[canthearyou]

Did this require drilling? I am debating this if hifiman wont sell me the replacement headband

Zero drilling. Just soldering the 4 driver leads to the socket.

 

[Fink24]

Thanks to the Edition 6 we now know, why Hifiman stopped selling HE-560 headbands. That great customer service for you. 

 
Anyway, here is my HE-350 headband mod for my HE-6:

It's kind of funny(and sad at the same time), that a 100$ headphone beats a 1300$ headphone in terms of build quality (the cups of the HE-350 does collect less fingerprints than the original HE-6 cups and the headband seems also better built than the old one)

 

[canthearyou]

Thanks to the Edition 6 we now know, why Hifiman stopped selling HE-560 headbands. That great customer service for you. :mad:

Anyway, here is my HE-350 headband mod for my HE-6:


It's kind of funny(and sad at the same time), that a 100$ headphone beats a 1300$ headphone in terms of build quality (the cups of the HE-350 does collect less fingerprints than the original HE-6 cups and the headband seems also better built than the old one)

The best $100 mod.

 

[bracko]

  Thanks to the Edition 6 we now know, why Hifiman stopped selling HE-560 headbands. That great customer service for you. 

 
Anyway, here is my HE-350 headband mod for my HE-6:

It's kind of funny(and sad at the same time), that a 100$ headphone beats a 1300$ headphone in terms of build quality (the cups of the HE-350 does collect less fingerprints than the original HE-6 cups and the headband seems also better built than the old one)

 
Do you experience any change in sound quality? Different cups should alter the sound of the HE-6 drivers. I know from my own experience that HE500 drivers in HE560 cups sound quite different to the original HE500. 

 

[canthearyou]

Do you experience any change in sound quality? Different cups should alter the sound of the HE-6 drivers. I know from my own experience that HE500 drivers in HE560 cups sound quite different to the original HE500. 

I swapped my HE-500 into the 350 cups and no perceived sound change.

 

[Fink24]

I cannot tell you, because the Audeze pads I used before didn't fit anymore(because of the new headband), but I don't think, that it would change the sound, because both cups seem very similar (besides the new mounting points and the connector obviously)

 

[ColossalKiwi]

   
Do you experience any change in sound quality? Different cups should alter the sound of the HE-6 drivers. I know from my own experience that HE500 drivers in HE560 cups sound quite different to the original HE500. 

 
Would you mind elaborating on how the sound of the HE-500 in the HE-560 cups differed from that of the original HE-500? Was it a positive of negative change in your opinion?

 

[sharktopus]

The 350 headband/cups works perfectly. Swap took about 35 mins to complete. I'll post some pics shortly. Right now I'm terminating the stock 350 plug into 4pin xlr.

Did you end up reterminating yours?  If o, do you have any pics/advice on how to do so?  I'd love to change mine out for pretty much anything else.

 

[canthearyou]

Did you end up reterminating yours?  If o, do you have any pics/advice on how to do so?  I'd love to change mine out for pretty much anything else.

It's pretty straight forward. First thing I did was make a driver protector from a piece of heavy paper. Just cut it the shape of the driver and place over it. This prevents anything from falling or getting pulled into the magnets.
Then I marked the polarity of the driver leads and used a soldering iron to remove them from the posts/tabs.
Next I removed the screws that secure the pad retainer ring(make sure to mark the location of the ring in the cup). This will expose the driver. Remove the driver and put each into its own bag. DO NOT LET THEM GET NEAR EACH OTHER!

Next get the donor headphones ready. It's pretty much the same exact thing as the original. But you can easily remove the cups from the band and place flat on your table.

The 500 drivers fit perfectly into the 350 cups.

Secure the drivers in the cup then solder the leads to the post tabs. Be sure to cover the driver while soldering.

Tighten pad ring to cup. Making sure to align with your marks. Reinstall the driver covers(I made mine from a paper stand I got at local office supply store). Install pads. I far prefer the soft angled velour pads to anything I have tried. Next, install the cups onto the headband and that's it.

Enjoy the best sounding drivers ever made with new enhanced comfort.

 

[sharktopus]

What terminations did you replace the smb connectors with? I've been thinking mini XLRs or if those don't fit, mini 2.5 mono connectors.

 

[canthearyou]

The HE-350 uses 2.5mm so that's what I used. I bought some nice ones from mouser.



I made my own cable.

 

[sharktopus]

Did you just use the ones that were installed in the he-350's earcups or did you install your own female connectors? I've got a pair of he-500s that have already been moved into new earcups, but I want to ditch the stock smb connectors, but I'm not sure what kind/brand of female 2.5mm jack would fit into the earcup's enclosure.

 

[canthearyou]

Did you just use the ones that were installed in the he-350's earcups or did you install your own female connectors? I've got a pair of he-500s that have already been moved into new earcups, but I want to ditch the stock smb connectors, but I'm not sure what kind/brand of female 2.5mm jack would fit into the earcup's enclosure.

I used the stock ones.

 

[ThurstonX]

Just to reconfirm HiFiMAN's policy of not selling just the headband, here's my recent exchange with Mark in customer service:
 
 
"Greetings.
 
Is it possible to buy just the headband for the HE-560 (or HE-400i; should be the same, yes?)?  The plastic yoke on mine snapped and is currently held together with Super glue and electrical tape.  I'm not confident that solution will hold up over time.
 
If I can buy just the headband, how much is it?  I've read in the past that they were $50.
 
Thanks."
 

---

 
"Hi there, we do offer a headband replacement service that is indeed US$50 plus US$30 for the return shipping to you.  We dont however make the parts available to the public, we would have to carry out the actual replacement for you.  Would that be okay with you?
 
Mark"
 

---

 
"No thanks.  I'm quite capable of doing the job myself, and don't want to be without my headphones.  I guess if it breaks and I can't fix it adequately, I'll look to a different headphone manufacturer.  Feel free to pass that up the chain to Fang Bian.

Sincerely,
an owner of three different HiFiMAN headphones"
 

---

 
And I'm quite sincere.  Wish I'd found this thread back in the day.  OTOH, the Audeze pads are the best I've tried (and I've tried a lot of different pads), but it took some doing to get the Vegans to fit on my HE-560s.  No such problem with the lambskin on the HE-500s, so I'm not sure I would go with the new headband.

 

[Benny-x]

I use the Brainwavz HM5 angled sheepskin earpads on my HE-6 now and prefer them over the Audeze vegans i used to have. The vegans were comfortable and they did sound nice, but the sheepskin HM5s are even more comfortable and sound even nicer

And yeah, that sucks that they stopped offering the headbands, but on the other hand, I've also contacted many other manufacturers and they all denied my request to purchase their headband assemblies separately as well. Even Dan from MrSpeakers did, and that was really surprising due to his DIY roots.