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Audio Technica ATH-M40x: The Little Brother that Could
Mar 28, 2019 at 4:16 AM Post #676 of 699
How did you change the potentiometer? I can't desolder mine. I have experience with this kind of work, but the pot in my O2 just seems indestructible.
 
Mar 30, 2019 at 2:15 PM Post #678 of 699
I meant doing the prescribed mods to an already-built O2.

Starting from scratch would be easy. Oh well.
 
May 22, 2019 at 7:21 PM Post #682 of 699
If you are on a budget like me, I think I have found the ultimate budget ear pads for M40X. I bought the knockoff Brainwavz angled pads (blue) on Aliexpress for $11 CAD because the stock pads are too shallow and get sweaty fast. They were definitely an upgrade from the stock in terms of comfort. A couple of weeks ago, I bought JVC ha-mr77x replacement pads (black) again on Aliexpress for personal reasons. Today, the mr77x pads arrived and I tried them on my M40X. It is mind-blowing how comfortable these are comparing to the knockoff HM5 pads. Again, they probably can't match up the sound quality with the more expensive pads, but for $13 CAD, I can't imagine another pair of pads as comfortable as these.

OOUa2Up.jpg


P8T7MYe.jpg
 
May 24, 2019 at 11:57 AM Post #684 of 699
Right, using velcro strip would probably make more sense, putting magnets that close to the driver pole the other guy make me raise my eyebrow a bit.
 
Oct 3, 2019 at 12:49 PM Post #685 of 699
I don't know if it's burn-in or I'm getting used to their sound signature but I'm finding myself putting these on a lot more lately. I've modded them with the Braiwavz angled pads and HD-600 headband. They're a lot more comfortable now and can kind of disappear.

I think part of it is that I've become less and less tolerant of ambient noise when listening to my other cans- the open-backed 6XX, 58X, 4-XX, PX-100's. I find that when I do listen with these latter that I have to try and find a silent or near-silent place/time or it becomes really irritating. Especially the noise of an even a fairly quiet PC droning on in the background.

With the AT's I can just put them on whatever the noise level and they just isolate it out. I guess I've also become more used to their sound and am more tolerant of their limitations. I've even gotten a bit inspired by previous posts to possibly mod the locking jack and add-on the Earstudio ES-100 and get them in Bluetooth mode.
 
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Feb 8, 2020 at 11:45 PM Post #686 of 699
First time posting, long time lurker. I was never much into headphones until recently, had more interest in car audio and always had a system in all of my cars.

I really like my M40x but I found the treble to be painfully sharp and the pads to be uncomfortable, I thought everything else about them was good (maybe a more bass would be nice). So I tried out some of the mods and just wanted to share.

Got the Shure pads and did a couple of the recommended mods from diyaudioheaven, I played with 1mm and 2mm felt as it was pretty cheap, they were less than a $1 per sheet from Michaels.

The 2mm felt mod definitely toned down the piercingly sharp peaks without diminishing much else that I could notice. I kept the stock open cell foam in the earpads with the felt because it sounds like crap without it. I apologize for my limited vocabulary with audiophile terms as I don't know how to describe it but these things definitely do something, soundstage? reduce airiness? In the future, I want to test out with lambs wool or alpaca wool to see if theres any noticeable difference.

I tested japanese organic cotton then switched to lambs wool stuffing in the ear cups behind the driver and noticed that the effect is it cleans up the muddiness in some of the frequencies, tighter and slightly elevated bass. It sounded much better with the lambswool. I tested with different amounts of lambswool and found that a generous helping had the optimal effect.

I got the lambswool from a local pharmacy for $6, apparently people use it to wrap their toes to prevent friction? Anyway, the bag is enough to stuff a dozen headphones and its 100% supersoft lambswool, not a bad deal. If anyone's interested, link on amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Sunmark-100-Lambs-Padding-0-375/dp/B0088W8L9E

Since I was already at Michaels I also picked up some modelling clay for $3.50. I took a page from the Fostex T50rp mods list and used some around the driver to see if it did anything. There was an impressive boost in clarity in the upper mids and highs.

After all the mods, imo they sound better than my Sony MDR1AM2 (except for the bass).

https://imgur.com/tXlJvOK
https://imgur.com/RdwqNuv

And I also did the bluetooth mod with the Shanling UP4. Should have done the locking tabs, the velcro is too damn strong makes it a pain to take off.

https://imgur.com/6sXnCrk
 
Feb 18, 2020 at 12:41 PM Post #687 of 699
dougms3 said:
First time posting, long time lurker. I was never much into headphones until recently, had more interest in car audio and always had a system in all of my cars.

I really like my M40x but I found the treble to be painfully sharp and the pads to be uncomfortable, I thought everything else about them was good (maybe a more bass would be nice). So I tried out some of the mods and just wanted to share.

Got the Shure pads and did a couple of the recommended mods from diyaudioheaven, I played with 1mm and 2mm felt as it was pretty cheap, they were less than a $1 per sheet from Michaels.

The 2mm felt mod definitely toned down the piercingly sharp peaks without diminishing much else that I could notice. I kept the stock open cell foam in the earpads with the felt because it sounds like crap without it. I apologize for my limited vocabulary with audiophile terms as I don't know how to describe it but these things definitely do something, soundstage? reduce airiness? In the future, I want to test out with lambs wool or alpaca wool to see if theres any noticeable difference.

I tested japanese organic cotton then switched to lambs wool stuffing in the ear cups behind the driver and noticed that the effect is it cleans up the muddiness in some of the frequencies, tighter and slightly elevated bass. It sounded much better with the lambswool. I tested with different amounts of lambswool and found that a generous helping had the optimal effect.

I got the lambswool from a local pharmacy for $6, apparently people use it to wrap their toes to prevent friction? Anyway, the bag is enough to stuff a dozen headphones and its 100% supersoft lambswool, not a bad deal. If anyone's interested, link on amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Sunmark-100-Lambs-Padding-0-375/dp/B0088W8L9E

Since I was already at Michaels I also picked up some modelling clay for $3.50. I took a page from the Fostex T50rp mods list and used some around the driver to see if it did anything. There was an impressive boost in clarity in the upper mids and highs.

After all the mods, imo they sound better than my Sony MDR1AM2 (except for the bass).

https://imgur.com/tXlJvOK
https://imgur.com/RdwqNuv

And I also did the bluetooth mod with the Shanling UP4. Should have done the locking tabs, the velcro is too damn strong makes it a pain to take off.

https://imgur.com/6sXnCrk
Click to expand...

Great mods! Can you describe that cable set-up you're using between the Shanling and the headphones?
 
Feb 18, 2020 at 2:38 PM Post #688 of 699
Its just a short 3.5mm audio cable. Its a little fancy but its the only short audio cable that fits in the Sony's recessed plug. I swap the shanling between the MDR1AM2 and the M40x often.
 
Feb 18, 2020 at 4:58 PM Post #690 of 699
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