like a six year old did it.

 

I have been listening for a week now to my HD650 with a bigger hole (check attached picture). The results are good that I'd recommend it over the standard nickle coin hole size. It sounds more open and less veiled and the sound field is larger. It also doesn't introduce any distortions in the treble that is associated with removing the pads completely; I think most of the treble nasty sound is from the plastic mounting ring from the pads and the plastic lollipop stick on the driver.

 

Does anyone use EQ with their Hd650s? I've been playing around with EasyQ for the last few days and I'd been interested in hearing other experiences with EQ. Funny thing is I keep going back to flat, the 650 doesn't seem to have anything abhorrent I have to kill in the FR.

 

I use EQ off and on all the time.

What I found is don't attempt to EQ bass it will either clip if you boost (even if it doesn't clip it will distort in other ways) or cause veil when you drop the treble to (boosting by attenuating bass).

Modest EQ to the treble doesn't hurt fidelity much, I only boost treble, since most music won't max out on the Amplitude, cutting treble again causes veil.

 

I do EQ.
https://imgur.com/rAuoVsh

I found the midbass bump a bit too much on some songs so this is the result. Really happy with the result.

Oh and on the note of fidelity in regards to EQ, for the love of god don't use a shelf on the bass. Anything even remotely close to subbass distorts crazy quick on these headphones.

 

Are yours stock or modded? I've done the standard front rear mods with Dynamat and use the bass boost on my micro-iDSD (affects mostly sub-bass) with good result on songs that sound rolled off. Don't hear too much distortion. Just the slight woolliness that was already there (though improved over stock by the Dynamat).