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Topic: Mod Sennheiser HD555 into 595 ? (Read 12192 times) previous topic - next topic
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Mod Sennheiser HD555 into 595 ?

Reply #1 –
It's unlikely to be true.

Quote
Instead of designing a completely new product to fit a certain price range, large scale manufacturing dictates that it is often cheaper to simply “cripple” an existing high-end product.
I suppose that happens, but it's rare because they have to compete with other manufacturers in the marketplace.... You start trying to make an inferior product and you won't last long.    And/or there may be other differences between the 555 & 595 that don't relate to sound quality.   


Quote
However, Head-fi member MCC posted the smoking gun; a picture of the original Sennheiser replacement driver labelled “HD 555 / HD 595″.
Apparently, both models have been discontinued, and the common replacement driver may be an upgrade to the 555.  But, I'm not sure if replacing the driver makes it a 595....  There's more to a headphone than the driver.  Is that a complete driver, or just the diaphragm?

Mod Sennheiser HD555 into 595 ?

Reply #2 –
Yes, this mod is well known by "head-fier". Sennheiser "corrected" this by introducing different vents for the hd558 and a white  color for the  hd598 ( so the "mod" is not valid anymore, since a difference would remain). The counter-argument I've read, is that the driver for the hd595 are better selected (same production of driver for both headphones, but they keep the one with better characteristic during test, I  don't remind the technical term. It's a similar story for cpu).  But this gives you an idea of the kind of game,  "audiophile brands" are doing. Slightly altering the characteristic of a product, and then using the marketing to justify higher prices . Then there are "audiophile" that would compare models, and  listen to the little difference, and that almost always think the most expensive is better.  Because, "audiophiles" are snob. And thanks to hype, Sennheiser sell his "superior" models like hot cake, regardless of the changes  (similar story for other brands) .

Mod Sennheiser HD555 into 595 ?

Reply #3 –
Quote from: DVDdoug on
It's unlikely to be true.

Quote
Instead of designing a completely new product to fit a certain price range, large scale manufacturing dictates that it is often cheaper to simply “cripple” an existing high-end product.
I suppose that happens, but it's rare because they have to compete with other manufacturers in the marketplace.... You start trying to make an inferior product and you won't last long.    And/or there may be other differences between the 555 & 595 that don't relate to sound quality.   


this is done all the time. in computer industry

Microsoft dont make 5 diffrent windows but just one and criple it down
nor does intel make  16 different cpu's but only a few and criple them down. (the main reason we can overclock)
Both ati and nvidia does it with their gpu's. remember the 9500proe to 9800pro mod  or the 6850 to 6870 ?
sot its a very valid approach to save money no having to red\desing/reinvent and restart a entire productione line when you can just take a  avaialble product and criple it and its still an cheaper options to produce
Sven Bent - Denmark

Mod Sennheiser HD555 into 595 ?

Reply #4 –
I’m a cynic, but I’m not sure all such products are deliberately crippled for no reason! Taking your example of CPUs, it’s usually claimed that the CPUs that are downgraded are the ones that weren’t sufficiently thermally stable, &c. to run reliably at higher clocks, multipliers, and such. I’m sure needless crippling does occur, but at least in some cases, there are probably fair reasons/regulations behind the decision to limit an item to lower than its absolute maximal capacity.

Mod Sennheiser HD555 into 595 ?

Reply #5 –
Quote from: db1989 on
I’m not sure all such products are deliberately crippled for no reason!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_differentiation . There is a reason: you downgrade it simply because you wish to target someone with a lower budget AND someone with a higher budget. As pointed out, Microsoft makes one Windows and restricts it. That is of course a software license thing, but "hardware" is in principle no different.
I can only guess that the ugliest (from a grown-up's point of view) and cheapest IKEA chair covers are for that reason too: grown-ups with grown-up wallets will instead buy a different design, paying more for something that costs no more to produce - this covers IKEA's fixed costs - and then they can push prices closer to marginal cost to sell to students.

Quote from: db1989 on
Taking your example of CPUs, it’s usually claimed that the CPUs that are downgraded are the ones that weren’t sufficiently thermally stable, &c. to run reliably at higher clocks, multipliers, and such.

Absolutely.  And word of mouth had it that single-sided 5 1/4 floppies - the one you doubled by cutting - were the ones which simply didn't pass QC on both sides. And there are lots of such examples in the folklore, many of which must be true. But deliberate crippling also takes place, and there is not really anything wrong with it.

Mod Sennheiser HD555 into 595 ?

Reply #6 –
Good points, thanks. Windows is an especially conspicuous example, wish I’d thought of that.  I agree with you that there’s not a huge amount wrong (relative to other facets of the economic system in which it resides…) with even deliberate crippling, if the reduced features come with a cost saving. Maybe on an abstract philosophical level, but again, that’s business, and there are other things to complain about before this… and besides, thankfully, there’s usually some clever person who figures out how to ‘unlock’ such devices anyway

Mod Sennheiser HD555 into 595 ?

Reply #7 –
Quote from: db1989 on
I’m a cynic, but I’m not sure all such products are deliberately crippled for no reason! Taking your example of CPUs, it’s usually claimed that the CPUs that are downgraded are the ones that weren’t sufficiently thermally stable, &c. to run reliably at higher clocks, multipliers, and such. I’m sure needless crippling does occur, but at least in some cases, there are probably fair reasons/regulations behind the decision to limit an item to lower than its absolute maximal capacity.



CPU's are typical of products whose yields tend to improve over the life of the production cycle.  Other examples include transistors, LCD panels, tires, hard drive platters, optical media, analog ICs, memory chips, bakery goods, electrolytic capacitors, etc., etc.  This applies to anything where common process variations produce or have produced large numbers of usable but less desirable product.

As yields improve, the number of "grade outs" can decrease to the point where perfectly good product must be arbitrarily selected, hobbled and sold as if they were grade-outs in order to meet the needs of the marketplace.

Sometimes the process is reworked to be cheaper in some sense to run, but also restore the supply of "grade outs".  For example the size of the chip can be reduced or the bake oven recalibrated and sped up which will make it tougher to produce product and meet the same specs.

Over a period of time the improvements in design and process can yield dramatic improvements in price/performance as we have seen with semiconductor chips of all kinds and also many other things on my list above.

For example in the last 20 or so years electrolytic capacitors that meet certain specs have shrunk in size and been reduced in cost quite dramatically, maybe (2:1 size or 4:1+ in volume).  Not as dramatic as semiconductors, but still very noteworthy and pretty shocking if you have to replace relevant parts in a piece of gear.

In terms of intentional hobbling purely to meet the needs of the marketplace, very dramatic examples are found in Crown's XTi and XTi2 series of power amplifiers. The bottom 3 models are difficult or impossible to distinguish visibly in a tear-down, but vary in power output (both ratings and bench tests) by more than 2:1.

Mod Sennheiser HD555 into 595 ?

Reply #8 –
Thanks for the very interesting thoughts/experiences!

Quote from: Arnold B. Krueger on
For example in the last 20 or so years electrolytic capacitors that meet certain specs have shrunk in size and been reduced in cost quite dramatically, maybe (2:1 size or 4:1+ in volume).  Not as dramatic as semiconductors, but still very noteworthy and pretty shocking if you have to replace relevant parts in a piece of gear.
Haha, so it’s not just me who noticed this!  It can indeed be quite unbelievable… ‘Surely I can’t put this tiny thing in place of that gigantic one without something exploding’

Mod Sennheiser HD555 into 595 ?

Reply #9 –
Quote from: Arnold B. Krueger on
In terms of intentional hobbling purely to meet the needs of the marketplace, very dramatic examples are found in Crown's XTi and XTi2 series of power amplifiers. The bottom 3 models are difficult or impossible to distinguish visibly in a tear-down, but vary in power output (both ratings and bench tests) by more than 2:1.


Do you know what is done and how easy it is for a clever user to upgrade?

Mod Sennheiser HD555 into 595 ?

Reply #10 –
Quote from: Porcus on
Quote from: Arnold B. Krueger on
In terms of intentional hobbling purely to meet the needs of the marketplace, very dramatic examples are found in Crown's XTi and XTi2 series of power amplifiers. The bottom 3 models are difficult or impossible to distinguish visibly in a tear-down, but vary in power output (both ratings and bench tests) by more than 2:1.


Do you know what is done and how easy it is for a clever user to upgrade?


No.

Further info here:

http://bee.mif.pg.gda.pl/ciasteczkowypotwo..._xti-series.pdf

Mod Sennheiser HD555 into 595 ?

Reply #11 –
Software is unique because the marginal (per unit) cost is essentially zero.  Some software developers give away a crippled "lite" version and it costs them nothing as long as the lite version doesn't take away sales from the pro version.  Or, you can sell the lite version and it's pure profit (again, as long as it doesn't eat-into pro version sales.)