ATH-M50 - Ear pad discomfort - Srh-840 and 940 replacements? ATH-M50 Velour part 2? | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

Cheffy · May 4, 2011 at 9:20 PM

Loving my new ATH-M50s, but finding the ear cup too small - it presses on the edges of my ears, and after an hour or so it becomes downright painful. Plus, they're not deep enough - I can feel my ears against the inner foam. I don't think stretching the headband will relieve this much. So I'm looking to mod these earphones with deeper and larger cups. I've tried adding a strip of cardboard along the inside of the ear cups, and this helps a bit by deepening the cup, but not enough to eliminate discomfort due to the opening being too small. It's weird, I really don't have big ears!

Several people here have successfully mated the shure SRH-840 earpads to the ATH-M50 - I plan to try this.
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/499611/audio-technica-ath-m50-with-shure-srh840-earpads-my-impressions
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/519751/solved-my-comfort-issue-with-audio-technica-ath-m50

I value the comfort over any minute changes in sound. But what I hadn't heard is of anyone trying to mate the shure 940 velour pads. Seems like most people have only successfully mated the DT-250 velour pads:

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/414574/velour-felt-pads-for-ath-m50/60#post_6018976

But according to this thread, Shure says you can use the 940 pads on a SRH840:
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/550377/confirmed-shure-srh940-velour-ear-pads-will-fit-srh840

Someone else in that thread brought up the idea of putting them on the ATH-M50, but there's been no takers it seems. Although I'd prefer the pleather 840 pads myself, thought I'd ressurrect this idea and see if there's any buzz.

Also interested in any mods people may have to increase the comfort of the stock ATH-M50 pads.

jerg · May 4, 2011 at 9:31 PM

Quote:

cheffy said:
Loving my new ATH-M50s, but finding the ear cup too small - it presses on the edges of my ears, and after an hour or so it becomes downright painful. Plus, they're not deep enough - I can feel my ears against the inner foam. I don't think stretching the headband will relieve this much. So I'm looking to mod these earphones with deeper and larger cups. I've tried adding a strip of cardboard along the inside of the ear cups, and this helps a bit by deepening the cup, but not enough to eliminate discomfort due to the opening being too small. It's weird, I really don't have big ears!

Several people here have successfully mated the shure SRH-840 earpads to the ATH-M50 - I plan to try this.
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/499611/audio-technica-ath-m50-with-shure-srh840-earpads-my-impressions
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/519751/solved-my-comfort-issue-with-audio-technica-ath-m50

I value the comfort over any minute changes in sound. But what I hadn't heard is of anyone trying to mate the shure 940 velour pads. Seems like most people have only successfully mated the DT-250 velour pads:

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/414574/velour-felt-pads-for-ath-m50/60#post_6018976

But according to this thread, Shure says you can use the 940 pads on a SRH840:
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/550377/confirmed-shure-srh940-velour-ear-pads-will-fit-srh840

Someone else in that thread brought up the idea of putting them on the ATH-M50, but there's been no takers it seems. Although I'd prefer the pleather 840 pads myself, thought I'd ressurrect this idea and see if there's any buzz.

Also interested in any mods people may have to increase the comfort of the stock ATH-M50 pads.

Are the SRH940s even out yet? Kinda hard to try modding them on M50s when the pads aren't available.

Anyway the only viable way to mod the stock pads for comfort seems to be adding stuff under the pads to deepen the space. Personally I use a really folded-up electrical tape and tuck it in top/bottom on each pad. Helps a little and adds some sound-stage too, trebles get a bit more sibilant though.

MrBapti · May 4, 2011 at 9:35 PM

Quote:

cheffy said:
Loving my new ATH-M50s, but finding the ear cup too small - it presses on the edges of my ears, and after an hour or so it becomes downright painful. Plus, they're not deep enough - I can feel my ears against the inner foam. I don't think stretching the headband will relieve this much. So I'm looking to mod these earphones with deeper and larger cups. I've tried adding a strip of cardboard along the inside of the ear cups, and this helps a bit by deepening the cup, but not enough to eliminate discomfort due to the opening being too small. It's weird, I really don't have big ears!

Several people here have successfully mated the shure SRH-840 earpads to the ATH-M50 - I plan to try this.
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/499611/audio-technica-ath-m50-with-shure-srh840-earpads-my-impressions
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/519751/solved-my-comfort-issue-with-audio-technica-ath-m50

I value the comfort over any minute changes in sound. But what I hadn't heard is of anyone trying to mate the shure 940 velour pads. Seems like most people have only successfully mated the DT-250 velour pads:

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/414574/velour-felt-pads-for-ath-m50/60#post_6018976

But according to this thread, Shure says you can use the 940 pads on a SRH840:
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/550377/confirmed-shure-srh940-velour-ear-pads-will-fit-srh840

Someone else in that thread brought up the idea of putting them on the ATH-M50, but there's been no takers it seems. Although I'd prefer the pleather 840 pads myself, thought I'd ressurrect this idea and see if there's any buzz.

Also interested in any mods people may have to increase the comfort of the stock ATH-M50 pads.

Theres a mod where you can remove the inner foam layer behind the pad, inorder to made them deeper

when I did this, my ear no longer touched the pads

D

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/551679/how-to-make-m50-s-mid-less-recessed-increase-soundstage-56k

here

Kagelou · May 4, 2011 at 9:37 PM

I stuck cotton balls under the pleather pads (not to increase comfort, just to increase soundstage; I find the stock pads comfortable), but it made the pads hard and uncomfortable to me =/
It did increase soundstage though~

Quote:

jerg said:
Are the SRH940s even out yet? Kinda hard to try modding them on M50s when the pads aren't available.

Anyway the only viable way to mod the stock pads for comfort seems to be adding stuff under the pads to deepen the space. Personally I use a really folded-up electrical tape and tuck it in top/bottom on each pad. Helps a little and adds some sound-stage too, trebles get a bit more sibilant though.

jerg · May 4, 2011 at 9:38 PM

Quote:

mrbapti said:
Theres a mod where you can remove the inner foam layer behind the pad, inorder to made them deeper

when I did this, my ear no longer touched the pads D

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/551679/how-to-make-m50-s-mid-less-recessed-increase-soundstage-56k

here

Not good for anyone with medium~large size ears, it exposes the hard rugged plastic grill under the foam. If your ears even touch it slightly when you wear the M50s, they WILL hurt like hell after like 1 hour (like mine last night).

Cheffy · May 4, 2011 at 9:55 PM

Sweet, good suggestions there. I spent a fair bit of time searching but missed the thread r.e. removing foam.

I didn't realise the srh940s weren't out yet. This store offers the pads:
http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/shure-hpaec940-headphone-pads.html

No indication if they're in stock or not.

Cheffy · May 5, 2011 at 11:30 AM

I took a piece of printer paper and folded it over and over until it was about 1/3" thick, then taped it up and cut it into sections that I stuffed into the top and bottom of the ear cups. It pulls the foam off my ears, but definitely changes the sound a bit - more sibilant, less bass. It blocks some of those holes under the ear cup, and pulls the speakers further from the ears. Will need to EQ to adjust. My ATH-m50s are still burning in (maybe 15-20 hours so far) so the sound itself could be changing. I'm not sure how good this for the pads in the long run, but it feels so much more comfortable for now, although the pads now feel much stiffer, less soft.

I'm going to try and find a better material to stuff under the pads that will minimise sound dampening yet be soft on the underside of the pads. Foam seems like a bad idea as it will soak up the sound. Any other suggestions?

jerg · May 5, 2011 at 11:48 AM

Quote:

cheffy said:
I took a piece of printer paper and folded it over and over until it was about 1/3" thick, then taped it up and cut it into sections that I stuffed into the top and bottom of the ear cups. It pulls the foam off my ears, but definitely changes the sound a bit - more sibilant, less bass. It blocks some of those holes under the ear cup, and pulls the speakers further from the ears. Will need to EQ to adjust. My ATH-m50s are still burning in (maybe 15-20 hours so far) so the sound itself could be changing. I'm not sure how good this for the pads in the long run, but it feels so much more comfortable for now, although the pads now feel much stiffer, less soft.

I'm going to try and find a better material to stuff under the pads that will minimise sound dampening yet be soft on the underside of the pads. Foam seems like a bad idea as it will soak up the sound. Any other suggestions?

I dunno the areas around the inner undersides of the cushions seem to be where bass conducts, one could theoretically use something that conducts low frequencies well (a nonporous but still soft material). I used multiply folded electrical tape, and it doesn't seem to decrease bass but still increases sound stage, however the increased sibilance seems to be unavoidable. I don't mind the sibilance though, it's very minimal still.

Cheffy · May 5, 2011 at 12:08 PM

The more I listen, the more I would say that it actually doesn't decrease the bass, but changes it a bit - a little more resonance - some might like that, but I'm finding it a little tiring. It feels like there is a little more echo, particularly off the mids a little, like in a concert hall. That part is kind of nice. The comfort is much better overall, as my ears now fit under the pad edge, so they're barely touching it. It also seems to create a better seal than before, though it doesn't seem to affect incoming noise much. But as I pointed out, the pads are a little stiffer this way, so for some this may be more uncomfortable.

jerg · May 5, 2011 at 1:08 PM

Quote:

cheffy said:
The more I listen, the more I would say that it actually doesn't decrease the bass, but changes it a bit - a little more resonance - some might like that, but I'm finding it a little tiring. It feels like there is a little more echo, particularly off the mids a little, like in a concert hall. That part is kind of nice. The comfort is much better overall, as my ears now fit under the pad edge, so they're barely touching it. It also seems to create a better seal than before, though it doesn't seem to affect incoming noise much. But as I pointed out, the pads are a little stiffer this way, so for some this may be more uncomfortable.

To me, the bass sounds IMMENSELY cleaner compared to pre-underside-padding, without losing any bass amount either.

As a result, instrument separation is noticeably better (a direct correlation to the "soundstage" perception), the timbre of voices and instruments doesn't seem to be drastically affected though which is good.

Overall the cans now sound half-open now, except with better bass. I'd say it's quite a good mod.

Although mind you, my mod does not elevate ALL the padding, only the back half side of each side. I tuck the elevating tape strips at the 7oclock and 11oclock positions of left cushion, and 1oclock and 5oclock positions of right cushion.

Cheffy · May 5, 2011 at 6:12 PM

Oh I'm not talking about the foam removalmod - I just added some folded paper under the lip of the ear cups to lift it up and produce a deeper cup. I haven't removed the padding. I think by moving the cups further from the ears, it provides a larger area for the music bounce in a chamber instead of feeding right into the ears, which creates a little more resonance. It also makes it seal tighter, increasing this effect. The result is more like listening in a concert hall - Actually, I kind of like the effect. But it makes the bass a tad boomier. Some might really like that. I find the bass generally very clean on the M50.

Cheffy · May 5, 2011 at 6:31 PM

ACtually - the more I wear them, the more I like this. I took the paper out and tried listening to it without - the music seemed less open, flatter. Deepening the cups definitely opens the soundspace noticeably. I'm going to make some spacers that are not quite as deep - just far enough to pull the cups off my ears.

jerg · May 5, 2011 at 7:15 PM

Quote:

cheffy said:
ACtually - the more I wear them, the more I like this. I took the paper out and tried listening to it without - the music seemed less open, flatter. Deepening the cups definitely opens the soundspace noticeably. I'm going to make some spacers that are not quite as deep - just far enough to pull the cups off my ears.

No I meant the "increase earpad depth mod" too. I just used different material (folded electrical tape instead of folded paper).

~~I would disagree that the bass is boomier, to me it actually sounds cleaner and more punchy (less boomy), an overall bass improvement.~~ Never mind, that was a partial lifting mod, now I did the full lifts on both sides on each cushion and the bass is indeed boomy. BUT, it is also stronger, much stronger. Oh wow, bassheads should embrace this mod, I'm listening to some deadmau5 and the beats are much MUCH stronger now.

Cheffy

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