[VilMo]

With the lambskin Brainwavz pads and/or HM5 velour angled pads?

They are terrible. I hate it.

I use zmf omni pads. I just thought I'd help by putting them on and posting pics.

Yes, the size on the pics looks quite a bit bigger than the original pads so the sound must be quite far from optimal. Thanks.

 

[fjrabon]

  #SoundTown
 
Thanks for reply and vid link !,
 
Just now looked at fotos on the RMAF Impressions thread and can make out 5 of the 8 woods - Teak, Rosewood, Ebony, Mahogany and Purpleheart exactly as you said.
 
2 or 3 of the other woods just dunno, not sure...one is very light, & one or two very close to the mahogany color. These may be different woods, or possibly lighter/darker variations of teak and mahogany. Best guess is those are a light Ash, dark Ash and Jasper maybe. I should email Chan; he probably is too busy right now fitting in RMAF among his schedule.

The light one is a maple with a custom finish he uses, I have seen it before and he only sources maple with extremely dense ring patterns for it.  It's not garden variety american maple.

 

[luvmusik]

Thank You !

 

[ProfFalkin]

Here are my E-MU Teak ear pad rolling notes.  Copied pasted from a txt file I was keeping.  I thought it might help others.
 

1. Shure 1540 Alcantara - Comfortable.  Treble gets harsh. Bass still good.  Put toilet paper behind mesh to tame highs but mids became muffled.  Easy fit.  slides around ring easily.
2. 1840 pads - Soft.  Comfortable.  Bass is wrong, severe decrease.  Sadness.  Treble harsh.  Bad.
3. HM5 angled velour - See also:  1840 pads.  Better sound stage by a little bit, I guess.
4. HM5 non-angled velour -   Again, velour = bad.  
5. Brainwavz lambskin - Bass is back.  Treble harsh again, not as much as 1840 though.  Comfortable.  Mids are ok-ish.  TP mod helps, mids less muffled than 1540?       
6. ZMF Omni Pads - Bass = good, has impact, maybe slightest drop in quantity?  Mids good.  Treble not bright, but more than oem.  Comfortable.  Big black ear pillows.  Best so far.  Hardest to put on.  Best imaging and soundstage, really opened up    !!Winner
7. Alpha pads - Bigger not better.  bass depth good, but starting to lose impact?  treble between zmf and 1540.  too far away from head?  not quite right.  Better than BW lambskin
8. OEM pads - best sound.  less soundstage than zmf.  ear hole too small.   great foam though.  hot
9. ZMF Vibro Pads - much like omni.  hard to tell the 2 apart, visually or by ear.  putting them back on vibro.
10. BW Angled pleather - doesnt sound right. Less bass? Hollow.  =(   treble better than 1540, worse than alpha

 
Omni pads win.

 

[AT Khan]

Here are my E-MU Teak ear pad rolling notes.  Copied pasted from a txt file I was keeping.  I thought it might help others.

• Shure 1540 Alcantara - Comfortable.  Treble gets harsh. Bass still good.  Put toilet paper behind mesh to tame highs but mids became muffled.  Easy fit.  slides around ring easily.
• 1840 pads - Soft.  Comfortable.  Bass is wrong, severe decrease.  Sadness.  Treble harsh.  Bad.
• HM5 angled velour - See also:  1840 pads.  Better sound stage by a little bit, I guess.
• HM5 non-angled velour -   Again, velour = bad.  
• Brainwavz lambskin - Bass is back.  Treble harsh again, not as much as 1840 though.  Comfortable.  Mids are ok-ish.  TP mod helps, mids less muffled than 1540?       
• ZMF Omni Pads - Bass = good, has impact, maybe slightest drop in quantity?  Mids good.  Treble not bright, but more than oem.  Comfortable.  Big black ear pillows.  Best so far.  Hardest to put on.  Best imaging and soundstage, really opened up    !!Winner
• Alpha pads - Bigger not better.  bass depth good, but starting to lose impact?  treble between zmf and 1540.  too far away from head?  not quite right.  Better than BW lambskin
• OEM pads - best sound.  less soundstage than zmf.  ear hole too small.   great foam though.  hot
• ZMF Vibro Pads - much like omni.  hard to tell the 2 apart, visually or by ear.  putting them back on vibro.
• BW Angled pleather - doesnt sound right. Less bass? Hollow.  =(   treble better than 1540, worse than alpha

Omni pads win.

I have almost similar views on hm5 sheepskin. Overall the bass decreased a bit for me. Yeah i prefer stock pads. And yeah i was actually thinking omni may just win. Thanks for letting us know.

 

[Dalanor]

I'm kind of torn beetween those and the Fostex TH-X00. From what i've read, the Fostex have more bass and that's a point that matters to me. If i were to choose the E-MU, what wood should i pick to get the most bass ? Would it be close to a Fostex then ? There's also the fact that i can only have the Fostex used and i'm a little bit reluctant to buy used headphones.
 
What's your advice on this ? Thanks.

 

[ProfFalkin]

I'm kind of torn beetween those and the Fostex TH-X00. From what i've read, the Fostex have more bass and that's a point that matters to me. If i were to choose the E-MU, what wood should i pick to get the most bass ? Would it be close to a Fostex then ? There's also the fact that i can only have the Fostex used and i'm a little bit reluctant to buy used headphones.

What's your advice on this ? Thanks.

I got a chance to compare my Teak vs PH and there was almost no difference in bass. To put that into perspective, a FR graph might show a difference, but I could not detect it. The treble was slightly brighter on the PH, which I noticed, and I prefer my Teak because of it.

 

[SoundTown]

Ooh look at what I got slightly over a week ago *wink*

 
Yes, I’ve finally joined the club, and I went with the Teak cups. The exclusivity won me over more than anything, really.
And here’s some extra stuff Chan’s sent my way to try out too. I’m pretty sure I have to return these to him at some point but for now, they’re with me.

 
Left to right: Mahogany, Rosewood, Purpleheart
 
I’m pretty sure I got the woods correct. Hopefully.
Initially, Chan told me he’d only be loaning me the Rosewood and Ebony cups, but evidently, the Ebony’s missing. I assume no Ebony cups were sent to me because there just weren’t any to loan so he’s sent me the other two woods Fostex has adopted instead. I really was just a bit too excited to ask too many questions while we were on the phone (or maybe it was that I was at work and didn’t want to get too caught up with chattering, maybe).
 
Anyway, initial impressions are extremely positive. Bass is not overwhelming but has excellent presence. I’d say bass is the best aspect of the sound – deep, controlled yet thick, seems to have some of the best low-end at its price category. However, do keep in mind I have not tried the DT1770, TH-X00, TH-600/610, or any of the MrSpeakers T50RP mods.
Also based on early impressions, I might be leaning towards wishing the mids and treble had a bit more edge or bite. Will have to get used to the Teaks to find out if I’m just not used to the sound, since I had been using the Future Sonics Atrio MG7 as my primary IEM before the Teak arrived, and the Atrio MG7 can be considered a bit bright and splashy on top of its bombastic bass.
Would also keep in mind the fact that swapping to the Rosewood cups might fix this perceived problem, since the Rosewood is denser and thicker than the Teak cups and would presumably trap in more treble/mid energy.
Overall, very positive about the headphone.
Recently, I got to try the headphone I’d say is my personal ideal, the Beyerdynamic T5P, but as of my current impressions, the Teak comes in as a second with minor comparative compromises (for a significantly lower price).
As of right now, I will aboard the hype train for this headphone – I’m liking it a lot.
 
Disclosure: I bought the E-MU Teak direct from E-MU Systems in Singapore, not at retail. I paid an amount I will not disclose, though do keep in mind I did buy the headphones and will be keeping them for personal use. I am not an employee of Creative or any of its subsidiaries, including E-MU Systems, and I am not affiliated with either in any way.
The extra wooden cups were sent to me by Chan personally to test. I will most probably be returning them after I've tested them.

 

[Dalanor]

I got a chance to compare my Teak vs PH and there was almost no difference in bass. To put that into perspective, a FR graph might show a difference, but I could not detect it. The treble was slightly brighter on the PH, which I noticed, and I prefer my Teak because of it.

 
Do you mean you compared your emu teak with a TH-X00 with purpleheart cups, or the two different cups on the same emu headphone ?

 

[ProfFalkin]

Do you mean you compared your emu teak with a TH-X00 with purpleheart cups, or the two different cups on the same emu headphone ?

Teak vs. ThX00 PH.

 

[Dalanor]

Ok, thank you

 

[SoundTown]

Just swapped out the Teak cups for the Rosewood Chan sent my way, and the difference is more apparent than I would’ve initially thought.
Rosewood sounds crisper, faster, more energetic. However, perhaps separation takes a hit, and I’m not sure if sub-bass is less pronounced.
The Teak, on the other hand, is super mellow and relaxed, but mids in particular are noticeably more recessed and diffused. Relaxing, liquid, rich, like honey-dipped chocolate.
Not sure which I like more to be honest, but I’ll continue listening.
Giving it some extra thought, in the IEM world, the Teak cups overall sound more like the Audio Technica ATH-IM70, while the Rosewood sounds like the ATH-E40. Not sure if this is a helpful comparison for those who can’t try the Teak / TH-X00 but hey, I try.
Also, side note relating to the discussion on swapping out wood cups, I now understand better what the kerfuffle is about… To add my 2 cents, I think using a magnetic screwdriver might help the operation go smoother, and definitely do what another user has said, which is to always hold the headphone with the cups pointing towards the ground while unscrewing. Common sense-esk, but good to always remember.

 

[JazzJackRabbit]

FYI massdrop drop is live again. This time with detachable cable at $50 premium. Limited to 200 units. Fixed cable version is sadly not available. Get'em now if you want.

 

[XtT]

You can email chan for a fixed cable version I believe: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/e-mu-teak-headphones/talk/558360

 

[AT Khan]

Yes. $499 plus shipping if anyonewants em. Rosewood or Team. Extra $20 for ebony cups.