HD800 re-tuning project...

Welp, first of all, I'd like to thank @Marvey for providing me with a pair of HD800 with only some very minor stuffs missing.

I do have plans to make a custom headphone using the HD800 drivers, but... seeing as I don't have much time for rigorous R&D right now, what would be more interesting would be for me to put the headphone back together as is, and try to figure out whether a sufficient replacement can be made for the missing parts. Namely:

1) The metal screen material <- finding a replacement for this will undoubtedly affect bass performance
2) The front filter cloth in front of the driver <- finding a replacement for this will undoubtedly affect treble performance

And hence... this thread is opened as a "diary" or "thought dump" for the various things I'll do to this HD800 in my spare time in order to find a replacement for the above two things.

Will I out-engineer Sennheiser? Certainly not. But I'm sure I'll make them laugh.

This is mostly for fun and science.



Teaser: I have actually successfully replaced the metal mesh on HD6xx headphones (read: I have successfully destroyed my pair of HD600). However, the mesh on the HD800 is a bit more... exposed so it requires more careful consideration for material, but for now, that's what I'm doing.

 

Some guy did it before & put the drivers into a closed back wooden headphone frame

http://www.head-fi.org/t/650510/the-new-hd800-impressions-thread/16590#post_11272520


I think he only posted one impression afterwards.

 

Yeah...

I actually went to meet him in person, listened to that headphone, and measured it myself.

That's how I know the HD800 is not beyond redemption. It's definitely not a face tweeter by nature.

And that's also why I've had this idea to re-shell it for a while. He had constraints going with a closed-back design, but an open-back design will probably retain most of the HD800's nature, and at the same time sound better. Or if not "better", at least closer to an "even" response.

 

Alright, folks...

Here is test number 1 and its results.







This headphone will go to @Marvey next week, whenever post office opens. My measurements are pretty primitive because I have since abandoned a measurement rig that shows too much (since I mostly care about FR more than much else). Hopefully, his will show more than this.

 

Soooo...semi cloased back now? Felt in back with paper towel? in front?

 

Glad to see you on board with an 800!

I find the 800 always missing the bass meatyness.
It always seems to go too quick.

So hoping you can dial this baby in with more sub-bass..

 

Hey Bill, how do you remove the stainless steel mesh? What kind of glue do sennheiser used?
Is it some kind of double sided tape like audeze earpads, 3M tape or did they use glue?

 

Me all excited to have a new thread by @Bill-P and it ends up being someone bringing out his shovel and digging up a 2016 thread.

Custom cans has a video disassembling them. Google.

 

Ploughing. Brings good stuff to the surface. Not a bad thing!