M-Audio Q40 Impressions (long w/pics) - Page 75

Been using the Hifiman leather pads a while but wasn't quite satisfied with the sound, the stock pads with papertowel inserts still sounds the best. With the inner foam ring underneath the Hifiman pads (the pads comes with those installed by default) the FR got a slight tilt towards lows (slightly boomier/muddy but stronger lows and slightly muffled highs) while without it it's the opposite, the highs got a little more presence and bass slightly decreased (slight hint of metallic sharp highs that I don't like, I prefer the softer highs of stock pads).

So now back to stock pads, the bass and the overall balance is just perfect for my taste! The bass hits the hardest vs staying the cleanest while the mids & highs are also better balanced.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RPGWiZaRD 

Been using the Hifiman leather pads a while but wasn't quite satisfied with the sound, the stock pads with papertowel inserts still sounds the best. With the inner foam ring underneath the Hifiman pads (the pads comes with those installed by default) the FR got a slight tilt towards lows while without it it's the opposite, the highs got a little more presence and bass slightly decreased (slight hint of metallic sharp highs that I don't like, I prefer the softer highs of stock pads).

 

So now back to stock pads, the bass and the overall balance is just perfect for my taste! The bass hits the hardest vs staying the cleanest while the mids & highs are also better balanced.

I'm glad you brought up the foam disk because I was wondering about that myself. I just purchased HE-400's and a pair of velours to go with them so I put the pleathers on my Q40's last night. I listened to a song on them but my HE-400's are taking up the head time. I didn't notice any huge difference between them and the 840 pads but, as I said, I only listened to one song. I like the fit much better with the HE pleathers and the look definitely takes the cake out of the pads I've tried (stock, 840, Beyer velour, HE pleather). So far the only pads that stand alone in my mind are the Beyers. The Beyer velours drastically changed the sound of the Q40's. With an obvious bass boost and recessed lower mids, they were quickly retired. I still haven't tried the HE velours either... are they quite a bit different than the pleathers? I think peter123 would have the best answer to that question.

Does anybody know how the Shure SRH-840 compares to the Q40 with the 840 pads?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oregonian 


Are you asking to compare the 840 to the Q40? Sound-wise?

Yeah. The 840 vs the Q40 with the 840 pads sound wise.

I'm wondering if the AKG K540 pads will fit on the Q40's, and how their sound will be with the K540 pads?