Hey boys (and girls, maybe)! I'm back!
Long time no see indeed. I stopped coming to this forum after a long vacation I took and for some reason never made it back. Well, that changes because I got an email today about a PM I got and I'm trying to catch up with you guys. Glad to see the discussion on the MSR7b is going strong!
As for your question, no, I didn't get any new pads. My sense got the best of me, it seems. I'm "stuck" with my angled sheepskin HM5s on the MSR7b, which OF COURSE I still have. And I'm SO OK with that. I have them on my head right now and I'm in a sweet jam session, switching between genres like crazy and it all works. I have been taking these things for granted, but after reading this thread a bit I decided to sit down and actively listen to music, and I realized how much I love them.
Now, with the danger of sounding like a broken record, I see a lot of people complaining that these things lack bass. And here I am, felt modded MSR7b with angled sheepskin HM5 pads on my head, and right now "Oh mama" from Run the Jewels is playing (I don't even really enjoy RTJ that much, I'm a metalhead, I'm just listening to it to let the headphones flex a bit). With the volume cranked a bit I can feel the bass. Not just listen to it, FEEL it, it's tickling my earlobes. People who try different pads without the mod (I find it very cute that it ended up being called "the Tolis mod" around here, I get a stupid sense of accomplishment) are missing out big time.
Only thing I am regretting right now is that this is happening away from home, and I'm using my "lowly" (but still amazing) Fiio Q5s off of my laptop playing music from Spotify. I have neglected these things at home in favor of my HD58x, which I do prefer for gaming and comfort, especially in the summer. When I get back I wanna hook them up to my PC and play my FLACs out of my Topping D70s and THX AAA 789 and blast my head off.
Last thing. Next week there's a big audio show going on here in Athens (It's called Ήχος-Εικόνα, literally meaning Sound-Picture) which I missed the last couple of years due to COVID. But it's happening again and there's bound to be some crazy new stuff there, apart from the classics like Focal, Audeze etc. So what I'll do is what I did the last time. I'll take my Q5s and MSR7b with me, and see how far above their weight class they can still hit. Last time I went, it took the LCD-X, Hifiman Arya and some Stax electrostats to impress me. Wonder what I'll listen to this time.
One thing's for sure, the MSR7b aren't going anywhere. I'm kinda broke right now because I'm between jobs, so expenses are cut to a minimum. BUT! I'll soon be moving to Germany and I intend to refresh my setup (I don't wanna say upgrade, it's gonna take something special for me to consider an upgrade). Apart from eyeing things like LCD-X and some Focal/Meze cans, I still have my Audio Technica modding itch, and I'm thinking either grabbing the SR9 and doing the same things I did to the MSR7b, or even grabbing a second pair of MSR7b and modding them into something completely different. Maybe open back? Maybe with a custom housing? It's gonna be a nightmare to tune right, but with how much capability AT packed into something that costs so little, it's gonna be worth it.