[carlove]

  as in removing the "felt" material?

Exactly, spot on!

 

[carlove]

 
 They sound extremely well balanced as is but can't comment or quantify the soundstage width. I think you've changed the reverberation and made them V-shaped; it won't be balanced anymore because the lows have slower decay, so it could sound bloated. That's just my speculation what happened; correct me if I'm wrong.

Yeah, it's a whole different sound alright. Right now the only thing that does sound a bit overwhelming is the hi-hat, but then again with my older headphones the hi-hat was never that outspoken. If I listen to the whole picture it still sounds balanced (in terms of one instrument/voice/noise overpowering the other). 

 

[BobMonkhouse]

It just proves once again how different our ears/brains are, and in this respect how difficult is to make the BEST universal headphones for everybody. I have a Denon DN-HP700 which I think is one of the most underrated cans. With a clean source, it's extremely balanced with good imaging, smooth transition and amount of bass and mids, and polite highs. Eventually, I bought velour pads for it (made for this model). I couldn't listen to them even five minutes with the new pads. The highs became unbearable, the bass and mids were completely gone. The only difference was the velours were thicker making more room between the ear and the driver. The amazing thing was that I tried the velours based on a comment here by somebody who'd liked the sound with them.

 

[XERO1]

  I have a Denon DN-HP700 which I think is one of the most underrated cans. With a clean source, it's extremely balanced with good imaging, smooth transition and amount of bass and mids, and polite highs. Eventually, I bought velour pads for it (made for this model). I couldn't listen to them even five minutes with the new pads. The highs became unbearable, the bass and mids were completely gone. The only difference was the velours were thicker making more room between the ear and the driver. The amazing thing was that I tried the velours based on a comment here by somebody who'd liked the sound with them.

I had a nearly identical experience when I tried out a set of aftermarket velour pads with my ATH-M50's.
 
While everything became initially more "clear" sounding, after about 5-10 minutes, the upper mids and highs began to sound unbearably harsh and fatiguing.
 
Sent the velour pads back the next day.
 
That experience taught me how dramatically a change can be made to the SQ of a headphone just by changing something as seemingly benign as earpads.

 

[Bark Snarly]

Man, it's a close fight between the pm-3 and mm400's, they each have things I prefer...
 
Pm-3 looks nicer on the head due to the even lower profile (mostly the headband, the mm400 curves outwards a little bit while the pm-3 stays closer to the head) and stays there more firmly too thanks to the higher clamping force but still remains comfortable thanks to the really plush cups but the mm400 looks nicer when off the head due to the gorgeous wooden cups and is just as comfortable (maybe a slight edge to comfort for me although they do have shallower cups than the pm-3 for people bothered by their ears touching the baffle) with its lighter clamping force and really lovely feeling pleather (which does feel nicer than the pm-3 leather).
 
Accessories wise the pm-3 only came with a 3m cable here in aus but I've contacted oppo and they're sending me a 1.2m cable for free as well as including them for free on future shipments of the pm-3 here in aus due to customer feedback which is awesome. They also come with a nice little cable bag and a pretty excellent hard case to stare the headphones in. Mm400's on the other hand come with two 1.2m cables out of the box and a rather disappointing soft bag to store the headphones in although as far as soft bags go, it is one of the nicer ones I've felt. The cables on the pm-3 feel MUCH more sturdy though.
 
Pm-3's fold flat in either direction too which is slightly preferable for me as opposed to the mm400's which fold into a ball. I prefer flat folding because as a uni student I always have books in my bag so the flat folding headphones fit in my bag with them more nicely. They both feel really, really well built though, absolutely no complaints with build quality either way although I'd say the mm400's have more of a luxurious feel to them.
 
Still trying out the pm-3's for sound but I'll write up a full sound comparison once I'm sure I've gotten used to the sound and there can't be any complaints about burning in or whatever. They both sound excellent though, I'd definitely be very happy with either.

 

[Romani]

  Man, it's a close fight between the pm-3 and mm400's, they each have things I prefer...
 
Pm-3 looks nicer on the head due to the even lower profile (mostly the headband, the mm400 curves outwards a little bit while the pm-3 stays closer to the head) and stays there more firmly too thanks to the higher clamping force but still remains comfortable thanks to the really plush cups but the mm400 looks nicer when off the head due to the gorgeous wooden cups and is just as comfortable (maybe a slight edge to comfort for me although they do have shallower cups than the pm-3 for people bothered by their ears touching the baffle) with its lighter clamping force and really lovely feeling pleather (which does feel nicer than the pm-3 leather).
 
Accessories wise the pm-3 only came with a 3m cable here in aus but I've contacted oppo and they're sending me a 1.2m cable for free as well as including them for free on future shipments of the pm-3 here in aus due to customer feedback which is awesome. They also come with a nice little cable bag and a pretty excellent hard case to stare the headphones in. Mm400's on the other hand come with two 1.2m cables out of the box and a rather disappointing soft bag to store the headphones in although as far as soft bags go, it is one of the nicer ones I've felt. The cables on the pm-3 feel MUCH more sturdy though.
 
Pm-3's fold flat in either direction too which is slightly preferable for me as opposed to the mm400's which fold into a ball. I prefer flat folding because as a uni student I always have books in my bag so the flat folding headphones fit in my bag with them more nicely. They both feel really, really well built though, absolutely no complaints with build quality either way although I'd say the mm400's have more of a luxurious feel to them.
 
Still trying out the pm-3's for sound but I'll write up a full sound comparison once I'm sure I've gotten used to the sound and there can't be any complaints about burning in or whatever. They both sound excellent though, I'd definitely be very happy with either.

Looking forward to your sound comparisons.

 

[provision]

Having had the MM400s for well over a month now I am still very happy with the way they sound. Just great!
 
BUT… I am getting increasingly annoyed by their poor isolation from outside noise and the really bad microphonics when anything touches the cable or ear cups. If I'm lying down while listening I find myself holding my breath to avoid the ear cups rubbing against the pillow or the cable moving against my clothes. If I'm sitting at my desk I find myself leaning forward to make sure the cable doesn't touch my body. Nuts. So I guess I'll keep searching for something that sounds as great as the MM400 but does not have its weaknesses…

 

[Romani]

Having had the MM400s for well over a month now I am still very happy with the way they sound. Just great!

BUT… I am getting increasingly annoyed by their poor isolation from outside noise and the really bad microphonics when anything touches the cable or ear cups. If I'm lying down while listening I find myself holding my breath to avoid the ear cups rubbing against the pillow or the cable moving against my clothes. If I'm sitting at my desk I find myself leaning forward to make sure the cable doesn't touch my body. Nuts. So I guess I'll keep searching for something that sounds as great as the MM400 but does not have its weaknesses…

Isolation issues aside, your other main issue should be fixed through a cable replacement.

 

[provision]

Isolation issues aside, your other main issue should be fixed through a cable replacement.

Yeah a better cable would likely improve things, though not the "pillow scraping against the ear cups" problem. I checked back in the thread but couldn't find any confirmation of a replacement cable that fits (other than the one you have to put under the knife).

 

[Romani]

I suspect this will fit too without mods. I have read on Amazon it is a good quality cable but no idea who it's made by.

 

[adamgbiggs]

Hi all, I'm new here (been a reader for a while), just a quick question, is there anyone here using the MM400 with Denons own DA-300USB DAC? If so how well does it drive these headphones?

Many thanks,
Adam.

 

[Romani]

So I took the plunge. Couldn't wait any longer. Will let you know how i go. Expected delivery from ebay is 24 April.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00OQVYTWY/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1428842680&sr=8-1&keywords=Denon+3.5+cable&pi=AC_SX200_QL40&dpPl=1&dpID=515vkkqsXfL&ref=plSrch

 

[adamgbiggs]

I have also took the plunge and ordered these, though I won't have them just yet as I can't pay for them all at once so they will sit at my dealers till there paid for lol, the suspense!

Really looking forward to them, my first set of premium headphones, in fact the only headphones I own are a pair of £20 Sennhieser CX 300 in ear's that I use with my i6, so the day I get my MM400's to use with my Denon DA-300 DAC things should sound so very diferent indeed.

Can't wait

Adam.

 

[carlove]

Has anyone found a different cable for these headphones? And does it also improve on said cable?

 

[Steve_72]

I auditioned these for a good amount of time a few days ago and was highly impressed. I walked into my local headphone retailer with the intention to audition the Audeze EL-8 amongst a few other offerings but surprisingly enough, spent the most time with the MM400. I've never thought too highly of closed or portable headphones before and casually picked up the MM400 - not expecting much out of them, but lo and behold they were actually quite impressive. More refined and balanced than the Master & Dynamic MH40 (which I was hoping to like more than I actually did), ATH-M70x and B&O H6. Seriously contemplating whether or not to go back and pick them up now...
 
Only qualm is that I wish the cable was more robust and less flimsy.