[mbriant]

I just held my hands over my 580's and in addition to the sound stage collapsing ( which sometimes isn't a bad thing ) it suddenly sounds like the music's being played inside a metal building. There's a ringing, tinniness to it now.

Still, the sound is listenable, unlike when I've closed off my Grados.

 

[markl]

Closing the backs brings up treble detail, which is what mbriant is hearing. It's not at all tinny through my ZOTL.

By elevating treble and detail, I hear more of the recording, including background hiss and "atmosphere" which I find adds to the sense of space, rather than collapsing the soundstage. I can more easily "see" the venue that the music was recorded in.

BTW, I haven't applied tape to the driver itself, just to the metal grille on the outside. I still fail to see how this could "hurt" the drivers in any way.

I sit down and close my eyes when I listen to the phones which may also make a difefrence. I like the sense of being closed off and immersed in the sound.

I, for one, am now convinced that closed back phones are possibly superior, all other things being equal. So impressed was I with the results of closing the Sennheisers, I ordered myself a Sony MDR CD3000 (an intentionally closed phone) a week ago. It arrives on Monday. I will do a comparison.

markl

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

By elevating treble and detail, I hear more of the recording, including background hiss and "atmosphere" which I find adds to the sense of space, rather than collapsing the soundstage. I can more easily "see" the venue that the music was recorded in.

Just get yourself some Grados!

 

[Budgie]

I don't see how closing the back would hurt anything. The very small movement of the diagphram won't generate any significant back pressure.

 

[ai0tron]

id like to disagree with that pressure thing, when I had grados I was fairly certain that I could soft sucking sensation when I placed my hands over the back of the drivers.

 

[Xevion]

Okay, I am trying this real quick. On HD600s and HD500s.

HD600:

Immeadeatly I notice the soundstage shrinks, a ton. Female vocals sound slightly more nasal, bass seems a bit less prominent, electric guitar seems more prominent, almost too prominent, also, a flangey sound that colors the midrange a bit (If you can't hear it with the headphones on, try putting your hands over your ears with the headphones off.

HD500:

(Woah, these sound a lot worse now that I have been using the HD600s a couple days. And to think they used to sound crystal clear to me- damn Sony V200s killed my hearing I guess)

Female vocals sound even more nasal compared to HD600 when closed, but when open the sound, umm, fat? Thats about the best word I can manage for em. Electric guitar - againm, becomes more prominent, the flangey sound I mentioned with the HD600s is even mroe present with the 500s.

Why someone would want to close their open 'phones is beyond me. I might just try and open the V200s up for the hell of it.

 

[Mike Walker]

Sorry, but a discussion of whether to cover the backs of the drivers of what is one of the most accurate 'phones on the planet is baffling to me! Sennheiser HD-600s are not meant to sound "spectacular", or have "slam", or any of that crap that's actually induced by sonic colorations (frequency response irregularities). The HD-580 and HD-600 are among the most linear headphones ever created. And they sound more "distant" than many others, particularly Grados...because, unlike Grados, they don't give undue emphasis to any part of the audible frequency spectrum. They also have the closest thing to a "soundstage" of any headphones I've heard (and I still believe the term "soundstage" only applies to speakers....which are able to produce the illusion of a sonic "stage" in front of the listener, with layers of "depth" from front to back. Headphones simply don't do that, unless recorded with binaural techniques). While I don't believe "soundstage" is an accurate term for headphone use, "imaging" certainly is. Headphones DO produce an "image" from left to right. With really good ones, the image can extend WAY to the left of the left ear, and the right of the right ear...giving the impression that at least some instruments and voices are placed outside of the listener's head. No headphones in my experience exceed the Sennheiser HD-580s and HD-600's ability to do this!

GET A BRAIN! If you want closed headphones, BUY CLOSED HEADPHONES! My honest opinion is that most "tweaks" make things worse. Some RARE ones actually do make things better, however. But this sure isn't one of them! If you're seriously considering it, please do the world a favor, and see how you feel about it AFTER YOUR LABOTOMY!!

 

[mbriant]

That's it Mike, let it all out. You've been Headwize jones'n too, haven't you?

Have you checked out www.headroom.com lately?

They now have a system to show frequency response graph comparisons. The Senns don't look all that great on paper. (although better than most )

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by Mike Walker GET A BRAIN! If you want closed headphones, BUY CLOSED HEADPHONES! My honest opinion is that most "tweaks" make things worse. Some RARE ones actually do make things better, however. But this sure isn't one of them! If you're seriously considering it, please do the world a favor, and see how you feel about it AFTER YOUR LABOTOMY!!

LOL! You're a one-off, man.

Hey Mike! Glad you finally showed up. There are a few of you I've still been waiting for -- you, Moo, and several others. Anyway, good to see you.

 

[Mike Walker]

Glad to be here Jude, thanks!

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by Mike Walker Glad to be here Jude, thanks!

Hey, anyone who likes 7506/V6's as much as I do is okay by me!

 

[Mike Walker]

Someone here said the frequency response of the HD-580 at Headphone Dot Com wasn't too great. I seriously question whether that person knows how to read a headphone graph! It's about as linear as any I've ever seen! WHEN READING FREQUENCY RESPONSE GRAPHS, ALWAYS CHECK DB TOLERANCES!

Note: The graph shows the HD-580s response within a 1db "window" up to about 5khz, within a 2db "window" to 10khz, and falling off to perhaps -3db at 20khz. This may not be remarkable performance for an amplifier, but for a headphone it's f$$$in' phenomenal. And it sounds just the way it measures (in that graph). Headphone response simply doesn't get much better than that.

I know, I've said MANY TIMES that frequency response specs have little if anything to do with how headphones SOUND. But this is the exception. These 'phones sound (to my ears) EXACTLY how that graph measures!

 

[Mike Walker]

Ok, NOW I've seen the "new" response graph for the HD-580 at the "new" Headroom site. I have no explanation for it. But I feel that Headroom has some explaining to do! Compare it with the remarkably linear response graph for the same product at their "old" website (www.headphone.com). 'Tis Headroom who has some 'splaining to do!

At any rate, I judge NO headphones by published specifications, for they have little, if ANY relationship to how they actually sound. I found the graph at the "old" Headroom site noteworthy because it actually measured how these 'phones sound to me. This "new" one, however, may as well be from outer-space (along with the vast majority of other headphone specifications).

Can I explain it? Nope. Nor can I explain why more people voted for Al Gore than any other presidential candidate in US history, yet George W. Bush holds the office; why Hollywood is so chicken-sh#t that they can't choose ONE standard for digital film soundtracks and say to theaters "this is it. ADAPT TO IT!", rather than having 5 different types of soundtrack on every film. I also can't explain why Jimmy Swaggart still has a ministry, how E-Yada.com continues to exist with VAST expenses and no advertisers, or why you're still reading this. Life is full of mysteries! And I'm not planning on losing sleep over any of 'em!

 

[skippy]

i believe that covering up the grills may cause some peakiness along the midrange and lower treble, imparting a more forward upper midrange and treble. similiar to the crispness in grado phones, but not nearly as exagerated. if i can find the time (which is rather unlikely in my current situation), i'll see if i can run some frequency sweeps to see how the tape will actually affect the frequency response.

 

[mbriant]

Mike Walker: Sort of apology accepted.

Yes, actually, it's my fault. I realized afterwards that I'd sent you to the old site instead of the new. Now I can no longer seem to access the new site . But fortunately there's a Senn 580 graph old and new in Tyle's General Interest thread. There's a big difference between the old and new test results.

Tyle did mention that they are going to re-check their measurements before the final postings are made.