[cskippy]

I've recently been casually mentioning a new headphone in my possession the Code Sex. I coined this name as I wanted to be unique and awesome. Actually I'm not sure if the mods @LFF did to my HE-6 are the same as the famous Code-X or not, only Luis knows. What I can say, and the real reason I named it the Code Sex, is this is the best damn headphone I've heard for my tastes. It's an orgasm for my ears.

A little background on my journey with the HE-6. I originally had a HE-500 and was blown away compared to the DT880 I had at the time. I used them for gaming, audio production, movies, you name it. I only had a few issues with them. The upper mids and lower treble were slightly recessed and the 10kHz peak was bothersome at times. My buddy came over and listened to them off my Pioneer Spec 1 and 2 combo and was blown away. He couldn't get the same headphone as me so he had to one up me and get the HE-6. I got jealous and curious about what the HE-6 had to offer over the HE-500 and decided to bite the bullet, this was my largest audio purchase yet.

When I got the HE-6 I was immediately disappointed. Where was my bass, why was the headphone shouting at me and treble razors in my face? I was pissed. Instead of returning it like a sane person, I read that with insane power and the proper mods they could be the bestest ever! I tried @ohhgourami mods and while they brought the bass and fixed some of the treble problems they weren't a perfect fit for me. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people would be happy with the sound. I'm just anal as **** and like to tinker.

I went through hundreds of different tweaks and mods, documenting new things, thinking it's the best thing ever, waking up in the morning and going, what the ****? This was a vicious circle off and on for the past few years.*

Recently having been exposed to a larger variety of headphones, I began to hone in on my target sound and the mods started to work well for my tastes. My latest mod before I sent my HE-6 off to Luis was pretty much as good as I could get them to sound. They measured well, sounded great, but they were still a little fatiguing in the treble and comfort was not great as the mods I used touched your ears inside the pads. I was kind of considering selling my HE-6 and getting an Eikon, as it was one of those few headphones that I can just sit back and listen to music. In a last ditch effort, I sent a PM to LFF explaining my frustration with the HE-6 and my thoughts about selling them. He replied back and told me to not sell the HE-6. The drivers in them are better than 99% of the headphones and that he could mod them.

I decided to send them off and a couple weeks later got them back JUST in time for the recent AZ meet. I hadn't even listened to them until I got to the meet so other people were experiencing them for the first time as well. I was stunned by the change in sound! All of my quibbles about splashy treble were gone. There was just this effortless natural sound coming from the headphone. My setup at home and for the meet is Eitr>Gumby>Aficionado>Vidar>Code Sex. The Code Sex ended up being a huge hit at the meet. Multiple people came up to me saying they were going to get an HE-6 for their next headphone. I made sure to tell them that they were modded by Luis and that they are in another league compared to a stock HE-6.

The Code Sex has leather angled pads that have a similar ear hole size as the Eikon or Ori pads but they look custom to me. They look stock except for the pads, a Lohb comfort strap and a hardwired BTG audio cable.

Here are full comparisons between my latest mod and LFF's work:

LFF Code Sex:

cskippy modded HE-6:

Some notes on the measurements above:

• While my mods look like they have more bass and a similar treble quantity, listening tells a different story. Code Sex has better bass both in quantity at quality, a more coherent midrange and treble that is smooth, never harsh but still extends quite well. I have a couple ideas on why Luis' mods work better. Leather pads attenuate treble far better than velour pads. They also create a longer decay in the lower frequencies which give a realistic weight to the sound. This is a common complaint with planars, that the driver is too fast and doesn't have the wait for it...dynamics of good ummm...dynamics?
• The initial impulse response is better behaved with less erroneous vibrations and a quicker settling time.
• The spectrograms highlight what I was talking about above with better more realistic lower frequency decay, and less ringing in the treble.

While measurements can tell us a lot about a headphone's performance, if you only look at frequency response as the criteria for a good headphone then you might be disappointed by some headphones and miss out on some good ones. A good case in point is the AR-H1. Their frequency response is kind of wonky by itself but when you look at other things like ear distance to the driver, angle of the driver, pad material, and open back design the tuning actually works pretty well.

I hope you enjoyed my ADD enhanced preview of the Code Sex. I'll be adding listening impressions and comparisons to other headphones in the future.

Contact @LFF if you want to turn your pair of HE-6 into a Code Sex. I can work with all versions as he tunes them individually by ear to an impeccable standard.

*I told you I'm nuts!

 

[Articnoise]

I've recently been casually mentioning a new headphone in my possession the Code Sex. I coined this name as I wanted to be unique and awesome. Actually I'm not sure if the mods @LFF did to my HE-6 are the same as the famous Code-X or not, only Luis knows. What I can say, and the real reason I named it the Code Sex, is this is the best damn headphone I've heard for my tastes. It's an orgasm for my ears.

A little background on my journey with the HE-6. I originally had a HE-500 and was blown away compared to the DT880 I had at the time. I used them for gaming, audio production, movies, you name it. I only had a few issues with them. The upper mids and lower treble were slightly recessed and the 10kHz peak was bothersome at times. My buddy came over and listened to them off my Pioneer Spec 1 and 2 combo and was blown away. He couldn't get the same headphone as me so he had to one up me and get the HE-6. I got jealous and curious about what the HE-6 had to offer over the HE-500 and decided to bite the bullet, this was my largest audio purchase yet.

When I got the HE-6 I was immediately disappointed. Where was my bass, why was the headphone shouting at me and treble razors in my face? I was pissed. Instead of returning it like a sane person, I read that with insane power and the proper mods they could be the bestest ever! I tried @ohhgourami mods and while they brought the bass and fixed some of the treble problems they weren't a perfect fit for me. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people would be happy with the sound. I'm just anal as **** and like to tinker.

I went through hundreds of different tweaks and mods, documenting new things, thinking it's the best thing ever, waking up in the morning and going, what the ****? This was a vicious circle off and on for the past few years.*

Recently having been exposed to a larger variety of headphones, I began to hone in on my target sound and the mods started to work well for my tastes. My latest mod before I sent my HE-6 off to Luis was pretty much as good as I could get them to sound. They measured well, sounded great, but they were still a little fatiguing in the treble and comfort was not great as the mods I used touched your ears inside the pads. I was kind of considering selling my HE-6 and getting an Eikon, as it was one of those few headphones that I can just sit back and listen to music. In a last ditch effort, I sent a PM to LFF explaining my frustration with the HE-6 and my thoughts about selling them. He replied back and told me to not sell the HE-6. The drivers in them are better than 99% of the headphones and that he could mod them.

I decided to send them off and a couple weeks later got them back JUST in time for the recent AZ meet. I hadn't even listened to them until I got to the meet so other people were experiencing them for the first time as well. I was stunned by the change in sound! All of my quibbles about splashy treble were gone. There was just this effortless natural sound coming from the headphone. My setup at home and for the meet is Eitr>Gumby>Aficionado>Vidar>Code Sex. The Code Sex ended up being a huge hit at the meet. Multiple people came up to me saying they were going to get an HE-6 for their next headphone. I made sure to tell them that they were modded by Luis and that they are in another league compared to a stock HE-6.

The Code Sex has leather angled pads that have a similar ear hole size as the Eikon or Ori pads but they look custom to me. They look stock except for the pads, a Lohb comfort strap and a hardwired BTG audio cable.

Here are full comparisons between my latest mod and LFF's work:

LFF Code Sex:

cskippy modded HE-6:

Some notes on the measurements above:

• While my mods look like they have more bass and a similar treble quantity, listening tells a different story. Code Sex has better bass both in quantity at quality, a more coherent midrange and treble that is smooth, never harsh but still extends quite well. I have a couple ideas on why Luis' mods work better. Leather pads attenuate treble far better than velour pads. They also create a longer decay in the lower frequencies which give a realistic weight to the sound. This is a common complaint with planars, that the driver is too fast and doesn't have the wait for it...dynamics of good ummm...dynamics?
• The initial impulse response is better behaved with less erroneous vibrations and a quicker settling time.
• The spectrograms highlight what I was talking about above with better more realistic lower frequency decay, and less ringing in the treble.

While measurements can tell us a lot about a headphone's performance, if you only look at frequency response as the criteria for a good headphone then you might be disappointed by some headphones and miss out on some good ones. A good case in point is the AR-H1. Their frequency response is kind of wonky by itself but when you look at other things like ear distance to the driver, angle of the driver, pad material, and open back design the tuning actually works pretty well.

I hope you enjoyed my ADD enhanced preview of the Code Sex. I'll be adding listening impressions and comparisons to other headphones in the future.

Contact @LFF if you want to turn your pair of HE-6 into a Code Sex. I can work with all versions as he tunes them individually by ear to an impeccable standard.

*I told you I'm nuts!

Interesting can you tell me a bit more about the SQ difference (soundstage, resolution, mids, fullness) and also how much it cost?

 

[paradoxper]

You've inspired your own army of Code Sex followers.

 

[cskippy]

Interesting can you tell me a bit more about the SQ difference (soundstage, resolution, mids, fullness) and also how much it cost?

LFF's mods turn the HE-6 from unlistenable, with stock velour pads, or screwed up frequency response, pleather pads. Everything is better. Soundstage, imaging, detail retrieval, cohesiveness, and timbre accuracy. It's a lot closer sounding to an HD650 but without mid bass bloat, much better sub bass, equal midrange tone and better treble extension. LFF uses custom leather pads that are very comfortable and are angled to help imaging and soundstage depth. I would be perfectly happy with this one headphone if I had to only have one, besides it gets 99% of my listening time. I also sold my HD800 due to the screwed up frequency response and I feel the Code Sex has a good enough soundstage that I'm not missing the HD800s.

It cost $800 plus shipping for the mods to my HE-6. It doesn't matter what screw version you have, Luis can work with what you give him.

You've inspired your own army of Code Sex followers.

Let us unite!

 

[Articnoise]

LFF's mods turn the HE-6 from unlistenable, with stock velour pads, or screwed up frequency response, pleather pads. Everything is better. Soundstage, imaging, detail retrieval, cohesiveness, and timbre accuracy. It's a lot closer sounding to an HD650 but without mid bass bloat, much better sub bass, equal midrange tone and better treble extension. LFF uses custom leather pads that are very comfortable and are angled to help imaging and soundstage depth. I would be perfectly happy with this one headphone if I had to only have one, besides it gets 99% of my listening time. I also sold my HD800 due to the screwed up frequency response and I feel the Code Sex has a good enough soundstage that I'm not missing the HD800s.

It cost $800 plus shipping for the mods to my HE-6. It doesn't matter what screw version you have, Luis can work with what you give him.


Let us unite!

Tanks, what’s the SQ difference compare to a mod HE-6 with Audeze vegan, Eikon or Ori pads?

You call it a custom modded HE-6. Did you specify any preference before the mod or is Code Sex a fix LFF mod for the HE-6?

 

[cskippy]

I didn't care for the Audeze Vegan pads with the HE-6. They had excess bloom in the bass and a tizzy treble plus bass impact lacked authority though extension was still good.

I haven't tried any ZMF pads on the HE-6 so I won't comment there.

I let Luis do his thing with them, he knows what he's doing.

 

[Rhamnetin]

Doing some earpad testing on mine:

Stock pads (same as in the OP): Poor seal (mounting rings don't fit well), bass light (fairly well extended but no impact), wonderfully extended treble that is a bit too thin in the mid and upper treble.

ZMF Universe pads secured with double sided tape (much better seal): Overall reduced upper treble presence making the headphone slightly less bright and energetic than before with mild recession that is occasionally noticeable, almost Audeze-like treble qualities now but without the extreme recession (so not nearly as strong treble dips, I'd say about 10% of the Audeze problem but it's enough to take away the magic from the mids). Some sibilance at 'sss'. Similar treble extension and treble thinness as before. Considerably more bass impact but still not bass heavy, much less bassy than Audeze and ZMF planars for reference, but now it at least approaches HE-560 levels. Imaging is less potent.

I will soon try ZMF Ori lambskin pads (taped, if rings fit will try those too) and FocusPad-A.

 

[Liu Junyuan]

Doing some earpad testing on mine:

Stock pads (same as in the OP): Poor seal (mounting rings don't fit well), bass light (fairly well extended but no impact), wonderfully extended treble that is a bit too thin in the mid and upper treble.

ZMF Universe pads secured with double sided tape (much better seal): Overall reduced upper treble presence (and perhaps a lower octave as well, somewhere in the 4-8 KHz range) making the headphone slightly less bright and energetic than before with mild recession that is occasionally noticeable, almost Audeze-like treble qualities now but without the extreme recession (so not nearly as strong treble dips). Similar treble extension and treble thinness as before. Considerably more bass impact but still not bass heavy, much less bassy than Audeze and ZMF planars for reference, but now it at least approaches HE-560 levels.

I will soon try ZMF Ori lambskin pads (taped, if rings fit will try those too) and FocusPad-A.

Nice comparison. Does the Code Sex come with Luis' own pad, per the OP?

 

[Rhamnetin]

Mine indeed came with those same pads, though no suspension headband.

 

[cskippy]

I don't have confirmation but some say the stock pad is the Brainwavz Angled Memory Foam Earpad:
https://www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-An...29879627&sr=8-1&keywords=brainwavz+angled+pad

 

[Rhamnetin]

I don't have confirmation but some say the stock pad is the Brainwavz Angled Memory Foam Earpad:
https://www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-An...29879627&sr=8-1&keywords=brainwavz+angled+pad

Looks spot on.

My favorite pad for this headphone is now the HiFiMan FocusPad-A (maybe the FocusPad too, from my experience they sound nearly identical on the HE-560). Compared to the stock pads Luis used on the Code-6, bass is more forward and hits harder, very similar to the ZMF Universe pads but perhaps more detailed now too. Sub 30 Hz bass is still too weak though, just an HE-6 limitation I guess which is baffling since modded Fostex T50RPs can have very nice bass response down to around 15 Hz. But back to the pads, perhaps this just confirms that the thicker pads reduce bass significantly on this headphone.

FocusPad-A is a bit brighter than the Universe and the stock Code-6 pads, but treble is seriously improved; mid-upper treble would sound too thin at times before, but this is less of an issue now, and it has less harshness than before.

However, imaging and sound stage seemed best with the stock Code-6 pads (though still very good with any of these, better imaging on FocusPad-A than ZMF Universe). I am still impressed at how those stock pads managed to put mids in front of everything and make them a bit more magical at the same time (due to imaging and sound stage). Still, the bass was far too recessed and light with those, and I really like the treble improvements with FocusPad-A. I would say the FocusPad-A is the most neutral of them all, stock pads most mid-centric, and ZMF Universe a little bit more laid back than the others.

Also, I never heard 21 KHz out of a headphone (or even 20 KHz) until this one. Curious to see if the Stax SR-009 can do it too.

Oh and this thread needs more pics I guess.

Spoiler

 

[cskippy]

All of these measurements were taken with a Code-6:

https://www.head-fi.org/gallery/photo/1872773/

 

[Rhamnetin]

All of these measurements were taken with a Code-6:

https://www.head-fi.org/gallery/photo/1872773/

That's why I was surprised. Very similar in the bass and mids (being very flat) compared to the Audeze LCD-4, but the LCD-4 had much stronger bass below 30 Hz. Makes me curious if something like a balanced Dynahi would liven that area more with the HE-6/Code-6.

 

[Liu Junyuan]

My Bryston 2B makes the HE-6 kick like a mule. Got it for less than $300. Speaker amps are the way to go.

 

[Benny-x]

@cskippy
I'm bringing this back from the grave for a sec. Do you still have Luis's contact details or email? Maybe you could PM me?

I've got a pair of stock HE-6 4-screws that I'm hoping to give the Code Sex treatment to, but I can't find any way to get a hold of him and the last time he posted on here was in 2015. But that's even before you got your work done, so I'm hoping there's a chance.