Audio Technica ATH- ES 10 Impressions Thread
Jan 16, 2019 at 12:59 AM Post #1,081 of 1,113
Hello all,
The comfort of my ES10s is finally getting to me. I'm going to order a new set of pads for them from vesperaudio, but was wondering what to go for. I've heard that some people have converted theirs into an over ear headphone and I was thinking about going over ear with alcantara pads. Just wondering if that is going to significantly change the sound, or if I should just get comfier on ear pads. Thanks for any advice that you might have.
 
Jun 11, 2019 at 7:12 AM Post #1,083 of 1,113
Which mod increases the bass in these? I'm really curious which cloths i need to

Ehm, why would you want to? They're not exactly bass-shy in stock form....
 
Apr 27, 2020 at 6:32 AM Post #1,086 of 1,113
Alright, here comes instructions!

First off, here is a photo of the materials necessary:



List of materials:
- A stock Audio Technica ATH-ES10 (a recabled version may not sound that different, but I wouldn't know to be honest)
- Replacement ear pads (optional). ESW9 and ESW11 ear pads fit
- Foamies 2mm thick foam sheet (color doesn't matter)
- Rainbow Classicfelt felt sheet (color doesn't matter)
- Dimensions wool felt roll (color doesn't matter)
- Realeather Crafts brown deertan piece (this particular piece is required)
- A long piece of dynamat (length matters)

Tools to use... well, scissors and screw driver.

So... let's get cracking!

First, you gotta open one side of the headphone up.
This isn't too hard. All you gotta do is pull off the ear pads and unscrew 4 screws:












See that yellow stuff inside the ear cup? That's fiberglass, the material Audio Technica uses to damp a lot of their modern headphones. They used to use wool felt and acoustic foam, but I guess fiber glass gives them a better balance between clarity, bass, and midrange. Either way, it's not doing your ES10 any favor in terms of clarity and all, so... let's take it out.



Much better! Now we can work with the ear cup.



Okay... bear with me here. See those 4 regions of the ear cup that's separated by the screw holes? Yeah... we are going to line the 3 top sides up with dynamat, leaving the bottom side with the opening for the cable alone. That means you need a bunch of long dynamat pieces. Also... make sure there is not too much adhesive with each piece of dynamat. You can just use your hand to pluck away some of the black adhesive/glue stuff.



Sorry, it's kinda hard to see, but I tried my best to show you how it'd look once you line the plastic inside of the ear cup with dynamat strips. You don't have to cover the whole thing. Just a thin strip will do. Overdoing it gives more clarity, but may cause harshness as well, so... tune it to your taste.



Now cut a piece of foam and wool felt about the same size as the lining of the insides again, but this time, the wool felt piece would be shorter than the foam piece. I have included a scale so you can see that about 1.5" for the wool felt and 2.0" for the foam piece is about the right length. Also, you would need a small V opening right smack the middle of the foam piece. That's because we are going to place it at the very bottom, and you need to leave an opening for the cable.



And once you're done cutting, the pieces line up just like that. If the wool felt piece doesn't want to stay, use a bit of the black adhesive/glue stuff that you plucked from the dynamat pieces to help it adhere to the foam piece. The foam piece by itself will slot in the opening between the 2 screw holes just fine, so you probably won't need any adhesive for it to stay.



See that circular opening that exposes the titanium cover of the ear cup? Cut a piece of leather and 2mm felt to that shape. They should each be slightly bigger than the opening, because that makes it easier to slot them in.



Slot the circular piece of leather into that opening, and it should fit snuggly.



And then you just have to lay the circular felt piece on top for it to stick.



Last step is to cover the sides of the plastic protrusion part with dynamat. You'll need a particularly long piece here, and... be extra careful. The wiring is very thin right there!

But after that, we're done! Just duplicate those steps for the other side.

----

So yeah, I think all of that is fairly easy to revert back to stock if you happen to not like the new presentation.

Though stock ear pads sound okay with the mod, I think it sounds best with either ESW9 or ESW11 ear pads. Each will give a different presentation, so it's up to you to choose whichever one suits your taste better.

And once again, thanks to Triggerfish for lending me his stock ES10 headphone for the photos!

----

Edit: I put the link to this post in my signature, so for future reference, you can always go back to the post with my signature.

Happy modding!
beerchug.gif

Does this mod work for ESW9's?
 
May 23, 2020 at 7:46 AM Post #1,087 of 1,113
3 questions.


Which DAC/Amp.combo do I get for this. Preferably something that can be portable and desktop one. And £100 or less.


Secondly, is Bill-P's mod recommended?

Third, for earpads do I do the full size mod or just get esw9 pads?
 
Jul 26, 2020 at 11:42 AM Post #1,090 of 1,113
kDatwN3.jpg

Just got my Vesper Audio custom pads for my ES10 and they are truly amazing. Highly recommended for both the quality of the pads and the great service experience.
How much did the pads cost and what effect do they have on the sound?
 
Jul 26, 2020 at 7:39 PM Post #1,091 of 1,113
How much did the pads cost and what effect do they have on the sound?

Based on my customisations they costed around $70.

Overall they add a bit of space in the soundstage and increase bass slam, without muddying the mids and keeping the highs sweet and not sibilant.

Previously I had the original pads, lambskin pads, and velour pads, all of which are inferior to these.

And while the sound improved substantially, the most significant change is the comfort. They are worlds more comfortable as they are now over-ears and not on-ears. With all the previous pads I could only use them for about an hour. These I can wear all day.
 
Last edited:
Apr 18, 2021 at 11:06 AM Post #1,092 of 1,113
Based on my customisations they costed around $70.

Overall they add a bit of space in the soundstage and increase bass slam, without muddying the mids and keeping the highs sweet and not sibilant.

Previously I had the original pads, lambskin pads, and velour pads, all of which are inferior to these.

And while the sound improved substantially, the most significant change is the comfort. They are worlds more comfortable as they are now over-ears and not on-ears. With all the previous pads I could only use them for about an hour. These I can wear all day.
Which customisations did you pick or ask for?
Would there be a cheaper choice to make over-ear pads work for this?
 
Apr 18, 2021 at 2:40 PM Post #1,093 of 1,113
Alright, here comes instructions!

First off, here is a photo of the materials necessary:



List of materials:
- A stock Audio Technica ATH-ES10 (a recabled version may not sound that different, but I wouldn't know to be honest)
- Replacement ear pads (optional). ESW9 and ESW11 ear pads fit
- Foamies 2mm thick foam sheet (color doesn't matter)
- Rainbow Classicfelt felt sheet (color doesn't matter)
- Dimensions wool felt roll (color doesn't matter)
- Realeather Crafts brown deertan piece (this particular piece is required)
- A long piece of dynamat (length matters)

Tools to use... well, scissors and screw driver.

So... let's get cracking!

First, you gotta open one side of the headphone up.
This isn't too hard. All you gotta do is pull off the ear pads and unscrew 4 screws:












See that yellow stuff inside the ear cup? That's fiberglass, the material Audio Technica uses to damp a lot of their modern headphones. They used to use wool felt and acoustic foam, but I guess fiber glass gives them a better balance between clarity, bass, and midrange. Either way, it's not doing your ES10 any favor in terms of clarity and all, so... let's take it out.



Much better! Now we can work with the ear cup.



Okay... bear with me here. See those 4 regions of the ear cup that's separated by the screw holes? Yeah... we are going to line the 3 top sides up with dynamat, leaving the bottom side with the opening for the cable alone. That means you need a bunch of long dynamat pieces. Also... make sure there is not too much adhesive with each piece of dynamat. You can just use your hand to pluck away some of the black adhesive/glue stuff.



Sorry, it's kinda hard to see, but I tried my best to show you how it'd look once you line the plastic inside of the ear cup with dynamat strips. You don't have to cover the whole thing. Just a thin strip will do. Overdoing it gives more clarity, but may cause harshness as well, so... tune it to your taste.



Now cut a piece of foam and wool felt about the same size as the lining of the insides again, but this time, the wool felt piece would be shorter than the foam piece. I have included a scale so you can see that about 1.5" for the wool felt and 2.0" for the foam piece is about the right length. Also, you would need a small V opening right smack the middle of the foam piece. That's because we are going to place it at the very bottom, and you need to leave an opening for the cable.



And once you're done cutting, the pieces line up just like that. If the wool felt piece doesn't want to stay, use a bit of the black adhesive/glue stuff that you plucked from the dynamat pieces to help it adhere to the foam piece. The foam piece by itself will slot in the opening between the 2 screw holes just fine, so you probably won't need any adhesive for it to stay.



See that circular opening that exposes the titanium cover of the ear cup? Cut a piece of leather and 2mm felt to that shape. They should each be slightly bigger than the opening, because that makes it easier to slot them in.



Slot the circular piece of leather into that opening, and it should fit snuggly.



And then you just have to lay the circular felt piece on top for it to stick.



Last step is to cover the sides of the plastic protrusion part with dynamat. You'll need a particularly long piece here, and... be extra careful. The wiring is very thin right there!

But after that, we're done! Just duplicate those steps for the other side.

----

So yeah, I think all of that is fairly easy to revert back to stock if you happen to not like the new presentation.

Though stock ear pads sound okay with the mod, I think it sounds best with either ESW9 or ESW11 ear pads. Each will give a different presentation, so it's up to you to choose whichever one suits your taste better.

And once again, thanks to Triggerfish for lending me his stock ES10 headphone for the photos!

----

Edit: I put the link to this post in my signature, so for future reference, you can always go back to the post with my signature.

Happy modding!
beerchug.gif
I've got ESW9 earpads from Japan and trying to out them on now, but they are too small and don't fit.
How did you get them on?
 
Apr 18, 2021 at 5:57 PM Post #1,094 of 1,113
I've got ESW9 earpads from Japan and trying to out them on now, but they are too small and don't fit.
How did you get them on?
I forced em

but yeah too small

ATH-ESW11 pads fit better

i did some write ups here on the sound changes years ago (pads).

dunno if they still exist
 

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