My word, what a infuriating, interesting, baffling, and strange headphone!
I bought this fully expecting to mod it but I didn't expect it to be so uncooperative.
The first thing I did was try it on, and, sure enough, it wouldn't extend tall enough for me so bending the headband wider to get more swivel on the cups wasn't an option for me. I expected this, however, so I had a backup plan. I used a HE-560 headband that I had bought to mod my M1060 back when they could be had for a mere $10 but I hadn't used it because I decided my M1060 headband was fine enough with some added padding on the strap so this headband sat in a box for quite a while.
But the first thing I had to do to put on the new headband was remove of the old yokes. That proved very difficult since all but one of the nuts on the screws that hold the driver to the cup came loose so the screws would just spin. I didn't realize that the grille could be removed from the outside so I ended up using a combination of prying, cursing, and hacksaw to get them out. Once I got the cups open I had to find some longer screws that would reach since this HE-560 headband's yokes are wider than the BL-30 cups. I managed to find some and used some wooden beads as spacers to keep everything snug.
Now I had the headband on I could actually start listening and seeing what they needed. The stock pads didn't work for me. They were too shallow and they had that too-close-to-a-speaker effect that others have mentioned. I tried every pad I own that would fit (over a dozen different pairs) and all of them made it sound terrible. Any sealed pad (i.e. leather) creates too much internal air resistance for the weak, oversized driver to function properly and they would sound incredibly muffled. So it was looking like velour would be the way to go but velour pads that have pleather on the underside for added bass reflections that's needed on most headphones had a similar problem to the sealed pads of keeping it too sealed. I had one pair of velour pads that had a felt-like material on the underside and they sounded okay with those but they were too shallow creating a similar problem to the stock pads.
However, at the very bottom of my box of pads I found the open cell foam pads that came off of my OKCSC ZX1 when I modded those.So I tried them. And miracles of miracles, they actually gave the driver enough air to breathe and create treble!!! The bass was also still there since the driver is so massive.
The next challenge was finding a way to attach the pads to the headphone since they were the same size as the cups the foam lip wouldn't reach the typical mounting ring. to solve this I made some mounting hooks from some paper clips and used some blue tack to mount them in the slots in the driver baffle. Thankfully, those slots are in just the right spot for the mounting lip on the pads.
Okay, on to the next problem. The pads sounded pretty good but there was a lot of harshness around the 5khz region giving everything a nasal quality. So I dug into my front driver dapeninging materials and after hours of experimenting I found that a thin felt over the the driver worked best. Now that I had the sound to where it's listenable I felt like I could finally evaluate this headphone.
Build 4/10
While it's basically all metal construction, dumb decisions like not tapping the driver screw holes and that stupid headband design really make this mediocre. The pads are also cheap crap that don't really do any favors to the sound. The cable, however, is very nice and I will probably swap it with the cable on the HE5se. The case is okay, too, if rather generic. However, with my modded headband it doesn't fit it anymore.
Soundstage/Imaging 8/10
With the open cell foam pads this becomes a headphone with a very open, wide sound, that can image surprisingly well. It's a very "big" sound which, I'm sure, is at least partially due to the shear size of the driver. That big sound makes them ideal for movies.
I wasn't sure which section to put this in, but the driver matching is actually very, very, good. Way better than most other headphones in this price range, especially in the bass region, and even better than a lot in the $300-$500 price bracket. A pleasant surprise, to be sure.
Sound
Bass 7/10
With those open cell foam pads that I found the bass has great rumble, okay punch but really good dynamics. For example, "Mountains" by Hans Zimmer sounds awesome with these.
Mids 3/10
This is the weakest part of the headphone. It doesn't have any sweetness to the midrange and even though it's detailed and clear (good for dialog), they have very little life and come off cold and sterile.
Highs 6/10
Lots of detail here but it can be overwhelming depending on the track and mix. But when the mix is right they are very crisp and enjoyable. Again, this is
only with those open cell foam pads that I found. Highs are a 0/10 with basically every other pad because there is no treble.
Overall 6.5/10 (modded) | 2/10 (unmodded)
Out of the box they do not sound like their price. There are several sub-$100 phones (even some of Blon's own offerings, like the B8) I would take over these, unmodded. But with the combination of parts that I've found for these, they are very unique. The big soundstage, good bass performance, and crispy highs make them a great, maybe even my very best, headphone for movies. Dialog is super clear and can be picked out of the mix easily and the rumble these have are great for explosions and such. Related to this, they are really good for soundtracks, their strongest genre by far. Electronic music is usually too hot in the treble and vocal-heavy genres have no soul. They would probably be pretty good for casual gaming, although this isn't something I have tried with them yet.
Do I regret my purchase? I did, at points (like when I was trying to get those flipping screws out . . .), but where they are now, they are fun and enjoyable. I will probably use them occasionally when I want that "big" sound.
Would I recommend them? Nope, not in a million years. Unless, of course, you want a project to mess around with and see what you can do with it. The driver is definitely interesting and isn't like the "standard" 40-50mm affair that's so common nowadays.
P.S. I have contacted the OKCSC store on AliExpress to see if they will sell those pads separately. I hope they will because raw foam pads like these aren't very durable. If not I might have to see if I can mod a set of GS1000 pads to work with these. Those probably won't sound the same, though, since the foam is shaped differently.
