Sennheiser HD650 modification frenzy

[Andi]

I just took delivery of a new pair of HD650s. I liked the sound as soon as I saw the lovely silver box, plugged them in on a track I've been working on and started browsing to see what burn-in recommendations might be out there. I'm absolutely amazed at the huge amount of information about modifying these cans - removing foam to boost bass, open the high end etc, changing ear pads to those from other models to change fit to change bass response, upgrading cable to sharpen transients. Now mine are a brand-new upgrade from my beloved HD250s, and straight out of the can they taste pretty good to me, but you know, I'd have thought that Sennheiser (€1/2 Billion company?) might have made SOME effort to get it right

[Matt Houghton]

Ignore all that stuff. They're good cans. Just use them a lot or leave a signal playing through them for a few days and that should take account of any major 'burn in' issues. (Whether that's required is debatable, but mine seemed to 'settle down' over the first few weeks. You need to get used to the sound of them anyway, which means playing lots of reference material... so it's not exactly time lost. And listening to good music is no chore either!

I really like the 650s. Excellent, open mid-range and top-end clarity. Good separation. Comfortable & lightweight. Good, long cable supplied as standard.

My only real criticism is that I don't like what they do at the bass end on busy transient-rich pop/rock stuff. Not bad, by any means, and it's barely noticeable on acoustic styles (classical, jazz, folk...) but a couple of other models, both around the same street price or higher seem to do that particular thing a bit better (though not all of those are the equal of the 650s in other respects!). And it's certainly not been enough of an issue for me to sell them and upgrade!

[Bob Bickerton]

Yes, I'm really happy with mine.

I suspect that the modifications will make them sound 'different' - as to whether they will sound 'better' will be directly proportional to the cost of the modification in the eyes, or should that be ears, of the listener!

Bob

[Zukan]

Andi, don't get bogged down with all these mods....Use them as they are. I could mod everything I bought if I really wanted to.

There aren't many cans that will do realy justice to low end at that price, and even the more expensive ones have a hard time referencing the low end.

You can do a good 70-80% of your mix with the 650s but then you do need to check them against a set of monitors.

[Andi]

Thanks for the replies folks, just to be clear I have no intention of modding them, I'm simply amazed by the prevalence of the idea that things can be "improved" by a bit of general hacking. The foam discs in my HD250s perished and refurbishing them made them so much better ballanced, but I was reading online suggestions to remove those discs to "improve" top end.

This all said, I'm actually suffering slight doubts about my choice. Perhaps foolishly I tried them last night to do some work on a track recorded by someone else where I really don't like the synthetic bass and kick sounds and ended-up feeling that the bottom is quite euphoric. When I tried-out cans I did try a pair of DT880 Pros and felt that I didn't like them as much as the HD650s, but as Sod's law would have it they were in different shops so I couldn't try a back to back. I'm seriously considering ordering a pair of the Beyers and doing a few hours comparative listening with the intention that I will return either pair. HDs sound truly wonderful higher up the range though.

A.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Judging from previous posts I think Andi is far too sensible to be taken in with all these internet mods. As you say, they will certainly make the phones sound different, but that isn't the same as being better, and if Sennheiser's R&D process had shown that the foam wasn't needed they wouldn't have put it in!

I remember years back in the pre-internet days a very popular and generally fairly respected UK hi-fi magazine carried an article about how much better your loudspeakers would sound if you pulled out all the wadding inside! Needless to say, such action certainly made the speakers sound very different, and hundreds of people up and down the country wrecked their speakers doing as they were advised. The manufacturers weren't best pleased and I remember some fairly terse letters being published, from both the manufacturers and from the readers when they eventually realised the error of their ways....

The moral is that most manufacturers know what they are doing and design good products for the price. If you want better, spend more!

hugh

[Andi]

I may print and frame that