HD 580 foam

[KZEE]

I don't know if the Senn 600/650 family of phones have the the foam pads in them covering the speakers that my 580's do, but after a few days of listening to my brand new pair of 580's, I took a closer look at them and noticed there are some fairly thick foam pads covering the speakers. I got to thinking that these pads might be killing off some of the highs in my phones, so I unsnapped the ear pads and took the foam pads out and had a listen. I don't have a decent headphone amp yet, but to my ears, using my Sony Walkmen as a source (the 580's sound great with my Walkman, by the way), there does seem to be an increase in clarity to the sound. I haven't seen anyone else mention doing this to their Senns... am I on to something here, or has removing the foam been tried and rejected as a bad idea.

 

[fewtch]

It's been tried... some people like the results, some don't. After reading various opinions, I concluded that I probably wouldn't like it. Several people ended up putting the foam back, if I recall correctly.

 

[Zoide]

Actually it seem that the HD600's also have the foam.

There's a whole thread about the foam thing and how to remove/replace it with other things: http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showt...highlight=foam

 

[Nigel]

I've done a fair amount of listening with & without the foam & personally prefer the foam in place. You may get more treble clarity without the foam but the overall picture is destroyed. I considered the foam was purely there to protect the drivers but I guess I was wrong. Those Sennheiser engineers know what they are doing. On the other hand if you personally think it sounds better then it is better so go for it.

 

[KZEE]

Yeah, I figured somebody out there had probably tried taking the foam out. Although the jury is still out, I think for now I prefer no foam. But that could change, and it's nice to have the option to do some fine tuning.

 

[Sovkiller]

I had tried both ways, with and without, and the sound is pretty similar, the foam is killing nothing, but if you want to get rid of them, use the "panty hose" mod, the drivers should not be completelly exposed, something could get inside and cause troubles

 

[Spent&Bent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sovkiller use the "panty hose" mod

O.K. I will remove the one I have on my head (normally it's a bra but I need to go to the bank for roby's R-10

)