= HE-560 Enhancement Mod (v1.5) =

[stjj89]

Quick question: do you completely remove the foam rings underneath the baffles, or do you put them back before screwing on the baffles again?

 

[jerg]

  Quick question: do you completely remove the foam rings underneath the baffles, or do you put them back before screwing on the baffles again?

Oh they are put back. I was just showing that they exist.

 

[stjj89]

  Oh they are put back. I was just showing that they exist.

 
Thanks for clarifying that! Excited for this mod, especially since I have an extra pair of FocusPads =)

 

[jerg]

Is anyone brave enough to try this on their HE400i's?

 

[skyline315]

  Is anyone brave enough to try this on their HE400i's?

I've never so much as taken the earpads off mine.  So no...

 
But I sure am curious...
 
I listened to purrin's pair of HE-500s with your mods and felt there was such a great ambiance to the sound.  Live music, especially, felt very realistic and tactile.  
 
The 400is certainly have their similarities to the 500s, but can't match them in that regard.  I'm wondering if any of these mods would push it more in that direction.

 

[stjj89]

Parts 1 and 2 done, part 3 coming this weekend. Can you say "early adopter"?
 

 
Unfortunately, my memory of how these sounded before the mods is not good at all, and I actually came from the Focus-A Pads (w/o dust filters), and all I can say is that these still sound good. I'll probably do some comparisons with the Focus-A pads before applying the (hard-to-reverse) bass & seal mod, so stay tuned.

 

[stjj89]

Did a very brief comparison of my de-filtered Focus-A pads with the modded Focus pads on Eric Johnson's Cliffs of Dover, using the backwave-dampened drivers in both cases. I think the treble is indeed cleaned up a bit, with the Focus pads--the cymbals sound a wee bit cleaner and less "echoy". Also, bass seems to be more "in place" now. With the Focus-A pads, I could really pick out the drumbeats apart from the rest of the music. With the Focus pads, they seem more in line with the music and they don't stick out as much to me. Better tonal balance and coherence perhaps? Maybe at the (slight) cost of some separation? I'm not really sure, plus I've had two or three drinks tonight. More impressions when I find time!

 

[thegunner100]

Parts 1 and 2 also complete! The grill mod was already provided to me by a friend a while ago, so I didn't have to do that myself. Unfortunately the double side tape didn't come during the week so I can't do part 3 just yet. Despite not using my full setup right now, the improvements in sound from parts 1 and 2 are very impressive. 
 

 

 

 

[jerg]

Have fun with step 3 guys. Lemme know how you feel about the bass/subbass before/after that.
 
 
 
Quote:

  Parts 1 and 2 done, part 3 coming this weekend. Can you say "early adopter"?
 

 
Unfortunately, my memory of how these sounded before the mods is not good at all, and I actually came from the Focus-A Pads (w/o dust filters), and all I can say is that these still sound good. I'll probably do some comparisons with the Focus-A pads before applying the (hard-to-reverse) bass & seal mod, so stay tuned.

 
 

  Parts 1 and 2 also complete! The grill mod was already provided to me by a friend a while ago, so I didn't have to do that myself. Unfortunately the double side tape didn't come during the week so I can't do part 3 just yet. Despite not using my full setup right now, the improvements in sound from parts 1 and 2 are very impressive. 
 

 

 

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

@jerg, did you say you were going to get a graph of your mods?
 
Also, have you tried this with Mod 1 and 3 with focus-a pads?

 

[jerg]

  @jerg, did you say you were going to get a graph of your mods?
 
Also, have you tried this with Mod 1 and 3 with focus-a pads?

Nah I just don't feel like sending my HE560s off to get measurements, maybe some day some one will.
 
Yes, in fact for a month or two I basically had what you described (Focus-A's, with the backwave damping and sealing modifications). It was not until a recent head-fi meetup that it dawned on me that Focus pads have hidden potential.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

  Nah I just don't feel like sending my HE560s off to get measurements, maybe some day some one will.
 
Yes, in fact for a month or two I basically had what you described (Focus-A's, with the backwave damping and sealing modifications). It was not until a recent head-fi meetup that it dawned on me that Focus pads have hidden potential.

How would the Focus and Focus-A differ with BW dampening and seal mod?

Is there still noticeable energy at 7500hz with the modded Focus pads or does modding take that away?

To me this 7.5khz energy is audibly decreased on the stock focus-a vs stock focus. I much prefer the Focus-A just because of this particular bump not being so dominant in the sound of the 560s. To me the imaging and spaciousness takes a hit when there's too much energy in this dept (Focus pads). This is why I ask

 

[jerg]

  How would the Focus and Focus-A differ with BW dampening and seal mod?

Is there still noticeable energy at 7500hz with the modded Focus pads or does modding take that away?

To me this 7.5khz energy is audibly decreased on the stock focus-a vs stock focus. I much prefer the Focus-A just because of this particular bump not being so dominant in the sound of the 560s. To me the imaging and spaciousness takes a hit when there's too much energy in this dept (Focus pads). This is why I ask

There's 7.5kHz energy? I never noticed that with my sinewave sweeps, nor is it supported by the measurements with HE560s with either pads (in first post of the main thread). There is energy between 3-5kHz however esp with stock Focus pads, and that emphasis definitely gets attenuated with Part 2 of the mod.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

  There's 7.5kHz energy? I never noticed that with my sinewave sweeps, nor is it supported by the measurements with HE560s with either pads (in first post of the main thread). There is energy between 3-5kHz however esp with stock Focus pads, and that emphasis definitely gets attenuated with Part 2 of the mod.

Whoopss, must've drank too much coffee and went cross-eyed with the graphs. The waterfall graphs are deceiving. Yes, the 3-5khz bump with the Focus pads. This is VERY exciting news, I might try mod 2 first on the focus pads by itself first. 

 

[thegunner100]

Finally done... 
 
Edit: The crescent shaped foam is not supposed to stick out like that! See my post on the next page for how it's actually supposed to look like.


 
 

 
 
The bass with the the full mods is much improved over the stock he-560. Bass is clean, powerful, and sub-bass now maintains more rumble than ever before. I just hope that I actually completed everything correctly. I'll post more impressions on the sound sometime later this week, as well as my thoughts on the modding process itself (it was laborious but definitely worth it)