[Tyson]

Recently I stumbled across a site called www.headphile.com and became intrigued by the option to put custom made wooden cups on to my HD600's. I was on the verge of selling my 600's due to the fact that I listen to headphones frequently when my wife is watching TV in an adjacent room, and I need more isolation than the fully open 600's provided.

So, I figured I'd give the woodies a shot and see how it worked.

Ordering and product quality impressions

After I placed my order for a pair in gloss black finish, it took about a week for the cups to be made and arrive at my door. I pulled the mesh grills off the 600's immediately and popped on the woodies. They are a tight enough fit that they could stay on by friction, but not very firmly. Luckily there are pre-drilled screw holes in the 600's, and the woodies had some holes pre-drilled to line up with them. There were 8 small screws included to allow the woodies to be firmly attached.

But before I screwed them on, I wanted to play around a bit with acoustical damping first. I tried them with nothing in the cups at first, just empty. Then I tried them stuffec with cotton. Overall I preferred the cotton in there.

So, I went with the cotton for sound. Without the cotton the separation of instruments became a bit smeared. With the cotton the highs and mids kept separation very nicely.

At this point I screwed the woodies on and it feels very solidly attached. The overall look is "very" cool, since the fit and finish is very professional and high quality. I think the 600's look much cooler with the black gloss cups.

Sound

Overall impressions are that the sound is much closer and more intimate, the “veil” is gone, and music sounds a lot less distant. Coupled to that is that the overall sound presentation is much more “life sized”. Before, with the mesh grills, it sounded like the musicians were physically smaller than real life. The woodies change that dramatically, bringing the overall size presentation much, much closer to life sized.

Upper bass gained impact, and most surprisingly, dynamics took a big jump up. I can now safely recommend the Senn’s for people listening to rock.

Tonally, they are less dark, so detail retrieval and transparency have also been improved noticeably. Combined with the stronger upper bass and better dynamics, they are a much more energetic sounding can now.

But they manage to keep the smoothness and sweetness of the mids that the Senn’s are known for.

Only one negative I’ve noticed – the very very deep bass is not as strong as before. On the VAST majority of music this is irrelevant because bass that deep simply does not exist on most recordings. And since the mid-bass and upper bass are as strong or stronger than ever, the overall impression is that the 600’s are actually “more” bassy, not less. But, if you have those recordings of pipe organs or synthesized bass at 30hz or below, you will notice it is not quite as loud as before.

Isolation
Since my primary motivation was to increase isolation, how did it work out? They definitely isolate more that before, but still not as much as something like the Sony V6 or Senn HD-280. The isolation increased enough that it's good enough for my needs. However if a person wanted to increase isolation more, a small sealing strip (like a weather sealant strip) placed between the woodies and the driver piece would make the cups airtight. The other place that is pretty leaky is the felt pads. If these pads could be replaced with pleather or some other material that would offer a good seal against the side of your head, then these headphones would be very isolating.

Overall Impressions
I bought the woodies for increase isolation which I got. The fact that sound quality improved dramatically was an unexpected and pleasant bonus. I'm very happy with my purchase. I've heard it stated on this board that the HD600's and the HD580's are exactly the same except the 600's have a better grill. If I were doing this from scratch, I'd probably just buy a pair of 580's, buy the woodies, and have a world class headphone for less than the cost of a pair of 650's.

Pictures
For some reason the pics won't show, so here's links:

Senn's on Red chair, front view:
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/m...view_photo.php

Senn's on Red Chair Front View Close:
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/m...view_photo.php

Senns on Red Chair Side View:
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/m...view_photo.php

Senn side view Close:
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/m...view_photo.php

Starting to take off earpad:
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/m...view_photo.php

Taking off earpad more:
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/m...view_photo.php

Another taking off earpad shot:
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/m...view_photo.php

Rear of pad completely off, with foam:
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/m...view_photo.php

Shot of earcup with earpad removed:
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/m...view_photo.php

Shot of earcup showing where the screws go:
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/m...view_photo.php

 

[veritas]

Awesome post Tyson! This is very interesting indeed... Sennheisers for rock? What will be next? DT770's for classical?

 

[iamdone]

Do you use the Sensaphonics for home use?

I have a problem with isolation with my hd650 as well. I'm about to purchase the ue-10 or sensaphonics to replace my etys for portable use but I was also hoping to use them for home use when I need the isolation.

The woodie option sounds interesting but I am completely happy with the sound and don't want anything changing it.

 

[Tyson]

iamdone,
I use the Sensaphonice all day at work, so I prefer a full sized headphone when I'm at home. The sensaphonics are very comfortable, but after 8 hours of something stuck in my ear I want to take them it out, no matter how comfortable it is.

The woodies come with a free trial period and are completely reversable if you don't like them, so not much to lose in trying them out.

 

[tiberian]

thanks for the nice review! i am extremely tempted now.

 

[iamdone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyson iamdone, I use the Sensaphonice all day at work, so I prefer a full sized headphone when I'm at home. The sensaphonics are very comfortable, but after 8 hours of something stuck in my ear I want to take them it out, no matter how comfortable it is. The woodies come with a free trial period and are completely reversable if you don't like them, so not much to lose in trying them out.

Soundwise, how do the sensaphonics compare to the hd600's. Do they have a similar sound signature.

Lindrone's about to test both the ue-10 and sensa against my hd650/zu but it's nice to have other opinions as well. Sorry if this is off topic.

On topic- I will check out the websight to the woodies and consider it an option.

 

[StevieDvd]

Nice to read the impressions if these as I had seen them on the net but did not know of any users of them.

As well as the isolation for you does this reduce the noise issuing out of the HD600s, i.e does your wife hear what you are listening to, to a lesser degree than before?


Steve

 

[Tyson]

Yes, noise emitting from the 600's is significantly reduced.

 

[PhilS]

Tyson, thanks for the review. I have an isolation issue with my HD-600 also, as my wife and kids like to watch TV in the same room that I am listening to music, and they turn the TV up to hear over the sound coming from the headphones, which makes me turn my volume up, etc. I'll have to consider this option, as I find myself putting off my listening until later in the night when they've gone to be, and there's only so many hours in the day.

 

[Tyson]

I did want to make clear that isolation is definitely increased, but is still not very isolating. If you are looking for high isolation, then the woodies by themselves will not give it to you. You could possibly mod them even more using the sealant I mentioned in the review, and even better would be pleather pads instead of felt pads (although I think this would be hard to do).

iamdone,
I've never heard the 650's, so can't comment on a comparison.

 

[iamdone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyson iamdone, I've never heard the 650's, so can't comment on a comparison.

Yes, I understand that but the hd600 have a similar sound signature and was just wondering if the sensaphonics are close. Does listening to the sensaphonics all day pair well with listening to the hd600's?

You can pm me if you feel this will detract from this thread.

Thanks.

 

[Tyson]

Well, my impressions between the 2x-s and the 600's (without woodies, but with a custom cable similar sounding to the Zu), is that the Sensa's are warmer, more bassy, smoother mids, and more detailed highs than the 600's. They are also "closer" sounding than the stock 600's. The stock 600's tend to be a little uninvolving compared to the sensa's. The Sensa's have better dynamics and better resolution. In other words, the Sensa's are better in almost every area compared to the stock 600's unless you want something more analytical. Overall I'd say the sensa's fit the "groovalizer" moniker, as opposed to cans like the Sony CD3k's, which are more analytical. The 600's aren't groovalizers because they are just a bit too reserved sounding.

 

[iamdone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyson Well, my impressions between the 2x-s and the 600's (without woodies, but with a custom cable similar sounding to the Zu), is that the Sensa's are warmer, more bassy, smoother mids, and more detailed highs than the 600's. They are also "closer" sounding than the stock 600's. The stock 600's tend to be a little uninvolving compared to the sensa's. The Sensa's have better dynamics and better resolution. In other words, the Sensa's are better in almost every area compared to the stock 600's unless you want something more analytical. Overall I'd say the sensa's fit the "groovalizer" moniker, as opposed to cans like the Sony CD3k's, which are more analytical. The 600's aren't groovalizers because they are just a bit too reserved sounding.

Thanks. It almost sounds like the difference are the same ones the make the hd650/zu different from the hd600 I heard (except the "closer" part). This is good to know. Lindrone will be conducting test this Sunday, so I'll see how this all fits into the comparisons.

 

[taoster]

did you mention what kind of wood it is?

 

[proxops-pete]

I'm more interested in what the damage is!! To your wallet, that is!!