[jscornerstone]

well i guess try using nail scissors and see if it works. if it doesn't then solder it. i just read everywhere before I tried it that everyone used a soldering iron. i checked the tabs and i thought they were pretty strong but i could be mistaken. btw: the burnt smell is completely gone now i can't find a trace of it.

 

[KCChiefsfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lawrywild /img/forum/go_quote.gif Here's some pics, showing the 2 plastic grill pieces you get after the mod and how easy they are to cut edit: and I should use the nail scissors for their intended purposes too by the looks of the photos

Ohhh. From all the pictures I had seen, I was under the impression that the silver grill was made of metal. If it's plastic, I can't imagine why anyone would want to use a soldering iron to burn it when a small pair of scissors are capable of the same job.

Ok, so before I do this, I want to get this right. I open it up, and without removing the black grill on the back, I cut out the inner plastic grill. At this point, I remove the black material obscuring the view of the driver, while leaving the black plastic grill. Then, I put everything back into place and screw it back down.

Would you recommend removing the white paper covering the driver? Or does it even matter?

 

[xnor]

jscornerstone, removing the the "white paper" will ruin at least the frequency response....
If you want "tru open ear headphones" why don't you just get PX100's.

In my eyes, you just destroyed two HD555 drivers... there are better ways to waste money. t_t

 

[KCChiefsfan]

Yeah, I figured the white paper was essential, and I ended up leaving it.

Maybe it is just my imagination, but I do think the soundstage opens up a little bit after doing this mod. The main reason for doing it is definitely aesthetic though.

Oh, and yeah, using a solder iron is NOT necessary. A small pair of scissors works fine. I'm going to go back in tomorrow to file down the sharp ends, but it did 99% of the job of the soldering iron without any of the smell, burn plastic, or risk to your health.

Oh and if you had any notion that these headphones isolated before...abandon that before doing this. More sound is let in, and more is let out.

The performance of these 555's once burned in and converted to 595's is great. 100 dollars for a headphone that can compare to some costing twice as much.

 

[jscornerstone]

to cheifsfan: i think your messed up some place. you got it right until you said, "At this point, I remove the black material obscuring the view of the driver." It isn't obsuring the view from the front rather on the other side I think if that makes sense. It is HARD plastic which is why I don't think scissors would work or I would have done it that way. In ALL the photos and sites I've seen this done they ALL used a soldering iron. Like I said try a scissors first but if that doesn't work you know what to do. In one other site I saw the guy remove the white paper when he did this mod and then I thought you said why not remove it so I did it. I honestly think the sound got better by removing that paper but that's just me.

At xnor: like i said that white paper was just there to cause interference I thought so I removed it. I liked the sound better without it but that might just be me. I don't think it makes a real big difference though. I just thought it was a bit clearer.

 

[jscornerstone]

at cheifsfan: the soundstage opened up hugely i thought. everything was like a bigger stage rather than a confined space. i wish someone would have told me about the scissors before but I thought the plastic was too hard. i guess i can refine my descriptions. and yeah there is definately more sound leakage now because It is just like hearing everything and then listening. I don't mind it that much though because I like to be able to hear what's going on around me. But yeah, if I had to do it all over again I would cut out the grill because i can't get enough of how cool it looks with that silver driver on the ends instead of a black blob.

 

[xnor]

This "white paper" baffle is an essential part in the higher-end Sennheiser headphones... just don't remove it.

 

[jscornerstone]

yeah too late. where were you before i did this mod lol. could have saved myself burning plastic smells and white paper not removal. sigh. either way i love the way they sound and look now so im not dissapointed.

 

[KCChiefsfan]

It's reasonably hard plastic. My scissors went right through it like butter though when I gave it enough leverage (by putting one blade through one hole, and the other through one fairly far away). The only risk doing it with scissors is slipping and cutting the wire, but I managed to avoid doing that. Honestly the hardest part of the entire mod is removing the outer black plastic mesh (I couldn't get the leverage if I didn't remove it). Those little tabs, especially the glued ones, are tricky. On the cup where the cord comes in, it is even more difficult, because there is a glued tab right next to the exposed end of the cord (where it connects to a circuit board).

I think we can file this mod under "unessential and for aesthetic purposes with no detriment to sound, though no proven improvement". Obviously I can't A/B a modded pair with an unmodded pair at this point, but any improvement in soundstage seems to be minimal. The sound certainly didn't get worse, but it wasn't as big of a change as doing the foam mod was (where I could immediately tell that the lower frequencies were suddenly present where they hadn't been before).

In other words, I'd highly recommend the foam mod, and I'd only recommend this particular mod to someone seeking either that last .05% performance out of their headphones, or improved aesthetics.



Sorry if my comments were misconstrued as "the white paper is inessential". I was actually asking whether or not it was. I googled and found out that it is likely essential, so I ultimately left it in.

 

[KCChiefsfan]

I know this isn't related, but I've just noticed that my left ear cup has a crack on it in the same place that my right cup already had a crack. Anyone have any tips on fixing the crack? Would super glue bond it together, or is there something better to use?

 

[jscornerstone]

that crack is infamous to these phones because they arent heavy duty made. i would just use hot glue. i hot glued my shifter in my car so it would stay and it works like a charm. hot glue is a great tool for doing this kinda stuff i would think , just be careful not to get any into the driver. honestly, i knew right away when i did the foam mod, but i also knew right away with this mod, because stuff sounded more closer and surrounded me more. i like this mod. the foam mod still had that tinny high pitches in sounds which i hated and this mod makes it sound normal, but ultimately your right it just looks really cool. but anyone with hd555 phones should definately do the foam mod at least. and yeah i agree with you for the back grill coming off, those tabs weren't too bad until i got to that one right in the middle of the wiring board and wires. oh man was i careful with that one. wasn't terrible though. i guess i didn't think of the leverage part with scissors but nonetheless i had fun using the soldering iron if nothing else. id really like to solder something someday.

 

[KCChiefsfan]

That could be more of a result of ripping the "baffle" (as someone else called it) off instead of having cut the plastic out. It very well may have rounded the highs off, giving you the impression that the high pitched noises had been eliminated. It's not necessarily a bad thing, and as long as your ears are happy with it, I wouldn't be too concerned. I wouldn't suggest that other people did it though.

My next mod to these cans is ripping that 50 ohm sticker off of the driver, and hiding the wiring somehow (maybe hot glue could come in handy for that as well). I've also got to sand down (or file down, I haven't decided yet) the edges left from doing the mod.

I'd be more adventurous with modding these cans if it weren't for the absurdly exposed and frail wire in the left cup. There is only a tiny bit of solder holding it to the board, and if it came loose, it would be a pain to solder back on.

 

[KCChiefsfan]

Auditioning the new mod with some music, I'm reminded that the 555's really do have that Sennheiser house sound. I don't use my 555's much anymore due to the purchase of some DT770's a year or two back, and K701's a year ago, but they definitely have a little bit of that sennheiser "veil" you hear everyone talking about. With my memories of the sound signature of my K701's, I can say that high frequencies are definitely a little bit odd. Cymbals don't crash as much as they kind of flop (I know I'm probably not using the proper terms, but there you go). Great can, but it's hard to go back after having upgraded.

Having said that, I still think they are a bargain.

 

[xnor]

The "veil" is due to the emphasis on flat mids (no sucked out "hifi" mids

).

 

[lawrywild]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jscornerstone /img/forum/go_quote.gif yeah too late. where were you before i did this mod lol. could have saved myself burning plastic smells and white paper not removal. sigh. either way i love the way they sound and look now so im not dissapointed.

Actually I posted that I used scissors for the mod a month or so ago, in one of threads on here