[riddlezildjian]

Hi guys, 
 
            I'm new here, been looking around in this site for headphone advice for quite awhile, and i've just joined. I recently got a pair of Sennheiser 238's to compare with my Audio Technica M50's since I was curious about how semi-open/open sounded headphones were like and these were entry level ones. Please just read my bolded letters if you want to skip the details.
 
            After burning them for 30+ hours, they sounded awesome. A little coloured compared to M50's but I really enjoyed them. I've burned them for 30 hours, but not used them for more than 1 hour. The reason? The pads are very uncomfortable. I reject on-ear headphones right on the spot, because I really cannot stand the pressure it creates on me. I've removed the black foam (asteroid mod) and it opened the sound greatly, and then took out the factory foams - Then, it became a little more bearable. However, it still sits on my ear, so I was wondering if I could replace it with an over ear, donut shaped pads so it sits over my ear?
 
I've been looking at Grado threads, and I'm interested in the s80i's and Alessandro MS1i's but they are also on-ear headphones, and this alone is enough for me to want to sacrifice all that good sound altogether. 
 
Any tips on improving the comfort for such headphones? Or is it me who's wearing it wrong?
 
 
Thank you for your input! 
Sorry for my wallet 

 
 
 
If it helps in any way, I listen to Alternative, Nu Metal, Classical, Instrumentals and 10% pop/rap/hip-hop/r&b.
 
  

 

[riddlezildjian]

bump

 

[brentiful]

This is a question that I've also wondering about. I recently purchased the hd238's and have been relatively non-plussed with them. Lows are pretty decent, but highs are not great at all. I just took the foam pieces out of the the earpads and there was a noticeable difference in volume and clarity. Next, I noticed that if you simply apply a little pressure using your fingers to the outsides of the headphones (pushing them inwards towards your ears without actually covering the open-back design), there's likewise a further increase in volume and clarity. This leads me to the conclusion that sound escaping out of the sides of the earpads is to the detriment of the listening experience, an issue that over-ear cups seem like they'd rectify. 
 
With the asteroid mod, btw, did you replace the foam piece with any other materials, ala this: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/472413/sennheiser-hd238-brief-review-and-modding or did you simply take it out?

 

[riddlezildjian]

 
 
Quote:

lows are pretty decent, but highs are not great at all. I just took the foam pieces out of the the earpads and there was a noticeable difference in volume and clarity. Next, I noticed that if you simply apply a little pressure using your fingers to the outsides of the headphones (pushing them inwards towards your ears without actually covering the open-back design), there's likewise a further increase in volume and clarity.

 
 
I only took the foams out, but didn't put any aluminium sheet in between them. After this mod, the sounds are good, its just the comfort. I do agree 100% with you that one flaw is the sound escaping out of it. Haven't found a solution for it though. 
Don't know if its me, but it makes a wavy sound without the asteroid mod? Like my source of music is vibrating up and down.