Modding the Sennheiser pc350 headset - Page 30

I don't know exactly how long I've had them, definitely more than 3 years, but it might be as long as 5 years. I modded them a few months ago.

I have never used them at very high volume, neither before nor after doing the mod.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrNickRiviera 

I don't know exactly how long I've had them, definitely more than 3 years, but it might be as long as 5 years. I modded them a few months ago.

I have never used them at very high volume, neither before nor after doing the mod.

Did you use a hot poker of sorts to do the mod, or a drill? I mean, could something like a bit of scrap from drilling have gone into the driver enclosure through the holes, and it's now rattling there, or could you have poked too deep, too close to the driver's glued rim, to cause a bit of weakening in the adhesive and now after a few months of use the driver has started to rattle.

You might want to just blast the holes with pressured air (of course not too hard) to see if the rattling sound changes, to make sure it isn't a bit of scrap from anything. If nothing changes after a few tries, we're most likely dealing with permanent physical damage here :\

I used a sharp 2 mm drill bit, going slow so the shavings would end up as a long thread of plastic I could easily remove. I am quite here is nothing in the driver enclosure.

I also drilled the holes in the side of the enclosure, not the back (Porter style mod, pg 11 of this thread), so the bit would have to be really long to hit anything in there.

I just went back in there just to make sure there were no scraps I had missed (there weren't).

Then I decided to redo the dampening and to superglue the outer shell back on where the double sided tape had begun to fail (I had previously overpacked the dampening). I am quite sure the loose shell was not the source of the noise, I had noticed that during my last tests and the resonance effect did not change when I applied pressure.

However (and that's the great, fun, inexplicable, crazy part) despite all the work I did today only being cosmetic - the noise is gone. I just ran SignalGen again to make sure, and I can take volume up to really uncomfortable levels in the "trigger frequency range", there is no resonance.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrNickRiviera 

I used a sharp 2 mm drill bit, going slow so the shavings would end up as a long thread of plastic I could easily remove. I am quite here is nothing in the driver enclosure.

I also drilled the holes in the side of the enclosure, not the back (Porter style mod, pg 11 of this thread), so the bit would have to be really long to hit anything in there.

 

I just went back in there just to make sure there were no scraps I had missed (there weren't).

Then I decided to redo the dampening and to superglue the outer shell back on where the double sided tape had begun to fail (I had previously overpacked the dampening). I am quite sure the loose shell was not the source of the noise, I had noticed that during my last tests and the resonance effect did not change when I applied pressure.

 

However (and that's the great, fun, inexplicable, crazy part) despite all the work I did today only being cosmetic - the noise is gone. I just ran SignalGen again to make sure, and I can take volume up to really uncomfortable levels in the "trigger frequency range", there is no resonance.

That is a bit crazy yes :D But good to hear that the problem fixed itself! Too bad we didn't really learn anything from this :P

Hey everyone.  New to this forum because I came across this thread via a google search and saw this.  Here's my situation.

My PC/rig specs

DELL XPS 730x

O/S: Windows 7 (64-bit) SP1 (Service Pack 1)

6GB RAM

2 hard drives (300GB velociraptor @10k rpm; 1 TB @7.2k rpm)

Sound card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium PCI Express Sound Card

Video card:  nVidia GeForce GTX 280 1GB

Headphone set w/mic (previous): Logitech ClearChat Pro Wireless (USB)

Headphone set w/mic (current): Sennheiser PC 350 SE (Special Edition) wired w/ 2 x 3.5mm connectors

I originally bought the Logitechs (2010) because I was using them for conference calls at home using VoIP and using GoToMeeting on my PC.  Using them for gaming was not in mind at the moment.  But they worked out well.  Bought them in 2010.  Now what I did notice while playing solo a year or 2 later was some "warping" or "warbling" of music and or in-game temporarily (a few seconds) then back to normal.  Though if I walked further than say 20-30 ft, signal would degraded but that wasn't an issue.

Then when playing with people on line using TeamSpeak or Mumble they would mention to me that I was "popping" alot.  I didn't hear popping but they did.  So finally after a year later, I decided to upgrade or replace the Logitechs with the Sennheiser's.

I plugged the 2 3.5mm connectors to the front inputs of my DELL and was "underwhelmed" by the sound.  My Logitech's had the OOMPH and bass of explosions, and I could sense surround-sound while in-game.

Now after reading various threads about the Sennheisers they are quality sets (not that my Logitechs weren't but these are a higher grade quality) but my question is, do I really need a sound card WITH an amp to power these?  And which card is good for Windows 7?  I've read the the ASUS Xonar Essence STX Virtual 7.1 Channels PCI Express x1 Interface 124 dB SNR / Headphone AMP Card

may have some issues in Windows 7.

Also do I need to do this mod on my headsets?  Would suck if I have to and I just go them so don't want to void the 2yr warranty.  And finally, do I really need to "warm them up" or "burn them in" for a few hours/days before they sound like they're supposed to?

I play mostly FPS (1st-person shooters, either SP single-player and/or MP multi-player).

Thanks

Hi Jaramill,

  Remember that audio cards are likely to put out around 20Mw max. The Idea is not that you will have your head blown off, but, the quality and 'effieciency' (lower volume things in games being very audible) will impress.

I recommend an amp and bass mod if your going to use it for music though. Today I was listening to Wiley (UK Rap artist) with an average of 35Mw  which did blow my head off. I have yet to find the actual limit of the drivers. At 80Mw I am being damaged but cannot get the drivers to distort.

However, these headsets are very efficient and produce faithful reproduction at only 10Mw. If you want your head blown off then bass mod them and add an amp. (like I did)

[edit] just bass mod will fix it. These are for gamers.[/edit]

P.S the MIC  is awesome. (something never mentioned much in these threads.)

Hi Jaramill,

   In answer to your actual questions.

Yes, you have to burn them in.

Yes, if you want oomph in your bass you need to mod them

In reference to your other concerns.

positional audio (surround sound) is excellent and will not be affected.

bass by modding may stop from you hearing the footsteps of enemy round the corner (kinda why they nerfed the bass).

due to the very efficient nature of the Sennheiser drivers, you may hear many audio artifacts, due to imperfections of the original soundtrack or compression methods, that would make audio actually sound worse in some cases (compared to other headphones).

improved volume by a good amp

match any other high quality headphones for both bass and quality, when listening to music, when bass mod is applied.

Did I mention just how awesome the MIC is by the way? 

Thanks "badbod" for your replies.  I don't want to mod them per se, as so for now I've tweaked my audio card settings via the software and the bass is getting a little better now that I'm burning them in.  But the one thing I do NOT want to lose is the positional audio (i..e hearing footsteps of an enemy around the corner).  So I will deal with the "nerfed" bass of the headsets as they are.

I will definitely invest in an audio card with an on-board amp as my current one (Creative Labs Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium does not have one).  As for why I bought these headsets, it was/is 100% for gaming online.  If I want to listen to music on the PC, I can just use my 15 yr old ACS  (Altec Lansing Computer Speakers) 495 or......I can pipe the via my Apple TV to my high-end HTS (Martin Logan EM-ESL speakers hooked to a Marantz SR7005 AVR with Outlaw LFM1-EX subwoofer).  Only time I use headphones is when I'm at the gym using my iPod and these headsets are more geared towards gaming then music.

And I'm glad you asked about the mic.  When I'm gaming on-line, I do hear low-static when I have the mic lowered by mouth.  But when I raise it up to be muted, it's fine obviously as it's muted.  Is there anything or a setting that needs to be set to stop this humming/hissing static noise?

Thanks again for the feedback.  I do appreciate the quality of these Sennheiser headsets.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dar3k 

Guys.. I need some help. Suddenly i lost bass in the left speaker, has anyone experienced this and knows if its possible to fix?

I have opened them and checked the wiring and everything seems OK. After seeing Masterminds pics of removed driver i am afraid i will not be able to fix it if the wiring to the driver is OK.

I had this problem after I did the mod the first time. What happened was that my left ear pad was not "clipped" in all the way..which was not creating a good seal which meant all the bass gone. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by badbod 

Hi Jaramill,
I am not sure how your are connecting the mic cable to your computer. I do not normally experience any noise/hum issues unless the ground is not connecting properly, Sometimes have to twist the mic plug around a bit to clear it up (i live in a warm and moist country).

The only other thing I can think of is that you are plugging into the mic socket on the front of your PC case. Try it in the mic input at the rear of the case. If the noise disappears then you have found the problem. Careful shielding of the cables that connect the front case sockets to sound card would need to be deployed.

I would normally imagine the noises to persist when muted also, but I do not have this when I mute mine. I can have a bad hum on poor connection and silence when muting. I am assuming the cable screening is cloaking the problem when the exposed mic is removed from the circuit.

If none of the above apply then I would try another microphone. If you don't have the same issue with another microphone, then maybe return the headset as faulty for replacement.


[edit]
Sometimes I use my rig for studio recording. I always have to use the rear ports as there is always noise on the front ports even though I have tried to shield.

In game and using skype, no-one can hear this noise as it is very low level, but can be heard during studio recording when there is no noise threshold such as in chat/voice applications. Still this is not the mic but where it is plugged in.
[/edit]

Warm regards.

Hi badbod.  Yes you are correct.  I am plugging them into the front of my DELL XPS 730x that has 2 input connectors (1 mic, 1 headset).  That is for convenience AND the line-in/mic connector on the back of my sound card does not work, but the line out 1, does and I can hear.  Just can't speak, thus why I switched to the front.

Also when I do raise the mic boom, then I'm muted and I get no static noise at all.  So in this case, i'll deal with the situation as is for now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by badbod 

Hi Jaramill,
in response to actual concerns.

You will not lose positional audio by modding. What you might lose is being able to hear the footsteps at all because of the increased bass of other in game (environmental) noises.
All audio cards comply with the 20mw output so amps can accept them without distortion. (some do 30 though, but they are not strictly compliant, they assume headphones, many only do 10mw to be well within compliance.)
As above, then you may need an amp if you want louder.
Your choice of Creative Labs Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium card should give very clear, loud and precise audio without the need of an amp if gaming is what you want.
Bass mod is *required for music, and and amp if you really want that to blow your head off!
An amp will always make it louder if that is needed, all good quality cards (like yours) expect an amp, not headphones.

If what you say is correct, then you have the perfect audio already, as designed by one of the finest. This mod thread is about putting the oommph in, but then you will be making a trade off.

Warm Regards

I

Yes I do not want to lose the sounds of footsteaps.  And yes the X-Fi Titanium is an excellent card.  So a card with an AMP will just make this LOUDER, and for in-gaming with these headsets may not be necessary if I'm understanding you correctly.  If so then it's just a matter of personal choice, but in this case, my mic/line-in connector isn't working so upgrading would be beneficial so I can have them plugged into the back of the PC.  And also I could get the module so that I can leave my speakers plugged in as well.

Thanks again for the comments and sorry to somewhat hi-jack the thread as I was concerned about having to mod this very nice headset.