# Rewiring the new Sennheiser HD201s



## HiGHFLYiN9

A quick guide to rewiring the HD201s. Neither I nor Headfi will be responsible if you fry or damage your precious $20 headphones. 

 My HD201s just arrived today from Headroom. I quickly stripped open the package, pulled out the cans and plugged them in for a 5 second listen to make sure the drivers were working. I then unplugged them and pulled off the earpads, which are held in place by about 10 small plastic tabs.







 Underneath the pads I found the covered driver as well as 4 screw holes.






 Assuming the screws were holding the plastic oval the driver was fastened on, I unscrewed them. Although they are quite small a standard size screwdriver worked fine.






 Once the screws were well... unscrewed, and the plastic oval removed from the enclosures, I found that the driver was sealed in a plastic box with another four screws ::sigh:: 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	









 Even after unscrewing that second set of four screws the plastic box would not come off. Turned out it was sealed with glue.... a lot of it. After prying at it for 3-4 minutes with a pair of precision screwdrivers it came off. I was a little worried about destroying the headphones on this step as it requires so much pressure to get these things off. 






 Finally the drivers are accessable. The soldering terminals are a lot like Grados, two squarish globs of solder for each driver connected to each other. The wiring is very similar to the HD600 cables I detroyed in the past, with ultra thin wires covered with coats of red, amber and green. The amber ones in my case were the ground, red was right and green was left. The drivers seemed to be similar looking to Koss Portapro diaphrams. I had a four foot cord I made using a switchcraft mini and litz braided silver plated copper handy. I snipped off the bottoms of the boots and ran the new wire through them. After the wire goes through the boots it has to go through the hole in the plastic box which will probably have to be enlarged and then the corresponding wires soldered to the terminals on the driver.






 Screw back in the plastic boxes and push the wire back down in the boot so you have enough clearance to replace the plastic oval. Before you put the plastic oval back remember to snap the headband back in place if you took it out and zip tie the cable above the boot for strain relief. Finally screw the ovals back in, replace the earpads and your done. Congratulations! You've just spent the past two hours rewiring a $20 headphone 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	









 Hope everyone likes the guide, I look forward to seeing eveyone else's version of the rewired HD201!


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## fr4c

you are a DIY fiend 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 how does it sound?


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## ]|[ GorE

Please tell what have they stuffed the cans with ? whats that white thing in the ear cups ? PLEASE!!!!!!!!


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## diredesire

Man, i wish you would have burned them in a little, listened to them a little first, and posted CHANGES. It's a $20 headphone, again, as you said, it's not a huge loss if i damaged mine (which i have no qualms with) but if the change(s) are not worth it, i probably wouldn't bother. ;D


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Running them out of my D-EJ2000 and my Rockhopper portable pimeta. Sounds really good for a $20 headphone, however I can tell that they need burn in as the bass has changed a bit over the past half hour. The white screening is a just a fabric (maybe polyester or cotton) used possibly as an aperiodic vent to make the drivers behave as if the small plastic box is a larger sealed enclosure.


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *diredesire* 
_Man, i wish you would have burned them in a little, listened to them a little first, and posted CHANGES. It's a $20 headphone, again, as you said, it's not a huge loss if i damaged mine (which i have no qualms with) but if the change(s) are not worth it, i probably wouldn't bother. ;D_

 

I didn't want to be stuck with that miserable stock cord for even a day 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




There are some people out there that have been waiting for someone to document the process before attempting it on their own, so they will probably be the ones that document the changes.


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## Thaddy

Oh man...so sweet...

 *drool*


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## Oink1

Nice job my friend - Makes a cheap 'phone look a lot more


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Glad you guys like it 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 It's burning in as we speak


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## StevieDvd

Nice job. Yes you are correct there are people waiting for the first one to recable the HD201, like me!

 Can I ask a dumb question?

 How many connections in each cup? Did senn have a braid and twin wires each side, and have you used twin wire in replacement?

 Can't quite make out from the pics. Would like to have seen the new soldered points close-up.

 I ruined my HD25sp by breaking the tiny driver wires and don't want to repeat that on the HD201s.


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## [AK]Zip

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *StevieDvd* 
_Nice job. Yes you are correct there are people waiting for the first one to recable the HD201, like me!

 Can I ask a dumb question?

 How many connections in each cup? Did senn have a braid and twin wires each side, and have you used twin wire in replacement?

 Can't quite make out from the pics. Would like to have seen the new soldered points close-up.

 I ruined my HD25sp by breaking the tiny driver wires and don't want to repeat that on the HD201s. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


_

 

2 per side. A channel and a ground.

 -Alex-


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## IEATTEFLON

Are those 27mm drivers? At 24ohms it seems awfully close to the lowend sony and panasonic drivers. My pair of hd201 also exhibits the same distortion characteristics to them when raising the bass or listening loudly.


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## ah_long

i'm sorry to bring up this old thread, but I got a few questions

 how did you put the thing back, did u glue it back together or just screwed it and left the glue alone??


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## diredesire

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *ah_long* 
_i'm sorry to bring up this old thread, but I got a few questions

 how did you put the thing back, did u glue it back together or just screwed it and left the glue alone??_

 

Just screw it. The housing will hold securely, and it won't buzz or anything.


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## ah_long

any suggestions on where/what wires to get?


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *diredesire* 
_Just screw it._

 

Right, the screws do the job and hold things in place. For the wiring I used standard silver plated copper.


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## diredesire

I used an old Grado cable. I actually modded mine for single sided cords, but that requires an incredibly steady hand, or some nice precision tools to do it cleanly. I'd post pics, but i'm just too damn lazy. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 If anyone wants to see 'em, I can put 'em up.


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## ah_long

where's a good place to get cables
 and which kind should i get?


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## skyskraper

have a search around the forum. particularly the diy cable guide and galleries.


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## mrdon

Mogami 2534 Quad cable terminated with a Canare F-9 (mini) or F-15 (1/4") Connector might be a good suggestion.


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## ah_long

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *mrdon* 
_Mogami 2534 Quad cable terminated with a Canare F-9 (mini) or F-15 (1/4") Connector might be a good suggestion._

 

where could i find that??


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## track_cheetah

thank you...just, thank you


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## Inkmo

I'm typically want to wonder out loud. How do you suppose leaving the plastic box off when rebuilding them (and maybe stuffing the cup with cotton, or doing the ol' blu-tak mod) would effect the sound. These cans already don't isolate, and I imagine giving their drivers more room couldn't hurt?

 Thoughts?


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## loac

I am interested in this too, has anyone tried this?


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## mono

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Inkmo* 
_I'm typically want to wonder out loud. How do you suppose leaving the plastic box off when rebuilding them (and maybe stuffing the cup with cotton, or doing the ol' blu-tak mod) would effect the sound. These cans already don't isolate, and I imagine giving their drivers more room couldn't hurt?

 Thoughts?_

 

1) I don't have these cans- keep that in mind.

 2) I'd expect them to get very tubby, exaggerated mid-bass that ruins the balance.

 What I would expect to help most (could be completely wrong) is to add mass to the removable rectangular housing, on the outside. For example, coat it with as much JDWeld Epoxy as it can hold without interfering with mounting in the cups again. Unfortunately this is a rather permanent mod. Another interesting idea might be to take a nice hard block of wood and dremel out a cavity and put that in it's place.


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## Inkmo

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *mono* 
_1) I don't have these cans- keep that in mind.

 2) I'd expect them to get very tubby, exaggerated mid-bass that ruins the balance.

 What I would expect to help most (could be completely wrong) is to add mass to the removable rectangular housing, on the outside. For example, coat it with as much JDWeld Epoxy as it can hold without interfering with mounting in the cups again. Unfortunately this is a rather permanent mod. Another interesting idea might be to take a nice hard block of wood and dremel out a cavity and put that in it's place._

 

When I blutacked my HD201, what I did was remove that plastic outer rectangle and blutack it separately. I let a little go over the sides to help dampen between the housing and the rectangle. I stuffed as much tack into the cup as I could without interfering with the driver plate remounting. I can't tell if the sound was signifigantly affected, to be honest, but they're a lot heavier now. Like 'real' headphones .


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## n_maher

Well add me to the ranks that have recabled their 201s. I just went with regular Canare Starqual (L-4E6S) figuring that to use anything more exotic was not worth the investment. Initial listening impressions, which granted occured at 12:45am, are that the change is positive. Better bass, less harsh highs, but more critical listening is certianly required.

 With HiGHFLYiN9's tutorial it only took about an hour and a half to do this mod. This was also my first recable so I was taking my time with each step to make sure that I didn't hose anything up. I'll post pictures soon, I'm pretty happy with the way they look too!

 Nate


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## RnB180

good stuff.

 may I ask what made you decide that a $20 pair of cans should be rewired?


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## n_maher

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *RnB180* 
_may I ask what made you decide that a $20 pair of cans should be rewired? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


_

 

Sure, the idea of torching a pair of $20 headphones does not scare me. The idea of doing that to $200+ (my HF-1s) does. So I figured I'd start small 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




. I'm quite sure that there is a limit to the benefit that this will have for the HD201s but they seeemed like a good place to start.

 Nate


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Nate what length did you decide to make the cable? Glad the tutorial's still getting some use


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *RnB180* 
_may I ask what made you decide that a $20 pair of cans should be rewired? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			



_

 

 You would have done the same right RnB?


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## RnB180

i... dont know...
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 [size=xx-small]
 yes.[/size]


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## n_maher

It's roughly 10' long, I figured I could always make it shorter but longer might be an issue 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




.

 I'm listening to them right now out of my Headroom Millett and it's a sweet sounding set of cans for sure. No business costing $20, even with the recable they still only cost me $35 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 .

 Thanks again for the tutorial, now if you could just do one for Grados...

 Nate

 [edit] Oh snap, there it is, my 1500th post...


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## diredesire

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *n_maher* 
_It's roughly 10' long, I figured I could always make it shorter but longer might be an issue 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




.

 I'm listening to them right now out of my Headroom Millett and it's a sweet sounding set of cans for sure. No business costing $20, even with the recable they still only cost me $35 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 .

 Thanks again for the tutorial, now if you could just do one for Grados...

 Nate

 [edit] Oh snap, there it is, my 1500th post..._

 

IMO the grados are actually much more simple than the HD201 recable. The toughest part is popping off the lids to the cans. I've never worked with a non full-plastic body though. 

 I used a little bit of drill press magic with my HD 201s to get a single sided cable, but the headband is not adjustable after this mod


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## borntonag

First of all, congratulations to de OP on this excellent topic!
  
 I'm about to do my first rewiring and I will experiment with HD201 first.
  
 Just to get everything clear, I only need two things:
 - _Star Quad_ Microphone Cable(L-4E6S / L-4E5C)
 - 1 Switchcraft : 3.5 mm Jack
 I just have to solder the star quad cable in the exact same place of the standard cable, right?
 Although the pictures here are very good, they aren't very clear on the process of soldering, what, to where.
  
 Best regards


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## HiGHFLYiN9

I would use the mini version of the Starquad as I remember the internals were slightly cramped in that headphone. The Switchcraft 35HD plug is also a very good choice. The wire simply replaces the stock wire, nothing crazy going on  You may want heatshrink and possibly sleeving (nylon multifilament or standard Techflex) for a nice finished look if desired.


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## Tadgh

Sorry to revive an old thread but you're a hero mate :')
  
 Loved my 201s, onto bigger and better things now, but they were some fabulous cans. You might have convinced me to buy a pair again and do my own bit of rewiring ^-^
  
 Have you ever been able to compare them with stock 201s once burned in? I'd love to know if there's an audible difference!


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