[Andykong]

Have acquired a pair of 600ohm HD540 I yesterday, want to compare against my HD540G (also 600 ohm version) and see what are their different.

This "ancient" HD540I is not in very good condition, I probably need to replace the earpad and inner foam later. Can someone show me the steps to take down the earpad of HD540I? I want to compare the two headphone with the same earpad if possible, are they fragile when I change the earpad?

 

[Andykong]

By the way, I am looking for a HD250I 600ohm to complete my collection, if anyone spotted a pair for sell, or plan to sell yours for any reason, I'll love to get in touch with you. I like the sound of this headphone and a closed version will allow me to listen to them more often.

 

[Aulait]

Have acquired a pair of 600ohm HD540 I yesterday, want to compare against my HD540G (also 600 ohm version) and see what are their different.

This "ancient" HD540I is not in very good condition, I probably need to replace the earpad and inner foam later. Can someone show me the steps to take down the earpad of HD540I? I want to compare the two headphone with the same earpad if possible, are they fragile when I change the earpad?


 

 

[Andykong]

Thanks, I am in, can start the game now.

 

[GREQ]

So I finally got my grubby mits on an HD540 Reference 300 ohm, and I have two questions.
 
First, is the 300 ohm vastly different to the 600? (so far I like what I hear btw)
 
Secondly, it came with two cables, one has Yellow Left and Red Right plugs, while the other has Black Left and Red Right.
The Yellow one seems thicker and slightly higher quality sheath. Are there any other differences I should be aware of?

 

[GREQ]

After extensive listening today with excessive pad rolling including the re-foaming of the original pads I've settled with Hifiman pleathers without foam disks.
Nothing else has enough bass WHILST preserving treble timbre.
I've sacrificed a fair amount of airiness, but it's minor compared to a bunch of others I tried out.
 
FYI
- don't bother rolling new Beyer pads - it ruins treble timbre. With foam disks it sounds about 90% there, but flaws quickly become apparent,
- don't roll anything flatter than the original pads - it KILLS the soundstage - bass can increase by closing the distance to the ear and everything else sounds PERFECT, but without that yummy soundstage, what's the point?
 
For those who wish to stay closer to the original sound, I found Hifiman velours to be quite a good replacement.

 

[vid]

Still waiting for you to step up your game, greq, with the unipolar. They're going up in price, too, but still cheaper than the 540.

 

[GREQ]

I'm just not interested in stats I'm afraid.
I dabbled a bit with a set of SR-3 clones and was impressed with the effortlessly breathy treble response, but the energizer just takes up too much space on my TINY desktop, and all the cables... oh god.. the cables.... and so much more old hardware to maintain, and more things that can go wrong....
 
Sure, if I ever seen one in a flea market for a bargain price I might be tempted, but 'stepping up my game' has been a moot point since I got an HE-500.
Speaking of flea-markets, I doubt I'd find a unipolar cheaper than I found my HD540 

 , if I was spending ebay prices this hobby wouldn't be as fun.

 

[puskuruk]

Any comparisons with modern headphones? I have 600 ohm one and Im very happy with this.

 

[vid]

  I'm just not interested in stats I'm afraid.
I dabbled a bit with a set of SR-3 clones and was impressed with the effortlessly breathy treble response, but the energizer just takes up too much space on my TINY desktop, and all the cables... oh god.. the cables.... and so much more old hardware to maintain, and more things that can go wrong....
 
Sure, if I ever seen one in a flea market for a bargain price I might be tempted, but 'stepping up my game' has been a moot point since I got an HE-500.
Speaking of flea-markets, I doubt I'd find a unipolar cheaper than I found my HD540 

 , if I was spending ebay prices this hobby wouldn't be as fun.

 
Stepping up sound-wise from the hd 540 for sure, but this is more about upping the modding challenge. Not sure that the he-500 are better than a modded unipolar, looking at measurements, but there you have your challenge. In that sense, the 15 euros I've seen some pay on ebay could well be cheaper than your 540, relatively, but I'm sure both prices come up about as often.

 

[GREQ]

Oh yeah, I did see your Unipolar mod - very cool work considering the challenge involved.
Since my HE-500 is slightly modded I doubt anything will ever dethrone it, just a simple grill mod adds at least 30% more air/space to the sound. 
 
Quote:

   15 euros I've seen some pay on ebay could well be cheaper than your 540,

nope  
but after slapping on the hifiman pads... yeah.... they cost like 25 euros or something :S
 
(sorry for going off topic!)
 

Any comparisons with modern headphones? I have 600 ohm one and Im very happy with this.

I am still getting used to the sound of mine (300 ohm) and I think it's in the same league as HD600, DT880 etc for resolution, but in FLAGSHIP league for timbre and overall sound presentation. 
It REALLY is a reference headphone, it just gets out of the way of the recording.
At first I thought it was clearly something great, but quickly I found the sound... 'boring' ... uncoloured... maybe even bland.
But soon I realised this is one of the few headphones where you're not meant to enjoy the headphone, since it's sole purpose is to let you simply enjoy the music.
The upper-midrange and treble has a certain mild 'crispiness' to the sound that just sounds and feels REAL without being fatiguing, ever. 
 
I still prefer my HE-500 overall, especially in the bass department which is the ONLY place the HD540 lacks IMO. It has the texture but not the volume to satisfy a truly 'neutral' presentation; there's just too much roll-off.
HE-500 maintains a pleasing level of slam into the lowest bass notes that give a similar level of impact to real bass notes and instruments. 
HD540 might have simply been tuned for the ears of older folks with failing treble sensitivity.

 

[o0CosmoMemory0o]

One of my HD540IIs has only one velour pad, as I accidentally ripped the other one several months ago and discarded it. I am therefore in need of a velour pad or a pair of velour pads for the HD540II from someone online. I simply need the velvet skin/s to be usable and intact, ideally without staining or excessive colour loss. It doesn't matter if they are flat because I will gut them, wash the skin and install my own foam anyway.
 
 
Can anyone here help me out with this request. I can reward you with a little money or I can offer a part swap, where I can trade a plastic headband with clips, metal earcup rings or earpad binding rings. Send me a PM if you think we could help one another. I won't be able to sell that last HD540II if it doesn't have the original pad type on it, as other alternatives aren't good enough.

 

[o0CosmoMemory0o]

After selling my single pad as a spare part, I now need a pair of original velour pads in order to fully restore my final HD540II. If anyone here has a pair of HD540II velour pads that they don't want and would be happy to sell them to me, please message me. It doesn't matter if they're flat or dirty as I will gut, clean and re-foam them anyway. I just need a pair of intact pad skins that I can re-work back to great condition.

 

[GREQ]

Finally got round to re-foaming the original pads.
I removed the pathetic looking pleather and totally replaced these with lambskin.
 
Simply stacked 2 x 1cm thick discs of memory foam and am currently using the inner cut-outs as replacements for ear-side foams (as you can see on the right side of the photo)
Honestly, I think i'm going to leave it like this. This kind of memory foam has a bass-trapping effect but doesn't kill the airiness like a  pleather earpad, and really I needed something extra to take off the razor sharp treble edge.... and some...
 
These are bass light for my taste, but they sound sublime. 
Not nirvana... but close.
 

 

[rfan8312]

Looks great btw. Badass work.