[musiclife]

Quote:

Yes. Different pad material can alter a headphone significantly. You have J$ pads for Denon as an example. Alpha Pads for the Mad Dogs, Gel Pads for Beyers, Memory Foam for the K702 Anniversary, etc.

IMO the pads are all about comfort and noise isolation, and this will be a significant change only if wearing the headphone for long period of time. Since I dont have that kind of free time yet, I never went the extre step of getting something OEM.

 

[syobwoc]

I had these cans for a while, and I was kind of sad to see these go, but man I loved the cups. Most comfortable headphone i've ever had on. Ended up return them for some HD650 that perfectly match what I was wanting. Couldn't afford to have both... But for acoustical/classical, its hard to beat the annies, but with what my music list has most of, EDM and rock, the HD650s are a perfect sweet spot!

 

[bracko]

Quote:

IMO the pads are all about comfort and noise isolation, and this will be a significant change only if wearing the headphone for long period of time. Since I dont have that kind of free time yet, I never went the extre step of getting something OEM.

 
Pads definitely are used to tune the sound of headphones, They are not only about noise isolation and comfort. Different materials have different acoustic properties (compare to speaker boxes) and can alter sound significantly. 

 

[preproman]

Quote:

I had these cans for a while, and I was kind of sad to see these go, but man I loved the cups. Most comfortable headphone i've ever had on. Ended up return them for some HD650 that perfectly match what I was wanting. Couldn't afford to have both...

But for acoustical/classical, its hard to beat the annies, but with what my music list has most of, EDM and rock, the HD650s are a perfect sweet spot!

 
 
Sold both my HD600\650 and keeping the Annies.  

 

[syobwoc]

nice! it all comes down to personal preference. All i know is that, after joining head-fi, man i've got a lot to look forward too

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

We're all over the place with these, lol.

 

[Dougr33]

I assume no one's received Annie pads yet?  Just from akg:
 
On route.  ETA 03/28
[size=11.0pt]Frank Rodriguez[/size]
 
Pretty sure he means enroute to him from Vienna, not on way to me yet.

 

[lwhitit]

Just wanted to give an update on my issue with the headband. I have a pretty short hair cut and an oval head so it was causing discomfort on the crown of my head (leaving tender red mark) after about 20 minutes of use. I thought i just needed to break these in so I gave it about a week. Once i beat up the headband a bit and bent it into shape (more of a "{" vs the typical "(" ) and now it wraps around my head perfectly. It will still flatten my hair down but there is no more pain or discomfort. I couldn't bring myself to putting a sock on the band or a seatbelt cushion because I love how they look so I am glad it all worked out. Sound has been great far on my pc and I cant wait to try them out on my xbox next week (bioshock infinite). 
 
I just sold my HD598s today.

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

I assume no one's received Annie pads yet?  Just from akg:
 
On route.  ETA 03/28
[size=11.0pt]Frank Rodriguez[/size]
 
Pretty sure he means enroute to him from Vienna, not on way to me yet.

 
Got mine today. Shipped on the 13th by Fedex Ground. Listening to my Q701 with them installed now.
1 minute impression...my Q701 suddenly got more farty sounding. Differences in the bass are not as audible as I expected.
Things definitely sound more up-front for whatever reason.
 
OK l'll shut up since this is the 65th Anniversary thread and not the Q701 with 65th pads thread.

 

[viralcow]

Quote:

1 minute impression...my Q701 suddenly got more farty sounding.

 
LOL is that a good thing or not?

 

[imackler]

Quote:

1 minute impression...my Q701 suddenly got more farty sounding. Differences in the bass are not as audible as I expected.
Things definitely sound more up-front for whatever reason.
 
OK l'll shut up since this is the 65th Anniversary thread and not the Q701 with 65th pads thread.

 
I just snorted! You better tell us more than that! 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Yeah. That was... an interesting response. Also, the bass isn't as audible a difference? Dude, you tell me about how different cables sound but can't hear how big a jump in bass it is?

The bass is similar sounding on either pad, however, the bass is more emphasized to the point it's as forward, if not more so than the mids. The Q701's bass might sound similar, but it takes a back seat to the mids. Also, put on some bassy music, the difference will be quite obvious.

Give it time, either way. Look at Chico's response after he spent two weeks with the Annies alone. Go back to the Q701 pads after two weeks.

But yes, your Q701 was still a bit brighter than my Annies, so that's also a factor here.

Still, I'm sure you'll come around. You own the HD650, so the ANnie pads should put your Q701 in between the two, sonically.

 

[Salvatore]

Quote:

1 minute impression...my Q701 suddenly got more farty sounding.

 
Wow. Nice impressions. This thread is ridiculous.

 

[tdockweiler]

I've posted some impressions here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/582276/q701-appreciation-thread/2685#post_9273107
 
Kind of not hearing much difference, but it's definitely there. Yes, even with bassy music. It's like 3-5% increase in bass to my ears or about like using an EQ.
 
I had to remove the outer foam to get an increase in low bass, but then I swear I lost some mid-bass or something. I'm going to experiment.
 
I should point out that you might get more bass if you have more clamp. My Q701 is very secure on my head, but not much clamp.
 
Oh and I don't believe cables make a measurable difference

 
I'll triple check my Modi isn't rolling off the bass. Still have the ODAC.

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

Yeah. That was... an interesting response. Also, the bass isn't as audible a difference? Dude, you tell me about how different cables sound but can't hear how big a jump in bass it is?

The bass is similar sounding on either pad, however, the bass is more emphasized to the point it's as forward, if not more so than the mids. The Q701's bass might sound similar, but it takes a back seat to the mids. Also, put on some bassy music, the difference will be quite obvious.

Give it time, either way. Look at Chico's response after he spent two weeks with the Annies alone. Go back to the Q701 pads after two weeks.

But yes, your Q701 was still a bit brighter than my Annies, so that's also a factor here.

Still, I'm sure you'll come around. You own the HD650, so the ANnie pads should put your Q701 in between the two, sonically.

 
I would say that the reason my Q701 sounded brighter than your Annie is that it was the outer foam. My testing might have just confirmed that.
 
I think it's possible the bass quantity of the Q701 with 65th pads is about the same as my HD-650, especially in the low bass. The HD-650 I have has no real mid-bass hump at all. My HD-600/580 had more of a mid-bass hump and it annoys the heck out of me. My Dj100 still beats them with low-bass, but that's closed. It picks up stuff that barely registers on the 650/Q701.
 
Last night I was gaming with the Q701 and the low-bass was so much lower in volume than the HD-650. Felt like it was just barely there. Now the K400's low bass..that's good for a laugh.
 
I'm still testing the differences, so impressions MIGHT change. Still not hearing really much difference at all. Maybe I can get out my sound meter

 
Again..you guys probably have larger heads compared to me and more clamping force

When I remove my Q701, the memory foam is barely even compressed.