[Kudos]

While listening to these cans I found that the bass slightly overwhelms the upper mids, highs and treble, so I tried this (reversible) mod which after testing on various music genres, made the phones a tad brighter and even added a broader soundstage. On the downside it makes the cans less comfortable; the cotton balls add force pressing harder into your head.
 
The mod is actually pretty simple: Take about 8 cotton balls and stuff them underneath each earpad, arranging them evenly.
 

 
I tried not to add the cotton directly over the driver as to muffle the sound quality. I recommend doing the same.
 

 
Share your thoughts. Should be much brighter, and balanced now. If you already feel that the pleather pads are uncomfortable, I don't recommend this mod. Good luck! 
 
EDIT (08/27/2011):  Okay after developing my ears a bit more and coming back... instead of increasing treble, I've figured what they really do for me is boost bass depth and adds a special soundstage. It's an artificial soundstage per se, but in no way is it a bad one. The M50 treble begins to shine and develop after burn in, I don't actually think this mod actually increased treble, but rather tame and boldens it because of the new acoustics the sound travels through. If you came looking for more aggressive treble, do what I did. I performed the earpad mod (peel the gray foam off of the back of the pads) and dampening mod (open the cans, remove the ring of dampening right around the driver housing) and stuck with it, I found them perfect afterwards. YMMV.

 

[Vonx]

my ath m50s are already blaringly bright and shrill....to the most of uttermost fatigue with some genres. they could definately use a bigger sound stage but to brighten these up any further would make my head explode.
 
maybe you got one with dudded highs? because i hear distortion and sibilance and hissyness all over the place

 

[Gwarmi]

Agreed that they tend to convey a bit more hiss than my SR80i's out of a portable iShuffle.

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

my ath m50s are already blaringly bright and shrill....to the most of uttermost fatigue with some genres. they could definately use a bigger sound stage but to brighten these up any further would make my head explode.
 
maybe you got one with dudded highs? because i hear distortion and sibilance and hissyness all over the place

Odd,
 
Mine don't do that.
What DAC are you using?
 
Very best,
 

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

Odd,
 
Mine don't do that.
What DAC are you using?
 
Very best,
 

X2 over here, I was saying the same thing over in another thread that mentioned the M50's
aggressive nature - Hmmm, total head scratching moment there.
 
I road-test mine with some seriously nasty old 256kbps recordings of swing and rock-a-billy
and they refuse to sound hot in the treble and shrill. The kind of material that would pierce your
eardrum with a bright set of cans. Just a bit more noise floor as mentioned.
 
No idea with this one, but it could be a sign of something..
 
 

 

[Kudos]

Whoa, been a while since I even looked at this thread. My view on these kick ass cans has been altered. to say the least.
 
Really all this does (keep in mind I was still pretty new to sonics back then) is increase bass depth and soundstage, really just makes them more U shaped. I like the new brightness, it's not really harsh to me, i find it pretty sparkly and clean at the same time. I removed some dampening to release the treble, and peeled off the foam off each pad with releases some detail and extends treble as well.  Without all these mods I find them a tad boring. The mids are now a bit recessed since bass and treble are accented, but I love the new full sound, great for Hip-Hop instrumentals, DnB, Dubstep, even some Prog Rock (perfect stuff when you wanna kick back after a happy long day)
 
Quote:

Agreed that they tend to convey a bit more hiss than my SR80i's out of a portable iShuffle.

Really? If anything the M50s are a tad neutral despite the mids and the highs to me are very pleasant. Never heard a Grado but I find fatiguing highs on a M50 is a bit hard to believe. Even now after my mods they are just tingly and stimulating.
 

 

[jerg]

This is a similar mod to the mod I posted:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/552701/ath-m50-mod-8694-bass-enhancement-mod-that-causes-some-other-sq-changes-too
 
 
Except instead of using rubbery rolled-up tape, you use cotton-balls.
 
It probably has the opposite effect as my mod (mine deepens the bass while yours brightens the treble), while both increase soundstage somewhat.

 

[jondeckert]

How well do the cotton balls stay over time?

 

[Kudos]

Quote:

This is a similar mod to the mod I posted:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/552701/ath-m50-mod-8694-bass-enhancement-mod-that-causes-some-other-sq-changes-too
 
 
Except instead of using rubbery rolled-up tape, you use cotton-balls.
 
It probably has the opposite effect as my mod (mine deepens the bass while yours brightens the treble), while both increase soundstage somewhat.

 
Well it's really only if you really fill up the perimeter of the driver with cotton do you get that extra froward treble... and even so it's really not significant, if anything the bass is more night and day. Where I got the treble idea back then i will never know.
 
Quote:

How well do the cotton balls stay over time?

They compress as expected

 

 

[Vonx]

Quote:

Odd,
 
Mine don't do that.
What DAC are you using?
 
Very best,
 

idk, it could just be my ear. im not sure if they change between the 100 - 1000 hour burn in but i think 100 hours of burn in should be fair to assess them. I will be quick to edit my opinion if i feel they change in the continuous listening i give them. you should go read my review i just put in on them, took me a while haha