[Phantaminum]

They have been long discontinued. I hope Dekoni makes a pad similar to them since their TH-X00 x Massdrop Sheepskin pads are very good.

I think we may need to compel @VRacer-111 to send in his Jmoney's to Dekoni so they can copy the dimensions for the collective good of head-fi.

 

[koover]

Yikes, too bad. Theres a company in Eastern Europe that will make a custom pad for you.

Wonder if they could replicate the J-Money? If so, probably an arm and a leg to produce. If they could, wouldn't they have to have a original pad to work off of? And the shipping would probably rival the cost of pad? Still interested as VRacer-111 speaks so highly of these if owning a TXH-00 or PH.
Link by any chance?

 

[jmills8]

Wonder if they could replicate the J-Money? If so, probably an arm and a leg to produce. If they could, wouldn't they have to have a original pad to work off of? And the shipping would probably rival the cost of pad? Still interested as VRacer-111 speaks so highly of these if owning a TXH-00 or PH.
Link by any chance?

vesperaudio.com

 

[Mark Up]

It's too bad the Eikon wasn't included. Slightly wider than Ori but will still fit. Get this, a bit thinner, so it would be somewhere between the ideal thickness of the J-Money and the Ori we see pictured. I have to imagine it might sound better, especially if one inserted the Dekoni attenuation rings to get them closer.

 

[Pahani]

Thanks to Phantaminum, I was able to compare the Lawton pads to the ZMF Ori and J-money pads just now. So what follows is my comparison of the three pads.

1. PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES:

First off pictures of the 3 pads (for all pictures Ori is on left, J-money middle, and Lawton on the right):



Both the J-money and Lawton have some kind of stiff ring of material in the base, the Ori doesn't have a ring of material in its base. I weighed the pads on a 50g capable jewlers/powder scale I have and they measured as follows:

ZMF Ori = 19.7g
J-money = 27.4g
Lawton = 17.3g

In the hand you can tell the J-money has some extra heft to it compared to the other two. All are lambskin pads, though the mounting flap on the J-money is pleather coated fabric (which I've peeled off from the visible areas since it was flaking off after many years of use on my Denon AH-D2000.) The Ori is the softest, most squishy pad with a fairly thin and fine-mesh transparent fabric backing. The J-money is next softest, but is much closer to the Lawton than Ori. The J-money also has the thickest and least transparent fabric backing of the three. The Lawton is the stiffest, too stiff to me, and has the most transparent backing fabric, with a larger mesh than the Ori. It was also rediculously difficult to put the mounting ring on compared to the other 2, such stiff flap material!

2. FIT ON A TH-X00:

As for comfort, my ranking is as follows (from most to least comfortable):

ZMF Ori -> (little gap) ->J-money -> (big gap) -> Lawton

Well, no surprise that softest, squishiest leather pad with large ear opening feels the best. It's also the thickest so you get the best clamp with it. Now while the J-money has the smallest opening technically, it is shaped the most square so it fits well around my big ears even though they touch. You get a decent clamp with it and the leather is soft enough to feel very nice to wear. Now as for the Lawton, well it has the largest opening but the padding, for being the lightest, is the stiffest and it feels like it is not sealing too well on the head. Seriously, it fits more like they are made out of styrofoam instead of fill foam...very weird fitting pad, not in a good way either. All being leather, the comfort from the material is basically the same after being on the head for a while - initially though the ZMF Ori feel the coolest and most comfortable when first put on.

3. SOUND IMPRESSIONS:

We'll go in picture order and note that both the Ori and J-money are using my custom attenuators inside the pads, Lawton is glued shut so you can't. Also of note my TH-X00 is Lawton Tune-up Kit modded on driver frame only, no cup dampening whatsoever. My listening setup is a Windows laptop playing FLAC through Foobar2K outputing to Bifrost 4490 DAC and Gustard H10 amp.

ZMF Ori - This is the in-between pad of the bunch. It has the most balanced sound - bass with good impact and weight (not too far behind the J-moneys), mids kind of slightly recessed but with fairly good weight to them, and highs that are probably the most recessed and neutral of the bunch.

J-money - The darkest sound of the bunch yet highly detailed and extremely clear at the same time. And that SUB-BASSS! HIGHEST energy of the bunch and very detailed, with huge body and pressure feel. Acoustic/electric Bass and drum resonances and sustain comes across the best. The mids have a sweet weight and heft, and the highs are most energetic yet not overbearing. I absolutely love these pads - perfect match for the TH-X00 PH to me.

Lawton - This is an airy sounding pad with not much bass presence, much less than stock. Seems Lawton is going for a 'hear the music detail' not 'feel the music' tune. It is a very detailed and precise sounding pad, with slighty more emphasis in the mids and highs. Thing is, this is a Fostex TH-X00 PH... the reason I listen to it is for the stellar bass/sub-bass...and it's absolutely lacking with the Lawton pads. Also has the least body and weight to its sound, very thin sounding in comparison to the others. Putting an attenuator under the pad brings out the bass some, but not even to the level of an Ori without an attenuator. Would not recommend the Lawton pad at all unless you are looking to get sound more like an Audio Technica open headphone. Better yet, my modded SHP9500S with Shure 1840 pads has similar detailed sound but with more bass presence than the Lawton pads on a TH-X00...

Overall, I'm glad got to try out the Lawton pads...one more pad I can cross off the list. Not going to waste any time trying to improve them because of the fit issues they have. Much prefer the Ori's to them. But even if the Ori's sound very good, they don't have that magic sound/energy that the J-money pads have... still on the hunt for a J-money replacement.

Haha yes, I've said it before and I'll say it again....ZMF Ori's plus ZMF Pilot Pad make X00 PH into the MOST comfortable headphone I own. By a WIDE margin.

 

[koover]

vesperaudio.com

I actually e-mailed them right after you replied. They still haven't responded.
Won't they need the pads to replicate since they're DC'd?
The way VRacer-111 recommends these pads, it seems there's no need to even own these cans if you don't have the Jmoney and a Lawton tune-up.
I believe he's the only person on the planet who has this specific combo. I want these pads....bad!!

 

[jmills8]

I actually e-mailed them right after you replied. They still haven't responded.
Won't they need the pads to replicate since they're DC'd?
The way VRacer-111 recommends these pads, it seems there's no need to even own these cans if you don't have the Jmoney and a Lawton tune-up.
I believe he's the only person on the planet who has this specific combo. I want these pads....bad!!

You give them the diamentions but they are familiar with the size of the stock pad.

 

[VRacer-111]

I actually e-mailed them right after you replied. They still haven't responded.
Won't they need the pads to replicate since they're DC'd?
The way VRacer-111 recommends these pads, it seems there's no need to even own these cans if you don't have the Jmoney and a Lawton tune-up.
I believe he's the only person on the planet who has this specific combo. I want these pads....bad!!

It's not that there's no reason to own the TH-X00, but for me the sound is most ideal with the Lawton driver housing dampening + J-money pads + attenuator combo. Makes the TH-X00 PH a higher fidelity yet even greater bass monster can at the same time. I would say the Lawton driver housing dampening is HIGHLY recommended for anyone...really decongests the sound and lets you hear the details that have been missing along with much better instrument separation. The J-money pads with attenuators add in the bass and a unique coloration/tuning that I love. Phantaminum has heard them at the head-fi meet we had recently. The ZMF Ori pads are the closest I've heard to the J-money so far, but still too different.

If you want to try getting Vesper Audio to make a set modeled after the J-money pads I can can take better pictures and get detailed measurements. I was thinking about commisioning them to make a set, until I learned they are most likely in Russia... certain things I just won't do, and online transactions with Russia and China in the mix is one of them.

 

[koover]

I'm sorry if I came off that way. I was just kidding around (hence the emoji) as you just gush over your modded pair. Dude, you sold and hooked me.....which is a good thing man. I can only imagine how they sound and I'd like to experience the same enjoyment you get from them. You're the only one I believe who has these pads with HP.
Right now I'm rockin with my Hawks (they sound really good too) and I know once I slap on my stock Fostex, I won't touch them or anything else again for a week or so.

As for the Russia thing, yeah, I'm with yah, but if I want these pads or something very similar, this may be the only option. If the Ori's really sound that close without losing the Sound Sig and retaining the overall characteristics of the PH's, that would be option #1 for sure. They're that stiff?
I'm sure with production/shipping from Vesper, it'll be $150 or close to 2 bills. I don't know.

Sure, send me the measurements and pics and I'll take the lead on this. I'm very surprised I still haven't heard from them yet. I got nothing but time....yeah, right. But It'll be worth my few moments of spare time when have them to see if this can be had. That would be very cool man!

I can then pass on the info to the rest of the community if anyone so desires to pick them up. This all depends on not having to mortgage my home to purchase them.

 

[I3ig Al]

Hey guys I have had my Purpleheart for about a week now and I really love them except I have noticed that vocals/speech can get a bit boomy/peaky. listening to podcast/audiobooks, sometimes it comes out overly loud feeling, like extreme reverb on a high syllable. while messing around with EQ it seems mostly in the 125-250hz region.

Right now I am using my Soundblaster sound card but I have an FX-Audio DAC-X6 on the way that might settle things. otherwise, is this normal and if not what can I do to remedy it without EQing a whole bunch? I Have not replaced the stock pads or done any kind of tuning changes yet.

 

[DavidA]

Hey guys I have had my Purpleheart for about a week now and I really love them except I have noticed that vocals/speech can get a bit boomy/peaky. listening to podcast/audiobooks, sometimes it comes out overly loud feeling, like extreme reverb on a high syllable. while messing around with EQ it seems mostly in the 125-250hz region.

Right now I am using my Soundblaster sound card but I have an FX-Audio DAC-X6 on the way that might settle things. otherwise, is this normal and if not what can I do to remedy it without EQing a whole bunch? I Have not replaced the stock pads or done any kind of tuning changes yet.

I would try and adjust the pads so you get a good seal before trying other pads. For me the stock pads was a deal breaker, tried the pads from my TH600 which are way more comfortable and sounded better also, but still not as good as the TH600. You might also want to try the attenuation rings that were mentioned a page back since its free and reversible so no harm in trying.

 

[I3ig Al]

I would try and adjust the pads so you get a good seal before trying other pads. For me the stock pads was a deal breaker, tried the pads from my TH600 which are way more comfortable and sounded better also, but still not as good as the TH600. You might also want to try the attenuation rings that were mentioned a page back since its free and reversible so no harm in trying.

For clarification I am using the stock pads and have the built in attenuation ring. I do plan on trying the ZMF pads and the Dekoni stuff when im at the SF meetup and decide what pads to get then.

I'm just wondering if the boominess I am getting in spoken word is normal. its almost like sibilance in high frequency, loud/sharp enough to make me wince a bit when it happens, but its in the 125-500hz range. I don't notice it while listening to music, ONLY from speech like podcasts/audio book/ youtube

 

[DavidA]

For clarification I am using the stock pads and have the built in attenuation ring. I do plan on trying the ZMF pads and the Dekoni stuff when im at the SF meetup and decide what pads to get then.

I'm just wondering if the boominess I am getting in spoken word is normal. its almost like sibilance in high frequency, loud/sharp enough to make me wince a bit when it happens, but its in the 125-500hz range. I don't notice it while listening to music, ONLY from speech like podcasts/audio book/ youtube

I didn't really listen to speech tracks with the TH-X00 when I had them but I do think its the stick pads made the THX00 sound grainy with some distortion at times but I would say it was due to the pads not having a good fit/seal for me. Maybe someone else who still has the THX00 can provide a better recommendation about the speech issues you are finding. I did get 2 pairs of Dekoni sheep skin TH900 pads to try on my Stax SRD-34 and HE560 but I haven't installed them yet to evaluate it yet.

 

[chronic_pl]

hi Guys,
can you compare me FOSTEX TH-X00 with MEZE 99 CLASSICS & FOSTEX TH610 ?

 

[DavidA]

hi Guys,
can you compare me FOSTEX TH-X00 with MEZE 99 CLASSICS & FOSTEX TH610 ?

I think you are asking for a comparison that very few, it any will have done. Of the 3 I've heard the THX00 and TH610 but have yet to hear the Meze 99, of the two that I've heard I wouldn't take either since I have a TH600 that was better to me due to the ear pads of the THX00 and TH610 that didn't quite fit well.