just got mine ive had the 4xx sundara focals he6se aeon 2 and many more mostly planars. i gotta say the 5xx is quite good. from zeos review which i dont watch for review sake anymore but he made it sound like some sort of demon in the high end but it is not even close to that. idk what his problem is. its quite nice up top maybe 1 or 2 peaks the bass is fast if a bit lacking in slam however with oratory EQ through peace api i gotta say these are probably at the top as far as sound goes except for aeon 2 and he6se, it blows the 4xx away in my opinion not to mention it is much lighter than most. i suggest a pad change i am useing the XL perforated hybrid from brainwavz and its spectacular imaging and spaciousness is a joy , with EQ is has great sub bass and i think the pads and improving the seal behind the pads help as well. i find the bass much more than my elegia even with EQ. not as refined or detailed as teh Aeon 2 but i can live with that for 180$ basically brand new. with super nice heart audio cable that came with it. sooo comfy as well might want to adjust the clamp by carefully bending metal yokes a bit. sundara is better but not by much and with EQ not worth it IMO.
by they way the sound scale is absolutely the best ive ever heard. play selenium forest by plini and if i close my eyes the beginning electric guitar is like in a room separate from my head behind me its insane not even the ananda or he6 was this good at spacial quality.
“these are choke me harder daddy headphones” -Zeos 
both ananda and arya are brighter than these actually i would say its about average as far as that. it is detailed and slightly focused on the high end but far from bright or siblant. my k7xx and focal headphones are much brighter. also the XL pads are hit and miss much more comfort and bass but not as tight as it was more expansive sound but as some point it becomes distant sounding sometimes the high end is even less now. so it sucks you have to destroy the original pads to put the ring in the new ones. the stock pads werent as bad as people said either wish i would have known so i didnt buy new pads but they were 18$ so not bad and sooo comfortable the hybrid perf XL brainwavz. maybe sheepskin would be better.
Got my hands on a pair of these just the other day and boy-howdy i was not expecting these to be as aggressive as I have gleaned. Discovered a trick that helps with the highs and even breaths some life into the low end. Take the protective foam that comes with the 4xx and cut pieces that to just fit in underneath the 5xx pads and viola! Granted i do need to listen at a slightly higher volume but it seems to have helped step back the sound a hair. Not a perfect solution, obviously, as some of the sound staging is a bit muted. Gonna play around with some felts to see if i can get the right balance. I have tried these on a warmer source and that does seem to help as well.
I feel as though there is a lot of potential in these headphones and with some minor tweaking they could be real brutes.
Have a lot of you guys changed the pads out on them? If so what did you use and what clips? I can’t find any pads that say they fit the 5xx. Thanks!
i used brainwavz sheepskin you can use any pads. you will have to tear originals and be careful not to break the plastic rings. you can super glue the new pads to the rings and snap them back on or can fit them around the outside of the ring but its hard not to break the ring if you do so . also the plastic rings are hard to find so once you change them you cant change back might be able to find stock pads with rings somewhere online if you want to change again or change back its a pain .
I have 2 questions:
- can you buy replacement stock pads
- did that pad swap effect the sound signature/comfort, and if so, in what way?
are you using stock tubes on the MT-602? i want to get the 5XX and a pair of tubes to replace the stock 6J1’s but i have no experience with tubes to know what i’m looking for.
I am using NOS Sylvania 6ak5 tubes, very happy.
These are fairly available and not particularly expensive. Play around.
I did a deeper dive before making the decision, so I know some information is out there about this.
That’s a compatible size for 6J1. I think 5654 is as well. Figuring out what is equivalent without using adapters will broaden your availability and choices a lot.
New Dekoni pad series for these and Deva look very nice. Would love to see measurements. Gut would tell me to pick hybrids.
So since I’ve had about a week and a half to enjoy some time off, I’ve been digging into the 5XX with and without the grills. Had to bend the headband to get a bit more clamp, and there’s still not quite a perfect seal, but it’s better. It also absolutely benefits from a bass boost like Ifi’s X-Bass.
All things aside, with the grills on, I find them better for purely instrumental music. Orchestral, great. Piano, absolutely beautiful. Everything else… Not so much. Without the grills, I can get through electric, metal, pop, rock, ect all perfectly fine. It’s not gonna punch you, but it’s a better response. I don’t know if the grills being (almost literally, only counting the fine mesh in between) right up against the driver magnets are screwing with the drivers (kinda like it was with the ThieAudio Phantom) or what, but they’re better without the grills.
Edit: I’m probably gonna try picking up a pair of the Dekoni Sheepskin pads and give them a try, given their charts.
How do you get the grills off the 5xx?
Remove the seven Phillips screws after pulling the pad off. All of them are the same. A number one sized bit works perfectly.
Gently apply pressure from the back and the plastic plate will pop loose.
Carefully work the driver and jack out. They’re held in place via friction fit, or are least it’s a bit snug. Not too tight, but enough that they shouldn’t move around on their own. The wires are kinda thin, maybe 24 or 22 gage if I had to guess.
The grill will stick to the back of the driver assembly via magnetic force.
I had tried the ring of blue tack previously and found no difference.
Nice! Thanks for posting that detailed breakdown! I wonder if it is possible to find a replacement honeycomb grille for this… Its also making me wonder if the sundara can be modded in the same way…
The concern I would have with replacing the grill with something else that’s metal, without ensuring it’s a non-ferrous metal, you’ll run into the same problem, given that there’s almost nothing between the grill and the assembly.
lots of brass screens to choose from.