I like these cans. I think they are a good fun headphone at sub-$500. Boy, would that have been awkward if I had waited 27 weeks and ended up not liking them…
Now as with any T50 mod, you should consider pad rolling to tailor the sound to what you like to hear. Here are a few pads I rolled and my thoughts on them.
For reference I prefer a slight V shape to my sound. My current signal chain is Pi2AES → Geshelli Labs JNOG → Topping A90.
ZMF Oval Suedes - These are apparently the recommended pads for the T60 Argon. I found these kind of neutral… besides the treble. The treble had this beyerdynamic-like peak in it and it was kind of distracting. On certain songs the treble would just kind of… hiss? Cymbals and such just sounded weird. Otherwise it had this warmth to the bass and mids. It had decently wide soundstage and good imaging. I think these pads had the best sub-bass extension, which surprised me. It’s an good pad and good for reference.
ZMF Oval Cowhides - Dang these pads smell good
… Oh right the sound. They sound… okay. This is a mixed bag for me. They have a more forward presentation than the suedes. They are midbass elevated, but not subbass elevated. Treble overall took a massive hit. Imaging/sound separation was notably worse. And tracks just sounded slightly muffled a bit. Especially EDM and the like. If only they sounded as good as they smelled.
Cascadia Audio Impact Pads - If someone ever doubts that a pad can make a headphone sound that different, then these pads will shut them up real quick. I tried these on a recommendation from a fellow friend. But no… I can’t recommend them, at least not on this headphone. These are some WEIRD pads man. They took most things the T60 Argon does well and make it sound like the opposite. They separate sound well, but some things sound too forward and in your face while others are recessed really badly. They make the Argon airy on the top end, which is just about the least-Argonic thing I can think of. And the bass is kind of punchy, but they also make the bass muddier and cause a different treble peak? What in the world is happening? These pads make me wish I had a measuring rig because describing what’s going on here is legitimately outside of my capabilities. I’m sure I can use these pads to change a bad headphone to a good one, but these are not what you want on the Argon.
Dan Clark Audio Alpha Pads - …yes. Yes YES YES. If there was a pad perfectly tailored to how I wanted to hear these headphones, these were it. These are my favorite by a long shot. The soundstage was about the same as Suedes or maybe slightly wider. The sound separation was MUCH better. It shocked me how much better the dynamic range and timbre were. The mids were pronounced, the highs were perfectly tamed down to my liking. And then the bass. Ohhhhh yes the bass. It’s just beautifully done punch and slam while minimizing distortion. I found myself dancing at my desk like an idiot with these pads, which is something that the other pads definitely could not make me do.
Quick downside: These pads are by far the hardest to put on and off the headphone and I accidentally scratched a cup. ![]()
So yeah. For me Alpha Pads > ZMF Suede > ZMF Cowhide > Impact Pads*.
*God Impact pads are weird
