[zolkis]

Looks good... it's pretty much similar to what I have. You can still shape the thick part, slightly trim off the outer-upper edges. I think if you put these into the pads, it will already make a difference - next is to get the 5mm felt dampers, and then - if you want - the cups damping at either 2 or 3mm felt. I only have 5mm and 3mm left.

 

[stjj89]

  Looks good... it's pretty much similar to what I have. You can still shape the thick part, slightly trim off the outer-upper edges. I think if you put these into the pads, it will already make a difference - next is to get the 5mm felt dampers, and then - if you want - the cups damping at either 2 or 3mm felt. I only have 5mm and 3mm left.

 
I might just re-do this on the last piece of foam I have, since one of the rings is already slightly over 75mm in inner diameter on some parts of the circle. I know you and playitloud warned against this, and I certainly don't want too hollow a sound.

 

[gurus]

Looking good.
 
I am waiting for the felt to arrive so I can do the whole mod without too much down time.

 

[zolkis]

   
I might just re-do this on the last piece of foam I have, since one of the rings is already slightly over 75mm in inner diameter on some parts of the circle. I know you and playitloud warned against this, and I certainly don't want too hollow a sound.

 
1 mm (76mm) won't make it hollow. I had to stretch to 80mm for that. I'd keep it this way, first listen to it as it is, then trim a bit the upper-outer edge. Your experiences with this one will help you make the second pair the way you will like it. 

 

[stjj89]

I decided to just go ahead with the stuffing and see how it works out.
 

 

 
I noticed that the faux-leather exterior now clings on much more loosely onto the white ring because the carbon foam isn't as thick as the stock foam. Also, when I wear the cans now, I can feel some excess faux-leather material bunching on the sides of the pads. Is that to be expected?

I actually find that these modded pads fit a little better since they aren't bulging out as much as the stock pads. I have large-ish ears, so the tip of my left ear now touches the damper, but it doesn't bother me. I'll report back to see if this changes after an extended listening session.
 
As far as the sonic effects of the earpad mod go, I definitely noticed that the mids are now more forward and in-your-face. In fact, the upper mids and lower treble seem to be a lot more forward too. No more recessed mids now, these sound more natural and balanced now, and vocals are definitely more engaging and easier to follow. Also, I am noticing slightly increased treble clarity and sparkle, probably because of the removal of the mesh cloth. I don't think the bass has changed very much--it just seems less overemphasized because of the bringing forward of the mids.
 
If there's anything I'd like to tweak, it might be to have the mids be a wee bit less forward. I might just need a day or two to get used to this new sound signature though.

 

[zolkis]

Ok, the direction is good. If after doing the full mod you still find it too forward, either make a tiny bit higher pads, especially in the front, meaning less angle, or put a 2mm felt ring under the carbon pads. While waiting for the felt, you can now make the other pads, 105/75 mm, 12mm high in the back and 10mm in the front. You can later trim it as needed, but it seems you will like this more.

 

[stjj89]

Ok, the direction is good. If after doing the full mod you still find it too forward, either make a tiny bit higher pads, especially in the front, meaning less angle, or put a 2mm felt ring under the carbon pads. While waiting for the felt, you can now make the other pads, 105/75 mm, 12mm high in the back and 10mm in the front. You can later trim it as needed, but it seems you will like this more.

 
Ok, I'll probably get to making these tomorrow. Thanks for the advice!

 

[stjj89]

Also, I'm not sure if you saw my comments on the "loose fit" of the leather over the carbon foam, but is that normal?

 

[Whazzzup]

 

Lawton:
- pads alone: bad idea
- pads + dampening: never tried, lemme know if you do
- pads + mods + cups (both bigger and different woods): a much better than stock TH-900
- pads + mods + really big cups from other source: not as good as with the Lawton cups, sound was off. I believe Mark found the right size cups for the Fostex Denon/Fostex phones and together with his dampening and pads the result is as good as I ever heard it.
- Lawton cables: no idea yet, will know in about a month.

FWIW + IMO

Really helpful post!

Ill throw in now on what black scorpian cable upgrade does without dampening or cups. It seems one needs to cable burn in for a few tens of hours and really notice a throaty muscular soundstage. If bass overhang wasnt an issue it may be now , unless your a supreme bass head, after this mod.
Now as i stated i cant a/b this so memory is an issue and im at my cottage so using hugo only as a source which has a tight kicking bass to begin with. I think with this cable i need to dampen and cup. Well that was a can of worms to open. Im enjoying but i listen to lots of well produced sub bass and bass type music so i think the cable cranked up what i like. Maybe when i get back to my a8 which adds a bit more debth mid and high tonality, ill feel different. Looking forward to folks views on this. I may have to go whole hog.

 

[goropeza]

  Also, I'm not sure if you saw my comments on the "loose fit" of the leather over the carbon foam, but is that normal?

Im sorry dude, I just have to tell you this once.....but your avatar gets me EVERY screwin time! Every time I see it I chuckle a little inside.

 

[stjj89]

  Im sorry dude, I just have to tell you this once.....but your avatar gets me EVERY screwin time! Every time I see it I chuckle a little inside.

 
lol, completely off-topic but THAT'S EXACTLY WHY I CHOSE IT! I'm glad it made someone smile

 

[zolkis]

  Also, I'm not sure if you saw my comments on the "loose fit" of the leather over the carbon foam, but is that normal?

 
Certainly . The filling is smaller now... actually if one would make the leather part tight around it would matter a bit but not that much; what matters more is the mass/volume/structure of the filling. It is funny that if you add a thin layer of softer foam on top in order to fill it, would change the sound too much. You can try it . However, @playitloud liked the filling with the 2mm tick 105/75 white felt rings below the carbon foam rings. That made it a bit higher, and the felt fills in some midbass. However, IMO it sounds cleaner without the felt. So the loose fit of the leather seems to be the lesser issue. I tried to trim the leather part of my 007 pads, and that was hell of a work to get right (pictures in the Stax thread) - and the 009 pads worked better anyway.

 

[katulu]

Can anyone do me a big favor and get me the white wool felts detailed in the original post? I can pay you the price, shipping to USA, and a service fee. PM me?
 
"- 5 mm thick wool felt from meervilt.nl, the white (important!) color; 2 pcs 73 mm diameter disks
- 2 mm thick white wool felt from meervilt.nl; you need 2 pcs 73mm diameter disks"

 

[Sweetmeat]

zolkis, I've been reading this thread and found it very interesting, I recently performed the Lawton basic mod on my TH600. My impressions are here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/748434/dampening-modifications-to-fostex-th600-headphones
 
You have compared your mod to the Lawton mod and deemed it superior, and I haven't A/B'ed the two so what do I know, but your mod omits one important upgrade that my Lawton mod covers very well: the Lawton mod stops the ringing that emanates from the concentric rings behind the magnet.
 
The next time you have you cups off, try tapping those rings and you will see what I mean. The result of eliminating this ringing effect is a cleaner upper midrange and treble, and a blacker background. I think that the problems some folks are having with the TH600/TH900 treble may originate from this ringing.
 
I'm surprised, given your propensity to mod, you haven't addressed the ringing, along with all that other stuff. I don't believe it would interfere with your other mods, but again what do I know. It seems like a low-risk no-brainer to me because that ringing is 100% distortion.

 

[stjj89]

Just finished the full mod! Thanks a ton to @zolkis  for the advice and @playitloud  for sending me his extra materials.
 

 

 
 
I haven't had time to experiment with different materials and measurements, so i just went with the recommend configuration. I am listening to them as we speak, and wow, I am definitely noticing

1. Tighter, cleaner, more extended bass
2. More open sound
3. More extended, detailed upper midrange and treble (I'm hearing more details now!)
4. Much more forward midrange that is in line with the bass and treble

 
The mids seem a little shoutier and have a slight hollow-ness about them. I might want to fine tune this a little bit to relax the midrange a bit and add some lushness to it, but I'm going to give my brain some time to get adjusted to this sound before I act on it. I definitely think the Fostex has taken a step up with these mods.
 
Also, I noticed that the carbon foam that @playitloud sent me are noticeably denser and blacker than the Chinese carbon foam that I bought off eBay. I wasn't too anal about the measurements, but they were about 100-105mm in outer diameter, and 70-75mm in inner diamter. I trimmed them a bit to get them to match before using them. I can't comment about the difference in sound brought about by this carbon foam swap alone, but the added density of this foams makes the pads feel better against my ears and prevents my ears from touching the drivers. This form and comfort factor is a definite win for me. For those looking into buying carbon foam for this mod, get the one from the UK seller on amazon recommended in the original post--I definitely prefer it. Hopefully, someone can find a similar foam that is more available and cheaper in the US