Need HD 800S help FAST!

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by Tyll Hertsens, Mar 3, 2016.

  1. fierce_freak

    fierce_freak Friend

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    I thought the measurements on sd + a sbaf looked pretty good. Lower levels overall (almost like everything was generally attenuated a small bit). Smoother overall, but I'm not the most practiced at reading headphone measurements and am probably not interpreting correctly. Too dead, maybe?

    -edit- I think I see it. Mids drop too much prior to the 6khz peak
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2016
  2. TMoney

    TMoney Shits on SBAF over at Head-Case to be cool

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    300hz sq. wave and impulse response with SD+SBAF seem to be the worst in the measurement book. Lots of noise on both.

    The more I flip through the measurement book the more I have to give it up for @sorrodje. That is one heck of a mod, man. The 800+SD mod is startlingly better than my 800S (#01070).
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2016
  3. fierce_freak

    fierce_freak Friend

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    Thanks TMoney. I'll have to give it a try since I have the material, but probably not going to be the end point it seems.

    I'd like to see more on the dot mod. Also Tyll, do you have one of the cork rings incoming?
     
  4. smithj

    smithj Acquaintance

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    The dot mod looks interesting but I'm a little confused. So to install it, you put:
    - One at the bottom of the black plastic frame, furthest away from the fabric mesh protective screen.
    - One at the top of the plastic frame behind the screen. So this is covered by the fabric mesh.
    - One on top of the screen in front of the plastic frame. So not covered by anything and is adhered to the fabric mesh.
     
  5. Tyll Hertsens

    Tyll Hertsens Grandpappy of the hobby - Special Friend

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  6. bazelio

    bazelio Friend

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    Thanks for the great write-up Tyll, and props to the SBAF community for stepping up. Wow, just awesome stuff all around!

    I see a HD 800 S pair in my near future...
     
  7. chakku

    chakku Friend

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    Now I'd be interested to see measurements for the cork mod.
     
  8. sorrodje

    sorrodje Carla Bruni's other lover - Friend

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    hahaha. the dots are one of my attempts indeed but it did not bring best results IME. I didn"t try with a dot at the bottom though. could be interesting to investigate indeed.


    Let's remember the full Story to understand why I finally went to the current mod.

    First, Senn released the HD800S and then all DIY community, especially on SBAF thought : "WTF what did Senn put in that fuckin hole ? . Purrin was the first to use his bastardized HD800 to do some attempts . that was really super promising :

    [​IMG]

    http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...ks-and-experiments-a-la-hd800s.352/#post-8028

    But the access to the hole of glory in a regular HD800 was looking forbidden right. the Screen didn't look easy to remove without destroying a 1K TOL headphone. Then Agnostic1er from France discovered that screen was glued and easy to peel off. he opened the way and began to work to find a DIY manner to mimic what Senn did in the HD800S. I did the same and pull off the screen on my HD800 as well. I bought the HD800S as soon as Jan Meier opened orders and received it in late december.

    then I gave a look to the resonator... and fortunately for me , I forgot to do what Tyll did... to look through the HD800S with a flashlight. so we began to work without any idea of what the resonator really was. I tried to look in , I tried to touch it with my fingers nail and I thought it was a kind cylinder or donught made of soft foam with a hole in the middle.

    First attemps basically was open cell foam pushed in the hole and a strand to make the hole : Here's Agnostic1er's one but I made the same.

    [​IMG]

    Results was good but i was still thinking the material was some soft foam... like... complys !! Then we talked on Changstar IRC with Frenchbat and Frenhcbat suggested shure L tips should be big enough to fit in the hole...

    Alleluiah... I cut a slice of thos tips and measured ... we got something !

    [​IMG]

    The result was better than anything previously : - 4db @6khz :

    [​IMG]

    Green is Tip mod, Red Stock HD800 and blue HD800S.. the main drawback is that the 4 khz is affected as well.

    this first SD resonator remains still somewhat valid and the easier way to DIY but curiosity was still alive. I looked better in the HD800S and discovered the resonator wasn't a cylinder ( I still didn"t think to look through... remember I'm retarded) but a cavity. so I thought there was space for improvement and I began to think to close the top of the hole with a disc drilled with a hole.

    I had definitely specs in Mind though. the final mod should respect some rules : Somewhate easy to DIY , easy to install AND remove by hand WITHOUT any tools, measurably good and the mod had to offer consistent result. Indeed , the tip was good but not that consistent. I bastardized dozens of Tips and didn"t find the precise specs to cut it... measurements was a bit all over the place. Last but not least, the final mod should offer a result as close as possible to what HD800S offers.

    So, I tried different things including dots proposed by tyll. I don't give you the list of all what I tried cuz it's long and boring but the main problem was to maintain reliably the material on top of the hole. For example, dots Tyll is suggesting are not that easy to maintain in place AND let them easy to remove ;) and the result was not that better than the tip which is so easy to make. I also tried Rubber plumbing seals like that :

    [​IMG]

    Finally i came back to the good ol' creatology foam we all know and cut the top ring you know. Actually , the felt ring was only intended to maintain the creatology on top of the hole... When I measured the Creato + felt the result was better than the tip . what a lucky move :)

    Then I tried open cell foam of various density and shape including melamine but felt ring was stil better.

    Last question was about the size of the hole drilled in creatology on top. Senn resonator exhibited a 7mm hole and mine was 6. I tried 7 but results was not better. for the bottom I didnt know what Senn used in the HD800 so the idea to close the bottom with some creatology came in my mind. but the result was not better !... I thought a bit ( I'm retarded but obstinate) and wonder if the size of the cavity was enough with the creatology foam at the bottom. so the second attempt was with the paper... you know the end of the story : http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...superdupont-resonator.1147/page-11#post-34846.

    What's funny is how the final results that 's somewhat a very good result is the result of a mix of mistakes , luck and curiosity.

    BTW, I'm convinced a more ackowledged DIYfier with a good brain and good tools could improve the mod. I'm more a retarded (but enthusiastic ! ) hobbyist than a real diyfier to be honest.

    Sorry for typos and mispellings and bad english ;)
     
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2016
  9. chakku

    chakku Friend

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    Yeah after poking at my resonator I thought it was just a soft foam ring in there as well, Tyll actually got me curious enough to stick a flashlight in behind it and made me facepalm at the fact that I didn't think of that.
     
  10. Darsus

    Darsus Insatiable bowels - Member

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    "Tweaked, delightful, bargain at 1700$, best sounding headphones..." I'd be super pissed if I worked for Sennheiser.
     
  11. Fapman

    Fapman New

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    Why?
     
  12. cizx

    cizx Friend

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    because irony.
     
  13. McPanse

    McPanse New

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    This seems as good a place as any for my question: if you were still inside Amazon 30-day return window for a pair of HD800 headphones for which you paid $1,100, would you exchange them for the HD800S?

    For a frame of reference, I auditioned the PM2 and HD800 and found the PM2 to be unnaturally bass heavy. I actually found the PM3 to offer a better balanced, more natural presentation.

    I'm not often bothered by the HD800's notorious treble spike, but I would gladly trade some of their detail for a bit more warmth.
     
  14. chakku

    chakku Friend

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    If you want a little more warmth and less 'fake' or 'exaggerated' detail then I think the HD800S is exactly what you're looking for.
     
  15. lukeap69

    lukeap69 Pinoy Panther

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    How can detail be fake? Is the headphone creating it?
     
  16. chakku

    chakku Friend

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    By giving the impression that more detail is there, just like a darker headphone may sound veiled or lacking detail/clarity.
     
  17. lukeap69

    lukeap69 Pinoy Panther

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    Creating illusion eh?
     
  18. chakku

    chakku Friend

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    Pretty much. I also believe frequency response can contribute to the illusion of wider headstage, albeit a very minuscule contribution compared to physical placement of the driver and the shape of the cup around the sealed area between the driver and ear. (Eg. recessed upper midrange making vocals quieter - can make them seem a little further away in certain headphones)
     

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