[CanadianMaestro]

Yeah I thought the price was crazy expensive. I suspect they're gouging. Thanks for the recommendation though.

Try Audio Sensibility. In Toronto. They make all kinds of cables, OCC pure, and their silver cables are well-priced. They machine their own connector shells along with offering quality connectors (Furutech, Oyaide).

 

[DavidA]

@Letmebefrank, I wasn't sure which stock Senn cable had the coating (HD-6XX or HD-800), I know it was one or the other, just didn't remember which one since its been a while since I worked on either one.  I'd rather keep the stock cable as is just in case I want to sell the headphones later and just build a cable using either Mogami or Canare cable which are easier to work with to start.
 
@Tuneslover, since it seems you can do the soldering I would suggest getting the Mogami 2893 cable, new HD-6XX connectors and the XLR plug.  Easier to work with and you can just buy the length of cable you want or if like me buy in 100ft length and build cables for almost all my headphones in different lengths, short (1.2m) for use at my desk and long (3m) for the recliner.

 

[YtseJamer]

Much more economical that's for sure!  So you're suggesting buy the Senn 650 cable from Amazon.ca and a BALANCED connector from avshop.ca.  Snip off the SE and solder on the BALANCED connector.  Never tried anything like that before but hey $35 seems like a worthwhile experiment.  THANKS for the SUGGESTION!

Yes sir.

There's a very good guide here : https://robrobinette.com/BalancedCable.htm

 

[CanadianMaestro]

Yes sir.

There's a very good guide here : https://robrobinette.com/BalancedCable.htm

That's the best link I've seen yet on this thread!
 

 

[penmarker]

Making your own balanced cable is the most economical, that's for sure. I made mine with an extra HD525 cable I had lying around. The coating on the wires can be melted off by running your solder over the cable on a heat resistant pad. I used a cork plate coaster, thick and slightly spongy. It will give off some burnt smell, but I wouldn't be worried about that.

 

[cthomas]

I have the UDA-1. I kept it more for the convenience of a unit with a USB DAC and a motorized pot with remote -- that also doubles as a speaker amp . Soundwise, it gets the HD650s plenty loud. No overt colorations or defects in the sound as far as I can tell from the headphone out. 

Thanks, would you say they have good synergy together? Have you heard the 650 from any other amps to compare?

 

[mikoss]

I contacted Sennheiser Canada to find out how much a balanced cable for the HD650 costs. They directed me to my local Long & McQuade. They said $299 plus tax. That seems exorbitant or is that a fair price?

Hilarious and dumb.
 
Use the stock cable and put a 4 pin XLR on there. If you don't have one, hit me up... I'm just west of Toronto and can make you one for less than $60 with parts and time.

 

[mikoss]

  ...
- mods are a waste of time
...

CM - I know the 650's have been on your ears for a while. So you've had a chance to hear modded 650's, and this is your conclusion, or are you summarizing this thread? Either way, I disagree 100%. As you know, they've also been my headphones of choice for quite some time, and now I could never recommend the stock vs the modded ones; they're are an improvement in varying degrees to every aspect of the presentation. The shortcoming of the mod is perhaps having the driver back exposed, which is hardly a concern, unless one is listening a filthy environment, or something. I pack mine back and forth from work every two weeks and have yet to have a single hair get inside.
 
I haven't modded any other headphones, although I did buy my 800's with the Anax mod, which I also believe to be beneficial to the treble presentation.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

^ Respectfully, it's my opinion that after spending good money on an excellent HP like 650, I would not risk modding it. To me, it's a futile effort given the gear that I have. Would rather consider changing other gear upstream. I favor doing whatever turns your keys.
And there are others who have expressed similar sentiments re. mods elsewhere on this thread.
 
cheers

 

[raybone0566]

Modded every set of phones I've owned. Benefited all of them.

 

[SirMarc]

^ Respectfully, it's my opinion that after spending good money on an excellent HP like 650, I would not risk modding it. To me, it's a futile effort given the gear that I have. Would rather consider changing other gear upstream. I favor doing whatever turns your keys.
And there are others who have expressed similar sentiments re. mods elsewhere on this thread.

cheers

Yeah, I'm with you man. I love the way they sound now, I'm not screwing with that...

 

[DavidA]

I haven't touched my HD-650 yet, but have worked on a few others, TH-600, DT-990/T1, SR-225e, MDR-1A, HE-400/400i/560: removable cable, dynamat, sorbothane, felt, and a few others.  I might get a second HD-650 (damn I missed the Amazon sale) and mod the first one but not in any hurry to do so, been building/tuning the new ypsilon and nhoord driver build, way more fun, easier and the sound is more dynamic and fun than the HD-650/600, could just be new toy syndrome but a few others who have heard the ypsilon also think its a better HD-600 while the nhoord is a better HD-650.

 

[NikonGuy]

..

 

[CanadianMaestro]

Modded every set of phones I've owned. Benefited all of them.

So, I'm curious. Don't take this the wrong way -- these are your 'phones, you should do whatever you want with them.  I own 3 HPs. Each different in sound from all the others -- that's what I want -- one for classical, one for vocals/jazz, another for rock/pop. Diversity. I suspect many people have that "logic" as well.
 
Why would I mod them all -- so they can sound similar to each other? Each with a single SQ that I like (lush or bright, slow or fast)? It's human nature to like a particular sound profile, but modding all cans seems to defeat the reason for diversity to start with. (I'm assuming the mods are meant to improve the SQ and are not just for cosmetic changes -- nothing wrong with doing that, btw

).
 
cheers

 

[DavidA]

@CanadianMaestro, you posted the question to raybone but this is my reason for modding headphones:
 
For most Grado the highs are a bit too much and the bass lacks weight. by adding dynamat to the cups it helps the bass and felt under the button tames the highs just a bit, if you really wanted to add bass then you could cutout a few vent holes and the sorbothane on the back of the driver helps clean up the sound.  Even with all this they still sound like Grado's, just a bit refined.
 
For the Hifiman: grill mods help the sound stage and imaging (doesn't help as much on the revised HE-400i without the back plate), the sorbothane in the cups helps clean up the sound and gives the HE-400 a slightly better mid-range.
 
MDR-1A: dynamat in the cups make the bass tight and better defined.
 
TH-600/900: removable cable (non-sound mod), some acoustic stuffing in the cups cleans up the bass a little, alittle dynamat in the cups also tighten the bass.
 
SRD-34: changed the acoustic material between the driver and ear pad inner material gives a better sound stage and brings the highs a bit forward and a different ear pad greatly helps with comfort and brings the bass level up a touch.
 
Most of the mods that I've been doing cleans up the sound but don't really change the sound that much that its a totally new sound (MDR-1A and SRD-34 might be borderline since the overall sound is changed quite a bit but they still resemble the original sound signature for the most parts IMO)