[Backsplash7]

No idea, at this point. I'm done with them.
Meantime, I upgraded the power supply and a few other capacitors not directly in the audio path of my FrankenZero DAC today, been meaning to do it for a while now, since it was in 2008 when I did the major upgrade work of Frankie overall. I pulled one of the stock 100uF caps around the Optical input control and it read almost 400uF! That started a chain reaction and I replaced all remaining stock caps that run the controlling aspects, the relays etc and found a couple more that were not on spec. Now the whole DAC has been done. For those who know what the heck I'm talking about, and there are a few here, the already good Nichicon PW series caps in the main digital supply were swapped out for larger value audio grade Fine Gold series and then bypassed with the fabulous and now extremely rare Black Gate 0.1uF NX bipolar caps, tiny in size but the difference they make to the high frequency performance of a power supply capacitor is well documented. They take many hours to full form and run in, but the wait is worth it, something I have experienced before several times.
Since this DAC is my main source, along with the Questyle QP1R DAP, to feed the Magni 3+ and Senn HD540s, any positive changes to transparency and soundstage will be most beneficial. I've given the system a few hours on iTunes fodder, some of which is rather fine to listen to and checking in some half hour ago the initial sound of new parts (sort of like something really organic that has become more artificial and electronic in nature) has eased off and a new level of transparency is making itself apparent, not night and day, just a noticeable, 'ah hah' in even more dynamic expression with great clarity and a small veil lifted over the lower bass. I'm currently using the excellent Burson Vivid V6 in the output stage, I will pop the A-gd Earth HDAM in tomorrow. For tonight, a few favourite tracks from the likes of Ricki Lee Jones Naked Songs live album, Richard and Linda Thompson live and maybe something from Ani diFranco.
I can add some pictures if anyone is interested.

I've recently come across the black gate capacitors being mentioned, whilst research HDCD players, seems these were highly regarded in the hobby around 20 years ago. I'm no engineer, but I'd enjoy seeing some component pictures

 

[sennsay]

Done, sir. Pics coming up. It's been a little while since I ran in new components but I'm already hearing the vagaries of the process, especially with larger power supply caps and the BG bypass caps. Bass is noticeably more transparent the lower it goes now instead of a mild thickening, the live drum kit on Richard Tompkins' Calgary Cross is the finest I've ever heard it, punch with clarity and the sound of the skin being thwacked with focus and impact made me listen all the way through the 13 minute piece, even at 11pm. Slight yet noticeable increase in midrange transparency too.
Today though, there is less focus and a slight edge in the mids, this is pretty normal for new parts, I find a minimum of 50 hours before there is an almost magical shift to greater openness and depth. Currently, the soundstage is flatter than before, it will fill out as the hours pass. The tiniest of low level HF instruments though is a revelation, coming from black space. That transparency in the bass though shows right through the wang pleathers, now allowing them to have less of that slight thickening warmth and allowing bass instruments to shine as low as they go, excellent! The bowed cellos of the lovely Rodolpho's Dream (from the opera La Boheme) maintained that wonderful clarity out in open space without any of the minor bloom as they went right down into the lowest notes at the end. What this piece didn't have last night (usually especially glorious with the Burson Vivid V6) was the real feeling of the dream state, an emotional connection that I adore. In fact that sums up the initial state of the new parts running in, a lack of the innate totally relaxed organic nature of this DAC, instead, a slightly electronic version of events. This is normal for the process and has really struck me this time, since I am so familiar with the way the DAC was, utterly un-electronic, relaxing yet exciting at the same time. I'll leave things to percolate during the day.
The HD540 Ref 1's show up every little detail of what's going on.

 

[sennsay]

Pics and a short update. The Earth HDAM this morning sounded .... not like itself, a bit unattractive. I took Frankie apart again for the photos I ought to have done yesterday and as so often happens, you turn off an appliance going through run-in, fire it up again later ... in this case some hours later .... and voila, we have impact, deep clean bass and midrange image focus with a 3/4 return to the fully immersive, headphone vanishing act of Frankie with the HDAM. The switching off and then on again some time later so often seems to 'reset' the capacitors and in this case it was almost night and day. Sounding much improved at the moment, looking forward to replaying some of the tracks I heard last night with the Vivid V6. I've had Frankie now for 15 years and I'm very familiar with the wonderfully organic, emotionally connected nature of him. Or her. First pics show my three options for the output stage: the A-gd Earth HDAM with accompanying 0.1uF bypass PIO (Paper In Oil) on board - a similar thing is recommended by Burson for their discrete modules, I haven't got there yet; next is the dual single channel OPA627BP opamps on a Brown Dog adapter (they really are excellent!); and the Burson Vivid V6. Next is the underneath of the main board, Black Gates on the LHS and another one on the power supply bypass for the quartz timing crystal, the green caps are all Russian PIO's; a close up of the two new BG NX series 0.1uF bypass caps and the last pic showing them underneath the new Nichicon FG 2200uF power supply caps. Alright, one more; the headphone amp (usually disconnected from it's own power supply has also had significant upgrades. It sounds ok, especially now that I've done a second upgrade. It's no Magni 3+, but I'd now class it as moderately good and quite usable. It's quite grunty.

 

[sennsay]

I've recently come across the black gate capacitors being mentioned, whilst research HDCD players, seems these were highly regarded in the hobby around 20 years ago. I'm no engineer, but I'd enjoy seeing some component pictures

Yamaha were a great exponent of Black Gate capacitors during the mid 80's, I had them in a 100W integrated amplifier I owned back in the days when Frankie was just on the scene (ie; the Zero DAC, that would be 15 years ago now) and a couple of years ago in a CD player of similar vintage. Very VERY nicely made gear back then. Since you're interested, Mr Backsplash7, you might want to take a look at this article, FYI and all that, very interesting.

http://www.audiotuning.de/download/bgtest.pdf

 

[sennsay]

Update on Frankie and the Senn HD540 Ref1s: A new level of transparency has appeared from top to bottom, as if a slight and very mildly warm veil has been lifted, leaving an even quieter and darker background; what was already excellent fine detailing at the back of the stage, no matter how quiet among much larger and more forward instruments, has become even more obvious. Tiny shimmering of cymbals, higher string harmonics, brushed tympani, backing vocals, ambient details are all now even more apparent in their own space. I was shocked on a favourite hip hop track by the Aussie group, The Herd's Full Moon, when a guitar melody just appeared in space just left of centre that I'd never really noticed before. What a treat. Ani DiFranco's Shy (live from Living In Clip) was starkly clear and alive, the drum kit powerful and crisp, Ani's vocals very focused and with extremely clean diction, including all the yips and growls accented with the guitar notes and totally transparent air between all three musicians and the live audience, even if most of this double album is near mono in places. This extra transparency also translated well to Ricki Lee Jones' Nude Songs (live), Coolsville being as stunning as ever, her voice seemingly devoid now of that slight warming veil, though it applied all round, as the air between Ricki and her audience became vanishingly pure, the tiniest mutterings, gasps of awe and the odd coughs are just suspended in space. Her use of the bass guitar on Autumn Leaves reveals the improved transparency is across the board, the lowest bass notes just sliding on down in all their glory, never warming or thickening at the lowest levels, wonderful! A last 'test track' was from Random Access Memories, Giorgio, By Moroder, keeping his voice separated from the low bass notes can be a challenge for some gear, not here, his voice having even less colouration than previously and moving into the layering of pounding synths and drums as the track develops, all kept separated and very dynamic.
Other musical delights have become the best I've ever heard them, Richard Thompson's, Calvary Cross is so alive, the drum kit have more dynamic impact in what I had always thought was a bit lightly recorded - though the sound of the kick drum itself has always sounded like the real live skin and metal - now having a deeper, crisper and more dynamically clean impact, very fast and open percussive transients.
Something that really struck me last night was that the Burson Vivid V6 has taken on more of the nature of the A-GD HDAM in its sheer scale, in that the headphones now disappear more, the sound stage is larger while still being very focused and defined. However, small scale recordings are still small scale, some are just not recorded with an apparently large s/stage, after all. I suspect the bigger and cleaner power supply suits the Vivid V6. Even Joan Armatrading's very analogue recordings, such as Willow and Kissing and a Huggin' have got bigger in scale, yet are deliciously warm and analogue yet transparent at the same time. A joy to listen to. Bigger, closer and deeper (if recorded as such). Bass is full, warm and organic on these tracks.
The HD540 Ref 1's sound like even more accomplished headphones now and as I was listening last night I was thinking that why would I want any more than this? Oh, I'm sure there are modern cans that sound maybe better in some areas, but as such a holistic and timbre-correct, of-a-piece whole? I haven't heard one in the last thirty years and while I have only heard a small selection of modern mid to highs-end cans (and far more expensive, that taking inflation into account may be a similar or of much greater cost), I am not inclined to go searching so much.
Thoroughly enjoying the refreshed and improved FrankenZero alongside the other usual suspects.

 

[Backsplash7]

Update on Frankie and the Senn HD540 Ref1s: A new level of transparency has appeared from top to bottom, as if a slight and very mildly warm veil has been lifted, leaving an even quieter and darker background; what was already excellent fine detailing at the back of the stage, no matter how quiet among much larger and more forward instruments, has become even more obvious. Tiny shimmering of cymbals, higher string harmonics, brushed tympani, backing vocals, ambient details are all now even more apparent in their own space. I was shocked on a favourite hip hop track by the Aussie group, The Herd's Full Moon, when a guitar melody just appeared in space just left of centre that I'd never really noticed before. What a treat. Ani DiFranco's Shy (live from Living In Clip) was starkly clear and alive, the drum kit powerful and crisp, Ani's vocals very focused and with extremely clean diction, including all the yips and growls accented with the guitar notes and totally transparent air between all three musicians and the live audience, even if most of this double album is near mono in places. This extra transparency also translated well to Ricki Lee Jones' Nude Songs (live), Coolsville being as stunning as ever, her voice seemingly devoid now of that slight warming veil, though it applied all round, as the air between Ricki and her audience became vanishingly pure, the tiniest mutterings, gasps of awe and the odd coughs are just suspended in space. Her use of the bass guitar on Autumn Leaves reveals the improved transparency is across the board, the lowest bass notes just sliding on down in all their glory, never warming or thickening at the lowest levels, wonderful! A last 'test track' was from Random Access Memories, Giorgio, By Moroder, keeping his voice separated from the low bass notes can be a challenge for some gear, not here, his voice having even less colouration than previously and moving into the layering of pounding synths and drums as the track develops, all kept separated and very dynamic.
Other musical delights have become the best I've ever heard them, Richard Thompson's, Calvary Cross is so alive, the drum kit have more dynamic impact in what I had always thought was a bit lightly recorded - though the sound of the kick drum itself has always sounded like the real live skin and metal - now having a deeper, crisper and more dynamically clean impact, very fast and open percussive transients.
Something that really struck me last night was that the Burson Vivid V6 has taken on more of the nature of the A-GD HDAM in its sheer scale, in that the headphones now disappear more, the sound stage is larger while still being very focused and defined. However, small scale recordings are still small scale, some are just not recorded with an apparently large s/stage, after all. I suspect the bigger and cleaner power supply suits the Vivid V6. Even Joan Armatrading's very analogue recordings, such as Willow and Kissing and a Huggin' have got bigger in scale, yet are deliciously warm and analogue yet transparent at the same time. A joy to listen to. Bigger, closer and deeper (if recorded as such). Bass is full, warm and organic on these tracks.
The HD540 Ref 1's sound like even more accomplished headphones now and as I was listening last night I was thinking that why would I want any more than this? Oh, I'm sure there are modern cans that sound maybe better in some areas, but as such a holistic and timbre-correct, of-a-piece whole? I haven't heard one in the last thirty years and while I have only heard a small selection of modern mid to highs-end cans (and far more expensive, that taking inflation into account may be a similar or of much greater cost), I am not inclined to go searching so much.
Thoroughly enjoying the refreshed and improved FrankenZero alongside the other usual suspects.

It certainly seems like its made a positive impact for you, and yet another example of "every link in the chain" absolutely mattering. I'll definitely need to keep an eye out for those black gates in older equipment! I'd not heard about mods being done to the burson op amps before, I didn't even know that was a thing.
As this isn't your first modification, I'm curious what will you be looking to upgrade next? The resistors, perhaps?

 

[sennsay]

It certainly seems like its made a positive impact for you, and yet another example of "every link in the chain" absolutely mattering. I'll definitely need to keep an eye out for those black gates in older equipment! I'd not heard about mods being done to the burson op amps before, I didn't even know that was a thing.
As this isn't your first modification, I'm curious what will you be looking to upgrade next? The resistors, perhaps?

No, probably not, far too many through-soldered holes on the double-sided board to go through. I do have a spare board though, so I could ponder other ideas without potentially damaging the No1 board. What I have also discovered ... well, at least two things actually ... is that because Frankie is now a more transparent device, it shows up the recording qualities to a greater degree, extra detailing when present. Secondly, the differences between the output opamps, discrete or otherwise have become much more obvious! Because the Vivid V6 now has a bigger and purer supply it has gained in stature, bigger, bolder, transparent, even greater dynamic contrasts. Stronger and apparently deeper bass with more focused kick on drums, vocals are very articulate and precise on the s/stage unless recorded otherwise. The top end is more pure, cymbals shimmer and ting and crash beautifully and with excellent focus. What was previously a fine performance from the Vivid V6 is now even better.
However, I can now hear more clearly that the Earth HDAM is almost a bit 'soft' in comparison and more old school valve-like in it's presentation, BIG soundstage. Possibly more suited to full sized gear in a lounge where it would be lovely, as it always used to be. A little more transparent now, yes.
The OPA627BP opamps, as good as they are are now definitely softer at both ends of the spectrum, pure and clean, yes and fine to enjoy, but no Vivid V6. I popped the Burson Classic V6 is for a few hours ...... a no here, definitely limited in dynamic range, a bit more mid-forward, warmer and less extended top and bottom, though there is bass weight. Suits the stock HD540s fairly well, yet we can do better here.
So, the clear favourite output device is the Burson Vivid V6 for sure. A keeper. Now, about that Vivid V6 ..... what capacitor do I use as a bypass as Burson has suggested after the 100 hour mark, another BG NX 0.1uF .. a small Elna Silmic ... or one of the Russian PIO's ..... ?

 

[Backsplash7]

No, probably not, far too many through-soldered holes on the double-sided board to go through. I do have a spare board though, so I could ponder other ideas without potentially damaging the No1 board. What I have also discovered ... well, at least two things actually ... is that because Frankie is now a more transparent device, it shows up the recording qualities to a greater degree, extra detailing when present. Secondly, the differences between the output opamps, discrete or otherwise have become much more obvious! Because the Vivid V6 now has a bigger and purer supply it has gained in stature, bigger, bolder, transparent, even greater dynamic contrasts. Stronger and apparently deeper bass with more focused kick on drums, vocals are very articulate and precise on the s/stage unless recorded otherwise. The top end is more pure, cymbals shimmer and ting and crash beautifully and with excellent focus. What was previously a fine performance from the Vivid V6 is now even better.
However, I can now hear more clearly that the Earth HDAM is almost a bit 'soft' in comparison and more old school valve-like in it's presentation, BIG soundstage. Possibly more suited to full sized gear in a lounge where it would be lovely, as it always used to be. A little more transparent now, yes.
The OPA627BP opamps, as good as they are are now definitely softer at both ends of the spectrum, pure and clean, yes and fine to enjoy, but no Vivid V6. I popped the Burson Classic V6 is for a few hours ...... a no here, definitely limited in dynamic range, a bit more mid-forward, warmer and less extended top and bottom, though there is bass weight. Suits the stock HD540s fairly well, yet we can do better here.
So, the clear favourite output device is the Burson Vivid V6 for sure. A keeper. Now, about that Vivid V6 ..... what capacitor do I use as a bypass as Burson has suggested after the 100 hour mark, another BG NX 0.1uF .. a small Elna Silmic ... or one of the Russian PIO's ..... ?

Thats a similar experience to when I upgraded my amplifier, and could better hear the qualities of the V6 classic, which I didn't like anymore. It went from feeling engaging and adding a stronger attack to percussive instruments, to just sounding like it was adding distortion to create certain impression, and restricting things. I was running a pair of classics in the output stage, in combination with a pair of vivids at the front end, and on the previous amp everything sounded fine on most of my headphones, though my HD700 was badly out of focus and I couldn't understand why. One of those vivids was also dieing and creating a load of issues, which I didn't know about until I had that extra transparency. With new vivids throughout, more extention and clarity.

While I've come a long way since, that old setup had one thing going for it though, which I kind of miss. The soundstage height and depth was non existent, but it exaggerated left/right panning, so the steroephony became quite busy and captivating.
A certain test track would make me feel like I was being bombarded with sounds with my 540, but in a good way, quite an intense experience. With my setup now, with the HD800, those elements are absolutely locked into their own fixed space, not assailing me at all, and making the whole track sound very laid back and gentle by comparison. I guess it was simply a case of being able to enjoy something whilst I was unaware of the underlying shortcomings, but it was fun at the time.

In the here and now, I am currently testing some synergistic fuses, and like with your capacitors, the extra transparency is rather enlightening

 

[sennsay]

Thats a similar experience to when I upgraded my amplifier, and could better hear the qualities of the V6 classic, which I didn't like anymore. It went from feeling engaging and adding a stronger attack to percussive instruments, to just sounding like it was adding distortion to create certain impression, and restricting things. I was running a pair of classics in the output stage, in combination with a pair of vivids at the front end, and on the previous amp everything sounded fine on most of my headphones, though my HD700 was badly out of focus and I couldn't understand why. One of those vivids was also dieing and creating a load of issues, which I didn't know about until I had that extra transparency. With new vivids throughout, more extention and clarity.

While I've come a long way since, that old setup had one thing going for it though, which I kind of miss. The soundstage height and depth was non existent, but it exaggerated left/right panning, so the steroephony became quite busy and captivating.
A certain test track would make me feel like I was being bombarded with sounds with my 540, but in a good way, quite an intense experience. With my setup now, with the HD800, those elements are absolutely locked into their own fixed space, not assailing me at all, and making the whole track sound very laid back and gentle by comparison. I guess it was simply a case of being able to enjoy something whilst I was unaware of the underlying shortcomings, but it was fun at the time.

In the here and now, I am currently testing some synergistic fuses, and like with your capacitors, the extra transparency is rather enlightening

One thing I didn't mention in my last post was that, while the Vivid V6 had gained in scale, that also meant image height, with some low bass rumblings appearing to be felt in my feet with low organ notes. Haven't felt that for some years. So, below and above the plane of the ear cups, again, more like the Earth HDAM, yet with even better performance.
I might have sampled a couple of those Synergistic fuses, but there are none in any of the current gear I'm using, just protection relays. Certainly the Classic sounds somewhat restrictive (as you say) compared to the noticeably more dynamic Vivid, which has responding very well to the power supply upgrades. I wonder what Burson's new V7(?) will sound like.

 

[IgorUA]

Hello, friends. When I was doing the service, I broke this thin wire near the HD540 Gold driver. And when I tried to solder at the very base of it, I made it even worse, until I broke it to zero. During the assembly, the engineers put the wires between the felt screen and the foam for some reason. And this foam turned into some kind of dust and the wires got stuck in it. Therefore, if someone is also in my situation and has one working HD540 Gold 600ohm driver, then I am ready to buy it from you and cover the cost of sending it.

 

[lantian]

Hello, friends. When I was doing the service, I broke this thin wire near the HD540 Gold driver. And when I tried to solder at the very base of it, I made it even worse, until I broke it to zero. During the assembly, the engineers put the wires between the felt screen and the foam for some reason. And this foam turned into some kind of dust and the wires got stuck in it. Therefore, if someone is also in my situation and has one working HD540 Gold 600ohm driver, then I am ready to buy it from you and cover the cost of sending it.

Sorry to hear that. But as a waring to all don't mess with drivers in golds, do it with 540s if you must but golds have the driver's put in a way that almost on purpose once you try and remove them the voice coils will snap. And soldering that aluminium wire is pretty much impossible unless your an expert on this type of tiny soldering

 

[sennsay]

Hello, friends. When I was doing the service, I broke this thin wire near the HD540 Gold driver. And when I tried to solder at the very base of it, I made it even worse, until I broke it to zero. During the assembly, the engineers put the wires between the felt screen and the foam for some reason. And this foam turned into some kind of dust and the wires got stuck in it. Therefore, if someone is also in my situation and has one working HD540 Gold 600ohm driver, then I am ready to buy it from you and cover the cost of sending it.

In light of Lantian's reply, maybe sending them off to Sennheiser is in order, as I imagine the drivers in the HD540 Golds are a matched pair and just buying a single unit on-line may not turn out to be a good idea. Maybe Sennheiser can service the complete HD540 Gold for you.

 

[IgorUA]

Thank you all for your advice. It seems like I've made a deal to buy a driver.

One more question. Can anyone take photos of the velor pads on the Gold from both sides, which are quite rare? It was mentioned earlier in this thread that they sound the best. Is it possible to somehow repeat their design or buy similar ones? I know that there is already a good way to restore the original pads by replacing the foam, but these velor pads don't let me sleep at night.

 

[trollchu]

Thats a similar experience to when I upgraded my amplifier, and could better hear the qualities of the V6 classic, which I didn't like anymore. It went from feeling engaging and adding a stronger attack to percussive instruments, to just sounding like it was adding distortion to create certain impression, and restricting things. I was running a pair of classics in the output stage, in combination with a pair of vivids at the front end, and on the previous amp everything sounded fine on most of my headphones, though my HD700 was badly out of focus and I couldn't understand why. One of those vivids was also dieing and creating a load of issues, which I didn't know about until I had that extra transparency. With new vivids throughout, more extention and clarity.

While I've come a long way since, that old setup had one thing going for it though, which I kind of miss. The soundstage height and depth was non existent, but it exaggerated left/right panning, so the steroephony became quite busy and captivating.
A certain test track would make me feel like I was being bombarded with sounds with my 540, but in a good way, quite an intense experience. With my setup now, with the HD800, those elements are absolutely locked into their own fixed space, not assailing me at all, and making the whole track sound very laid back and gentle by comparison. I guess it was simply a case of being able to enjoy something whilst I was unaware of the underlying shortcomings, but it was fun at the time.

In the here and now, I am currently testing some synergistic fuses, and like with your capacitors, the extra transparency is rather enlightening

That failed V6, those have lifetime warranties, if you have not already, it may be worth it to reach out to Burson about that.

Hello, friends. When I was doing the service, I broke this thin wire near the HD540 Gold driver. And when I tried to solder at the very base of it, I made it even worse, until I broke it to zero. During the assembly, the engineers put the wires between the felt screen and the foam for some reason. And this foam turned into some kind of dust and the wires got stuck in it. Therefore, if someone is also in my situation and has one working HD540 Gold 600ohm driver, then I am ready to buy it from you and cover the cost of sending it.

While the build of Reference Gold is somewhat different, the Reference Gold should use an identical driver to the Reference One. If you end up with issues in matching the driver you are purchasing, consider picking up a functional Reference One and supplanting the matched drivers as a potentially inexpensive long-term solution.

 

[Maitre Renard]

Hey
I’ve just gotten a HD 560 refII ( made in Ireland) in excellent conditions. Quickly looking on the original pads (opening it from one side ) it looks very similar to my HD 540 , with plastic rings inside . However I noticed that the velour pads (green colour) are attached to the rings , so they seem to be an entire construction .

Does it means that for the pad replacement I need to remove old pads from the rings and then attach new pads to the old rings ? What do you think about these pads compared to what I have ( attached some photos)

https://www.amazon.fr/gp/aw/d/B01N3JOHSD/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_10?smid=A3Q3RQA605SKUI&psc=1