[Maxx134]

Do a google search as the fabled "3.0" mod is now coming...(!)

 

[thegunner100]

Soon™

 

[knowhatimean]

So, I was looking at the PDF templates for the MOD 2.0 version & something came to mind when I read the descriptions inside of
2 choices for the rings you could use..One is labeled as "for a more neutral sound" & the other as "For a warmer & thicker sound" & a few things came to mind as before also removing the screens behind the drivers using the "neutral"
ring didn't appear to be quite neutral, while the "warmer & thicker" ring was closer to neutral.
 
Its been about a week since I removed the grilles that where behind the drivers & while the Anax 2.0 (w the cough, "warmer" ring) sounded quite respectable, the sound really came together after I placed it back in after the grilles were gone. I'm wondering if the fact that I don't listen to any type of electric  music (other than maybe an electric bass as part of an acoustic group) that the HD800s actually still have bit of "headphone induced noise" but a huge amount of recordings don't have a low enough "noise floor" to hear let you hear this fact & as a result maybe they need to have a bit of this noise left alone.
 
I am currently enjoying my HD800s unbelievably ! I'm curious if removing these grilles will be part of a preface to the Anax 3.0 mod. as for myself this step was pretty significant as far as moving the HD800 out of it's own way
 
I'm still hugely thankful for the Anax mod as without it I don't think I would have realized how it was even likely these headphones
had this huge a potential for positve improvement & as such are one of the greatest pieces of Audio equipment I've owned !

 

[johnjen]

  snip
 
I'm still hugely thankful for the Anax mod as without it I don't think I would have realized how it was even likely these headphones
had this huge a potential for positve improvement & as such are one of the greatest pieces of Audio equipment I've owned !

My first 'exposure' to what I later called LFF, as something that was 'real', was just after I installed a varient of the anax mod v.1.
Of course I didn't think of it as LFF at that time, but when it's influence was suddenly significantly reduced, I was up till 6am that night, listeneing to my music 'as if it were all new'…
 
That 'experiment' initiated a series of further experiments which culminated in the SAA mods.
 
Which brought me to know that 800's scale Extremely well.
 
JJ

 

[drdiem]

LFF? SAA? You're speaking in tongues there JohnJen 

 

[johnjen]

LFF stands for Listener Fatigue Factor, a description of acoustic irritation heard from many systems/components, including the 800's.  Which from my understanding is what the anax mod series are addressing.
 
SAA is Stephan Audio Arts, the folks who make cables and offer mods for the 800.
 
JJ

 

[zerodeefex]

Awesome, let's make up acroynms just for HD800 threads that also are the same as the username of the guy who makes the best TR50p mods hands down.

 

[knowhatimean]

John,
 
Is James talking of removing external parts other then the grilles & what particular revisions to the drivers mounting on the
inside should I be looking to implement.
 
(Yes, the "stock" HD800 are nowhere nearly capable enough as is to have the level of scaleability until you've reduced the amount
of insufficient design fitting on the headphones that simply lack enough mechanical integrity to allow  the drivers to approach their
available technical capabilities) (It makes me want to throw up my hands & say to Sennheiser "Why didn't you finish the job of giving the HD800 a "higher integrity voicing" ? Or released 2 versions & called these the HD800 "almost finished" version )
 
In truth though "my" HD800s do exhibit scaleability so I may be done (or very close to it)
 
~steve

 

[johnjen]

  John,
 
Is James talking of removing external parts other then the grilles & what particular revisions to the drivers mounting on the
inside should I be looking to implement.
 
(Yes, the "stock" HD800 are nowhere nearly capable enough as is to have the level of scaleability until you've reduced the amount
of insufficient design fitting on the headphones that simply lack enough mechanical integrity to allow  the drivers to approach their
available technical capabilities) (It makes me want to throw up my hands & say to Sennheiser "Why didn't you finish the job of giving the HD800 a "higher integrity voicing" ? Or released 2 versions & called these the HD800 "almost finished" version )
 
In truth though "my" HD800s do exhibit scaleability so I may be done (or very close to it)
 
~steve

I'm reminded of the saying, 'How high is up?'
I keep exceeding my previous high water marks with the additional tweaks I keep adding, which means I've not reached the pinnacle of what these cans can deliver.  
And I expect that with the release of the Jggy DAC, my previous high water marks are going to be so far under water and so quickly that I may have to come up with a whole new set of terms to describe what I'm hearing.  

 
From what I know of SAA's mods etc., yes there are other changes besides just removal of the grills.
And I don't feel comfortable listing them because it is his intellectual property.
 
But his approach involves more than just removal of parts.  The 'full meal deal' also involves his cable and conductor 'treatments'.
 
As I understand it James has come up with a collection of 'changes/adjustments/mods' that work together to ameliorate certain 'weaknesses' which result in 'uncorking' the potential of the 800's.
 
The grill is but one of them.
Hardwiring them is another, and there are others as well.
 
It seems to me it's like a small change here, one there, and this one over yonder, and all of a sudden we're talking a cumulative net effect that is 'greater than the sum of the parts'.
This is a decent description of what mods us DIY'rs make.  A series of small incremental changes that collectively add up to significant results that are simply wonderful.
 
And it also needs to be said that with the 'strengthening' of the 'weaknesses' (or as I would state it, removal of these 'choke points') the 800's become even more transparent and will reflect with even greater clarity the upstrream limitations (remaining 'choke points') of the rest of the system.  
IOW this modification turns the 800's into even more of a 'picky' transducer and will present with even greater precision and exactitude, the signal fed them, be it 'good' or 'bad'.
 
And I too wondered why Sennheiser didn't design them without these 'limitations' to begin with.
But perhaps it would have made them too 'picky' right from the start and the customer reaction wouldn't have been as conducive to selling them, especially in the numbers that they have.
 
One things seems certain enough though, 800's are exceedingly capable, precise, and demanding of being fed a 'proper' signal.  
That is if you really want to hear what a true TOTL system is capable of, and are willing (and able to throw $$$) to work towards attaining this level of playback.
 
JJ

 

[johnjen]

Awesome, let's make up acroynms just for HD800 threads that also are the same as the username of the guy who makes the best TR50p mods hands down.

I came up with the term LFF last year as a descriptive term to describe what I was hearing.
 
As such if LFF (the individual) would like me to change it I'd be more than amenable to do so.
 
I'm not 'married' to the term by any any means, as it's just a handy acronym.
 
JJ

 

[Eee Pee]

No offense headphone bro, but all your acronyms are hilarious, and make no sense.  

 

[johnjen]

Have you seen the complete collection of terms I've 'coined'?
 
There are lots more where that came from…  

 
And I do try to include humor into my missives.
Although it may not be grasped as such… 

 
 
JJ :thumb

 

[Eee Pee]

I kinda have.  List em, though.  It's good stuff, entertaining.  :Thumb to you too, JJ.

 

[johnjen]

Lets see…
 
Intelligibility
Choke Points
DRC  (Dynamic Range Control)
SSD (Small Signal Dynamics)
HB&W  (Head Bobbing & Weaving)
T3  (Toe Tapping Time)
C3 (Cohesive, Coherent, Coupling)
S/S  (Spooky/Scary)
Holo (Holographic)
SEB  (Spontaneous Emotional Burst)
CNST (Central Nervous System Tap)
 
 
This is most of them…
And yes I have written up descriptions/explanations for them… 
 
JJ 

 

 

[knowhatimean]

John,
 
I sort of had a feeling that James "Hemms & Haws"  , on the SAA page, about which parts he "addresses" was to protect
his "intellectual property. It makes my attempts at discovery a little more difficult , but I believe if I'm persitent enough in my
"Modder's" mindset I'll stay on same path that has already been vastly productive in giving me a Reference level headphone
 
He, he,he... I've been calling these "my" HD800s as they've truly been able to give you a sense of scale that wasn't available
from them before changes. I now have a window to "Dimensionality" in my music I wasn't hearing with these headphones beforehand**(
(The Metrum Hex DAC is just a super match with these headphones..."now") (I haven't thought about playing Vinyl since I've had the Hex as what you've heard about this DAC having a very analogue sound is true & a detailed sound at that)
 
I have a small revision that came to mind last night when I was thinking about something I'd done when I was removing the grlles
that I may "scootch" around w/ today if I can pull myself away from listening (but that involves going out to get some materials, it's 20 degrees outside so maybe not)
 
(** Yes, the HD800 will present a wide cavernous soundstage, but depth & height are being masked by headphone resonance; without
the representation of these sound properties "the" HD800 are indeed "bright sounding" as the one dimension they're good at  travels
along one plain with nothing to counterbalance it ) (Could Sennheiser have actually given them this "voicing" regardless of the consequences so they could lay claim to having the "widest soundstage ?? that would explain a lot to me as unless with all their resources no one understood what soundstaging entails & that seems even less feasible)
 
(Sennheiser doesn't have a hit squad do they:  He asks too late)