[TheSoviet]

Hi fellow Audiophiles,
My new Alessandro MS-1 was received in the mail not long ago, and after having some time with it, I realized that there is a serious comfort issue after long listening hours.

After seeing numerous modifications that people did to their Grados to relief the pain, I've decided to take the same path.

However, I'm not sure which one of the following is the correct one or will give me the most comfort. If you can help out in picking one, please don't hesitate to post

. Thanks in advance.

1. Grado L-Cush Large Replacement Ear Cushions(Confirmed working with SR60, Possibly the MS-1?)
2. Grado G-Cush Large Replacement Ear Cushions(Confirmed working with SR60i, what about MS-1?)
3. Grado G-Cushion Pads(Appears to be the same as above, is it? This is also recommended in the MS1000 thread, but would it work without the distancer?)

 

[Nakattack]

The L-cush's will not increase comfort, more likely to do the opposite. Without the distancer, the mids of the MS-1 get sucked right out with the G-cush. The best thing you can probably do is bend the headband till it's comfortable. I didn;t have any problems with the stock pads after doing this, but the 1000 mod is incredibly comfy, especially with a J-Money headband.

 

[CTechKid]

x2 for the MS1000 mod.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Which pads came with your MS-1? I think it comes with the L-Cush pads.

The first thing to do though before experimenting with all sorts of pad modifications is to bend the headband to get the cans to fit properly. If they don't fit properly they are less comfortable. The goal is to get the ear cups to fit flat around the ears.

Bilavideo has a picture of the Grado bend. That's the way I've been bending my Grado for years. Flatten the top of the headband. Then bend the pad in about 1 centimeter above each of the plastic rod holders. Do it while in front of a mirror so you can see when the cups eventually sit more flat around the ears.

The problem with the default Grado bend as they come from the factory is that, at least on my head, the black yokes pressed against the foam ear pads. That prevents the cups from being able to rotate freely up and down on their little gimbal. The top of the ear pad gets more pressure than the bottom. Not the best for comfort. Flattening the top of the headband and bending in the sides give the cups more freedom to rotate up and down on the gimbal and fit more flat around the ears.

I hope that all makes sense. Getting them to fit properly does help with comfort. They're still not what I consider a comfortable headphone, but every little bit helps.

After you get them fitting properly you can experiment with pad modifications and hopefully get some reasonably satisfactory comfort.

 

[gknix]

Several ways to increase comfort as some of it has been mentioned above:
-Bend headband (But to me, it still makes it uncomfortable)
-MS1k mod (Extremely comfortable, and SQ improves a lot!)
-Changing headbands (J$ Audio headband that replaces the original headband...or purchasing beyerdynamic 770 headband pads to wrap around the original headband)
-G-Cushion will increase sound stage, but suck away mids without distancers
-Sennheiser 414 pads (softer than the comfy pads that you have with stock, or make then reversed quarter mod..you can look that up)

L-cushions are worse in terms of comfort to me personally because of my small ears. But they certainly arn't known to alter the comfortability issue.

 

[AudioNovice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ham Sandwich /img/forum/go_quote.gif Which pads came with your MS-1? I think it comes with the L-Cush pads.

MS1s come with "comfies" aka "flats" aka S-cushions.

 

[apatN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AudioNovice /img/forum/go_quote.gif MS1s come with "comfies" aka "flats" aka S-cushions.

Almost. MS-1s indeed come with the comfies but they are not flats. There are both flats and comfies to be had.

Here is the difference:

These are comfies:

These are flats:

 

[TheMiddleSky]

I just wonder to know, if I replace standard comfies on MS1 with standard HD414 pad, is that will change the sound sig?

 

[jms91]

Replacing the comfies with HD414 pads won't really change anything besides looks if you get the yellow pads and comfort. I at least can't hear a difference and they feel more comfortable.

 

[outlawdon]

Very simple.

Quarter modded S-cush/comfies on top of PX100 pads. Double the comfort and retain the most amount of bass while retaining clarity.

Sennheiser Foam Replacement Ear Pads PX100 / PMX100 HiFi Headphones

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jms91 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Replacing the comfies with HD414 pads won't really change anything besides looks if you get the yellow pads and comfort. I at least can't hear a difference and they feel more comfortable.

great, that's what I want to hear, so when I have to change to standard HD414 pads (which is cheaper), I can get the same SQ

note: for sound sig, I prefer comfies than bowl, that's why I don't think I want to do "reverse" mod at HD414 pads

 

[outlawdon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMiddleSky /img/forum/go_quote.gif great, that's what I want to hear, so when I have to change to standard HD414 pads (which is cheaper), I can get the same SQ note: for sound sig, I prefer comfies than bowl, that's why I don't think I want to do "reverse" mod at HD414 pads

Not true. The sound will change very slightly with the hd414.

A little bit more soundstage with more brightness and a tiny drop in the low end. Very minor but it's a change. I've swapped between comfies vs hd414 many times to compare before.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by outlawdon /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not true. The sound will change very slightly with the hd414. A little bit more soundstage with more brightness and a tiny drop in the low end. Very minor but it's a change. I've swapped between comfies vs hd414 many times to compare before.

just want to make sure, pad that you are using is standard HD414 right? (no "reverse" mod)

if that so, great, nice info buddy

 

[outlawdon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMiddleSky /img/forum/go_quote.gif just want to make sure, pad that you are using is standard HD414 right? (no "reverse" mod) if that so, great, nice info buddy

Yup, standard and not reverse.

I've tried it all though for the HD 414 since I have a couple of pairs of pads to experiment...standard to quarter modded to reverse quarter modded.

Standard sounds the best to me with less brightness without sacrificing bass.

 

[earerror]

The best way to go is modding. I have read lots of modding reviews and tips on it.
Here's one of them:
HeadWize - Project: The Collected Grado Headphone Mods by "Skippy" et al.
The mods can be applied to the Alessandro/Grado MS-1.