[knowhatimean]

You can do away with the Creatology on the outer side if you don't use a grille that has enough density to deflect sound back into the drivers. I think the reason Hifiman put that damping material on that side to begin with was to stop that "shouty" nature that the non damped chamber & dense grille from creating a partially reflective backwave into the drivers.

The "shouty" nature isn't as bad with no grille at all, but still remains as the drivers still too much (sound / air / ?) passing through the drivers.

The best compromise to still having "open" sound is to use some type of grille that allows the energy to pass through the chambers but slows down the energy going back to the listening side. I decided Magneplanar must have been doing something right all these years by using non-reflective grille material on both sides of their speakers !

Planar drivers are always going to sound their best if you let them operate the way they were design to & not
try to treat them like dynamic drivers. I haven't decided whether I prefer small shelf liner or speaker grille cloth as my grille material as the "balance" is slightly different (without lowering the amount of detail) with either one.

 

[Oregonian]

  @cskippy I tried your mod and I am completely shocked at how much of a difference this makes.  As one of the members on here said previously, removing the grills on the HE-6 was almost "too much of a good thing".  I agree with this statement, and in my case vocals began to sound unfocused and treble was hot and sharp.  
 
Leaving the damping material out from between the driver and the stock grills, I put the stock grills back on and there was improvement over no grills, but voices were occasionally shouty and the sound was not under control at times.
 
So, I decided to try this mod with creatology foam instead of mouse pad rubber.
Current mods I have on the HE-6 are:
 
1) Audeze vegan pads with ohhgourami's inner felt mod
2) Hardwired Zeus OCC Copper Quad 22 cable
3) Removal of damping material between grills and driver but with the grills still on
4) Creatology foam around the outer ring between the grills and driver (cskippy's experimental mod)
 
The results are simply phenomenal.  The main things I noticed with the last mod is:
- Vocals are more intimate and focused
- Sound is less chaotic even at louder volumes
- Treble sounds more realistic and is far less fatiguing
 
Props and thanks to all of you that are brave enough to mod your HE-6s and post them on here!

Any of you following the "damping resonance thread" using Sorbothane?  It sounds EXACTLY like what this mod is (creatology/mouse pad rubber). 
 
Let me know what you think if you've read the other (the link is - http://www.head-fi.org/t/744839/damping-mechanical-resonance-distortion-of-stax-and-other-phones-with-sorbothane-and-other-materials - seems we may be trying the same ideas from different viewpoints).  I did it on my HE-400 and driven from speaker taps the bass did tighten up a bit. 

 

[cskippy]

 
Any of you following the "damping resonance thread" using Sorbothane?  It sounds EXACTLY like what this mod is (creatology/mouse pad rubber). 
 
Let me know what you think if you've read the other (the link is - http://www.head-fi.org/t/744839/damping-mechanical-resonance-distortion-of-stax-and-other-phones-with-sorbothane-and-other-materials - seems we may be trying the same ideas from different viewpoints).  I did it on my HE-400 and driven from speaker taps the bass did tighten up a bit. 

Yeah this is what the rubber ring sounds like.  It might also reduce reflections as well.  I've felt vibrations through the cups when I've laid the headphones down before.  I think the rubber helps to reduce the higher frequency vibrations much like building a speaker out of heavy/dense wood vs single ply of mdf.

 

[dill3000]

Any of you following the "damping resonance thread" using Sorbothane?  It sounds EXACTLY like what this mod is (creatology/mouse pad rubber). 

Let me know what you think if you've read the other (the link is - http://www.head-fi.org/t/744839/damping-mechanical-resonance-distortion-of-stax-and-other-phones-with-sorbothane-and-other-materials - seems we may be trying the same ideas from different viewpoints).  I did it on my HE-400 and driven from speaker taps the bass did tighten up a bit. 

I've done the sorbothane mod also. It helps with reducing vibrations, therefor cleaning up to sound - making more focused. I've experimented with the sorbothane rectangles on the outside and on the inside of the outer grill. It almost completely removes vibrations on the Focus A pads and the Velour pads.

I would love to have the chance to make 3d printed caps with a bit more space for me to add sorbothane dampening around the drivers. This would cancel the need for the blutack mod as well as the external sorbothane mod.

 

[FredrikT92]

Got my BTG cable today. Much nicer then using the HE-Adapter indeed. 
It sounds like its more dynamics and easier to hear details. 
Now the real comparison between F6 & INT-150 starts. 
It does still seem like the F6 just sounds more airy/big, it has some magic the INT-150 doesnt have. 

 

[FredrikT92]

... And there my right channel stopped working...
I was listening for a couple of hours, then went to take a piss. When I came back the right channel had stopped working.
Its not like I was blasting the INT-150 at maks volume either... 85dB measured with iPhone app. Any suggestions? Ive tried everything, from swapping back to the resistor, using different amplifier etc... I guess they are broken  

 

[Hansotek]

  ... And there my right channel stopped working...
I was listening for a couple of hours, then went to take a piss. When I came back the right channel had stopped working.
Its not like I was blasting the INT-150 at maks volume either... 85dB measured with iPhone app. Any suggestions? Ive tried everything, from swapping back to the resistor, using different amplifier etc... I guess they are broken  

NOOOOOOO!!!!!

 

[FredrikT92]

I hope Hifiman can fix it for a fair price. Not buying a brand new pair, simple as that. Way too pricey with the currency which has gone bust

 

[vc1187]

I hope Hifiman can fix it for a fair price. Not buying a brand new pair, simple as that. Way too pricey with the currency which has gone bust

Did you try switching back to stock cable? Very sorry to hear of your misfortune. It's almost equivalent to losing a child

 

[FredrikT92]

Yep, tried using it with different amp, cable etc. 

 

[ohhgourami]

  Yep, tried using it with different amp, cable etc. 

Repairs through HFM are very reasonably priced. I would take a look under the pads and grill to see what happened.

 

[Oregonian]

  Yep, tried using it with different amp, cable etc. 

Had that happen to my HE-6 when I bought them last summer.   Had a hella time with their customer service getting them repaired but $250 later I got them back with a new driver installed. 

 

[LarsHP]

  ... And there my right channel stopped working...
I was listening for a couple of hours, then went to take a piss. When I came back the right channel had stopped working.
Its not like I was blasting the INT-150 at maks volume either... 85dB measured with iPhone app. Any suggestions? Ive tried everything, from swapping back to the resistor, using different amplifier etc... I guess they are broken  

So sorry to hear. I would also suggest (like ohhgourami) that you open the headphone to check if there is anything you can see - like a loose contact or something.

 

[JamieMcC]

A little while back I posted some impressions of a little diy Nelson Pass 6W power amp I was using to good effect with my HE-6. Having been quiet impressed by it I sold it to build another but this time a little more headphone friendly.
 
Origional
 

 
Mark two is nearly complete now fitted with xlr out and stepped passive pre attenuator also slightly bigger to allow more room for rolling some different capacitors inside.
Will post some more thoughts once the internal hooking up is completed and its been run in a bit
 

 

 

 

[FredrikT92]

 
Had that happen to my HE-6 when I bought them last summer.   Had a hella time with their customer service getting them repaired but $250 later I got them back with a new driver installed. 

250 bucks for 1 or both? They said 230 bucks to me when I spoke with them.
 
@LarsHP
I tried to open them, but on the broken channel there is glue with the original filt which keeps me from pulling it apart! Cba to do that when im sending them in anyway.