[rlisin]

Could you guys tell me if removing the dust protectors has any effect on sound in HD700 (unmodded), and if yes - what effect exactly?

I do not have dust protectors in my HD700 (got them used without dust protectors) and wonder if it makes sense to order them. They're not exactly cheap. I'm only interested in a possible difference in sound, I have the dust protection issue handled (with cloth+foam inserts from Beyerdynamic DTXXX series).

 

[mathi8vadhanan]

After 3 years of use, my ear pads and headband cushion have crapped out. Earpad's glue have worn-off and the fabric has dropped its sheen.
I got the original replacement earpads ($100) and these cheap first copy from aliexpress (goo.gl/JSHAaP) for $10. Surprisingly the copy is as good as the original ones quality wise, except It just adds a bit more bass body. Time to stockup on these cheap pads.

I have no luck finding replacement headband cushions.

 

[DavidA]

After 3 years of use, my ear pads and headband cushion have crapped out. Earpad's glue have worn-off and the fabric has dropped its sheen.
I got the original replacement earpads ($100) and these cheap first copy from aliexpress (goo.gl/JSHAaP) for $10. Surprisingly the copy is as good as the original ones quality wise, except It just adds a bit more bass body. Time to stockup on these cheap pads.

I have no luck finding replacement headband cushions.

try here: http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/sennheiser-hd700-replacement-headband-padding-549054.html

 

[rlisin]

these cheap first copy from aliexpress (goo.gl/JSHAaP) for $10. Surprisingly the copy is as good as the original ones quality wise, except It just adds a bit more bass body.

Great, I asked about those cheap pads a few pages back, thank you for reporting on their quality! I'll be getting them then, good to have spares at the ready.
While you're swapping pads, could you check if there's any difference in sound if you remove dust protectors? I do not have them in my HD700 and I wonder if it makes sense to buy them and put them in. If they don't affect the sound at all I won't bother. If they do, I'd like to know if they improve or degrade it.

 

[Roll]

U could buy replacement earpads from
https://www.adorama.com/se549062.html

Originals at $55.00

 

[Sennheiser]

Great, I asked about those cheap pads a few pages back, thank you for reporting on their quality! I'll be getting them then, good to have spares at the ready.
While you're swapping pads, could you check if there's any difference in sound if you remove dust protectors? I do not have them in my HD700 and I wonder if it makes sense to buy them and put them in. If they don't affect the sound at all I won't bother. If they do, I'd like to know if they improve or degrade it.

The dust protector is mostly acoustically transparent, the main purpose for it is to keep out hairs (and dust). It might slightly tame the treble, but the effect is minimal.

 

[rlisin]

The dust protector is mostly acoustically transparent, the main purpose for it is to keep out hairs (and dust). It might slightly tame the treble, but the effect is minimal.

Thank you for your response to my question. I know that's the theory, and that any difference wouldn't be night and day, but in practice "mostly acoustically transparent" and "minimal effect" could mean that the difference is inaudible or barely audible, or it could mean that, for example, a peak that is bearable with the dust filter in becomes unbearable without it. HD700 does have a peak, so I was looking for a confirmation from an actual user who would be willing to take out the dust protectors for a quick test and compare.

I'm currently using "mostly acoustically transparent" filters from other headphones and they actually do slightly tame the treble, which I like. If the stock HD700 dust protectors do that too, I would consider getting them. If they do not, I'll stick to what I'm using now.

 

[Marlowe]

I have been using the Mod House mod exclusively for the last few weeks and after quite a bit of listening I have removed it, probably permanently. While I liked the mod at first, bass seemed to hit slightly harder, vocals seemed a bit more predominate if less so than the HD6XX (though I don't find vocals on the stock HD700 as recessed as many others do). But while I am hardly as educated a listener as many here, the more I listened I felt that that the mod introduced a bit of harshness on some material and, worse, separation suffered. Some tracks sounded smeary to my ears without the usual distinct separation of instruments that I like so much on the HD700. I removed the mod this morning and listened to a sampling of tracks that I've played recently with the mod and some problems with. All sounded markedly better to me without the mod--the harshness was gone and the separation was better.

In all fairness, I do want to state that it is quite possible that I did not do an optimal install of the mod. As I've noted previously, i am not good at these sorts of things. While the felt rings around the drivers seemed straightforward enough, I had quite a bit of trouble getting the rings tucked between the dust cover and baffle plate and then getting the plate and pads reinstalled. Indeed, the baffle plate and/or pads on one earcup fell out a couple of times when I picked up the headphones. So it is is far from impossible that the sound was negatively affected by improper installation. (Actually, this may well have resulted in a reverse placebo effect. My nagging suspicion that I had not properly installed the mob may have caused me to be overly critical of the mod sound.)

 

[s2kPanda]

After 3 years of use, my ear pads and headband cushion have crapped out. Earpad's glue have worn-off and the fabric has dropped its sheen.
I got the original replacement earpads ($100) and these cheap first copy from aliexpress (goo.gl/JSHAaP) for $10. Surprisingly the copy is as good as the original ones quality wise, except It just adds a bit more bass body. Time to stockup on these cheap pads.

I have no luck finding replacement headband cushions.

If you wait a while, Dekoni is in the process of creating pads for the HD700. No idea where you'd get a replacement headband tho. Maybe just get a knit sleeve or something to wrap over the original headband. It'd be a lot cheaper that way than replacing an entire headband.

 

[mathi8vadhanan]

If you wait a while, Dekoni is in the process of creating pads for the HD700. No idea where you'd get a replacement headband tho. Maybe just get a knit sleeve or something to wrap over the original headband. It'd be a lot cheaper that way than replacing an entire headband.

Thanks, I'm also leaning towards that. Even If I manged to source them from UK or AU, I think removing the headband assembly is a PITA.

I'm currently using "mostly acoustically transparent" filters from other headphones and they actually do slightly tame the treble, which I like. If the stock HD700 dust protectors do that too, I would consider getting them. If they do not, I'll stick to what I'm using now.

I tested them with and without the dust protector, over the weekend. I'm not hearing any difference (with/without the cover) running from either HUGO (music) or PS4 controller (Spotify + Gaming).

 

[rlisin]

I tested them with and without the dust protector, over the weekend. I'm not hearing any difference

Thank you, that's exactly the information I was looking for. I'll continue using the filters borrowed from other cans for now.

 

[pez]

So anyone here running the HD700 out of a LD MKIII? I've recently acquired the combo and looking for potential tube recommendations. I've got fairly minimal hours on both the amp and the headphones, but I have to say I find the LD a better match for these than the Asgard 2 that I also have.

I ordered up the ModHouse kit (12 bucks and free shipping....I can take that loss if I don't like it) as I find the treble can be a bit hot on tracks that aren't well produced/mastered. I'm leaning towards keeping the headphones (what they excel at...they excel at) so I have a feeling I'm going to be looking for a potentially warmer tube. I'm new to tubes in general, so I probably need to sit down with my other headphones a bit as well to pinpoint what I'm looking for from the amp as well.

 

[DavidA]

So anyone here running the HD700 out of a LD MKIII? I've recently acquired the combo and looking for potential tube recommendations. I've got fairly minimal hours on both the amp and the headphones, but I have to say I find the LD a better match for these than the Asgard 2 that I also have.

I ordered up the ModHouse kit (12 bucks and free shipping....I can take that loss if I don't like it) as I find the treble can be a bit hot on tracks that aren't well produced/mastered. I'm leaning towards keeping the headphones (what they excel at...they excel at) so I have a feeling I'm going to be looking for a potentially warmer tube. I'm new to tubes in general, so I probably need to sit down with my other headphones a bit as well to pinpoint what I'm looking for from the amp as well.

I don't have a LD-mk3 but and I don't know if the driver tube equivalents are similar but I've found most Amperex and Mullard driver tubes tend to be on the warmer side in the 6922/ECC88/6JD8/12AXX series used in my Ember, BH Crack and Lyr2. Agree with you about the Asgard2 not being a great match for my HD700 due to the pairing being a little on the bright side but there are SS amps like the Liquid Carbon, G-109, HD-501 and Polaris that do pair nicely with the HD700 for those that don't want to deal with tubes.

 

[Tyler8865]

I don't have a LD-mk3 but and I don't know if the driver tube equivalents are similar but I've found most Amperex and Mullard driver tubes tend to be on the warmer side in the 6922/ECC88/6JD8/12AXX series used in my Ember, BH Crack and Lyr2. Agree with you about the Asgard2 not being a great match for my HD700 due to the pairing being a little on the bright side but there are SS amps like the Liquid Carbon, G-109, HD-501 and Polaris that do pair nicely with the HD700 for those that don't want to deal with tubes.

I never got to hear the Asgard with the 700s but I did try the Valhalla 2 and the Lyr briefly at a friend's house. I was considering going to Schiit when I started getting sick of hearing the 700s from my FiiO K5 (X5iii docked) and Vali 2 but this thread convinced me to buy a Woo Audio WA6 and after ~50 hours of burn in it is by far the best sounding system I've heard (tried an HD800 with HDVD800 at a store but Apple Music was the source). I never got to try the WA6 before buying it but wouldn't even consider returning it now. The build quality/aesthetics are also something else, certainly a talking point when people come visit.

 

[DavidA]

I never got to hear the Asgard with the 700s but I did try the Valhalla 2 and the Lyr briefly at a friend's house. I was considering going to Schiit when I started getting sick of hearing the 700s from my FiiO K5 (X5iii docked) and Vali 2 but this thread convinced me to buy a Woo Audio WA6 and after ~50 hours of burn in it is by far the best sounding system I've heard (tried an HD800 with HDVD800 at a store but Apple Music was the source). I never got to try the WA6 before buying it but wouldn't even consider returning it now. The build quality/aesthetics are also something else, certainly a talking point when people come visit.

I've never cared for the Valhalla2 since it was a cold/dry sounding amp that didn't change much with different tubes and I almost never use my Lyr2 with the HD700 since its not as smooth compared to the BH Crack and the headphone output of my UD-301 with the HD700. The best looking amp I've owned was a WA7d, too bad it didn't perform as good as it looked and was very limited with tube rolling. The Elise (with different tubes) is one of the better amps for the HD700 that I've tried under $700 (old price) but they are going up in price these days so they went from a great value to a good value IMO. While I haven't heard a WA6 in a few years I'd imagine that they are a great pairing for the HD700 just like the WA2 and WA22 that I heard a few months back.