Not Great Out-of-the-Box, Better After Mods

My curiosity got the better of me and I took the plunge on these when I saw them for at a very steep discount a little while back. I already own a M1060 (modded) and many, many other headphones so I definitely wasn't looking for an upgrade or top-of-the-line set, just something affordable that I could play around with.



Before I get into sound I will talk about build quality. These are built very solid and the wood cups look attractive and class up the headphone quite a bit. It should be noted that they look better in person. I'm not a huge fan of the headband design but it works. Better here than on its big brother the M1060 since the cups and drivers are smaller and, as a result, less floppy. And since the weight is less, the headband creates less of a hot spot too. The included cable is fine, if you don't mind the 90 degree connector. Okay onto the sound.



Straight out of the box the sound didn't impress me at all. The stock pads made it sound not only dark but made the midrange sound "honky" for lack of a better term. I dug around in my box of pads and found my Brainwavz hybrid oval pads. I slapped them on and gave them a listen. Better soundstage and brighter but the treble and upper mid timbre sounded off and the bass was bleeding into the mids.



I looked around my box of pads some more and found some ATH-M50 velour pads. They were the perfect size so I stuck them on. The M565 uses velcro to mount the pads so the dust filter on other pads kind of sticks just enough to hold it in place. More on that later. The M50 pads reduced the soundstage back down to stock pad levels but the treble/timbre didn't sound off anymore. Midrange wasn't harsh and honky like it was with the stock pads either. So the pads qualified as "good enough" since I didn't really feel like spending money on pads for this headphone since it would partially erode the good deal I got.



Others on a modding Head-fi forum tried several different pad options. Brainwavz angled velour was a combo that one person really liked. Another likes his Brainwavz hybrid ovals. and yet another used some Dekoni TH-900 sheepskin pads. Some mount these pads over the stock ones, letting the stock ones hold them one. I, however, cut some plastic ovals from a folder and stuck adhesive velcro to the back of it and use that as a mounting ring. Works pretty well if you are willing to do the work.



The other mod I did (along with most others on the forum) was remove the stock foam from behind the grille. This is a common mod on the M1060 as well. This helps with the soundstage a little and brightens it as well. There are some other mods on the thread that I haven't tried but might at some point.



I also made a padded velour sleeve for the headband, just like the one I made for my M1060 (it's the same headband after all), although it wasn't as necessary as it was for the M1060 since the M565 is much lighter and puts less pressure on the top of the head. I should note that all of these mods that I have done are easily reversible should the need arise.



After modding the sound is pretty good and more than justifies the low price I got mine for. They are still warm/dark so treble and detail heads should look elsewhere. They have strong, punchy bass with the typical planar texture. Mids are forward but are pretty smooth and vocals sound pretty nice. Treble is rolled off but not excessively so. Overall signature reminds of the PortaPro a bit. The M565 is pretty good to just put on and relax with some good music since it has a smooth, laid back sound.



If you are looking for a more neutral alternative I would suggest the HIFIMAN HE4XX from Massdrop. It has more treble, less bass and overall more detail. For the list prices of both of these I would probably recommend the HE4XX but it needs mods to really shine too. However, the M565 on a hot sale (<100) is still a great deal.