[Slater]

@Slater

I got those Philips SHL3300 in today. Not going to lie, sound wise they are fantastic. Philips knows how to make headphones sound great. But comfort and build quality on these is pretty bad though. Besides sound, the only other good thing was that they were only $15 bucks. I am going to have to switch out the earpads at a minimum and bend the headband a bit as well for some comfort. This is because they clamp hardcore, the pads are on-ear rocks basically, and the cumulative effect feels like I put my head in a vise when I wear them. The lack of detachable cable with a horrible cable that is also a major turn off. Basically the only reason to buy these are for the potential by modding them. The drivers are freaking great. Everything else is ugh.

As you mentioned, the headband can be bent to make them any shape you want. That solves the vice issue. Swapping the pads solves the overall comfort and sound issue.

As far as the build quality, they are all plastic (as are most headphones) but I have had no issue with anything breaking. The plastic is thick and of good quality.

You're right, the fixed cable is a PITA. The 1st thing I figured out when modding them was to make the cable removable. Then you can put any cable on you want. The instructions for that are here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/rev...rrated-headphone.697813/page-12#post_13231408

 

[TheSunCommander]

I wanted to take Akai 50X, but the ear pads would cost me $40 because the shipping from US is super expensive (haven't found a seller outside the states).

The best deal I can get is ISK MDH9000 for $56.89 from Ali, but I'm slightly worried because one reviewer said he got a broken pair and the seller refused to refund him. All the other 9000 iterations either cost $20+ more or aren't available anymore.

 

[Slater]

I wanted to take Akai 50X, but the ear pads would cost me $40 because the shipping from US is super expensive (haven't found a seller outside the states).

The best deal I can get is ISK MDH9000 for $56.89 from Ali, but I'm slightly worried because one reviewer said he got a broken pair and the seller refused to refund him. All the other 9000 iterations either cost $20+ more or aren't available anymore.

You can get great premium quality pads on ebay and Aliexpress for $10. There's a ton of junk ones though (the ones that are $2-$3 in particular).

 

[TheSunCommander]

You can get great premium quality pads on ebay and Aliexpress for $10. There's a ton of junk ones though (the ones that are $2-$3 in particular).

I'm not really familiar with types and quality of ear pads. Can you please recommend something or tell me what I should be looking for?

 

[Slater]

I'm not really familiar with types and quality of ear pads. Can you please recommend something or tell me what I should be looking for?

Do you know what size you need? You have to start there, so you know what your options will be. The you can choose a pad.

As far as basic materials, the main types are leather (usually skeepskin), pleather (sometimes called protein leather, faux leather), velour, and sponge (such as on Grado). Then there are less common pads, such as hybrids (part velour, part pleather or leather), fabric (again usually a type of hybrid).

For size, you have various sizes expressed in millimeters. The headphone determines what size you can use (you usually measure the diameter of the earcup).

For shapes, they have numerous round, oval, teardrop, rectangular, square, trapezoid, bowl.

The foam used inside the pad is most commonly memory foam, low grade polyurethane foam, 'gel' material, acoustic sponge (such as Grado).

Someone feel free to jump in if I'm missing anything.

 

[peter123]

I wanted to take Akai 50X, but the ear pads would cost me $40 because the shipping from US is super expensive (haven't found a seller outside the states).

The best deal I can get is ISK MDH9000 for $56.89 from Ali, but I'm slightly worried because one reviewer said he got a broken pair and the seller refused to refund him. All the other 9000 iterations either cost $20+ more or aren't available anymore.

I've used seller Yaoyaotiger HIFI Audio Store for a few purchases before and fwiw it has always worked well.

For pads I'd suggest looking at the Brainwavz pads instead of paying expensive shipping for cheap pads from Amazon. I've also got a couple og pads from Aliexpress in the snail mail. They both look great on pictures but we won't know for sure until they arrive. If they're any good I'll let you guys know.

 

[larry piencenaves]

planning to buy this HP at the end of the month, anyone have this already? want to know if they really good.

https://www.amazon.com/LASMEX-Professional-Headphones-Resolution-Microphone/dp/B01N6H5XD5

 

[peter123]

planning to buy this HP at the end of the month, anyone have this already? want to know if they really good.

https://www.amazon.com/LASMEX-Professional-Headphones-Resolution-Microphone/dp/B01N6H5XD5

No but fwiw I researched them a couple of years ago and my findings at that time made me decide not to buy them. Unfortunately I can't remember why anymore......

 

[Pharmaboy]

I've used seller Yaoyaotiger HIFI Audio Store for a few purchases before and fwiw it has always worked well.

For pads I'd suggest looking at the Brainwavz pads instead of paying expensive shipping for cheap pads from Amazon. I've also got a couple og pads from Aliexpress in the snail mail. They both look great on pictures but we won't know for sure until they arrive. If they're any good I'll let you guys know.

Totally agree about Brainwavz pads. The ones that would be near-perfect for the Akai 50X (or any other ISK MDH9000 clones, for that matter) are the 100mm Brainwavz round pleathers. I had a pair (used for pad-rolling on Fideliio X2s) and was greatly impressed. Their build quality and dimensions are as close as you'll find to the stock pads of Marantz MPH-2s, LyxPro HAS-30s, and other ISK MDH9000 rebrands/closed. Not exactly the same, but very close.

Recently Brainwavz has had a promotion on their sheepskin rounds, marked down to roughly the same price as the pleather model: https://www.brainwavzaudio.com/coll...e-memory-foam-earpads-round-sheepskin-leather

(I don't even need these pads, but I'm so tempted to buy them anyway!).

 

[peter123]

Totally agree about Brainwavz pads. The ones that would be near-perfect for the Akai 50X (or any other ISK MDH9000 clones, for that matter) are the 100mm Brainwavz round pleathers. I had a pair (used for pad-rolling on Fideliio X2s) and was greatly impressed. Their build quality and dimensions are as close as you'll find to the stock pads of Marantz MPH-2s, LyxPro HAS-30s, and other ISK MDH9000 rebrands/closed. Not exactly the same, but very close.

Recently Brainwavz has had a promotion on their sheepskin rounds, marked down to roughly the same price as the pleather model: https://www.brainwavzaudio.com/coll...e-memory-foam-earpads-round-sheepskin-leather

(I don't even need these pads, but I'm so tempted to buy them anyway!).

Yeah, I've got a pair of those coming as well. Don't really know what headphones to use them with but I'm sure they'll work well with some if I do some testing.

It's a great price for a pair of genuine leather pads.

 

[Saoshyant]

That is awfully tempting, but I have zero need for them. I even have a spare pair of Ori pads, so can't really justify the purchase.

 

[Lurk650]

Just ordered the rounds for the hell of it. May put on the Lynx as they have the hybrid HM5 and they are my gaming set so they get annoying after a while

 

[Pedro Moreira]

Does anyone have a frequency response chart for the ISK HP-980? Couldn't find any yet.
Or maybe a good Equalizer APO config for them.

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

It seems like the Lasmex are a metal version of another ChiFi headphone...like the Sivga SV007...but metal?

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

planning to buy this HP at the end of the month, anyone have this already? want to know if they really good.

https://www.amazon.com/LASMEX-Professional-Headphones-Resolution-Microphone/dp/B01N6H5XD5

I know I would be happy if someone on Headfi got them and gave their impressions...I bet there are other people that are curious about these headphones and are waiting for someone to be the first...