Thunderpants (T50RP mod) Group Buy

Of the pads I've been investigating I can give the following...

Stax. Good isolation, very comfortable, good sound +, decent soundstage, very expensive.

LCD2 rev1 pads. Very good isolation, good comfort, very good sound, good soundstage +, moderately expensive.

LCD2 rev2 pads. visually a little different, sonically about the same to my ears, so as good as the Rev1.

Beyer Gel pads. Ugly as sin, extreme isolation, good comfort, good sound +, good soundstage +, relatively inexpensive.

Beyer leather pads. Good isolation, good sound, good comfort, difficult to fit, decent soundstage, relatively inexpensive.

Beyer pleather pads. Good isolation, decent comfort, decent sound, decent soundstage, relatively inexpensive.

Beyer Black or Silver velour pads. When modified offer moderate isolation, very good comfort, very good sound, best soundstage, relatively inexpensive.

Fostex pads. Very good isolation, good comfort, good sound, lesser quality construction, moderate soundstage, free.

Denon pads, good isolation, good comfort, good sound, decent soundstage, moderately expensive.

This is my opinion based on tests with my experiment set.
They all have some compromise somewhere and none are perfect, some are extremely well suited to specific needs though.

smeggy said:

Of the pads I've been investigating I can give the following...

Stax. Good isolation, very comfortable, good sound +, very expensive.

LCD2 rev1 pads. Very good isolation, good comfort, very good sound, moderately expensive.

LCD2 rev2 pads arriving Monday. Unknown.

Beyer Gel pads. Ugly as sin, extreme isolation, good comfort, good sound +, relatively inexpensive.

Beyer leather pads. Good isolation, good sound, good comfort, difficult to fit, relatively inexpensive.

Beyer pleather pads. Good isolation, decent comfort, decent sound, relatively inexpensive.

Beyer velour pads. When modified offer moderate isolation, very good comfort, very good sound, relatively inexpensive.

Fostex pads. Very good isolation, good comfort, good sound, lesser quality construction, free.

Denon pads, good isolation, good comfort, good sound, moderately expensive.

This is my opinion based on tests with my experiment set.
They all have some compromise somewhere and none are perfect, some are extremely well suited to specific needs though.

Click to expand...

does comfort there include use in 30 ish or 35 ish degrees celcius environments ?

heh, well it's about 85 degrees in my house with the gel pads right now..

The Beyer velour seems to have the biggest bang for the buck value. Hmmm...maybe I shouldnt go for the stax O2 pads then.

smeggy said:

Of the pads I've been investigating I can give the following...

Stax. Good isolation, very comfortable, good sound +, decent soundstage, very expensive.

LCD2 rev1 pads. Very good isolation, good comfort, very good sound, good soundstage +, moderately expensive.

LCD2 rev2 pads arriving Monday. Unknown.

Beyer Gel pads. Ugly as sin, extreme isolation, good comfort, good sound +, good soundstage +, relatively inexpensive.

Beyer leather pads. Good isolation, good sound, good comfort, difficult to fit, decent soundstage, relatively inexpensive.

Beyer pleather pads. Good isolation, decent comfort, decent sound, decent soundstage, relatively inexpensive.

Beyer velour pads. When modified offer moderate isolation, very good comfort, very good sound, best soundstage, relatively inexpensive.

Fostex pads. Very good isolation, good comfort, good sound, lesser quality construction, moderate soundstage, free.

Denon pads, good isolation, good comfort, good sound, decent soundstage, moderately expensive.

This is my opinion based on tests with my experiment set.
They all have some compromise somewhere and none are perfect, some are extremely well suited to specific needs though.

Click to expand...

Smeggy, thanks for the info. I will still go for the Stax earpads. Thanks!!

smeggy said:

heh, well it's about 85 degrees in my house with the gel pads right now..

Click to expand...

lol, well that's about 30, so how do they feel?
Is there a point of getting stax ones in hope they'd feel less warm, or not really?
I presume you mean the gel pads are the relatively cooler ones of all discussed?

I got a great idea. How about in the next group buy, the only thing that is reduced in price is the padding option. Whatever pads you get is free and everything else is normal price or you can do that with the woods. Smeggy can dictate what would be on the free list. I'd say it would be wonderful. 

Am I correct in assuming that Good + < Very Good? Maybe a stupid question, maybe not.

The velours are probably best for hot climates but harder to clean, the gels are sticky as it's like a smooth sheet of vinyl on your face. Having said that, I really like them, as ugly as they are. The Stax are not too bad in heat, the Beyer leathers will probably be good too but not sure how they'd react to heavy sweating if things got hot.

My personal prefs are the modified velours, the LCD2 and Gels at this point for overall sound and comfort. The Stax are still the most ear snugglingly luxurious.

moostrkraaft said:

Am I correct in assuming that Good + < Very Good? Maybe a stupid question, maybe not.

Click to expand...

Yes, my rankings, 'good +' is below 'very good'. IMO anyway, for whatever that's worth. Not everyone likes sounds the same way so take with a pinch of salt.

Just another stupid question, what is the next step we have to do? do we have to pay smeggy now? or?

smeggy said:

The velours are probably best for hot climates but harder to clean, the gels are sticky as it's like a smooth sheet of vinyl on your face. Having said that, I really like them, as ugly as they are. The Stax are not too bad in heat, the Beyer leathers will probably be good too but not sure how they'd react to heavy sweating if things got hot.

My personal prefs are the modified velours, the LCD2 and Gels at this point for overall sound and comfort. The Stax are still the most ear snugglingly luxurious.

Click to expand...

how hard is it to change the pads and does it degrade anything (e.g. on GMP450pro, every time you put on tight fitting pads, you slightly bend a plastic disc it sits on and that's bad)
also, what is the modification you speak of to the velour beyer pads ?

not a fan of the beyer leather ones. Assuming T5p came with those, they got horrendously hot.

Just a thought, but perhaps the velour pads would decrease bass impact (maybe extension?). Anyways, I noticed a very slight bass impact improvement when I switched the HE-6's velour pads for the pleather ones. The velour pads are definitely better for long-run listening, because they keep your ears cool.

Good to know Vlad.

The Stax pads can get a bit sloppy around the rim as they conform and loosen. The Fostex will almost certainly split but the general Beyer non leather pads have a decent plastic rim that looks like it'll hold up pretty well. The Beyer leather pads are a different lip design and have no elastic stretch as the lip is leather.

The LCD pads have (I think) a pleather/fabric/stitched lip so I can't say how well it would hold up to multiple swaps as Audeze surface mounts them. These pads are a little oversize and so will add to the overall bulk. Not a big issue, just a FYI. In general, most of these pads will be interchangeable if I get my sizes right. The Fostex is the one that is most problematic due to their shape, shallow depth and iffy lip glue. If you plan on fiddling, prepare to buy replacements of some sort as they will come apart.

The velour has to be modified with a foam sealer strip to keep the bass and extension, that's why I didn't list them as stock. When modified, they retain good bass slam and extension while being cooler and giving a very nice soundstage (for a closed phone)

The HE pads are the wrong shape and design to mod, the Beyers work perfectly, and maybe the AKG equivalent too.

Great stuff Smeggy, looking forward to the African Black and Stax padded Thunderpants!!! Please also add Fedex shipping to Hong Kong. Many thanks!!