Modding the Sennheiser pc350 headset - Page 18

sorry for the dub post

I registered just to tell you how amazing this mod is. Blew me away.

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical of this mod in its entirety at first, but seeing as I was getting nowhere trying to EQ my PC350 for a better soundstage I decided to go ahead with this mod today. And holy mother of GOD. The bass is mindblowing. I absolutely love it. The only downside is perhaps games will take a little longer to get used to due to the overwhelming bass, but my HT Omega Striker 7.1 comes with an EQ with the driver, so I'll be sure to set those appropriately when playing games I suppose. Guess it's sort of a trade-off hehe.

I might have to dampen it out (since I have 3 holes, 1/8), but even without the dampening, music has never sounded so good. Took a while to get the right EQ settings on Winamp, but if anyone's interested I'll post my Winamp EQ preferences.

Here's the link: http://www.mediafire.com/?npltcytnlzcce76

Like I said, sounds amazing, but it might need some dampening. I might also look into different earpads as mine are beginning to wear and tear. D: PXC 450 earpads work? Otherwise a very happy camper with the results! Thanks to the OP, saved me quite a bit of money.

-wookie847

Does anyone have any ideas as to how to open the volume control? There seem to be no screws or any other ways of getting it open.

Anyone? :)

Hey guys what is the best way to mod my PC350? I'm thinking about doing the 2 small holes in the side.

I'm just wondering how does this 2 hole in the side mod sound compared to other mods and what do you guys think is the best way to mod the PC350 cause I really don't want to screw up my only good headset lol.

I believe the best would be making the holes on side because there is more space for air to move without causing any additional noise. 

Then control the amount of bass by adding/removing cotton or some similar material.

I've been planning to seal original holes that I made and put new ones on side to test if it improves SQ. Just haven't had time and tools available.

Hey guys,

Since my pc350 successfully went into oblivion because of the problems I described before and my request regarding spare parts is still not resolved I'm thinking about buying a new pair of 350, but recently I came across the info about the "open" version - Senn PC360. Does anybody own this headset? Did you compare it to 350? so basically I need to know if new headset can provide the same experience as modded 350 or it's  better to get another pair of proven 350?   

Aceolus I don't think it makes any difference, the main idea of the mod is to free air from the small can and let it go into the bigger one thus enhancing soundstage and bass, but making holes on the side wall to me is the same as making them on the top i.e. it's the same. Damping inner space with cotton will be more efficient in changing the sound, imho.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mastermind 

Hey guys,

 

Since my pc350 successfully went into oblivion because of the problems I described before and my request regarding spare parts is still not resolved I'm thinking about buying a new pair of 350, but recently I came across the info about the "open" version - Senn PC360. Does anybody own this headset? Did you compare it to 350? so basically I need to know if new headset can provide the same experience as modded 350 or it's  better to get another pair of proven 350?   

I think you'll like the PC360 better, every review that has come out of Europe like them better then the PC350.  They are "Open" so the sound stage is larger but they let in a bit of outside noise.  I plan on buying them as soon as they hit Amazon's website and will be using them for PC Gaming and sometimes listening to music while working on my PC.  They should hit retailers soon for under $260 as that is the current direct price for them from Sennheiser.

Guys, would you recommend doing this mod now that you look back on it?

I'm wondering if it's worth it or not, it looks like it is but maybe now that you've had time to really hear these modded cans out, would you rather go back to the unmodded version?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pine 

Guys, would you recommend doing this mod now that you look back on it?

I'm wondering if it's worth it or not, it looks like it is but maybe now that you've had time to really hear these modded cans out, would you rather go back to the unmodded version?

Definitely. Had I any thoughts of regret, I would voice my opinion here immediately. However, I do not. Countless hours of gaming, music and movies - all that I've said about Hero's mod still rings true. If my modded PC 350 would break, had the PC 360 not been released, I would buy another pair of PC 350's and do the Hero's mod on them again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaawa 

Definitely. Had I any thoughts of regret, I would voice my opinion here immediately. However, I do not. Countless hours of gaming, music and movies - all that I've said about Hero's mod still rings true. If my modded PC 350 would break, had the PC 360 not been released, I would buy another pair of PC 350's and do the Hero's mod on them again.

I totally agree with this, the mod give so much more depth to the sound.

I had chance to listen unmodded PC350 and I was surprised on how bad they sounded. I had grown used to how my pair sounded that didn't remember how it was originally. Though that pair weren't even burned in I don't think even that makes it sound much better.

I would have sold my pair if I didn't find this post, because I was really disappointed on the sound.

If you have a chance, test the headphones.

If you think that the sound needs a bit more bass or it seems dull, this mod will give it to you.

If you like how they sound and/or don't want to lose warranty, wait till it expires and then try modding. You won't lose anything and if you don't like the sound, it can be reversed by plugging the holes.

Hey guys,

I got back with a pair of new and shiny Sennheiser PC360. If you remember some time ago right driver in my 350 died, so upon discussing the issue with Senn representatives in my country I came to conclusion that buying a new pair of headphones will take less time and efforts. Actually I was thinking about new 350 but this item was out of stock in the store I usually buy. Since I did not want to wait and my wish to test 360 also was growing up so finally  I ended with 360. Of course, I could not stop from comparing with PC350 and checking what's inside of a new and "enhanced" version of 350 and find out if they are better or worse and if they need any further improvement.

PC360 belong to open type, which automatically means bigger soundstage, more airy sound, and noise from outside.   So, most significant difference, except the above said - PC360 comes with very comfortable velour earpads, mike can be turned on/off by simple moving it upwards/downwards, sound volume control is placed on the right can (it's cool but it's too lose, one may need to fix its position with a tape or something to avoid accidental volume change if take it to a lan party etc.), they seem to be not so heavy due to lack of metal parts, but sturdy. Overall build quality is basically the same as that of 350. 

Sound quality. The most interesting part;). As we all know main disadvantage of unmodded  PC360 was too "small" sound, so we had to release some air from the inner can (one more thanks to Ourfpshero, great job man!). At the same time PC360 is an open type so in theory they should sound better by default. But here is when surprise comes, sound stage was definitely better, sound was bright and clear, very crisp with great positioning. Overall quality is somewhere in the middle between unmodded 350 and modded one. BUT, frequency response was quite close to 350 - highs and mids were obviously dominating, while bass tended to be not so emphasized which was really surprising as there should not be any closed inner can inside. 

Upon some hesitating I opened them to see what actually influenced sound. I thought of two reasons - different type of  drivers, or some structural "improvements" from Senn, like in case with PC350  or HD 555. The whole process of getting inside is basically the same, but even easier -  working with screws and earpads. Inner structure of 360 is not so complex, as there was no need to seal everything due to open design. 

First I checked drivers, and yes, they are the same, from hd 595 - same look and model number. That was good, at least I could expect that  there is something that could be improved.

After studying the inner surface of the can I did not find anything that could influence sound, like extra foam pads in hd 555, so air cold go everywhere. However broken driver from pc 350 was lying in front of me and when I had another look at the driver from 360 I noticed that there was a subtle difference - 350 driver had a hole inside a magnet, while in 360 driver it was closed with some kind of adhesive paper. Wow, I thought, I bet this is what closes air inside the driver and then gently removed that paper and opened sealed hole.  And I was right , except for the open design that was another thing that prevented PC360 from sounding better.

Opening hole in the driver and adding some cotton (I liked damped sound more) allowed to make frequency response more even, sound became more solid with no obvious dominating of highs and mids. I would say soundstage also became a bit wider although I'm not 100% sure since it was wide enough before. Bass response improved as well, but not to that degree that we got after modding PC350. Closed design has its advantages and punchy bass is one of them.  I would tell bass sounded as if we did only one extra whole in pc350, something like that, but it was definitely better articulated than by default. 

Conclusions: Both 350 and 360 are great, especially after modding.  PC360 in total are more comfortable, especially it would become noticeable in hot summer like we had this year, as in PC350 my ears started to boil:) Another good point of open design is that I can control my speech, because in 350 sometimes I talked too loudly while playing bad company 2 with my clanmates, and my wife definitely did not like that))

Both are definitely worth buying and modding, but first you need to decide if you like open or closed design more - a bit more bass vs. more open and crisper sound.

P.S. I can add some pictures to show what exactly I removed while modding PC360 when I get back home.

P.P.S Looking forward to your responses and questions

Cool stuff Mastermind,

We surely want the pics! It's very nice of you to go explore the insides of the PC 360 and report with your findings, sounds like we're going to have another mod for that one straight away I've used the velour pads from the HD 595 on my PC 350 so far, and balanced the bass to their lesser isolation properties, so I'm wondering if my PC 350 is essentially as comfy and perhaps better sounding than the PC 360? Surely I'll have to test them in the future, but from what it sounds like - I'm not going to "need" the PC 360. My guess is that I'll be waiting for a similar headset with a completely new driver, or something like the HD 6XX driver perhaps.