The Unthinkable Has Happened: The Sennheiser HD700 is now listenable. The HD750 mod.

Has anyone else tried these mods?

It seems to me that the earpad mod and the foam backwave-damping mod are primarily aimed at modifying the bass response. But I rather like the bass on the HD700, and in fact, prefer it to that of the HD800. Also, it is not clear to me that the pleather surfaces on the earpads have anything to do with the treble peaks? And very frankly, I am not quite ready to cut up my earpads. lol. So I decided to skip those mods, at least for now...

On the other hand, the filter-paper mod is incredibly easy, cheap and completely reversible, so decided to go for it. It's only been about a week, but I really like what I am hearing. To my ears, it has largely eliminated the edginess. The treble is smoothed out and the mid-range is correspondingly slightly enhanced, so I am a happy camper.

And maybe later I will buy a couple cheap on-ear foam pads and try the backwave-damping mod to see what that does to the sound.

 

The pad mod is the primary implement for getting rid of the 6kHz peak as both the pleather behind the pads and the foam inside them reflect sound back at the driver. The filter paper simply reduces the upper range emphasis overall; it doesnt target any specific frequency range.

The backwave damping helps wrangle the bass a bit though.

 

This is good to know. So eventually I think I will have to purchase another pair of ear pads and give this a try. But in the meantime, simply attenuating the highs has made these cans much more enjoyable. Thanks!

 

OK, picked up a second set of pads and did some cutting and sewing. I didn't measure out a long enough piece of thread to finish sewing the bottom one in the picture below, so had to tie in a second piece, It sure isn't pretty, but it certainly does the trick. The pad mod plus the filter-paper mod have transformed the 700 into a significantly better headphone. The mid range is smoothed out, and to my ears, the entire presentation sounds cleaner and more transparent. Count me as one very happy camper.

Cheers

 

Glad to see someone else trying this. Good going.

 

Where are the f'ing measurements?

 

I have a cheap multimeter, what would you like me to measure?

But seriously, I do not possess the kind of equipment necessary to make such measurements. Do you? If so, please send it to me, along with a detailed tutorial in how to make such measurements, and I will be happy to oblige.

 

He,he, he that was a pretty "gracious" response , to a pretty raucously "phrased" question (Even if do happen to actually know the the person who asked !)

( I apologize if I'm just acting like a Curmudgeon ; & that would be due to the fact I probably am one ) (As that Hippie, Pacifist, John Lenon would say "Peace" ...)

 

Haha, sorry, I wasn't addressing yourself, I was mainly responding to takato's efforts in the tone of voice that he usually employs. I thought he was sending his pair to Tyll for measurements months ago? Regardless, I do have built myself a measurement rig, it's a relatively simple effort and a $75 mic (cheaper than most shitty headphones, minidsp UMIK-1). If you're into modding, I wouldn't waste another cent in headphones and go for the rig first.

 

If I was serious about modding headphones, I would definitely ask for more information about your measurement rig. But to be honest I am a copycat. I prefer to let you, Takato and others do all the heavy lifting.

 

I still need to send them to Tyll.

Admittedly I've been putting it off since I'm sending the modded SS-100, RP18, and modded 10-II with it. Which leaves me without any good headphones.

I finished mods on my Pioneer SE-500, which now sounds good, so I'll get them packed up soon. Expect measurements by christmas. Sort of like my gift to the community... except not since I'm not actually doing anything.

 

Any updates on the measurements? I really like my hd700, but as my hearing became more discerning, I am noticing the recessed mids and the treble peak. I'm scared to mod the earpads without more evidence that this mod works though. Thanks.

 

I have mostly recovered from my yuletide poverty and the headphones are packed up and ready to go. Sending this Monday providing Tyll is prepared. I really wanted to send it earlier but I just couldn't swing it cuz I suck at managing money.

Will post links as soon as I have permission. I'll send them on a loaner tour after I get them back.

 

Hi everybody,

As I was really disapointed by the HD700 (I had the HD598 on better opinion to be honest), I tried the mod for pads and also added a black paper in front of the driver (see photos below).

As far as I tested it (not that long, I would say 1-2 hours), there is indeed an improvement. However, I wouldn't say that it makes the HD700 the one I want to listen all day/night long. I may add the foam at the back of the driver mod too, because treble still look like a bit high, in my opinion. It feels like the whole response is not properly balanced.
The best comes from lows, they are way better now : subtle, not too much, not too recessed, very well done.

I want to thank takato14 who investigated that much into this headphone, it makes me feel more comfortable having it on my head . Also, big, big shout for his job with the needle and the wire ! My attempt was way worst .



https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3Lq8TVpuYffZ0NxOXEzUUtNX0k/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3Lq8TVpuYffakx3Z2h0ZHJULXM/view?usp=sharing

@takato14 I think that my bad job with the pad mod is not of a problem, but I would like your confirmation. My opinion about the mod was to remove the reflecting pleather, so, even though it is ugly, it should work, isn't it ?

 

Tyll is at CES. Sending next monday instead.

And regarding the pads, Valolilol, its not just the pleather that reflects but also the memory foam inside the pads as well. I can't see your pictures but ideally you'd keep as little pad over the driver as possible. However, this only works at the peak at 6kHz, I'm not sure what kind of paper you used for the frontwave damping but you need quite a thick layer to get the treble down to a proper level.

 

Okay great then, thank you for the answer. I am going to add more paper layer. This kind of paper comes out of some headphone's boxes and sorry for images, for some reasons there are not available. I need to investigate (not use to this feature).
Thank you also for pads, I thought the foam wasn't playing such an important role too, I'll try to fix my bad job.

 

Alright, I got a bit impatient and did the earpad mod. OMGG it works! There were some Chinese flute music that I couldn't stand on this headphone because they sounded screechy. Now they are actually nice to listen to! I just finished modding them so don't have other impressions, but this mod seems to really work for the treble peak. They also feel more comfortable now because there's more space for my ears. It's kind of sad that Sennheiser mess up their headphone when it's such a simple issue to fix. Pictures below.

 

I've also noticed that the headphones are less fatiguing in general and I can turn the volume higher. Voices on some songs sound a bit more textured.

 

For the paper filters, I found these surgical masks in a local drug store which seem to be about the same as Tak's. Perhaps you can find something similar in your home town.

 

@gibosi Thank you very much dude, I'll try to investigate on my side as I am living in Germany .