[Soundsgoodtome]

   
 

Thanks for the pictures. Would you say the felt removal increases clarity along with increase in treble response or just one of those traits? I'm moderately sensitive to treble and would prefer to keep the treble tamed. Anyone who's done the mod can answer this.

 

[ryant]

Honestly I felt like without the felt they had a lot of zing in the treble region. Its very possible my lack of a good quality source made them to sharp. With good recordings they were amazing. With poor recordings I found them to be a bit fatiguing. That's just my taste though. I tend to like more polite headphones

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[jerg]

Honestly I felt like without the felt they had a lot of zing in the treble region. Its very possible my lack of a good quality source made them to sharp. With good recordings they were amazing. With poor recordings I found them to be a bit fatiguing. That's just my taste though. I tend to like more polite headphones

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It's quite a nice treble balance with the felt removed, and pleather earpads. Removed felt + velour earpads is just too bright and shrill.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Do these share the same pads as the he400?

 

[Transformatron]

Do these share the same pads as the he400?

Yes, I believe all HiFiMan headphones use the same pads.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Perfect, got an extra pair sitting.

Jerg, are you using your ESS dac as a source? I take those fair on the bright side?

 

[jerg]

Perfect, got an extra pair sitting.

Jerg, are you using your ESS dac as a source? I take those fair on the bright side?

The Sabre DAC chip implementation in my AudioGD is dead neutral AFAIK.

 

[Transformatron]

Here is mine after the felt removal. I've removed all the black tape circles and replaced the felt. The material I used is about three times thicker than the screen in the center of the pads. This got rid of the harshness in the highs with the velour pads. I've ordered some extra velours and a set of pleather pads. I have the old style pads that aren't removable from the disk. I'm also going to try out the Brainwavz HM5 pads when I get the new pads.

 

[jerg]

Here is mine after the felt removal. I've removed all the black tape circles and replaced the felt. The material I used is about three times thicker than the screen in the center of the pads. This got rid of the harshness in the highs with the velour pads. I've ordered some extra velours and a set of pleather pads. I have the old style pads that aren't removable from the disk. I'm also going to try out the Brainwavz HM5 pads when I get the new pads.

That looks like a rev. 1 HE300 driver (with the distinctive 4 screws instead of 6). Aren't they quite different sounding compared to the later revision?

 

[Transformatron]

Is the driver itself different? My felt looked different and I only had 4 black circles covering the bass holes. I don't know that they would spend the time changing the driver for a low end model.

 

[ryant]

I've heard some say the driver is different and some say no. I will say the measurement charts on innerfidelity are drastically different. The rev 1 has some pretty gnarly does in the higher frequency ranges.

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[SanjiWatsuki]

Hifiman official response is that they never changed the internals of the HE-300. There is only one revision of the HE-300 -- so they claim.
 
I suspect the driver is the same. The impedance is exactly the same between revisions, and if they actually changed drivers then that would have certainly changed.
 
I buy their story that they just changed the manufacturing to be more consistent and that the first batch/batches had some significant manufacturing issues, probably also why the 6 screws exist.

 

[Transformatron]

Hifiman official response is that they never changed the internals of the HE-300. There is only one revision of the HE-300 -- so they claim.

I suspect the driver is the same. The impedance is exactly the same between revisions, and if they actually changed drivers then that would have certainly changed.

I buy their story that they just changed the manufacturing to be more consistent and that the first batch/batches had some significant manufacturing issues, probably also why the 6 screws exist.

Good to know I'm probably not crazy. I really like my HE-300 midrange.

Just to repeat the physical differences:
Revision 1 had only 4 black circles of tape and has 4 screws
Revision 2 and 3 have 7 black circles of tape and 6 screws

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

So what's your plan Trans? Send it back for a new version or get in contact with Hifiman directly?

The he400 had a bad revision and hifiman offered an exchange.

 

[bellbaisui]

When you take out the felt piece, just hold it up to the light. Just imagine using that stuff for a speaker grill. It won't be done.