[baka1969]

Great stuff Purrin! Do you think putty or Blu-tack would do the same thing? Thanks for the work and graphs.

 

[Roger Strummer]

Quote:

 

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Look Mommy! Real results confirmed by measurements, not voodoo.

 

It is very interesting to see that graph, that convinced me of making the mod and comparing to the parametric equalization I'm using now. I'll do that and see what happens.
 

 

[purrin]

      Quote:

Great stuff Purrin! Do you think putty or Blu-tack would do the same thing? Thanks for the work and graphs.

Probably not, we need something that absorbs the sound waves at high frequencies. I believe putty or blu-tack are mainly used to keep the frame from resonating. The HD800 frame is pretty solid and non-resonating already.
 
Initially I used two layers of thin felt, but switched to the foam because it was about 1-1.5db more effective at cutting down the high frequencies other than felt.
 
Quote:

It is very interesting to see that graph, that convinced me of making the mod and comparing to the parametric equalization I'm using now. I'll do that and see what happens.

 
EQ is not a bad idea either.

 

[James]

Quote:

By request. It is based on the JaZZ and arnaud mods. I am calling it the Anaxilus mod because he just sort of slapped on what materials we had lying around: Creatology adhesive foam sheets. At that time, I was using a less effective version of this mod with felt, but decided to switch to the Anax version because it was more effective at taming the treble.

 
I apologize profusely for my stupid question ... but how does one get ahold of a sheet of this adhesive foam?
 
 

 

[tamahome77]

Oh very nice!  I will need to find those materials.  My HD800's treble is driving me crazy

  That flaw alone is why I haven't been using them >_<

 

[Draygonn]

I apologize profusely for my stupid question ... but how does one get ahold of a sheet of this adhesive foam?

From Michael's. Purrin gave the link to the foam:

Creatology adhesive foam sheets.

I stopped by Michael's tonight, ready for the HD800s to arrive Monday. Whats the burn in time for HD800s?

 

[purrin]

 
Quote:

 
I apologize profusely for my stupid question ... but how does one get ahold of a sheet of this adhesive foam?

http://www.michaels.com/Creatology%E2%84%A2-Foam-Sheets/gc1328,default,pd.html
 
Quote:

Oh very nice!  I will need to find those materials.  My HD800's treble is driving me crazy

  That flaw alone is why I haven't been using them >_<

I agree. In stock form, it's just too darn bright - no matter the amp.
 
Quote:

I stopped by Michael's tonight, ready for the HD800s to arrive Monday. Whats the burn in time for HD800s?

A day or two if any.
 

 

[baka1969]

Although against Purrin's advice I did try the mod using putty. I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised. Although I have not way to quantify any of my perceptions like Purrin is able to do I can only report my subjective findings. I'll post picture of what I did a bit later.

First I have to say that I'm using a 7' silver cable made from Chris_Himself at Headphone Lounge using a Furutech plug. I thought that the cable offered a bit of refinement over the stock one but that may or may not be contributed by some placebo effect.

It seems to me that the upper mids and lower highs are a bit tamed by this mod. When I did a frequency sweep a couple of things seemed to occur. I believe I heard a few Hertz lower in the bass range compared to the sweep without the mod. Plus the peak I usually attribute around 6KHz seems not as prominent. Also the "volume" of the upper mids/lower highs appeared to be less. Other then a rudimentary SPL meter from the Krap Shak that I use for volume matching I have no way to accurately measure that unfortunately.

With music it does seem that there is slightly more balance and isn't quite as top heavy as it is without the mod. Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time" is one song I use to test treble quality and with the mod as I did it the intro to the song comes through very clearly. Sibilant vocals on songs like Krall's "Gee Baby" and Nirvana's Frances Farmer" were tamed a tad (they're still very good without the mod in my setup).

I alluded to it before and maybe it's because of the slight reduction in the treble, but the bass does seem to have more pop to it. I'm not saying bass head. Subtleties here. But noticeable. Songs like "Come together" and Floyd's "One of These Days" I used as examples.

I'll report more after I spend more time and will post pics later. Thanks to Purrin for the inspiration. Even if it was contra to his suggestion.

 

[Shahrose]

I tried the mod exactly how purrin has it in the OP. Unfortunately, my results weren't so great. Slightly more lower mids, but also slightly peakier treble with a reduction in airiness/soundstage. It could be the variations in foam...mine was also an adhesive type of the same thickness but who knows, there could be other differences I'm not aware of.

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

I tried the mod exactly how purrin has it in the OP. Unfortunately, my results weren't so great. Slightly more lower mids, but also slightly peakier treble with a reduction in airiness/soundstage. It could be the variations in foam...mine was also an adhesive type of the same thickness but who knows, there could be other differences I'm not aware of.

Same foam?
 
Dust covers on or off?

 

[baka1969]

http://cdn.head-fi.org/0/00/0073697a_IMG-20111101-00224.jpeg

Sorry I couldn't imbed the image. My mobile browser is tempermental. I know I have to clean it up a bit but that's the mod using putty.

 

[purrin]

http://cdn.head-fi.org/0/00/0073697a_IMG-20111101-00224.jpeg
Sorry I couldn't imbed the image. My mobile browser is tempermental. I know I have to clean it up a bit but that's the mod using putty.

That should work too. What you are doing is blocking off part of the grill and extending the "baffle". This should bump up the lower mids on down.

 

[baka1969]

That should work too. What you are doing is blocking off part of the grill and extending the "baffle". This should bump up the lower mids on down.

Would I be asking too much if I asked you to try it with Blu-Tack and measure the results? I would bet Blu-Tack and putty would be similar.

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

Same foam?
 
Dust covers on or off?

I tried both. With the dust cover on, it was a bit smoother and bassier. But, without the mod it sounded better to me.

 

[Anaxilus]

 
 
Quote:

I tried both. With the dust cover on, it was a bit smoother and bassier. But, without the mod it sounded better to me.

Perhaps it's a difference in foam cell.  Purrin and myself definitely hear them as the graph shows.  Though, it just occurred to me that we don't have a reference for any of the older HD800s using this mod w/ the supposed 6k nastiness.  Are you an early or late model HD800?  Just curious.  
 
Anyway, if you get the best sound as is, hell that makes things easier.  Though experimenting with different materials is a possibility to consider since the phones are the only things we are likely to have in common.  Purrin and myself tuned off the same setup.