[RPGWiZaRD]

Yea the value is quite crazy if a strong bass presence is an important requirement. It's funny how I've went from like DT770 Pro - 145 EUR to M50 - 140 EUR, D1100 110 - EUR, XB700 - 55 EUR, XB500 - 43 EUR and now Panasonic for 35 EUR (with a couple of others in-between) and the cheaper I go the more satisfied I've become, so much for price being a good indicator for satisfaction eh... xD
 
I was trying to switch back and forth between the XB500 and HTF600 today and I used to love the sound of the EQ'd XB500 and thought it had a very "full", "thick" sounding midrange and now it almost sounds "thin" in comparision to the Panasonics. The XB500 does great around 1.5~2kHz especially but it's like around 1kHz it's quite recessed, this makes the midrange quite "nasal" sounding, the 2kHz or so area sticks out too much and you can't perfectly "balance" the whole midrange nicely on it. The Panasonics are more balanced in the entire midrange and is very forward around 1kHz where XB500 is the least forward in the midrange which becomes quite noticable when switching back and forth and even dragging 1kHz slider almost to the top on XB500 it's like the mids would still often sound more "full" on the Panasonics. There's also a very noticable difference in bass response between the two, especially after the simple mod to the HTF600. The HTF600 is so much more controlled; there's not that much reverb (it's on the border of too snappy but I wouldn't say to the point I would be looking for more reverb in it) and there's no midrange bleed despite boosting the bass further using ZO or EQ to get it to the levels I liked with XB500, the Panasonic does respond a lot worse to EQing and even if you drag the sliders like half way up in the lows, it's not such a drastic difference and the bass still stays VERY controlled despite the large boost (well a 6dB boost on the EQ sounds more like a percievable 2~3dB or so boost perhaps), if I'd do that with XB500 it'd become a earthquake-simulation for your head and has a lot greater added bass boost at same settings (that 6dB increase probably results in around 6dB percievable increase). In some tracks I could use a bit more "uncontrollable" bass with the Panasonics but for others it sounds just perfect, if you're looking for very strong bass but controlled bass response, I'd definitely check out the simple mod to the HTF600.

 

[Dsnuts]

Damn what has the world come to . IT sounds like RPGwizard has finally become a fan. Hahaha. nice.. I am considering getting yet another pair to mod. Yes that would be my 3rd pair.? To be honest I am perfectly happy with the way they sound to me so much so I see no need for me to mod them But I am intrigued with your mod. The only thing I would do different is maybe use some black electrical tape and tape the insides of the cups. But beyond that I am very interested to try out your mod..I wonder how the velours and your mod would affect the sound.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

These Panasonics really do react strange to bass boost of any kind, it's like it would have a built-in bass boost limit that cuts off the bass at certain point, on my ZO amp the maximum bass it puts out is already reached at like level 3-4 out of 31 bass boost levels (no audible difference on lvl 31 compared to say lvl5), on XB500 it only keeps increasing (scaringly strong at max, well already half way up for that matter). No other headphones I've used have behaved like this.

 

[Dsnuts]

The highs are affected by the velours so I am thinking even stronger highs adding to what will be known as the RPGmod? Add full forward mids and then even a more tight bass?  Hmm. We will call the mod after your name. That is proper.. The RPGmod.
 
Do you have a Panasonic HTF600-RPGmod.?  I will as soon..$35.20 on Amazon they are still on sale. 3rd pair ordered. I am gonna mod the crap out of my new one. And yes the HTF600-RPGmod. You ok with the name there RPGWizard? I figure I make the rules on my own thread.
 
I certainly don't want to call it..The take the cup apart and covers some holes mod.!!

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

The mids doesn't only get more forward but more clear, well let's just say sounds of higher quality. The bass quantity isn't that much different than before, I'd say it even has tiny bit more impact but it may sound a bit more controlled tho. No big difference heard in soundstage or highs though, well it depends how you config the openings, the more you keep it covered the brighter (more highs & less lows) and less reverb and smaller soundstage and vice versa. The perfect result in my ears is when the bottomhole and one of the sideholes is left 1.5~2mm open like shown in my last pic. This is with the stock pads though, maybe with velor pads you could leave the whole sidehole open.

 

[Dsnuts]

Quote:

The mids doesn't only get more forward but more clear, well let's just say sounds of higher quality. The bass quantity isn't that much different than before, I'd say it even has tiny bit more impact but it may sound a bit more controlled tho. No big difference heard in soundstage or highs though, well it depends how you config the openings, the more you keep it covered the brighter (more highs & less lows) and less reverb and smaller soundstage and vice versa. The perfect result in my ears is when the bottomhole and one of the sideholes is left 1.5~2mm open like shown in my last pic. This is with the stock pads though.

Cant wait to try that with the velours and see what happens.

 

[Assimilator702]

Quote:

The mids doesn't only get more forward but more clear, well let's just say sounds of higher quality. The bass quantity isn't that much different than before, I'd say it even has tiny bit more impact but it may sound a bit more controlled tho. No big difference heard in soundstage or highs though, well it depends how you config the openings, the more you keep it covered the brighter (more highs & less lows) and less reverb and smaller soundstage and vice versa. The perfect result in my ears is when the bottom opening and one of the sideholes is left 1.5~2mm open.

I thought you threw yours in the drawer. Nice to see you're warming up to the sounds of these amazing cans.
 
I knew you would come around eventually.
 
I'll be ordering another pair and doing that mod....I was going to order the Superlux 668B but I have to get another pair of these....they really put a smile on my face every time I listen to them..
 
I've always imagined this is what the M-50 sounds like. Am I far off? You sold yours so there was something you didn't like about them right?
 
Well for the price difference I don't see myself getting a pair of M-50's anytime soon.....I'll just get 5 more pairs of HTF600's.

 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

I thought you threw yours in the drawer. Nice to see you're warming up to the sounds of these amazing cans.

Well they had stayed there if I hadn't decided to open them up. The mod fixed the issue I had with them and brought the mids out like I wanted em to be like and fixed a little more impact in the bass (I love huge bass impact). These can bring ear-tickling effect now as easily as XB500 but the difference is that in XB500 I actually hear a lot more bass and in HTF600 it doesn't sound bloated and possibly not quite as deep. But I do admit in especially hardstyle I sometimes want a little bloated bass so I wish sometimes I could bring a little more "uncontrolled" bass to it but with this mod it's like impossible to get that however I EQ or what lvl on ZO amp I use, it just adds more bass I can feel in my ears but not hear, strange. For most people that would be a very good thing but I'm a rather spoilt basshead and wants to hear some genres with more bloated bass. XB500 has more like a subwoofer kind of bass, HTF600 more like typical headphone bass, they are very close in quantity but sounds quite different. Hardstyle was made to listen with subwoofers, not headphones. Maybe HTF600 is just that much more accurate with the bass and XB500 adds bass where it shouldn't be, like many subwoofers tend to do, well heavily exaggerate it in frequency response areas it shouldn't.

 

[Dsnuts]

Quote:

I thought you threw yours in the drawer. Nice to see you're warming up to the sounds of these amazing cans.
 
I knew you would come around eventually.
 
I'll be ordering another pair and doing that mod....I was going to order the Superlux 668B but I have to get another pair of these....they really put a smile on my face every time I listen to them..
 
I've always imagined this is what the M-50 sounds like. Am I far off? You sold yours so there was something you didn't like about them right?
 
Well for the price difference I don't see myself getting a pair of M-50's anytime soon.....I'll just get 5 more pairs of HTF600's.

 

Wow. No doubt.. I am wondering what would happen if someone can reshell the drivers in a wooden cup a la Thunderpants with the HTF600 drivers?? THUNDER BALLZ!! is what that could be. .

 

[Assimilator702]

Quote:

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.. 

I'm amazed at the beautiful juice thats flows out of these things. I've been listening to alot of wank fest free form Jazz on these since those recordings are so intimate and these cans just bring you into the recording the way only a high end 2 channel system can....seriously. te gear I could never afford. But now all that gear is on the used market so maybe I can.  I'm not sure a overly analytical can will give the pure enjoyment without the rich character that these cans provide. Thats what gets me....if I can hear detail that I've never heard before....aren't they indeed analytical.....but just not sterile sounding?
 
I'd like to try the RPGmods but I pulled out an older Denon integrated amp to use for it's headphone out....and let me say the black levels and forwardness of the midrange and more laid back but still very present and clear as a bell treble and the even deeper bass astounded me....so needless to say ...they DO improve with a higher quality amp and more juice.
 
It actually has a flatter sound when no tone controls are engaged....but when I turn on the loudness....WOW it's extremely powerful!!!!I I guess what all those XB500 fans go for....but better everywhere else. I have to turn the bass level backwards.
 
Once the Fiio E10 is available I'll try that and see/hear what improvements it makes. If it doesn't I'll be pissed.
 

 

[Assimilator702]

Quote:

Wow. No doubt.. I am wondering what would happen if someone can reshell the drivers in a wooden cup a la Thunderpants with the HTF600 drivers?? THUNDER BALLZ!! is what that could be. .

I'm a woodworker so maybe this is something I'll try.
 
I'd like to put these drivers into a HARX700 shell and woody the outer housing.....that would be pretty cool.

 

[Dsnuts]

Very interesting..The drivers in the HTF600 make great candidates for transplant if you think about it. A woodied HTF600 sounds awesome in my book. See what you can create. .You never know. I plan on doing some light mods to mine and then we will see..

 

[draven5494]

After a day or so of listening to my mod, I don't know if I will keep it this way.  The mod seems to have introduced some distortion in the mids.  As the music gets louder, things get a bit messy.  So, I am going to keep tweaking to see if I can clear things up.
 
Here is a pic of what I did though for those who are interested:
 

 

[ShooK]

How are the panasonic htf890s compared to the ad700 and superlux668(Gaming wise)
 
I saw someone posted they liked it better in every way than the ad700s with similar soundstage which is crazy because those apparently have one of the biggest soundstages. How do you think these would pair up with dolby  headphone? I'm interested in getting both the htf600s for music and htf 890s for gaming. Also how much sound leakage are we talking? I have some turtlebeach hpx's which are open and barely leak a little out unless at higher volumes. My ath a700s recently died out on me and I've been stuck listening with the tb hpx for music so how much better would they be compared to my audiotechnica a700s for rock/metal/rap/hiphop?

 

[Dsnuts]

The HTF890s will replace your AD700s nicely. You might actually like them over your AD700s. I did. I Have the RP HT770s these are the original models of that Open design.. I am actually very sure they are the same phones as the HTF890s..  The sound stage very similar to the AD700s and because the Bass is actually better, fuller on the Panasonics they sound better to me than the AD700s.. I was the one who wrote that on the orgional RP HT770s. They are not at the level of the higher end open phones but they are very nice for the price.  For games they are awesome because of this wide stage comfort and bass that the AD700s are shy on.  I would try the HTF600s first and see how you like them with games. The HTF600s are no joke in the gaming department.. I used my HTF600s with velour pads the whole time I was playing BF3 beta. They are a hoot and give great directional sound..If you like open phones. The HTF890s are a great bang for buck open phone and they look very nice too. There is a single review on Amazon on them, That guy has no idea what he is talking about..
 
There is a guy here that recently bought them I am gonna see if he can let you know some more info.. He seemed to like them quite a bit actually.  I believe it was DomA. For gaming I like these a bit better than the Ad700s. Better bass in games.  Give them a go. For music the HTF600.  I think the only genre the HTF890 would sound better for is acoustical. Big room Jazz and classical. . But for metal rock and hiphop.. EDM,   anything with big bass the HTF600s are king! Maybe even better with the soon to be RPGmod on my new pair...