[Dsnuts]

You know that is true. I didn't think about that. If you use your headphone at your place, it isn't like you are entering a wearing headphone beauty contest.. As long as it sounds right to you I suppose having tack stuff hang out isn't gonna matter much.. I do have many customers that come to my shop to do business while I have my headphones on all the time but even then it ain't like any of them is gonna look at me any weirder if I had tack hanging from my head phone. They already probably think I am strange for having headphones on all day already. Lol.!

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

These are now like the first headphones I can really enjoy without any need for EQing (the EQ potential is so small it's quite neglible differences at this point). The pitch on the vocals sound just about right and quite nicely forward, the right amount of bass and balance between deep and mid/upper bass, highs are there on the border of never sounding harsh but not too veiled to not reveal the details either (that's usually how I adjust them).

 

[Maukey]

The SR850s are the best for gaming.. They have a much wider sound stage than the HTF600. A more flatter response which is better for gaming,  however you have to admit the HTF600s for games are not bad at all you should hear what they sound like with the velour pads in games there is a difference.  It don't surprise me you want to get rid of your studios.. Now you know just how overpriced they are or just how underpriced the HTF600s are.

I have the Velour pads and it does make a difference. Believe me when I tell you I went back and forth between the two. At one point I was gonna ship my SR850s back to J&R. But after much back and forth I came to the conclusion that I prefered the SR850's better sound stage and detail to the HTF600's better bass and thicker gun fire and explosions. The 600s are definitely excellent gaming headphones and they murder music and have definitely kicked the Beats out of my house LOL. In all seriousness though, the Beats Studios aren't bad headphones. I love the look, portability, built in amp, noise isolation, and earth shattering bass. I consider them worth the $150 I paid for them. It's just pretty sad that the general public is paying $150 for the headphones, $100 to Dr. Dre, and $50 for marketing LOL. As far as me selling them, I just cant pass up the opportunity to make $200 when I have a $35 headphone that sounds pretty much the same.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

I really like the Panasonics now after the mod, it's just one thing that I'm missing at times and that's the wonderful bass extension of Sony XB. For most genres it's not a requirement but if listening to especially hardstyle the Panasonics could have some stronger presence around 15~35Hz or so. But after the mod the bass is really punchy but nicely controlled for the higher bass notes, sounds lovely with pop and trance. The mids are just like they should be, forward & very clear and highs are perfect too. A shame for the bass extension, with only a little bit better bass extension these Panasonics had been just perfect to me even without any need of EQ despite I'm such an EQ-maniac. Raising 31Hz slider on the EQ seems to be a good enough solution for now though.
 
But seriously some1 needs to try that simple mod, where are you MalVeauX!

 

[meatbasher]

^
Which mod? Adding velour pads?

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Taking out the foam on the inside of the cup covering the middle cup openings (4 small holes) around the "left" and "right" labels and then cover all but the bottom one of those holes with something that air can't get through (for example that shiny tape or like I simply used blutak on the outside of the cup). The foam that is there seems to not let any air out, when you put your ear next to the label you won't hear much sound leaking out at all...
 
You open the driver casing easily by removing the pads first, then you'll see 2 holes near the grey foam which you just have to pry with a screwdriver. Then you have to unlock it on the other side (there's to pins there as well) as well with a screwdriver that's small enough so you can push the pins from inside outwards to unlock the pins holding it together. Then remove the small piece of foam covering the holes on the back of the cup and leave all but the bottom one uncovered (with all holes open it won't sound great, it'll be too much reverb and highs will sound veiled/masked by lows/lower-mids).
 
  
 
I haven't tried leaving the small side holes open though so it would be 2 holes instead of one, doubt it'll be much difference but that might be worth a try as well. Possibly one could try covering the holes that's higher up, beneath the headband tip too and experiment with that too (my guess soundstage will be worse though). I could imagine that might even increase bass further and it would work more like a bass port design that way, might have to be a little more than one hole open in the middle in that case though.

 

[meatbasher]

Does any one wants to sell their VELOUR PADS?
Please PM me!

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

I really like the Panasonics now after the mod, it's just one thing that I'm missing at times and that's the wonderful bass extension of Sony XB. For most genres it's not a requirement but if listening to especially hardstyle the Panasonics could have some stronger presence around 15~35Hz or so. But after the mod the bass is really punchy but nicely controlled for the higher bass notes, sounds lovely with pop and trance. The mids are just like they should be, forward & very clear and highs are perfect too. A shame for the bass extension, with only a little bit better bass extension these Panasonics had been just perfect to me even without any need of EQ despite I'm such an EQ-maniac. Raising 31Hz slider on the EQ seems to be a good enough solution for now though.
 
But seriously some1 needs to try that simple mod, where are you MalVeauX!

On it. I've just been working. I have a 2nd pair of this headphone just for this. Will report back soon.

 
Very best,
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

It's like the perfect budget basshead can with this mod IMO, despite bass becomes tiny bit stronger (mostly from added impact) but I'd even say it sounds slightly more controlled and less midbass bleed because the mids sounds a bit more forward and clear, especially vocals are very forward and you lose like no detail whatsoever despite the strong bass and highs remain there at similar level as before so that it's never harsh but it's not either too veiled, quite suitable for most people, especially bassheads. The soundstage might have a more forward presentation, the size is quite the same as previously, with all the 4 holes uncovered the soundstage was a bit wider and airier but there was simply too much reverb and too veiled highs like that and a bit too much bass bleeding into mids, with only the bottom hole uncovered it sounds perfect.
 
I'm using only a tiny bit EQing to it to fix especially the bass extension as I just love that bass I can feel vibrating my ears in bass centered music (listening to pop with higher bass frequencies this 31Hz boost is like barely noticable). Also boosted the highs a tiny bit but it's just a barely noticable difference switching EQ on/off. This mod + some EQ + ZO on countour lvl 3 = fantastic!!! The quality of mids are even slightly better than on XB500 (even after optimal EQ settings). Bass has also better quality than XB500, more controlled but it's still pretty much a tie or very close when it comes to punch/impact, XB500 obviously has better extension and a little bit more reverb to it compared to the modded HTF600 but both hit VERY hard in say 50 ~ 150Hz or so area. On the rest points, they are pretty much equal, I can't say I find HTF600's soundstage to be better, it's pretty much a tie, I liked how the soundstage sounded like with all 4 holes uncovered and would have concidered it an improvement like that but disliked the rest it brought so leaving 1 hole uncovered was the best compromise.
 

 
EDIT: I'm currently playing around with the vents a bit more, testing if also leaving one of the sideholes unconvered sounds better. From some quick testing it seems it might have a bit better airier soundstage and maybe tiiiny bit more presence in the lower-mids but that's very questionable, at least highs aren't being too veiled like this as if leaving all 4 holes uncovered. Need some more testing but I like what I'm hearing in the soundstage so I might very well leave it like this.
 

 
EDIT: I just heard a new sound (in the lower mids) in a track I've never heard before. Another thing that speaks for these Panasonics have less bassbleed into midrange than my XB500 even if I've tried EQ'ing that issue out.

 

[Dsnuts]

interesting.  Mals got the perfect set up to see if there is indeed a difference. He has 2 of the same phones and a way of hearing both at the same time. Very interested to hear if this improves the sound.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

I would say leaving the bottom and the front side hole open as in my picture above (I tried all other configs too) provides the best results to me. Leaving anything more uncovered will start resulting in too much reverb & veiled highs (more slanting FR response from lows to highs), leaving bottom and front sidehole seems to be the best compromise between soundstage / Frequency response balance / reverb. Leaving only the bottom hole results in very good result, but in my ears I'd take the slightly better soundstage vs tiiiny bit more reverb (I personally welcome a tiny bit reverb) with 2 vents opened. If you don't like any reverb whatsoever, leave only the bottom opening uncovered.
 
EDIT: I'd say there's slightly too much reverb if leaving the bottom + side hole open. I started partially covering that sidehole and found the best result when you just leave a veeery small part of it open so it's like ~1.5 mm in size. Was listening to Leona Lewis' album "Echo" and it sounds unbelievable good, the vocals are so "full"/forward/has so much weight to it. I can't believe I paid 35 EUR for this, I had easily paid 200~220 EUR for this sound. Quality of the mids <3 Only need this slight EQ adjustment and it's perfect for my ears.
 
 

 

[jailhouselounge]

Hi guys, I've lost track of how much time ive been using these headphones but I've just noticed the bass region opening up more with the rest of the frequency almost in balance and I don't even use eq. This indeed is a great set of headphones and will definitely be a benchmark for whenever I prefer to upgrade in the future. Dsnuts, I guess I'll just wait until a US dealer decides to sell a fiio e10 on ebay or e17 when it comes out for desktop listening. I figured I won't be taking this outside since I have xears td-iii iem. These headphones sound somewhat dark but not recessed and the td-iii's sound a bit more forward in mid region and just as capable in the bass region, I believe. hehe i'm comparing full size with iem.. In any event, I am a believer and they sound GOOD even without an amp.

 

[draven5494]

I have had my HT600s for nearly a week now.  I have been burning them in with pink-noise for at least 3-4 hours a day.  The burn-in has definitely made a difference to my ears.  Out of the box they were quite boomy and vocals seemed to be veiled for lack of a better term.  After burn-in the bass tightened up a bit and it didn't bleed as much as before. 
 
However, I still felt that the vocals could use some work.  They still sounded a bit veiled to me.
 
Upon reading this thread, I noticed RPGWizard's mod and decided to give it shot. I just happened to have some Dynamat Extreme lying around, so why not?
 
Now, my mod is inspired by but is a bit different than RPGWizard's.  I started by removing the fabric vent cover as RPGWizard did.  I then laid down some dynamat on the inside of the cups with the foil still on.  I left the vent hole completely uncovered.
 
When I put them back together, I quickly determined that this was just not right.  Vocals had almost a hollow sound to them.  Most likely due to the vent being uncovered.
 
So, I went back in.  This time, I removed the foil from the dynamat in the cups and basically just completely lined the inside of the cups with just the dynamat material, no foil.  I covered almost all of the vent holes except for the bottom one like RPGWizard suggested. 
 
Now, I know what some are thinking.  "How could you do that?  You'll ruin the bass!".  Yes, the bass presence is definitely reduced but ruined?  No, not to my ears.   Actually, to me, this mod has made these headphones much more balanced.  The bass is still there, but it has much more detail now.  Also vocals really stand out now, they are pushed forward and the highs are quite crisp and detailed. 
 
It sounds quite nice now, much more balanced across the spectrum while still maintaining a bass presence that goes quite deep.
 
As of right now, I am going to listen to these some more to see if this will be the final mod.  I definitely feel that this is an improvement over stock. 
 
Do note though, as stated, this mod does reduce the bass a bit.  So, if you like the HTF600s for their mass quantities of bass, I would suggest you don't do this.  This mod is more for balancing. 
 
I took some pics and will upload them later today.
 
Thanks to RPGWizard for all of the info in this thread.  It really helped me while I was doing the work.
 
 

 

[smileypop]

Just got mine in the mail today with a Zalman mic looking to use this as a cheap but awesome gaming headset. I am enjoying the sound so far, but I'm going to burn them in for 24 hours and re evaluate. I'm not an expert by any means I owned a pair of Beyer DT880's for almost 2 years and these Panasonic's certainly hold their own. I can't believe they are so cheap actually. Thanks to everyone in this thread for the recommendation 

 

[Dsnuts]

Quote:

Just got mine in the mail today with a Zalman mic looking to use this as a cheap but awesome gaming headset. I am enjoying the sound so far, but I'm going to burn them in for 24 hours and re evaluate. I'm not an expert by any means I owned a pair of Beyer DT880's for almost 2 years and these Panasonic's certainly hold their own. I can't believe they are so cheap actually. Thanks to everyone in this thread for the recommendation 

Oh yes they do change..It is all about the bass.. Glad you like them. Wait till they loosen up a bit then throw on your hard hitting Dub tracks..It is fun to hear the change after burn in. Astounding once proper..I still use mine for gaming. Give us an update..
 
@draven5494.. More balanced you say?.. It would be cool to hear them as you have them. It is awesome that you guys are making them better for your needs..I like them the way they are with my velour pads. You guys read Assimilator702s review on these? He has become a fan..