[Thujone]

Nice, glad to hear you have some similar impressions with the 1540's on the HE-400. I agree, the treble difference is still subtle (at least on the HE-4) but it's definitely welcome.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I must've forgotten how horribly stiff the newer HFM velours are. What a far cry from the OG HE-4 velours. I don't even remember them being this stiff back when I had my first two HE400s.

Seriously though, both Shure pads have increased the comfort tenfold.

 

[MrMateoHead]

  I would respectfully disagree with this. The bass is only more present than average in the subbass area. There is a noted dip in the upper mids, but that is often said to be a realistic representation of sound, and the 400i is very vocal-forward, which one doesn't associate with a V-shaped frequency. The treble has a peak, but it is in the very-low-treble region, and after that falls off. V-shaped is described as elevated bass and treble. I find the the 400i warm and neutral with a small spike in the lower treble that gives it vocal airiness and detail.

I second this . . .
 
If the new "harmon curve" is more accurate in getting us a truly "neutral" headphone, than I would think the HE-400s would be considered pretty darn lean overall, in part because both midrange and high-end treble are a bit over-emphasized compared to, say, the NAD HP50 (which along with Focal are possibly the most neutral phones on the market currently?). But my subjective experience with the HE-400s has always been that they are fairly lean and neutral sounding (they don't measure like the HD595s I have, but they aren't THAT different either). That they respond to very low bass doesn't make them V-Shaped, and the piercing treble is only truly noticeable if the music has lots of information in the 10 khz area. Frankly, I think they should have scooped out the 1 khz area more, raised the 3-5 khz a tad, and focused on treble extension. But I don't know of a single pair of headphones that both offers exciting bass as well as accurate, extended treble - they all sound a bit odd sounding compared to a regular stereo.
 
Anyway, I look forward to getting some Focal's once then fix the headband issue. I'd like to have a decent "benchmark" headphone to draw comparisons to.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Also want to stress that the sonic changes with the Shure pads are subtle and that if you've had issues with the HE-400 sound before, I doubt that will change. The 1540 pads make it slightly less zingy up top and slightly more fleshed out, but it's still an HE-400. The pads here are more for sheer comfort boosts more than correcting the sound. If you want to fix the sound, EQ will still yield much more noticeable results.

 

[Ekul61]

Bought the 1540... didnt like the sound change.. was surprise the differencw

 

[MattTCG]

Welcome back to the he400 camp MLE. I have to say that I'm a little surprised to see you back. But only just a little. Regardless the Shure pads, they look quite spendy. Are they really $40? For that kind of money you can have a pair of new and improved hifiman pads. I guess that the larger inner diameter and oval shape could  be compelling enough to give them a shot over newer hfm versions. 
 
You have peaked my curiosity and I wonder how they would play out with the 400i. How do the pads attach? 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The only thing I could see people complain about with tbe 1540 pads is the slight addition of intimacy compared to the more spacious sound of the velours. I need more testing though. I feel the added warmth and less sizzle is more welcome.

 

[retskrad]

The velours are very spacious and airy, but the tradeoff is increased treble and hearing fatigue on some treble heavy recordings. The focus pads is the opposite, less airy and less spacious, but it cuts the edges of the treble, shrinks the soundstage and pushes the bass back in the mix.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Welcome back to the he400 camp MLE. I have to say that I'm a little surprised to see you back. But only just a little. Regardless the Shure pads, they look quite spendy. Are they really $40? For that kind of money you can have a pair of new and improved hifiman pads. I guess that the larger inner diameter and oval shape could  be compelling enough to give them a shot over newer hfm versions. 

You have peaked my curiosity and I wonder how they would play out with the 400i. How do the pads attach? 

Sorry Matt, didn't see your post.

I didn't go for the Focus pads due to the inner diameter and because I heard someone say it does something to the bass. That threw up warning signs. I would like to borrow them at some me point though.

Yeah the Alcantara pads are expensive. The 1840 pads are only $20 however, and much, much more comfy than the hfm velour.

As for attaching, just remove the hfm plastic rings. They slip onto the Shure pads the same way, though you'll have to bend the rings a bit. The ring can snap, so be careful. I snapped one. Still works fine though. Just wrapped some tape around the break.

I bought the HE400 off Headamp's Amason listing which included both pleather and velour, so I had two pairs of plastic rings to work with.

 

[Thujone]

The only issue I have with the 1540's, other than a bit more intimacy, is that the flaps that wrap around the ring are thicker. This is only an issue for some people like me who need the cups to rotate more in order to seal below the ear, and HFM has hardly any clearance on the top end between the yoke and the cup. Since the pads are oval shaped, it makes it worse if you have them lined up vertically. I do what MLE suggested and tilt them off of vertical and I also push them down a bit. This way it will allow the cups to freely rotate under the yoke without getting snagged.
 
Just a minor gripe, really.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Not sure what you mean. It does tend to have a slight stopping point when rotating, but I havent found any issues. I find that I get the least seal around my head with tbe standard velours, since theyre so stiff.

 

[Thujone]

If you were to hold the headband with the cups hanging down, rotate the cup inward so that the earpad faces up towards the headband and the connector points inward. The cups have to rotate past the center point on their yoke which isn't easy to do with the thick ring around the Shure pads. Hope that makes sense.

 

[thug behram]

Yeah I didn't like the focuspad sound. Velour + minor EQ ftw.

 

[retskrad]

Listening to Isaac hayes - Ellie's Love Theme sounds so awesome on the he-400. the snare and bass is so life like and awesome.
 
Isaac Hayes – Ellie's Love Theme

 

[graean]

MODS:
Has anyone removed the foam and leather padding to make the HE-400 lighter? And use no plastic retaining ring, grill, or earpads?
 
Should the sound have more air and faster attack/decay, because of less reflective and dampening surface? Earspeakers, essentially. But no subwoofer. No reverberating bass. I know magnets, mylar, and wire (teflon coated silver, it seems) will be exposed.