[Slashn77]

@sha007 Yes, you can wash the ear pads.. I've done so with my HD700 and just last night with my Senn HD800. Same type of black dust will discharge a bit, but the pads are back to being plush, clean and haven't deteriorated.

Just sent the same information to some friends:

"Soak the pads and headband in a bit of warm water mixed with 4-5 drops of Blue Dawn soap. Let soak for 1-2 hours. Lightly squeeze with paper towels and set to dry in a warm area (not in direct sun light)."

I am going to try this tomorrow.
Does the headband pull out like the ear pads? I gently pulled but don’t want to risk ruining it in case there is a clip or adhesive holding it on. It looks very snug in there

 

[Malfunkt]

I am going to try this tomorrow.
Does the headband pull out like the ear pads? I gently pulled but don’t want to risk ruining it in case there is a clip or adhesive holding it on. It looks very snug in there

Yes, the headband is easy to remove (edit: oops,it is on hd800 not 700). Make sure to Blue Dawn though, if possible. Seems to remove any oils without leaving residue.

One thing I forgot to mention was after soaking the pads they should rinsed and gently pressed while running luke warm water

 

[mathi8vadhanan]

I am going to try this tomorrow.
Does the headband pull out like the ear pads? I gently pulled but don’t want to risk ruining it in case there is a clip or adhesive holding it on. It looks very snug in there

No, the headband is not easy to remove. People have damaged their HD700 trying to remove the headband.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sennheiser-hd700-headband-taking-it-apart.827631/

 

[Slashn77]

Thank you! I think I am going to stick to the ear pads for now and maybe use a disinfectant wipe for the head band

 

[Leeco]

Thank you! I think I am going to stick to the ear pads for now and maybe use a disinfectant wipe for the head band

I used an old dry towel to clean the headband. I rubbed the towel on the headband cushions and all the black paint/gunk stuck to the towel or fell on the floor. Here is the result:

I think you can agree that it worked pretty well.

 

[LikeABell]

I remember someone had posted a detailed guide on how to remove the headband. It was a while ago though.

 

[Sefelt103]

Detailed multi-step method for cleaning ear pads:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/how-to-wash-headphone-cushions-earpads.721238/

 

[sha007]

@sha007 Yes, you can wash the ear pads.. I've done so with my HD700 and just last night with my Senn HD800. Same type of black dust will discharge a bit, but the pads are back to being plush, clean and haven't deteriorated.

Just sent the same information to some friends:

"Soak the pads and headband in a bit of warm water mixed with 4-5 drops of Blue Dawn soap. Let soak for 1-2 hours. Lightly squeeze with paper towels and set to dry in a warm area (not in direct sun light)."

Thanks for the information but I have found a solution. After not getting any reply here, I went to the medical store and bought a hand rub solution and wiped the ear pads. It worked like a magic! The black dust discharging is now totally gone and the pads looks like brand new.

But I'll try your method next time . Thanks.

 

[Slashn77]

First off I am really loving my Hd 700 and think they are very underrated for under $500. I know when they came out at $1000 that is crazy but it seems like everyone counts these out.
They are extremely comfortable and light and I went against a lot of opinions to get a HP that was great for gaming and good for music. People practically tried to scare me from picking these up saying to get the Elears or hifiman 500 or 560 I cannot remember which one but apparently one of those are not very good and the other hifiman is really nice at the reduced prices from retail.

There is definitely a treble spike that is a bit annoying on the 700 but not as bad to my ears as most say.

My question is is it worth it for the $15 modhouse mod to reduce the that treble a spike a decent amount without turning the headphone too dark.
$15 is cheap and the mod seems easy but I don’t want it if either it kills the treble too much or if it barely makes a difference at all.

Does anyone have any experience with it because these HP completely outshine and 650s and have bigger ST and more detail than the Audio technica 1000x(which do have better treble that is nice but isn’t spiked.

HD 700s are now the same price range as AT 2000x and dt 1990 which are both highly recommended but the HD 700s get no love

ramble over... but anyone who tried modhouse mod or similar with 700s please let me know your thoughts!
Thanks guys

 

[peter123]

First off I am really loving my Hd 700 and think they are very underrated for under $500. I know when they came out at $1000 that is crazy but it seems like everyone counts these out.
They are extremely comfortable and light and I went against a lot of opinions to get a HP that was great for gaming and good for music. People practically tried to scare me from picking these up saying to get the Elears or hifiman 500 or 560 I cannot remember which one but apparently one of those are not very good and the other hifiman is really nice at the reduced prices from retail.

There is definitely a treble spike that is a bit annoying on the 700 but not as bad to my ears as most say.

My question is is it worth it for the $15 modhouse mod to reduce the that treble a spike a decent amount without turning the headphone too dark.
$15 is cheap and the mod seems easy but I don’t want it if either it kills the treble too much or if it barely makes a difference at all.

Does anyone have any experience with it because these HP completely outshine and 650s and have bigger ST and more detail than the Audio technica 1000x(which do have better treble that is nice but isn’t spiked.

HD 700s are now the same price range as AT 2000x and dt 1990 which are both highly recommended but the HD 700s get no love

ramble over... but anyone who tried modhouse mod or similar with 700s please let me know your thoughts!
Thanks guys

You could try the Anaxilus mod, it only takes some self adhesive felt and is completely reversible. To me it just made the HD700 sound right.

 

[DavidA]

@Slashn77, In addition or what @peter123 mentioned about Anaxilus mod I think you might want to consider/try a tube amp (hybrid or OTL - Ember and BH Crack for me) with the HD700, or look for a SS amp that is considered on the neutral/warm side (G-109, Polaris, HA-501)

 

[peter123]

@Slashn77, In addition or what @peter123 mentioned about Anaxilus mod I think you might want to consider/try a tube amp (hybrid or OTL - Ember and BH Crack for me) with the HD700, or look for a SS amp that is considered on the neutral/warm side (G-109, Polaris, HA-501)

Good point David! I also really enjoy the HD700 from the Ember and when using them with my Burson V2+ I use an external tube DAC instead of the one in the Burson.

 

[Leeco]

I think the HD700 is very sensitive to the DAC and the AMP you use. People on Head-Fi accept that HD800(S) need top class DAC/AMP combo, or that phone will sound off, harsh, etc.
But HD700 is still VERY dependent on the "just the right" DAC/AMP combo.
Listening to Spotify through my Android phone -> USB-C cable to Fiio E7 portable amp (with extra bass boost) to HD700 sounds pretty good....
But running the same Spotify through my PC to Fostex HP-A8 into HD700 is EARGASMIC . Everything is just right. Just like HD800, the HD700 is slightly on a bright side, but there is no sibilance, no exaggerated bass, no recessed or subdued mids, everything sounds like I am in heaven.

But it can also depend on the album. Some albums are recorded on the bright side, some are more neutral, and some have too forward vocals...
For this you need different headphones to compensate for all these variables.
Plus, your MOOD on a specific day, etc... etc.
I read a lot of reviews on head-fi and whenever people mention tracks they test with, I play them while reading their comments. But most of the time I don’t like the chosen tracks because it does not speak to my tastes, even though they are technically pretty good.
I think if my HD700 ever broke beyond repair, I would buy another pair. Just because I love their signature.

 

[Slashn77]

@Slashn77, In addition or what @peter123 mentioned about Anaxilus mod I think you might want to consider/try a tube amp (hybrid or OTL - Ember and BH Crack for me) with the HD700, or look for a SS amp that is considered on the neutral/warm side (G-109, Polaris, HA-501)

Those

@Slashn77, In addition or what @peter123 mentioned about Anaxilus mod I think you might want to consider/try a tube amp (hybrid or OTL - Ember and BH Crack for me) with the HD700, or look for a SS amp that is considered on the neutral/warm side (G-109, Polaris, HA-501)

this sounds expensive! I spent less than $300 on the HP. Plus I don’t know much about that gear listed. I’ve heard of it but that’s about it.

The modhouse mod is only $15 and is just some foam easily reversible and simple because I am not big into modding at all I just think these HP are very underrated.

With that being said I have been looking to upgrade my mayflower Arc or xdsd to a Schiit mimby/vali2 or mimby/Lyr 3 for the right price in the classifieds

 

[DavidA]

Those

this sounds expensive! I spent less than $300 on the HP. Plus I don’t know much about that gear listed. I’ve heard of it but that’s about it.

The modhouse mod is only $15 and is just some foam easily reversible and simple because I am not big into modding at all I just think these HP are very underrated.

With that being said I have been looking to upgrade my mayflower Arc or xdsd to a Schiit mimby/vali2 or mimby/Lyr 3 for the right price in the classifieds

The Ember is $350, rolling tubes is fairly cheap since its only one tube and they are quite common but also have some high end ones if interested and that doesn't mean they are better, just different IMO. I have a Lyr2 and its an okay pairing with the HD700 but then it will also depend on the tubes used. The Ember is much more flexible since you can change the output impedance and input attenuation which makes it very flexible with different headphones along with changing out different tubes and the output impedance can be changed without turning of the amp so its one of the best ways to see the effect that an amps output impedance has on the sound of various headphones while the Lyr2 only has high and low gain switch which will change the output impedance a little IIRC which I didn't find to affect the sound noticeably.

As for the madhouse mod I think someone tried it a few pages back and said that they didn't like it since it dulled/altered the sound too much. While I have modded many of my headphones like my Grado RS2e, SR225e, SR60, T1gen1, DT990 premium, HE400, HE400i, HE560, MDR-1A, MDR-7506, SRD-34, TH-600, and K553 I haven't modded my HD800, HD700, HD650, HD6XX (might mod them), HD58X (might mod these in the future), LCD-2f, EL-8 open, SRH-1840, and a few others. I'm a bit different in that I look for different sounding headphones and with some I like them as is but with others I do try mods on them to see if I can "improve" them without altering their uniqueness too much most of the time but there are those like my HE400 where I did extensive mods but it transformed them from not bad to really good IMO. With modding its all personal preference, what I like and what you like may or may not be the same so the only way is to try the mod and see if you like it.