Quick and Dirty Grado mod... FOR FUN! 56k death

[FooTemps]

lol, so I was sitting around trying to figure out a way to get my Grado to fit more comfortably on my head. I have Bowl pads and RatShack comfies and an old set of Aiwa circumaural cans. So I got to thinking... MOD TIME!

Okay, first up, the butchered Aiwa Cans...






As you can see, I already removed the pads from the housings...

Now here are my bowls + the pads.






I attached the pads to the bowls via 2 sided tape. The 2-sided tape also provides as a "black tape mod" which helps boost the bass. I don't really hear much difference but it's 10 times more comfortable.

And finally, pics on the SR225s with the pads...




If you guys wanna know, the pads came off of the Aiwa HP-X223. They were 15 dollars at best buy last time I saw them.

And now for a comparison!
Alright, so I just decided to do a quick comparison of just the longs on my current playlist (which all suck for demoing and doing comparisons. I'm listening to hip hop right now, lol.)...

Artists
N.E.R.D.
Common
Talib Kweli
Mos Def
De La Soul
Jay-Z

Now I know these aren't very good for demoing but I was too lazy to change CDs... But onto the comparison...

Bass
Amazingly, the mod pads have more bass presense at lower frequencies, probably due to the pads sealing the foam similarly to an electrial tape mod. As a downside though, the mod pads have a weaker bass extension. You have to strain to hear details you used to hear.
The comfy pads on the other hand, you can hear the bass details better. The bass presense is weaker, which is odd since the driver is closer with the comfies on. The comfies are umodded so maybe the bass is just muddy right now.
They still share a very similar level of detail in the bass you can hear.
edit: After a quick reposition of the cans, the bass presense is even better and the extension is almost on par with the old bowls and comfies. I read some reviews about the C-pads that Headphile makes and they said "mess with the positioning since the driver is further away". It worked on my pad mod too.
Mid
This is the big difference between these pads. The mod pads have way less punch than the comfies in this area. The detail is there but there isn't enough fun with the mod pads.
edit: Same as the bass, after moving the the cans around on my head, I found a place where the mids improved. The mod pads still pale in comparison to reverse bowls and comfies.
High
This is where the mod pads shine. The highs are much more improved due to the chamber. They sound better and you can also hear more detail. You do need to adjust the volume though, the mod pads are overall more quiet compared to the comfies.
The comfies have a reputation of having rolled off highs if you don't mod them which I found very true for them. The highs seemed worse all around compared to the mod pads.

Overall
The added comfort and added highs and bass of the mod pads have won me over. They sound great to me and they also don't hurt my ears anymore. Wearing Supraaural headphones hurts my ears since I wear glasses, the circumaural mod helps relieve pressure. I'd highly reccomend modding your bowls to circumaural if you hate the way your bowls feel/sound.

Update!
Okay, I decided to try out the mod pads on reversed bowls. THE MIDS ARE BACK! The highs aren't as awesome as before... but now the mids are back and kickin it! The bass extension is improved over the normal mod pads too.

[kramer5150]

nice mod.... I thought about something similar, cutting a foam doughnut, stretching it over the grados and just stretching some junk/can pads over the foam.

I cant find suitable rubber / foam though.

Garrett

[FooTemps]

Originally Posted by kramer5150

nice mod.... I thought about something similar, cutting a foam doughnut, stretching it over the grados and just stretching some junk/can pads over the foam.

I cant find suitable rubber / foam though.

Garrett

I'd just go to ratshack and buy some cheap replacement pads, they have them in silione and foam. I used my bowl pads since they fit the best. Strangely the larger chamber hasn't killed off my bass, the bass presense is better but I'm not 100% sure about the extension now.

edit: so after some more listening, the bass extension is a little weaker. I can still hear it but I strain to hear it. The highs are a lot nicer too.

[jbloudg20]

Originally Posted by FooTemps

edit: so after some more listening, the bass extension is a little weaker. I can still hear it but I strain to hear it. The highs are a lot nicer too.

Most likely from the drivers being a little further away from your ears. Think of the comparo between flats and bowls.

[FooTemps]

moved to first post.

[mektarus]

Boy, do those look comfy! I'm a little confused, though. The Aiwa pads don't appear to be round. So, is there a gap at the top and bottom? I would think that would really kill your sound quality.

[FooTemps]

added an update with my mod in the first post.

The reverse bowls + circumaural pads = even better than original mod.

Originally Posted by mektarus

Boy, do those look comfy! I'm a little confused, though. The Aiwa pads don't appear to be round. So, is there a gap at the top and bottom? I would think that would really kill your sound quality.

Nope, the way the pads sit on my head, I get a perfect fit. It's hard to explain.

I'll just say this: If I took the pads off the bowls and then just put them on my ears, they back end would be flush with the top of my ear and my earlobe.

edit: A better way of explaining it would be: The reversed bowls barely touch my ears with the aiwa pads on.