dekoni n brainwavz out, what else is there besides the factory pads?
well, there’s Vesper, but they’re unobtanium in north America. 
ZMF Leather Ori actually sound best in my opinion.
Which headphone specifically?
The he4xx and sundara.
I keep hearing Ori perferated sheepskin. I have a pair on their way that’s supposed to arrive Friday.
Ear Pads Are Two Darn Expensive!
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Perforated I didn’t care for as it completely removed most of the bass and low mids.
When I pad-rolled with the he4xx, my best results were with Ori Leather, Ori Suede, Brainwavz Angled Hybrid, and Suede Auteur, in that order.
Sundara, only the Ori Leather sounded right to me. Of course, your mileage may vary.
The Oris are the most angled pad, which might have something to do with it. They can have a bit of a tunneling effect though, especially compared to the Auteurs… I have too many earpads.
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Based on heavy testing on the HE-6 and HE-500 over at HF, and my own testing - the MrSpeakers Ether Angled, best pads for balance between bass/mid/highs and flatest of over 10 tested in highs. Very wide soundstage. I verified it on the HE-6, HE-500, HE-5LE, HE5SE, HE-4XX. Haven’t decided about the HE6SE yet, certainly kills the stock pad, but I need to test a couple more.
It’s costs $79, and I have 3 of them. With the HE-500 in particular doing the screen off or screen audibly invisible together - gives a wrap around soundstage that can hit about 220 degrees at times. Also seems to cut down a lot of ringing, and IM type issues, and images are cleaner and more defined, also low mid -> mid bass false reverberations cut down from the screen change. I use 1/2" ground cloth because its cheap and easy to cut, can’t hear it, and if you spray paint it, looks like it fits the design. Be careful with rough ends and length of ends, once you do one, they get easy.
Key self mods for the 500 and 6 is the fuzzor mod. Next for the 500 is the cable, then the pads/screen mod. 6SE isn’t built the same so its negligible to do the fuzzor - which I did.
The 500 and 6 are driver designs for the ages, the rest of it was haphazard, that’s why so many mods are out there - including the fiercely loved “Code Sex” mod of the HE-6 which costs like $1k - still haven’t heard it about 3 come up for sale every 2 years. It’s perhaps the most legendary mod in headphone history - and only one guy does it.
I found that the ether angled pads accentuated the treble way too much. More of a preference thing I guess, but I wasn’t feeling it.
if they weren’t so darned expensive I’d buy several…so the indecision of what to get…NOOO!!!
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Welcome to my world
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On which can? Some of the more legendary HFM reviewers swear by them for the HE-6 which they are the flatest of the 10 tested. Also quite flat on the HE-500. I admit that my hearing is pretty toasted over 14k but few headphones have much output up there. More please.
BYW on both SBAF and HF they are widely accepted as either the best or one of the 2-3 best pads for those two cans.
The Hifiman HE-400i is the particular version I thought the ether angled had too much sizzle. I was disappointed because the ether c angled pads are some of the most comfortable I have ever worn. I thought that they sounded pretty good on the Sundaras though. The Leather Ori pads just sounded better to me…while still comfortable, they aren’t as comfortable as the ether c pads. But, this is also due to preference mostly as I care more about treble peaks than treble elevation. Im a unique sort of treble sensitive, though I still hear up to 17K (which makes no sense seing as I am a combat veteran and bassist/drummer/saxophonist…my hearing should be shot completely).
Well you got me there, never tried them on 400i’s, have heard that they sound good on Sundara;s but have no first hand experience.
Yeah the leather Ori is a little puffy in the bass for the 6/500, and doesn’t bring up the upper mids as much. In other ways its good and some prefer it.
The smaller membrane round HFM’s the Ether is good on, but not quite as brilliant.
17k? that’s about 15 years in the past for me. I think that earlier in the 80’s and 90’s I owuld not have like HFM’s because I am treble sensitive and I had the ears then. Both of them are a bit bright unmodified, but tame down pretty well with mods - which the Ether is one.
Well, nothing works for everything as we see here, thanks for the good counter example.
I am very strange treble sensitive…more related to how narrow a peak (or valley) is then just sheer elevation. But 1 KHz, 5 KHz and 8 KHz are the upper mid and treble areas where I have had the most issues. 5 KHz is like the deal breaker area for me. It really makes things difficult and I have to audition frequently and or buy blindly and sell. Makes this hobby of ours way more expensive…
I also found that hifiman headphones do take well to mods, which are basically required depending on the pads you roll. With the ether c angled, I had a small 2.4 mm foam I used to filter the treble very slightly and it worked well. The HE400iI didn’t need modding when I rolled the Ori’s on them. I also have seen many people like the Mr. Speakers Mad Dog pads on there, but I thought they sounded horrific…lost way too much of the mids.
Mad Dog pads did not work well when I tried them.
My are of irritation is 2.5-5k, quite a few planars are a bit down in all or parts of that area which may help me be fond of them.
What really caught my ear first is how the Ethers really cut down treble ringing and decreases for lack of a better term IM distortion in the mids and highs - on the HE500 and HE-6.
I have heard them on the HE-400 also and they sounded OK, but those HE-400 were not modded and I think there was some channel imbalance (they didn’t belong to me). I have heard they sound great on the HE-6, but haven’t had a chance to hear the HE-6 yet.
The first time you hear an HE-6 properly driven playing strongband quick impact bass, it’ll make your eyes close. They can be a bit hot in the highs, but that can be modded away.
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