[Lookout57]

Be nice to tone down the bass a little more. I prefer the XL pads for comfort and everything but the cloth pads has the least bass.

The OCC silver cable does tone the bass down a touch and opens the mids and highs. I also prefer the XL pads. This combo gives a smooth balanced sound.

 

[Neweymatt]

Be nice to tone down the bass a little more. I prefer the XL pads for comfort and everything but the cloth pads has the least bass.

Yeah, and the cloth pads don't isolate near as well either (of course).

They're fine for at home, but I made the mistake of forgetting to swap back to the leather pads on the train once, never again.

 

[gordec]

I think if there is a hybrid leather and cloth type of pad like in Susvara, etc you may get enough bass attenuation without too much sound leaks as the all cloth pads. Hopefully someone can come out with one.

 

[gordec]

Removed the white filter on the XL leather pads today. I like the overall result. Is there a little drop in the lower mids? That's kind of how I feel. It may be the overall resonance change.

 

[rudbeard]

Removed the white filter on the XL leather pads today. I like the overall result. Is there a little drop in the lower mids? That's kind of how I feel. It may be the overall resonance change.

I got a second set of pads to try de-filtering them and I'm not brave enough to do it.

 

[gordec]

I got a second set of pads to try de-filtering them and I'm not brave enough to do it.

It's very straight forward actually. It's sticky enough to put back. When you remove them, put them on one of those slippery back pieces that come with stickers, so you don't lose any stickiness. I actually put them back because I felt it loss some mids along with the bass.

 

[Shane D]

Added a new DAC to my chain and wanted to revisit my low impedance tube amp (MAD EAR+ HDII). Went all yesterday with my Grado GH2's and every thing sounded Great.
Today I decided to insert my Schiit Loki into the chain. Grado's can always use a bit of bass.

Sounded very good but when I got a 70's playlist it sounded a bit noisy.

I decided to switch up headphones and grabbed the Cascades. Wow! I had to immediate turn off the Loki. WAY too much bass. The sound was incredibly clear compared to the Grado's. And my bassiest headphones vs my most bass-lite headphones was kind of amusing. That 70's rock is just kickin' now.

These really are impressive. Tomorrow I have a "planar off" planned for the rest of the week so I will put these aside for a while.

Don't use these for a week or two and you forget how good they are. And they sound really good out of this chain:
Laptop to Bifrost 2 to MAD Ear+ HDII to Cascades.

 

[Ruprit]

I'm wondering if there was a silent revision to the headband of the Cascades or to the ZMF Pilot Pads.

My Cascades were purchased this year(they're wonderful btw) and a new ZMF Suede Pilot Pad arrived today and it doesn't fit, at all. No biggie though since I have been perfectly happy with one of those wool knitted headband covers and XL Pads.

 

[Overclocked11]

Finally got around to adding a better quality cable to my setup and have to say, its made a much larger impact than I would have expected.

Spent the last few days a/bing between my previous cable (a fairly low budget hybrid cable I grabbed from someone off of Reddit). That cable still did better than stock cable I found, with more controlled bass and better imaging, without doing much favorable to the soundstage, and even less for the highs, which came off as a bit shrill in some tracks.

Enter in the Ultimate Pure Silver from Lavricable and what an improvement. I know cables can be a touchy subject and many out there think that there is little worthwhile difference between cables sonically, which is perfectly fine and not looking to start any debates on it here.

What's most obvious is the largely increased sense of space. I wouldn't expect for a closeback to sound this wide just from using a different cable, but it really has opened up the staging and presentation and reaches deeper into the cups, particularly the low end.
What I did expect and is surely present is the improved highs. Much smoother with more detail.. just a far more refined sound. Mids are mostly similar in my experience, but I do notice a bit better presence with vocals.
The only thing that I would say is that in some tracks drums feel like they have a bit less slam and sit a bit further back in the mix than before. Not massively so, and in other tracks its more subtle, but still I would say a bit of a drawback.
One other thing I was worried about was the potential of losing some of the bass, but really I feel like its all still there, just presented differently. It too has lost a bit of slam going from the hybrid cable, but still digs every bit as deep and is now more omnipresent (again, due to the increased soundstage).

the construction of the cable itself is excellent. Its a bit more on the rigid side than I would prefer, but that would be my only real criticism of its makeup.

Very pleased, and glad that it finally arrived.. took over 6 weeks in the end to get to me!

 

[carboncopy]

I'm wondering if there was a silent revision to the headband of the Cascades or to the ZMF Pilot Pads.

My Cascades were purchased this year(they're wonderful btw) and a new ZMF Suede Pilot Pad arrived today and it doesn't fit, at all. No biggie though since I have been perfectly happy with one of those wool knitted headband covers and XL Pads.

I bought my pilots last summer and only one of them was somehow fitting, but that was suboptimal too...

 

[Lookout57]

Finally got around to adding a better quality cable to my setup and have to say, its made a much larger impact than I would have expected.



Spent the last few days a/bing between my previous cable (a fairly low budget hybrid cable I grabbed from someone off of Reddit). That cable still did better than stock cable I found, with more controlled bass and better imaging, without doing much favorable to the soundstage, and even less for the highs, which came off as a bit shrill in some tracks.

Enter in the Ultimate Pure Silver from Lavricable and what an improvement. I know cables can be a touchy subject and many out there think that there is little worthwhile difference between cables sonically, which is perfectly fine and not looking to start any debates on it here.

What's most obvious is the largely increased sense of space. I wouldn't expect for a closeback to sound this wide just from using a different cable, but it really has opened up the staging and presentation and reaches deeper into the cups, particularly the low end.
What I did expect and is surely present is the improved highs. Much smoother with more detail.. just a far more refined sound. Mids are mostly similar in my experience, but I do notice a bit better presence with vocals.
The only thing that I would say is that in some tracks drums feel like they have a bit less slam and sit a bit further back in the mix than before. Not massively so, and in other tracks its more subtle, but still I would say a bit of a drawback.
One other thing I was worried about was the potential of losing some of the bass, but really I feel like its all still there, just presented differently. It too has lost a bit of slam going from the hybrid cable, but still digs every bit as deep and is now more omnipresent (again, due to the increased soundstage).

the construction of the cable itself is excellent. Its a bit more on the rigid side than I would prefer, but that would be my only real criticism of its makeup.

Very pleased, and glad that it finally arrived.. took over 6 weeks in the end to get to me!

I have a similar experience with the DHC Molecule Elite 4-wire Silver balanced.

 

[Overclocked11]

I have a similar experience with the DHC Molecule Elite 4-wire Silver balanced.

Nice! Have you been using that cable for a time and did you get it new or used?

Lavricable suggests that you burn in the cable for minimum 150 hours.
I admit I'm a bit skeptical of any real benefits from burn in on silver cables.. curious if you experienced any notable difference with your cable over the months?

 

[Malevolent]

I bought my pilots last summer and only one of them was somehow fitting, but that was suboptimal too...

I got my Pilot Pad to fit the TH900 Mk2, the headphone in my collection with the thinnest headband. I haven't tried attaching them to the Cascade, but given the latter's thicker band, I'd wager that it'd be a struggle to fit.

 

[Lookout57]

Nice! Have you been using that cable for a time and did you get it new or used?

Lavricable suggests that you burn in the cable for minimum 150 hours.
I admit I'm a bit skeptical of any real benefits from burn in on silver cables.. curious if you experienced any notable difference with your cable over the months?

I bought it new and have already more than 150 hours on it.

I just picked up the Prion4 for my MDR-Z1R and have been burning it in when I'm not using it.

 

[Overclocked11]

I bought it new and have already more than 150 hours on it.

I just picked up the Prion4 for my MDR-Z1R and have been burning it in when I'm not using it.

Do you find that its made any notable improvements? Or if anything more that its just changed over time in certain ways, not necessarily improving, just changing..