[.Sup]

Thanks for the photo, I will read your review as well. I am now really considering of getting the stock or Lawton Denon pads.

 

[drez]

I would be interested in hearing the Lawton or J$ pads also.  In my general experience the leather pads provide better bass definition but can be hit or miss in terms of the sound signature - with the LCD-2 leather pads being overly thin and over-damped, and the STAX 007 pads being too warm, lacking SS width and having a sharp spike in the upper mids.  Maybe the Denon pads will be a happy medium in between?
 
Regarding my current pads I will have to withdraw my previous statement that LCD-3 vegan pads add grain - this is not the case but rather they are more revealing than any other pad and show any shortcomings in upstream gear.  They are by far my favorite choice sonically having far larger and more complete soundstage and openness than any other earpad I have tested.

 

[project86]

Quote:

Thanks for the photo, I will read your review as well. I am now really considering of getting the stock or Lawton Denon pads.

 
The new Lawton "Angle Pads" seem nice, though at $99 they are a bit steep. Anyone know if J$ is still in business? His website seems to be down.
 
 
Quote:

I would be interested in hearing the Lawton or J$ pads also.  In my general experience the leather pads provide better bass definition but can be hit or miss in terms of the sound signature - with the LCD-2 leather pads being overly thin and over-damped, and the STAX 007 pads being too warm, lacking SS width and having a sharp spike in the upper mids.  Maybe the Denon pads will be a happy medium in between?
 
Regarding my current pads I will have to withdraw my previous statement that LCD-3 vegan pads add grain - this is not the case but rather they are more revealing than any other pad and show any shortcomings in upstream gear.  They are by far my favorite choice sonically having far larger and more complete soundstage and openness than any other earpad I have tested.

 
 
That's good to know about the vegans. I may try them down the line if/when I get an HE-6 or HE-500. 

 

[FlySweep]

The HM5 pads (ordered from MP4Nation) arrived on Friday, but I didn't get a chance to tinker with them until today.  I'll post some pictures later.. but initial results are very good.
 
Only thing to be careful of is getting the plastic harness to slide into the HM5 pads.. it took a little elbow grease & patience.  Once in, it fit perfectly onto the HE-500.
 
The HM5 pad comfort is supreme.  Being a long time owner of the FA-003, I'm quite familiar with the (lovely) (p)leather pads' texture.  For all intensive purposes, the HM5 pads are identical.  I found the foam in the HM5 pads to be slightly softer out of the box than the FA-003's foam (which was a little stiff and required some time to break in).  The HM5's foam isn't mushy or excessively soft, though.  Like on the 003's pads, it's important to note that over the long term the foam will wear & soften.  How much so remains to be seen.  The HM5 leather/pleather feels every bit as soft and plush to the touch as the 003's pads.. hooray.. so I can wholeheartedly recommend these over trying to get the pads from Fischer Audio (which are perpetually 'out of stock').  T50RP modders should be very happy as well.  To me, the HM5 leather/pleather pads are 99% the same as the 003 leather/pleather pads in appearance, size, texture, and comfort.
 
I'll talk about more about the sound when I get time but I can't detect any real, noticeable difference between the HM5 pads & the stock, velour HE-500 pads.  The stiffness of the velour pads place a little more distance between my ears & drivers over the softer HM5 pads, but I can't detect any real loss(or gain) in soundstage.
 
More to come..

 

[nc8000]

To me the FA-003 leather pads feels just a notch more plush and luxurious than the Jaycar pads but this may change over time.

 

[.Sup]

Quote:

To me the FA-003 leather pads feels just a notch more plush and luxurious than the Jaycar pads but this may change over time.

These seem very inexpensive
http://www.gd-audiobase.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&product_id=152&flypage=flypage.tpl&pop=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=2&vmcchk=1&Itemid=2
how did you make them fit, did you have to cut out the plastic ring from the existing HM pads?

 

[FlySweep]

These seem very inexpensive
http://www.gd-audiobase.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&product_id=152&flypage=flypage.tpl&pop=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=2&vmcchk=1&Itemid=2
how did you make them fit, did you have to cut out the plastic ring from the existing HM pads?

 
Good luck waiting until they're 'back in stock' (I've been going on nearly 7 months.. lol).  The HM5 pads totaled approx. $24, so I'd say that's pretty comparable, if not identical.
 
The plastic ring can be removed (and reinserted) from the HE-500's stock pads.

 

[plin]

As I understand,  neither FA-003 nor HM5 are angled (like Lawton, Denon and Audeze). Is this correct?

 

[.Sup]

Quote:

 
Good luck waiting until they're 'back in stock' (I've been going on nearly 7 months.. lol).  The HM5 pads totaled approx. $24, so I'd say that's pretty comparable, if not identical.
 
The plastic ring can be removed (and reinserted) from the HE-500's stock pads.

Oh I see, thanks.

 

[FlySweep]

As I understand,  neither FA-003 nor HM5 are angled (like Lawton, Denon and Audeze). Is this correct?

 
Correct.

 

[.Sup]

Hmm when wearing my HE-500 I have some free space behind the headphones so the angled pads would probably be very suited for me.

 

[Indread]

So how much do the LCD-2 or LCD-3 pads typically run for?

 

[jerg]

Quote:

Hmm when wearing my HE-500 I have some free space behind the headphones so the angled pads would probably be very suited for me.

 
The Hifiman HE series headphones have a vertical axis swivel angle of about 60 degrees on either side actually; you sure it's not just your pair's angles being off that's causing the incorrect fit angle on your head?

 

[.Sup]

Quote:

 
The Hifiman HE series headphones have a vertical axis swivel angle of about 60 degrees on either side actually; you sure it's not just your pair's angles being off that's causing the incorrect fit angle on your head?

I think if the headphones were positioned slightly higher on my head I wouldn't have this problem but I have the headband set to the lowest level.

 

[project86]

Well my head is huge and I still can't quite get a good seal behind one ear (with stock pads). So it's possible that some form of angled pad could help "close the gap" for you.