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Author Topic: New upcoming HD800 mod... Rabid Dawg ][ (anax 3.0)  (Read 82756 times)

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IamwutIam

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Re: New upcoming HD800 mod... Rabid Dawg ][ (anax 3.0)
« Reply #100 on: March 20, 2013, 06:23:07 PM »

So my HD800s made their appearance this morning, but my ALO cable has'nt shown up yet , so other than trying them on for "fit" I'll just let them rest in their case for the time being..

I'm not familiar w/ ALO cable so it'll be interesting to see how it compares to the DHC cables I use w/ my other phones. (Love the DHC cables, hate having to wait several months for them. Great product, not so great business. Kind of a shame, but he has plenty of "fans" over on "Head Job,er Fi" so I think he does alright)

Wait a minute... WTF these Headphones are opened back !!! Not a problem where's my duct tape ?

Don't worry about beta testers just tell me where to send the money. What is the word that Tyll use s ? "Take ownership" ? I don't know Tyll but he seems pretty cool w/ his very positive attitude. If he got in a bar fight & started losing , I wouldn't kick him when he was down like some friends would . As soon as the guys beating him up were a block or two away I'd help him back onto his stool . ( I don't know how this ties into anything about the mod, I just wanted to demonstrate my personal integrity I guess.. Yea, that sounds good !)

Should I try to take a listen to these cans "raw" I'll drop back in & share some of my early impressions. Later
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IamwutIam

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Re: New upcoming HD800 mod... Rabid Dawg ][ (anax 3.0)
« Reply #101 on: March 20, 2013, 10:48:24 PM »

It appears that the USPS is not going to show with my ALO cable for my new cans. So I decided to brave & give these cans a listen using the Sennheiser "we don't want the headphones to sound as good as they can to people who can tell the difference , because then we won't sell as many of the High End Headphone Amps we're selling now" cable.

They are'nt half bad (with almost $10k of equipment in front of them) (it's funny how you worry more about how things will sound the more $ you sink into your system) It only took a minute or two to hear how the headphone cable is restricting the HFs , you can predict when you're going to encounter the the treble tightness is going to show up by how dynamic the musical phrases are building. The lower frequencies are actually pretty nice for a set of phones w/ no play time on them. I know that the headphone cable is a culprit here as I've heard these sound characteristics from other cans before they were "fixed" by giving them real cables. I can see if someone was listening to music through a DAC that Upsamples they might have to go to the Emergency Room to stop their ears from bleeding.

So , does this mean that I will skip modding these puppies ? No , as good as these phones sound now (& I'm relieved about that) I'm pretty sure they can be exceptional w/ a real cable & a little design correction. The HD800 are great headphones but Sennheiser needed to go a few more steps to finish them . What is left to be done is really next to nothing compared to how very good they can be for this effort.

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Anaxilus.

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Re: New upcoming HD800 mod... Rabid Dawg ][ (anax 3.0)
« Reply #102 on: March 20, 2013, 10:54:35 PM »

Just wanted to add that the rate of progress has been slower than expected recently as I'm spending a lot of time and effort helping with Leviathan development.  Hang in there!   :)p1
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fierce_freak

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Re: New upcoming HD800 mod... Rabid Dawg ][ (anax 3.0)
« Reply #103 on: March 21, 2013, 04:30:28 PM »

]pics and color/finish?

http://i46.tinypic.com/2agkgg9.jpg

All matte carbon and candy apple. The red came out darker than expected (more brick than candy), but it's growing on me.

Hopefully squeeze in the time to mod them this weekend ;D
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IamwutIam

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Re: New upcoming HD800 mod... Rabid Dawg ][ (anax 3.0)
« Reply #104 on: March 21, 2013, 05:01:07 PM »

One of the things I found out , with my short listen, is the HD800s don't appear to be much harder to drive then the HD700s are.

I like my Burson Soloist , but the only HPs that I have any amount of volume "range" w/ have been the HiFiman HE-6s (I don't know what to make of people who are using the medium gain setting on the Soloist for any headphones ; Using the low gain setting w/ the attenuator at 1 o'clock w/ the HE-6s is loud to me , I probably couldn't listen at 2) (I know you're asking"why is this talking about his amp & other phones ?" I'm getting to that) I like the HE-6s but they literally give me serious neck discomfort & though they are more open sounding then the 800s I like the 800s orchestral soundstage portrayal a bit more , their comfort level give them the the complete win for me. (Alright now I'll get to my reason for posting here)

Does the mod seem to have much effect on the HD800s sensitivity. In other words are you able to give them a little more volume then before, before you feel the urge to back it off some ? (I'm really trying to delay switching to a tube headphone amp...for a little while, at least ! Is there any way to lower the input sensitivity (this will be a must feature on my next amp) on my Soloist ?)

Thanks (Has anyone started a "Lets build a real headphone to put the HE-6 drivers into" yet ?)
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Anaxilus.

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Re: New upcoming HD800 mod... Rabid Dawg ][ (anax 3.0)
« Reply #105 on: March 21, 2013, 05:46:54 PM »

If one were to increase volume to add more bass to balance a hotter treble presence, then yes the mod should even out the FR so you would need less compensation to attain slightly more more bottom end presence at the same gain.  So while sensitivity is unchanged mechanically in the headphone, there could be a perceived increase in sensitivity based on a better equal loudness contour.
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IamwutIam

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Re: New upcoming HD800 mod... Rabid Dawg ][ (anax 3.0)
« Reply #106 on: March 22, 2013, 10:57:15 PM »

Sorry, to be rude....Thanks.

Being the impatient sort , I'll probably go the tube headamp route "sooner than later"... ( a trade in on my HD700s & Burson Soloist should be a start on the "tube" unit ... I'll have to start checking out what's new at Tubemongers these days.) ( I didn't dislike the HD700s nearly as much as a few of you did.) The DHC cables do help a lot though & I also think Senns are'nt at their best if you're listening through a player or DAC that Upsamples. Much better than the "dark" Beyerdynamic sound ( which it turn out sounds a little less dark playing "Upsampled" material)

Later
« Last Edit: March 23, 2013, 01:21:34 AM by IamwutIam »
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IamwutIam

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Re: New upcoming HD800 mod... Rabid Dawg ][ (anax 3.0)
« Reply #107 on: March 25, 2013, 09:55:03 PM »

I did "Tyll's" version (Creatology sticky back foam, dbl sided adesive sheets & felt & the narrow ring template ) this afternoon . The rings are'nt as "pretty" as I would have liked , but I bought enough of everything for another try or two. This first try is in the phones & I seem to thing I gained another "click of volume" on my Soloist headamp w/o the upper mids getting to much edge.

So my question is are the mod rings that I placed on top of the HPs speaker ring supposed to be slightly smaller than the rings they're sitting on ? (In this version)

All this aside, I am still interested in the "mod kit" when it become available !
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omegakitty

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Re: New upcoming HD800 mod... Rabid Dawg ][ (anax 3.0)
« Reply #108 on: March 25, 2013, 10:01:26 PM »

It appears that the USPS is not going to show with my ALO cable for my new cans. So I decided to brave & give these cans a listen using the Sennheiser "we don't want the headphones to sound as good as they can to people who can tell the difference , because then we won't sell as many of the High End Headphone Amps we're selling now" cable.

Brave you are. Give that cable a few hundred hours to oxidize then try it again. Sound will be even bettar.
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Maxvla

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Re: New upcoming HD800 mod... Rabid Dawg ][ (anax 3.0)
« Reply #109 on: March 25, 2013, 10:10:10 PM »

]pics and color/finish?

http://i46.tinypic.com/2agkgg9.jpg

All matte carbon and candy apple. The red came out darker than expected (more brick than candy), but it's growing on me.

Hopefully squeeze in the time to mod them this weekend ;D
Looks nice. Matches my new GS-X.
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