[MrMateoHead]

Thanks for the words.

My son helped me out and it was useful to have two people with getting the retaining ring tabs back in - especially if you don't want to break one. Best to just leave the grilles off until you have tweaked amount and sorb placement to your liking.

I wish I could say that the high frequency peak is gone. It's still there but seems tamed a touch while still retaining the openness and fun sound signature the HE400s are known for. The biggest benefit seems to be that inner detail and nuances in each recording are much improved. This seems especially noticeable on female vocals. Bass seems relatively unaffected, perhaps (maybe) a bit more defined.

Overall not night and day differences but most assuredly a noticeable improvement. Unlike other mods I've tried throughout the years, definitely worth the time and effort. Probably took an hour or two total including changes to sorbothane and less than $30 for materials (I have enough left to do more modding than I would ever have time to do). I am guessing we will be modding my son's HE400s soon....

Let us know what sorbothane configuration you end up with and your impressions.

All good comments and I 100% agree with your advice / findings.
 
I find the biggest sonic benefit to be a removal of the "glare" in the midrange / upper treble areas that prevented what you call "inner detail" from being heard. It also contributed to a sense of harshness/muddiness in the sound that you notice after listening to them for awhile. Ditto the treble peak - the peak is somewhat recording-dependent in my experience, calling attention to itself on occasion more blatantly than others. With sorbathane a clarity to the sound is restored that apparently only better damping could provide.
 
Personally I find the sound with sorbathane to be probably a bit on the "dark side" (with my PSBs, in contrast, being must more "neutral").
 
Do you feel that removing extra sorbathane made a slight, albeit noticeable difference? I am curious as to what the "minimum" is to exact a benefit while retaining a little of the stock "openness".

 

[richsto]

I understand the question but pretty hard to quantify how much as it's pretty subjective. Too much sorbothane does seem to deaden things up a bit which may be interpreted as darker sounding.

I started with 6 pieces of longer 3cm strips as I described then started removing until I got to the point where it didn't seem to sound "less open" while still retaining the mid and upper range detail improvements. I settled on what is shown in the last picture which is essentially the 3cm strips with the about a cm removed from the middle. Less still made a difference but, for me, this was the right amount. Some may like a little less some a little more. Hard to cut in 4 sections (per richard51 recommendation) when mounted inside but I suppose someone could get creative.

 

[richard51]

I understand the question but pretty hard to quantify how much as it's pretty subjective. Too much sorbothane does seem to deaden things up a bit which may be interpreted as darker sounding.

I started with 6 pieces of longer 3cm strips as I described then started removing until I got to the point where it didn't seem to sound "less open" while still retaining the mid and upper range detail improvements. I settled on what is shown in the last picture which is essentially the 3cm strips with the about a cm removed from the middle. Less still made a difference but, for me, this was the right amount. Some may like a little less some a little more. Hard to cut in 4 sections (per richard51 recommendation) when mounted inside but I suppose someone could get creative.

trust me... all your comments  here reflect the limitation of the use of the sorbothane... I have a solution IT MUST BE CUT IN 4 SQUARES, probably better 4 triangles, but i dont have the sorb to experiment...

 

 

[richard51]

  Been reading about the Sorbothane mod for a while now and grown interested in doing it the same to my 400S. Although I might still do the grill mod on my 400S as well.

go with it...the sorb. mod  well implemented (read my post # 20868) is like to buy a new amplifier. total transformation of my he 400...

 

[nabwong]

There are still people that haven't done the sorb mod on the he400? What are y'all waiting for? Lol.

 

[richard51]

There are still people that haven't done the sorb mod on the he400? What are y'all waiting for? Lol.

the anax mod, the grill mod, pad mod ,blutak mod, name it... they are all patches for a specific defect on a particular designed headphone...None of these mods act on all frequencies vibration  in filtering them to a clearer sound on all the spectrum simultaneously and that on all headphones ... I have said already there is no thread on headfi  that is most important than the Edstrelow thread on sorbothane , but make no mistakes, read my post about the right implementation of it... 

i listen my Fostex (60 dollars) right now absolutely on par (if very different ) with my HE 400 ... YES sorbothanized = high end headphone

 

[Lohb]

There is a gap within the plastic cups where the planar is screwed in. It may be another area to experiment and put your sorb out of sight.
 

It may have been this 2-wall gap area (arrow below) that was not working with the 400 planar in the upper regions before.
After unlocking your earpads off the frame, you would unscrew the black locking ring at the bottom of the above photo and the planar will tip forward to access the interior od the frame...though it will still be attached the frame at the cable port plug. Inside there behind the planar is a gap rim hole big enough to put sorb inside out of sight.

 

[richard51]

this observation of you is very interesting....BUT I dont dare to experiment in dissasembling my can.... The second point is (if you read my post here about sorb #20868) that the filtering effect on the vibration depended of the distribution of the strips of the sorbothane and the squaring of each one in 4  little parts ... My Fundamental observation is patches of sorb which has not being cutted with a blade and are homogenous  and  act like one compact mass only, hence  act  much less effectively , in fact dont act effectively in filtering vibrations...

thanks for your interesting experimentation.... i will wait your posts 
 
p.s. i had dissassembled my he 400 one time but it is too risky and too cumbersome for experimenting with sorb.  Placed on the exterior of the cups is simple and you can cut the sorb easily or experiment other forms of the piece  in  cutting of the sorb... The choice is between aqn upgrade in sound extraordinary and cosmetics...my choice is clear...

 

[Oregonian]

  There is a gap within the plastic cups where the planar is screwed in. It may be another area to experiment and put your sorb out of sight.
 
 
It may have been this 2-wall gap area (arrow below) that was not working with the 400 planar in the upper regions before.
After unlocking your earpads off the frame, you would unscrew the black locking ring at the bottom of the above photo and the planar will tip forward to access the interior od the frame...though it will still be attached the frame at the cable port plug. Inside there behind the planar is a gap rim hole big enough to put sorb inside out of sight.
 

Hi Mike,
 
Think that's the area that ohragami (sorry I've butchered his name) is doing the "blutack mod" - seals up that gap.
 
I did the Sorb mod to my HE-400 and tho I'd say it's a little improved, it is not as radical as I'm reading some guys are experiencing.  Other than richard51, are the rest of you thinking it's a drastic improvement or minor or ? 

 

[MrMateoHead]

  Hi Mike,
 
Think that's the area that ohragami (sorry I've butchered his name) is doing the "blutack mod" - seals up that gap.
 
I did the Sorb mod to my HE-400 and tho I'd say it's a little improved, it is not as radical as I'm reading some guys are experiencing.  Other than richard51, are the rest of you thinking it's a drastic improvement or minor or ? 

IMO, it is a "perceptible" improvement (Not "slight" or "radically better"). The strength of which depending on how familiar you've become to the HE-400 sound. As an owner for years now, and fairly regular listener, the effect was pretty drastic to my ears, an obvious improvement and "upgrade" over stock. I would think it is at least on par with the difference between modded/unmodded pads, or switching to velour.
 
Someone that has only had the HE-400s for awhile and who lacks a reference headphone (e.g., one without midrange distortion / ringing) for comparison might NOT feel like anything major has occurred (but that is speculation on my part). I've played with my HE-400s for so long, swapping pads, EQing, etc, that I feel I am in a position to notice if the sorbathane was a waste of time or not. It is not.

 

[Oregonian]

Thanks for the input.  I don't think it was a waste at all, but after adding it to the mods already in place (Audeze Vegan pads, open grill mod, Lohb headband) it didn't add that much.  Not that all mods have to add a lot to be "worth it", as the sum of the parts is the point. 
 
I started out ringing the entire inside with Sorbothane - and as many found, it was too much.  Seemed to make the bass "blurry" if that makes any sense.  Since doing the mod like Fearless it seemed to tighten it up just a bit.  And I do love the HE-400's - enough that I sold my HE-6 as it was close enough to allow me the sale to generate funding.  I reach for them more often than my HD800's off my vintage Spec system - I am a basshead and realize bass response is the most important aspect of headphones to me.  

 

[Fearless1]

Vegan pads, IMHO, are the best "mod" out there, they sound great and the comfort level is through the roof compared to focus/stock pads.

 

[richard51]

  Hi Mike,
 
Think that's the area that ohragami (sorry I've butchered his name) is doing the "blutack mod" - seals up that gap.
 
I did the Sorb mod to my HE-400 and tho I'd say it's a little improved, it is not as radical as I'm reading some guys are experiencing.  Other than richard51, are the rest of you thinking it's a drastic improvement or minor or ? 

have you cut the pieces of sorbothane in 4 little pieces?  For me the improvement was great ONLY the pieces cutted in 4....If you stick 4 or 6 pieces of sorb on the interior or the exterior of the headphone the improvement will not be extraordinary.... I said that on ALL my posts ....the improvement is RADICAL ONLY if you cut the pieces like i indicate in my post #20868... In the beginning before i write this post #20868 i had sticked 8 pieces of sorb and the improvement was not very big .... After i had the idea to cut it and AFTER that i write this post with the rules to think about....I will like people read my posts before commenting and try exactly  WHAT i recommend...If i remember you had not CUTTED in 4 each of the 4 or 6 pieces of sorb you sticked in the interior ?

 
 
P.S. i had now on my headphone on each exterior cup 8 pieces of sorb cutted in 4 =32 pieces... the result is RADICAL compared to 8 pieces non cutted...that is all my MOD.nothing less...best regards to you all...i am sorry if you are not satisfied but the result you obtained is not by the same method i had try...

 

[Fearless1]

Not to discount the mod in any way(I did notice an improvement in both bass tightness and treble harshness, so thank you), but the cut should not make a difference in sound.

The goal is to evenly distribute the damping material (in this case Sorbathane) to dissapate the vibration of the cups. In your case you got a more even distribution of mass by your cuts. So of course it worked! I used a heavier, thicker cut that I lined the inner part of the cup with completely removing a piece at a time until the desired resonance was achieved.

I did the outside of the cup with the same sheet you used, emulating the placement and the cut, not comfortable with the ascetics enough to do the HE 6 in such a manner, I tried the inner part with the thicker sorb and got exactly the same results!

 

[richard51]

Not to discount the mod in any way(I did notice an improvement in both bass tightness and treble harshness, so thank you), but the cut should not make a difference in sound.

The goal is to evenly distribute the damping material (in this case Sorbathane) to dissapate the vibration of the cups. In your case you got a more even distribution of mass by your cuts. So of course it worked! I used a heavier, thicker cut that I lined the inner part of the cup with completely removing a piece at a time until the desired resonance was achieved.

I did the outside of the cup with the same sheet you used, emulating the placement and the cut, not comfortable with the ascetics enough to do the HE 6 in such a manner, I tried the inner part with the thicker sorb and got exactly the same results!

i want to be sure to understand, have you cutted in 4 each strips of sorbothane ? have you other damping mod  like blutak? the essence of my mod is i have 8 pieces cutted in 4 = 32 pieces on each cup...Have you try that ?
 
On the contrary the cut make all difference in sound... I try to explain why(#20868) but i am not an engineer... without the cut my sorbothane pieces evenly distributed was onlu small improvement but not totally satisfying... THE CUT IN 4
IS THE KEY ...