Tweaked Sennheiser HD280 update

Tyson · « **on:** 17 Sep 2003, 03:50 pm »

I cannot believe how much I am enjoying these headphones after I tweaked them. Sure, I have "better" headphones, namely the Sennheiser HD600's, the Etymotic ER 4P's, and the AKG K271's, but I find myself listening to the 280's more than any of the others. They don't have the resolution and overall "audiophile" sound of the others, but man they are just soooo listenable, tonal balance is spot on, and they now have a nice kick/impact in the bass that reminds me of my RM40's. For $69 delivered from Amazon, plus $2 for the bluetak tweak, these are pretty incredible value. . .

Tyson · « **Reply #1 on:** 17 Sep 2003, 04:02 pm »

Only caveat about the 280's, they take a loooong time to burn in. I've had them several months of hard usage, and I think they are still smoothing out. But they do sound very good after about 2 weeks of 24/7 run in at fairly loud volumes.

F-100 · « **Reply #2 on:** 17 Sep 2003, 04:23 pm »

Tyson,

Can you tell us more about this "bluetak tweak"?

Thanks

Tyson · « **Reply #3 on:** 17 Sep 2003, 04:51 pm »

Blue Tak tweak (will work on most "closed" headphones, not just the HD280's):

1. Remove the pleather earpads

2. 2 screws will be revealed on the face of the drivers. Remove them and pull out the driver from the cup.

3. put a thin (1 mm) layer of bluetak over the exposed inner cup.

4. Put the driver back in (you may have to press it down a bit to get it back in place).

5. Put the screws back in, and put the earpads back on.

6. Repeat for other cup.

It ha sa number of beneficial results, namely giving a better upper bass response, and smoothing out the upper midrange tilt, so that you get a much more even frequency response when you are done.

audiojerry · « **Reply #4 on:** 17 Sep 2003, 05:55 pm »

Where did this tweak originate?

How about splicing the headphone wires and inserting some Bybee's?

F-100 · « **Reply #5 on:** 17 Sep 2003, 06:02 pm »

Quote from: audiojerry

Where did this tweak originate?

How about splicing the headphone wires and inserting some Bybee's?

How about "cryo" them too so they can numb your ear ....

Thanks Tyson, I like the bluetak tweak better. Cheap & effective method.

Tyson · « **Reply #6 on:** 17 Sep 2003, 06:29 pm »

Hmm, a bybee might actually be interesting. . . Wayne has already made me a cable for my AKG headphones, making one with a bybee in it shouldn't be too difficult. But, for the HD280's, your probably buying a cable more expensive than the headphone itself

One thing about closed headphones, manufacturers want to make them a light and cheap as possible, so you get these hollow hard plastic earcups that are just about the worst acoustical environment possible. Coating them with blue tak will dampen resonances, and absorb some upper frequencies. If there's room (and in some headphones there is), using some pulled cotton will also absorb high frequencies that are normally reflected off the cup, through the driver, and back in to your ears. But there's no room for cotton in the HD280's, but the blue tak does a good enough job as it is, so the cotton's not really necessary.

john curl · « **Reply #7 on:** 17 Sep 2003, 09:05 pm »

I recommend that you try the Bybees, externally, before adding them in. If you have a high frequency 'tizz' then add them directly, but if you don't, be careful. For the record, I have Bybees almost everywhere.