[zolkis]

I meant that all these aftermarket pads have reduced bass compared to my Fostex + carbon foam pads, but not necessarily much reduced when compared to the stock Fostex pads.
 
The carbon foam filling makes the sound stage larger, the bass deeper and with stronger hit. You can see from the measurements the distortion etc are not changed. Subjectively, it sounds way much better than the stock pads, like a thick veil is lifted off the sound, or when entering from another room into the one where music is being played.
 
That being said, the Ori is a safe bet. I don't think I will buy them this time, since I already have the Lawtons, which are of similar leather, perhaps even better shape (more shallow). I will keep them and use carbon foam filling in them when my current Fostex pads wear out.

 

[AverageGuyNC]

I meant that all these aftermarket pads have reduced bass compared to my Fostex + carbon foam pads, but not necessarily much reduced when compared to the stock Fostex pads.

The carbon foam filling makes the sound stage larger, the bass deeper and with stronger hit. You can see from the measurements the distortion etc are not changed. Subjectively, it sounds way much better than the stock pads, like a thick veil is lifted off the sound, or when entering from another room into the one where music is being played.

That being said, the Ori is a safe bet. I don't think I will buy them this time, since I already have the Lawtons, which are of similar leather, perhaps even better shape (more shallow). I will keep them and use carbon foam filling in them when my current Fostex pads wear out.

How hard is it dealing with carbon foam? I've never messed with it

 

[zolkis]

I cut them with a circular cutter, then trim by hand with a ceramic cutter/scissor. Very easy to deal with IMHO, if you have sharp tools.
They lose carbon particles though, which you want to contain. Normally when they are inside pads, they are contained. Alternatively you can wash them.
 
Amazon offers a good selection of thicknesses. Buy a large enough sheet for experiments.
 
First, open the circular cutter to 104/2 = 52 mm, cut a disk.
Then, cut the internal opening (circular or oval), about 5-8 mm larger diameter than the pads internal diameter. Oval opening = circular cut + further trimming.
Then, cut the slant plane toward the front in order to ensure a small angle. Mine is 20 mm high in the back and 11 mm high in the front, but as I said, you could start with 25/15 mm. The total mass of carbon foam will determine the attenuation. If it sounds dark, you need to remove material and/or decrease the height.
 
Actually my inserts are also trimmed/rounded on the upper outer and inner edges, so the cross-section is a D (rotated to left).
Experiment with courage .

 

[GU1DO]

Nice share about pads everybody

i love how these headphones change with small modifications
 
Here is my take on pads with the TH-900

 
- Lowten pads , i thank have the best balance in sound , better mids , smaller sound stage // subtle and sweet .
- Brainwavz angled pads , i remember they where like the Lowten pads but the fit was not perfect.
- Dekoni pads for TH-X00 ,  i didnt like them , but could be used // sound stage was very reduced , more forward mids
- Dekoni pads for TH-900 almost identical to stock with better leather // better quality with same sound
- TH-X00 stock pads changed the sound very much ,, it felt congested.. sound stage was not there at all // worst
- i ordered ZMF Ori Pads before the massdrop by one day

it was for my HE400i ,, will try them on TH-900
- Dekoni for Beyerdynamic DT/T Also on the way , will see if they fit and how they change the sound.
 
 
- Lowten pads with some EQ ,, gave me the best sound for TH-900

- Dekoni pads for TH-X00 with HE400i . are very very good ,,, (i could not hold my self not mentioning it)
- Any HifiMan pad is compatible with the Fostex TH line (Same ring size)
- i am very tempted to try the carbon foam mod ,, although i am not good  in stitching (mostly i will destroy my pads hehe )

 

[Svatopluk]

I just saw this thread linked from the other one. I bought a fostex th900 with Lawton pads (no mods from Lawton, but has a balanced cable) and purchased a jotunheim to run it in balanced. Should have the amp next week. I plan on downloading an eq. I have not tried them yet without a balanced amp.

What mods would you recommend, if any? I want plenty of bass and good clarity.

My advice would be spend some time with the TH900/Jotunheim combo before considering any mods. After all, plenty of bass and good clarity is what the TH900 ls all about.
The problem with modding headphones is it involves trial and error. For every action, there is an equal and opposite. If you mod for bass enhancement, you may change the mid-range, treble or sound-stage and it may not be in a positive way.
If after a while, you do decide to try some mods like the Lawton tune-up kit which will dampen the cups, you can go back in the TH900 thread and find impressions about the mod. For right now, just take it slow and enjoy the music.

 

[Alphaman0606]

Anyone mod their TH900 to make them more closed (sealed). I am having issues with disturbing folks in the room while listening to mine. Do they sound ok with a better seal?

 

[N0sferatu]

  Here are some measurements.
 
 

 
 
 

 
Hey thanks for your EQ measuring.  I used you're measurements to custom EQ the TH900 to bump the depressions and lower the peaks using a 31 band EQ.  I still like to push the bass spectrum harder on all my headphones but from around 250Hz-20Hz I followed your mapping there on the blue.  As I mentioned earlier, I bought Afghan's pair that was modded and has Dekoni pads.  Simply beautiful.  Here's what I made for corrections....
 

 

I just saw this thread linked from the other one. I bought a fostex th900 with Lawton pads (no mods from Lawton, but has a balanced cable) and purchased a jotunheim to run it in balanced. Should have the amp next week. I plan on downloading an eq. I have not tried them yet without a balanced amp.

What mods would you recommend, if any? I want plenty of bass and good clarity.

Modifications: Equalizer APO 1.1.1 and tweak them.  Mine are modded per zolkis but see above for how I adjusted the EQ on them.
 

 

 

[AverageGuyNC]

Hey thanks for your EQ measuring.  I used you're measurements to custom EQ the TH900 to bump the depressions and lower the peaks using a 31 band EQ.  I still like to push the bass spectrum harder on all my headphones but from around 250Hz-20Hz I followed your mapping there on the blue.  As I mentioned earlier, I bought Afghan's pair that was modded and has Dekoni pads.  Simply beautiful.  Here's what I made for corrections....




Modifications: Equalizer APO 1.1.1 and tweak them.  Mine are modded per zolkis but see above for how I adjusted the EQ on them.

thanks!

 

[zolkis]

Mind you that imitating an FR by EQ does not approximate the sound obtained by actually doing the modifications .

 

[GU1DO]

I just got and  tried the ZMF Ori Pads , comfort is amazing ,,
but sound is bad , it is almost like the TH-X00 stock pad
sound is congested and  sound stage is missing ,,
i dont recommend them for the TH900 at all ..
 

 

[N0sferatu]

  Mind you that imitating an FR by EQ does not approximate the sound obtained by actually doing the modifications .

 
I don't know if you were referring to me or the guy looking to purchase the headphones.  I agree 100% and I already have them modified.  I EQ my cheap $30 earbuds for working out and while they sound "good" they don't shine a candle on my Fostex or Sennheiser cans.  

 

[zolkis]

Anyone mod their TH900 to make them more closed (sealed). I am having issues with disturbing folks in the room while listening to mine. Do they sound ok with a better seal?

 
They might sound OK with a better seal. I think the Dekoni and ZMF pads might offer the best seal because the memory foam that compresses with heat and takes the head form. Unfortunately it doesn't sound the best, so I choose to listen a little bit less volume, and still have smaller leak than with a better seal but worse sound.
 
The TH900 has small ports that fire into the space between the ears and the driver though a damping material (the circular grey foam damper that can also be replaced by felt dampers for a different sound). 
 
Seal those and lose most of the bass.
 
Otherwise the TH900 is completely closed, i.e. sound can only leak between the ear pads and the head, or through the pads and the wooden cups.
 
The cups might act as secondary sound sources, but I think the leak is much bigger through pads seal. 
 
With the relatively shallow/thin carbon foam inserts, the pads (p)leather part is softer/has more wrinkles, therefore have somewhat better seal, but IMHO this is not the reason they sound better, since similarly high soft foam sounds like all the other foam.
 
Note that the shallow pads might bother you if you have large ears. The CF mods (and I prefer that term over "zolkis mod" since @Playitloud has also actively participated in developing it) tend to work better for people with flat ear lobes.

 

[stjj89]

 
Note that the shallow pads might bother you if you have large ears. The CF mods (and I prefer that term over "zolkis mod" since @Playitloud has also actively participated in developing it) tend to work better for people with flat ear lobes.

 
You can actually create angled carbon pads if the shallow pads bother you. That's what I did (~24mm back height tapered down to the recommended 7-8mm on the front, and it worked well for me, without any noticeable effect on the sound. Note that I actually stacked a "booster" piece of foam under my original carbon foam ring to get the angle. If I was to do it again, I would buy the 25mm carbon foam and make the angled pads from that.

 

[KarlStromberg]

I just got and  tried the ZMF Ori Pads , comfort is amazing ,,
but sound is bad , it is almost like the TH-X00 stock pad
sound is congested and  sound stage is missing ,,
i dont recommend them for the TH900 at all ..

 

Did you also try other pads like the Dekonis or Lawtons before? How did they compare to the ZMF?

 

[AverageGuyNC]

Got my Jotunheim today. No bass? At first, then downloaded that EQ and WOW! I may be in love! Only listened to the th900s so far, will try the he400i later. Have it about half way up on the amp, 80% on the computer sound, and adjust it on the media player. Only song that I found that doesn't sound great is Yuck "Rubber", it had a lot of distortion in the guitar riff and The headphones seem like they play it without the distortion in it some how? Maybe something in the EQ settings.
 
I'm playing some songs downloaded on my computer, and some on YouTube so far. So does the media player for the music make a difference? when I play the flac files I downloaded, the player comes up is "groove music".