[Mastermind]

FlKTION I usually listen mostly to the same music as you. Bass indeed becomes rather powerful after making three holes, but it sounds ok for me. By the way I also put inside some cotton and it made bass more accurate without re-drilling new holes.

 

[FlKTION]

Good to know Mastermind, I am letting them burn in before i revisit modding if need be. One thing that I noticed more than i ever had with my cheaper computer headsets was how much the encoding of the track matters! Before hand it was noticeable but not always crucial with cheaper phones, but now i really hate poorly encoded tracks and the majority OF the 192kbps MP3's that i have are almost un-listenable now as i find the sound-stage crammed.

If i was going to demo the change though i have a spectacularly encoded version of Sub-Focus's new album and it absolutely sounds heavenly.

 

[Mastermind]

Sure, the better sound gear you have the more demanding it is. I used to listen to 192 kbit mp3s myself several years ago, but then switched to lossless formats due the same reason as you. All the coding sound artefacts that may stay invisible with worse headphones/sound card become obvious and irritating with better gear.

P.S. However, I used to love my old iRiver diskman - it played even rather badly encoded mp3s quite nice

 

[Jaawa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mastermind /img/forum/go_quote.gif P.S. However, I used to love my old iRiver diskman - it played even rather badly encoded mp3s quite nice

Ramen to that, iriver ftw ^^

 

[Prowler]

I've had my PC 350 headset for over a year and while it's the best headset I've ever owned, I have always felt it was not worth the price because of the subdued bass. With that said I was still a bit hesitant to try this mod because the phones do have amazing clarity and I didn't want to screw them up.

Anyway, I finally decided to commit to the mod, though being a bit conservative I settled on drilling a single 1/16" hole. All I can say is WOW! I wish I had found out about this mod sooner.

I don't want to sound harsh towards Sennheiser, but I have to be honest... I'm now convinced the PC 350 is flawed out of the box. Without question the phones should have sounded this way when they were new. They finally sound like something I would expect from Sennheiser.

Before the mod I was using the EQ (in the console for my Creative X-Fi Platinum) to try and compensate for the lack of bass, keyword being "try". Needless to say after the mod I have the EQ off.

The bass is now just nicely present without at all being overpowering. The sound of the phones is now just so well balanced I don't even think I'll go any further with the drilling.

 

[Hordsak]

Thank you for this mod! I'm just entering this thing you guys call "audiophiles" and now I can't wait for upgrades. I got the PC350 for christmas, and I was using them with a crappy Behringer HA400 amp, and it sounded quite crummy. I drilled 2 small holes, and broke the headphones in for about 100 hours, and man it sounds great. I'm picking up a Tube Amp in the next few days, I can't wait.

In all honesty, with this mod, what would the difference in listening / quality be compared to Senn 595's etc? Can they be considered decent in the grand aspect of things as far as sound quality is concerned?

 

[hedmaster]

Hi guys, and thanks for all the great info. here. I accidentally pulled too hard, not realizing there was still a tiny screw under the black adhesive, and disconnected several of the wires.

If anyone could take a few nice close up shots of the wire placements, that would be of great help!

I am planning on re-soldering them. I would prefer not to have to guess, lol!

Thanks again to all of you, and especially hero for his original idea with this great mod.

Happy New Year to everyone,
Matt

Actually, never mind, I got it all soldered back up and it works better than ever!

But, thanks for the overwhelmingly helpful responses...

 

[knight02]

Hey guys, I read up on the thread and people said that the bass was lacking and drilling the holes will fix this.

I'm using the Auzentech Forte sound card and I enabled the extra redirection bass (which I assume just increases the amount of bass and added another 20% to default bass. Wouldn't this yield the same result as drilling holes on the phones or am I missing something? I never had a chance to compare high end phones like HD650 since I don't know of any audio shops that demonstrate em in Toronto.

Also, anyone know how to take off the pleather off of the PC 350s? I've used a fair bit of force try to pull em off and they don't seem to come off. It'll help if there's a video or step to step pictures to show this.

Thanks again.

 

[Jaawa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by knight02 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey guys, I read up on the thread and people said that the bass was lacking and drilling the holes will fix this. I'm using the Auzentech Forte sound card and I enabled the extra redirection bass (which I assume just increases the amount of bass and added another 20% to default bass. Wouldn't this yield the same result as drilling holes on the phones or am I missing something? I never had a chance to compare high end phones like HD650 since I don't know of any audio shops that demonstrate em in Toronto.

Using any software gimmicks to increase bass is going to bring more bass, but it will be unnatural and of poor quality when compared to increased bass from the hardware. Though I don't know how the extra redirection bass thing in your soundcard works, if it's of what quality and if it's done by hardware. Anyhow, this mod is proven to yield excellent results in a way that doesn't seem to affect the quality of the sound produced.
Quote:

Originally Posted by knight02 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also, anyone know how to take off the pleather off of the PC 350s? I've used a fair bit of force try to pull em off and they don't seem to come off. It'll help if there's a video or step to step pictures to show this. Thanks again.

The pleather pads are just pushed in and they're held in place by tension, sitting in the groove of the headphone chassis. Just pick a corner and pull until it pops, don't pull only from the pleather, pull from the plastic rim too. And then just continue to pry the pad off from the rest of the corners. They're just so rigidly installed because they haven't been removed before.

 

[Jaawa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hordsak /img/forum/go_quote.gif In all honesty, with this mod, what would the difference in listening / quality be compared to Senn 595's etc? Can they be considered decent in the grand aspect of things as far as sound quality is concerned?

With this mod, they come so very close, with lots of holes combined with using the HD 595 velour pads, they are also very open and airy, so I'd say they're amazingly close even though there's a big difference in the earcup design, one being open- and one closed-back. So my final answer is yes.

 

[Jmarsh24]

Hello I am a brand new to all of this, but I recently purchased the pc350 and have noticed the lack of bass in my headphones and was planning on doing this mod. However, I was trying to figure out of a common starting spot for drilling holes. I have seen people drill 11 holes, to 1,2, or 3 holes. I was wondering if anyone had any tips on if they had to do it again, how would they do it? I know every headphone is a little different, but just as a starting point is what I'm asking. Also, would you guys advise on stuffing the headphones the first time, or is that if you put too big of a hole in the casing. Thanks a lot! =D

 

[Mkilbride]

Yeah, I'd like to ask for some more detailed instructions on this. I'm about to get my pair of 350's in a few days, buying an Amp, and I imagine if I use this Mod also, some good quality.

Also, what type of drill did you use? I can't imagine using my big ass drill on such a headset...and I don't really have any mini drills =/

 

[Jaawa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmarsh24 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hello I am a brand new to all of this, but I recently purchased the pc350 and have noticed the lack of bass in my headphones and was planning on doing this mod. However, I was trying to figure out of a common starting spot for drilling holes. I have seen people drill 11 holes, to 1,2, or 3 holes. I was wondering if anyone had any tips on if they had to do it again, how would they do it? I know every headphone is a little different, but just as a starting point is what I'm asking. Also, would you guys advise on stuffing the headphones the first time, or is that if you put too big of a hole in the casing. Thanks a lot! =D

Well you can go either way, you can start with 1 hole and test it, add another hole to see if it improved, or you can do ~10 holes and test it, then seal off a hole or two and see if it improved.

The more time and testing you put into this mod, the better results you will end up with. You can always seal off holes and you can always drill new ones, you can always experiment with different amounts of cotton to see how the sound changes. The best part is the modding experimentation, try a few settings for yourself and enjoy the process

 

[Jaawa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mkilbride /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, I'd like to ask for some more detailed instructions on this. I'm about to get my pair of 350's in a few days, buying an Amp, and I imagine if I use this Mod also, some good quality. Also, what type of drill did you use? I can't imagine using my big ass drill on such a headset...and I don't really have any mini drills =/

Well I believe that all the details are already in this thread, perhaps they should be gathered into a coherent bomb of information, but they're still there. This mod isn't too complicated, everything is rather straightforward, open cans, drill holes, close cans, test headphones, proceed accordingly to drill/seal holes or use cotton until happy with the results

In the pictures I've posted you can see the small dremel drill I've used, there's even a pic of the drill bits I used. It doesn't really matter what kind of drill you use, if you can achieve smallish ~2mm diameter holes and if you can make sure that no plastic shreds get inside the driver enclosure.

Happy modding

 

[Mkilbride]

Hmm, I may not do the mod. I just received them, I didn't buy an Amp yet...

I can hear the bass very well, infact...I could even feel some vibration, and this was @ 30%...so I'm kinda confused? Maybe I just got a good pair naturally? This is without the Burn In, or Amp, or the mod, but using a X-Fi soundcard.