Pad Rolling Revisited
I bought this headphone to be an overall “fun” for me personally to listen to.
What I like:
-Well separated sound
-V-shape (or W-shape?)
-Quality over quantity
-Punchy bass
-Sparkly, but non-harsh treble
I’m swapping pads with the above in mind so if you are looking for linear, neutral, accurate, etc, then IGNORE my ranking. Heck, you probably shouldn’t get this headphone to begin with. Buy a Sundara or something.
So here is a quote from Modhouse’s website:
For T60 based units we recommend the ZMF oval Suede pads. Because the treble is elevated relative to the T50 based units as a whole, and the suede smooths out all the treble, it provides a better experience than the protein and lambskin pads.
Let’s revisit this now that I have all 4 ZMF Ovals on me.
ZMF Oval Suede - After many days of pad rolling and careful consideration, I do think these have the tamest treble of the ZMF pads, with the caveat that it’s not the most flat/controlled treble. It also has the most well extended bass. But I still stand by my initial impressions. It’s frequency response is flat in the bass/mids with a treble peak or two that keeps some songs hissing near the top end.
ZMF Oval Cowhide - sniff Yep still smells good. Okay amount of bass. Slight sibilance but treble is very low otherwise. Correction to my previous comment: The mids seem pretty forward but everything else is kind of shadowed. Decently punchy but still a bit muffled. It’s not flat like the Suedes so at least it keeps things interesting.
ZMF Oval Protein - Warm overall with a bit of shouty treble. Bass sounds a little muddier than I’d like and not very punchy imo. Separates sound well, but I prefer the other ZMF pads as I think there are too many compromises being made here.
ZMF Oval Lambskin - I think the treble is more controlled, albeit higher than the treble on the Suedes. The bass is punchy but a bit bloated. Personally I think this is second to the Suedes, but I can definitely see someone liking these pads.
Dan Clark Alpha Pads - Once again, it separates sound amazingly well. Punchiest bass. The treble is not quite as tame as I initially thought, but I still think it’s the most well controlled with little hiss/sibilance/peaks. Heck I think that’s the part about these pads that I like the most. Music just sounds well controlled with these pads. I also severely underestimated how present the mids were so I actually think these pads are a tad W-shaped than V-shaped. That being said I still think the Suedes have the flatter overall response and better subbass rumble.
Cascadia Audio Impact Pads - Bruh wtf
My final order of preference is
Alpha Pads > ZMF Suede > ZMF Lambskin > ZMF Cowhide > ZMF Protein > Impact Pads
Also, @PavelCoelho here’s some side-by-side views of ZMF Lambskin (left) and the Alpha pads (right). The foam on the Alphas are also WAY stiffer:
