Audio Technica Earpad Mod

[big-ban]

Hello everyone,

I've talked about my AT modding attemps occasionally in a few threads all across the forum and I keep reading about people mentioning they'd like their AT headphones to sound a little different here and there. That's why I thought I'd open a new thread to just sum up everything concerning this mod in one place.
AT's pad design allows for any sort of cloth to be stuffed under them and for me personally, the results have been very beneficial.
This is somehow related to the phatpad mod that's been talked about here on the forums, but not quite. I didn't have any of those tubes lying around here, so I picked something that was easily formable and readily available.
So far I've modded the L3000, AD2000 and W1000. I've tried it with the F5005 too, but didn't like what I heard. The results was too bassy and muddy.

I've created some illustrations for you to let you see just what I've done exactly. It's neither rocket science nor is it pretty, but it works and that's all that matters to me. First of all I'm gonna have to apologize for the poor image quality, but I don't have a good digicam at my disposal. I've also marked the padded areas in orange in the following pictures for you to see where exactly I put the additional material:

AD2000


This mod helps the AD2000 in terms of comfort mainly. As you can see, I've put some padding under the top, front and bottom side of the pads. The drivers don't touch my ears anymore and I hear a slight increase in bass quantity. Due to the increased distance from driver to ear, the AD2000's presentation becomes just a tad less forward. It's sound doesn't change that much and that's why I'm still loving it

W1000


The W1000 doesn't really have comfort problems, but it certainly helps to give the W1000 a badly needed touch more bass. I've read some people complaining about is bass quantity and this mod might help you out. A fellow head-fier "aureus" also did this mod to his W1000 and he's loving the results as well. Maybe he'll chime in with pics of his own to show you his version of the mod.
I'm really happy with this, the W1000 gets just a bit more bass weight but retains its original quickness and tonal balance all across the spectrum.

L3000




Now, the L3000 used to give me headaches in its original form due to its literally "oppressive" bass. It might also be due to its generally intimate presentation that I sometimes felt quickly annoyed and exhausted when listening to it. It's not really that much bass, that's the strange thing about it. But a friend of mine observed this phenomenon as well and said he suddenly felt relieved when he switched back to another headphone.
I don't know why that is but this problem is completely cured with my version of the phatpad mod. For the L3000, I've put some sort of foam (from a graphics card packaging) wrapped up in some cloth under the pads. It helps once again to increase the distance from driver to ear and gives the L3000 a more relaxed presenation. Not exactly more boring, but just not as intrusive and overwhelming as before.
For the L3000, I've puts some of those things all the way round the pads, with a little space in between each of those. Putting too much can make it sort of boomy, but all this is really hard copy. I'd advise you to try a few different variations.

The saviors


Yeah, I agree, it looks sort of botched, but it really doesn't matter that much what you stuff there exactly. All that does matter is that there's some distance between driver and ear and the material is able to change the inner dimensions of the earcup, so that in my (humble and totally amateur) understanding bass frequencies can resonate a little differently. I have no idea why it has the effects it has on the different AT cans, but I'm still glad their sound can be tweaked that easily.
The most easily accessible material would be cotton wool pads normally used to clean skin from makeup (nope, I don't wear makeup ). I ususally tear these apart in the middle and make a roll from it.

The most important thing is that it's always reversible, doesn't damage the headphones in any way and it can be tweaked to your liking (positioning, thickness). Don't worry about damaging anything inside the cups or with the pads, AT builds their headphones pretty sturdily.

Hope this might help a few people to enjoy their AT headphones a little more.

[aureus]

Glad you’ve posted it here. As you know I’ve made quite good experiences with the W1000 mod, with the added bass they sound a lot better which made me love them.
Don’t have pictures at hand at the moment, but the pictures above will be helpful enough anyway I guess.

[Narisha]

GREAT Thread ! I thank you

[fraseyboy]

Tried this on my AD700's.

I wouldn't say its an improvement (nor is it a de-improvement) but it does change the sound. It's less forward and aggressive so it's a worthwhile mod if that's your thing. The bass isn't increased at all by my ears.

I've heard some people who have had a problem with the drivers on AT's touching their ears, an issue which this mod solves.

[nc8000]

I tried to do this with my L3000 by cutting a power cable in lengths that would make an exact loop undet the pads. Comfort wise it was great but it completely destroyed the sound giving it a wierd hollow/empty effect so I got rid of it again and use them as their creator ment them to be (well apart from recabling and balancing)

[big-ban]

Originally Posted by fraseyboy

Tried this on my AD700's.

I wouldn't say its an improvement (nor is it a de-improvement) but it does change the sound. It's less forward and aggressive so it's a worthwhile mod if that's your thing. The bass isn't increased at all by my ears.

I've heard some people who have had a problem with the drivers on AT's touching their ears, an issue which this mod solves.

It's highly probable that AD2000 and AD700 will react somewhat similar to this mod due to their very similar construction. And your observations sort of mirror mine, changes in SQ were there but not really drastic. The main issue was comfort and as you confirm, the mod helps to fix that problem.

Originally Posted by nc8000

I tried to do this with my L3000 by cutting a power cable in lengths that would make an exact loop undet the pads. Comfort wise it was great but it completely destroyed the sound giving it a wierd hollow/empty effect so I got rid of it again and use them as their creator ment them to be (well apart from recabling and balancing)

It would seem that the materials used do matter after all. I could imagine though that a split power cable changes the inner geometry of the earcup differently than cotton wool or simple cloth does (depending on the amount put in there).
I agree that if you put too much, the L3000 can become shouty. But it's a pretty warm and full headphone to begin with, a little padding helped it become more balanced to my ears.

[nc8000]

I might try to cut a circle out of the spare flats that came with my GS-1000 so they get the same inner diameter as the existing hole in the pads and see how that works (if they are big enough), I did like the comfort of lifting the pads

[big-ban]

Maybe you could try some random cloth or cotton wool first, no need to destroy those flats if you should end up not liking the result.

[Andrew_WOT]

In the past I tried to use foam with AD2000 and it was killing details. Got back to stock and stretched headband, better than ever.

[NoPants]

^ I agree I used to use the pad mods etc. for comfort but you lose a lot of the character of the AD2000 in the process

[big-ban]

Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT

In the past I tried to use foam with AD2000 and it was killing details. Got back to stock and stretched headband, better than ever.

Originally Posted by NoPants

^ I agree I used to use the pad mods etc. for comfort but you lose a lot of the character of the AD2000 in the process

Maybe you put too much padding? Again, I didn't find the sonic changes to be all that drastic with the AD2000. Despite the mod, my AD2000 still retains its very forward, lively and dynamic character.