How to make M50's mid less recessed & increase soundstage (56k) - Page 4

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerg 

Next thing you know some people might just cut out everything in the middle of the pads :p ultimate clarity and lack of material muffling sound conduction between the driver and ear haha.

Lol, this is the evolution in ear pad modding.

I'm no expert, but I would think that the foam layer acts as some sort of a diffuser as the sound exits the driver, passes through the foam, and is perceived/picked up by the ear?

Maybe this is not the thread to discuss this =P

Quote:

Originally Posted by jto168 

 

 

Lol, this is the evolution in ear pad modding.

 

I'm no expert, but I would think that the foam layer acts as some sort of a diffuser as the sound exits the driver, passes through the foam, and is perceived/picked up by the ear?

 

Maybe this is not the thread to discuss this =P

 

No I don't think so, I think the reason the foam is there is because for people with moderately large ~ large ears, without the foam their ear rims would touch the plastic grills directly (the cloth alone does not really help) and it gets painful after minutes. That's what happened with mine and I had to further mod my earpads to lift up inside and provide extra depth for my ears not to cram against hard plastic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerg 

No I don't think so, I think the reason the foam is there is because for people with moderately large ~ large ears, without the foam their ear rims would touch the plastic grills directly (the cloth alone does not really help) and it gets painful after minutes. That's what happened with mine and I had to further mod my earpads to lift up inside and provide extra depth for my ears not to cram against hard plastic.

 

Understood. I can see how removing the foam layer could inhibit comfort as there is very little cushioning now between the ear and the driver grill and components.

Can you describe how you modded your ear pads to lift up inside? I imagine that you added some more cushioning to the pleather rim so that the center of the ear pad sits further away from your ear?
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by jto168 

 

Understood. I can see how removing the foam layer could inhibit comfort as there is very little cushioning now between the ear and the driver grill and components.

 

Can you describe how you modded your ear pads to lift up inside? I imagine that you added some more cushioning to the pleather rim so that the center of the ear pad sits further away from your ear?
 

 

I actually made a thread about the mod. Not many people tried it though (I'm not too adept at writing up how to do a mod lol).

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/552701/ath-m50-mod-8694-bass-enhancement-mod-that-causes-some-other-sq-changes-too

In conclusion, should anything be done or not?  Both those things mentioned in the title I have a problem with, especially the soundstage.  All the threads about everything are just so inconclusive here, it's ridiculous.  I typically like that but not with clear-cut matters.  Anyone has a suggestion directly in response?  I keep looking but constantly there are signs that keep saying not to change anything.  That's frustrating because I'm getting hope to improve the sound of these which I almost desperately want and think they need but the hopes are then shot down.  Anybody have a concrete idea that they're certain of in regards to this?  Thanks! :)

Guess that was a bad time of day to make the post? XD  This went 1.5 pages back in this time.  Lol, things move fast here >.<

I just did the foam mod, and I thought made a huge difference in the treble (in a good way.) Should I do the earpad mod?

Okay, I did the two mods to my M50s, and thank you sooooo much!!!! It sounds amazing now, significantly better than before. 

Huh...

I just did this to my M50's pads, and instead of bringing the mid forward, it was more like it cleaned up the upper high frequencies. Whereas it was a mess in busy songs before, now upper frequencies have a nice ring, and seem to extend even further into the abyss. In the process, bass got tighter and quicker, sub bass is less pronounced, and it overall sounds a lot cleaner!

But midrange seems to have suffered the most. Whereas it sounded warm and full before, it now sounds very clean and lean. I don't dislike it, since I don't listen to vocals much, but it definitely make some songs sound a lot colder and more anemic.

I'll have to hear more to see if I'll like this change. So far, it's positive for classical and busy rock songs, but it's killing quite a few vocals.

The mids are recessed forever no matter what 

I'm trying to re-use this peeled-off foam piece on damping the HE-400s, to great effect actually. 

HE-400s have a "ultra-detailed treble" thing going on where the upper treble (10kHz+) is quite emphasized, and that unfortunately screws with vocal music a bit, and the foam I ripped from my old M50s pads seems to leash that a fair bit.

"One headphone's garbage is another headphone's treasure", as they say.

Sorry for waking up a dead thread...

But how do you know if you got a defective pair with the mids recessed?

I'm not completely sure with mine..