[meatwad]

I love my headphones but sometimes I wonder how I could enhance their sound further.

Specifically I was looking at the wood cup mods / tweaks from Headphile.com but I could use a suggestion or two about which design style and wood might work out well for me. For example, on the website it recommends the full-enclosure (no mesh) wood cups for HD580s. But which wood has the characteristics that would suit my tastes?


My tastes are kinda all over the place...
I'm into hip-hop, rock, alternative, indie and rap, including:
Nine Inch Nails, 2Pac, Queens of the Stone Age, Sigur Rós, Radiohead, The Flaming Lips, Led Zeppelin, TV on the Radio, Gorillaz, Flogging Molly, LCD Soundsystem, Death From Above 1979, Soundgarden, Tenacious D, Wu-Tang Clan, Sevendust, Buena Vista Social Club, Tiësto, Interpol, R. Kelly, The Mars Volta, Prefuse 73, Battles, We Versus The Shark, Eric Clapton, Madvillain, Elliott Smith, Eels, Ibrahim Ferrer, Stone Temple Pilots, Christopher O'Riley, !!!, At the Drive-In, Edan, Do Make Say Think, Bob Marley, MF DOOM, Tool, The Decemberists, Dr. Dre, Rage Against the Machine, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Jaga Jazzist, 50 Cent, Frank Sinatra, The Smashing Pumpkins, Eminem, Thelonious Monk, Foo Fighters, G-Unit.

Check out my music taste: nnevermindd’s Music Profile – Users at Last.fm


The answer could well be that it's best to not fix what isn't broken - the cans sound great as they are. I can't help but wonder though

thanks in advance!

 

[rodentdog]

You might want to email Larry at Headphile. I had him mod my K-340. No wood though. He is helpful, although read the FAQ section before emailing him. He does excellent work.

 

[Uncle Erik]

If you want to alter the sound of your HD-580, I'd strongly recommend trying different amplifiers.

Sennheiser designed the HD-580 as an open headphone for a reason. If you want closed, there are many closed models available that were designed and engineered to be closed headphones.

Before you close an open headphone, try using cardboard and tape to close them and see if that helps or ruins the sound.

 

[AmanGeorge]

Is there anything in particular you want to improve upon with your 580s? It may be that you should try another headphone before modding the Senns to see if there are sound signatures out there that suit your tastes even better. Maybe something a little more bass heavy like a Denon, Ultrasone or even an HD650 would better suit your musical tastes?

 

[charliex]

Closing HD580s is sacrilege.

 

[Steve999]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meatwad /img/forum/go_quote.gif I love my headphones but sometimes I wonder how I could enhance their sound further. Specifically I was looking at the wood cup mods / tweaks from Headphile.com but I could use a suggestion or two about which design style and wood might work out well for me. For example, on the website it recommends the full-enclosure (no mesh) wood cups for HD580s. But which wood has the characteristics that would suit my tastes? The answer could well be that it's best to not fix what isn't broken - the cans sound great as they are. I can't help but wonder though thanks in advance!

The HD580s are very fine headphones IMHO. (Yes I have a pair.) They are on the restrained end of the spectrum, though. But I wouldn't tweak them or pay money to have someone purportedly improve a classic design. You could just get a pair of great but low-priced headphones with a more aggressive presentation--Grado SR60s, Sony MDR-V6s, etc., and enjoy the different flavors. Or throw your cash down for a pair of Beyer DT880s. Or something like that. All of those headphones are classics for a reason, rarely surpassed feats of acoustic engineering, and I'd be skeptical of mucking it up with bizarre or half-baked "mods."

 

[cswann1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meatwad /img/forum/go_quote.gif The answer could well be that it's best to not fix what isn't broken - the cans sound great as they are.

Go with that line of thinking. The HD580 is a great headphone. If you haven't already, put some HD600 grilles on them and a HD650 cable and you've got a hp that looks as good as it sounds.

For the price of a woody mod, you could probably get a nice, well cared for, used D7000. Between these two phones, I'm really not interested in anything alse, and probably won't be for a long time.

 

[meatwad]

I was just entertaining the idea since I see the headphile name tossed around a bit. Anyway, I suppose I'll save up for amp/DAC and new cans before I mess around with these.

 

[Uncle Erik]

If you're using a portable amp, you still haven't heard what the HD-580 is capable of.

I'd recommend going to a meet where you can plug your HD-580 into a desktop amp. You'll probably rethink your desire to modify it after that. Driven well, the HD-580 will open up and sing. I've listened to a HD-580 for a bit (I gave a pair to my brother-in-law) and owned both the HD-600 and HD-650.

The difference between a portable amp and a good desktop is not subtle. Feed them a good dose of power and they transform.

I'm not a fan of headphone modification. At all. Most headphones (and absolutely including Senns) were engineered by people who know what they're doing. The vast majority of mods are kitchen table affairs. Sure, they might add bling, but typically introduce more problems than they solve.

If a headphone's sound signature isn't what you want, get another headphone. There are lots of them out there and, most likely, there will be one that's precisely what you want, no modification necessary.

 

[meatwad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cswann1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif For the price of a woody mod, you could probably get a nice, well cared for, used D7000.

if you found me a nice, well cared for, used D7000 in the $200 - $400 range, I'd love you forever.

When I have the budget, I'll probably go for D2000 if I can find them cheap, or look for used LA2000 Lite / LA2000.