[innaterebel]

Are the sound differences between Purple Heart and Mahogany alleged to come from just the change in wood? Or are there changes in the drivers or the shape of the chamber or port?

@WillBright had replied it is just the woods in the Massdrop discussion. Don't know if he has talked about the chamber shape later.
 
EDIT: Embedded the link to the reply.

 

[MWSVette]

  I hate this website, been lurking for a long time, finally decided to join and in about 45 days I've spent just a tad under $2000 on headphones and equipment. Bought the Teak's, Purplehearts and just bought K7xx off someone here and THX00's from another Headfi'er, but question...
 
The TH-X00's ear-pads are generally comfy BUT apparently I have large ears because they start hurting my cartilage after about an hour of use.  I'm just now starting to go through pages of reading when backers got their headphones, did anyone find a good replacement pad for those of us with dumbo ears that doesn't hurt the sound signature?

I had the same problem.  I went with the Alpha Pads and they are far more comfortable than stock.
 
As far as sound signature if there is any change it is nominal.

 

[innaterebel]

I hate this website, been lurking for a long time, finally decided to join and in about 45 days I've spent just a tad under $2000 on headphones and equipment. Bought the Teak's, Purplehearts and just bought K7xx off someone here and THX00's from another Headfi'er, but question...

The TH-X00's ear-pads are generally comfy BUT apparently I have large ears because they start hurting my cartilage after about an hour of use.  I'm just now starting to go through pages of reading when backers got their headphones, did anyone find a good replacement pad for those of us with dumbo ears that doesn't hurt the sound signature?

If you are not in the spirit of experimenting, the Alpha Pads have been the most recommended for comfort and have relatively positive changes to the sound (there don't seem to be pads sound exactly like the stock ones).
Other popular choices include Brainwavz's non-velour one (forget angled or flat), Denon's for the AH-DX000 series, and those of TH900/600.

Try searching some of these in the thread should give you an idea.

 

[muffins]

I hate this website, been lurking for a long time, finally decided to join and in about 45 days I've spent just a tad under $2000 on headphones and equipment. Bought the Teak's, Purplehearts and just bought K7xx off someone here and THX00's from another Headfi'er, but question...

Welcome to Head-fi, sorry about your wallet ^_^

 

[OddballStream]

I had the same problem.  I went with the Alpha Pads and they are far more comfortable than stock.

As far as sound signature if there is any change it is nominal.

Rock and roll, I may do that,they look extremely comfortable and seem to have high recommendation.

If you are not in the spirit of experimenting, the Alpha Pads have been the most recommended for comfort and have relatively positive changes to the sound (there don't seem to be pads sound exactly like the stock ones).
Other popular choices include Brainwavz's non-velour one (forget angled or flat), Denon's for the AH-DX000 series, and those of TH900/600.

Try searching some of these in the thread should give you an idea.

Thank you, like everything I'll probably just end up reading all the past posts or skimming, I take a long time to make a decision but when I do it usually casecades (thus buying 4 headphones at once)

Welcome to Head-fi, sorry about your wallet ^_^

ha, thank you!I'm not done yet, I have been eyeing the 400i's for a long time and they seem to hover between $260 - $300, I'm wondering if those will give me a soundstage like the HD598's with a little better oomph to the bass.

 

[Whitigir]

I use Brainwavz angled and it is awesome

 

[Sonic Defender]

I use Brainwavz angled and it is awesome

I have some of these pads, maybe when my TH 600 gets here I'll try them, but I would think they make the bass even more prominent which is not what you would want. And I found the HM5s on my ATH WS99BT made the sound a little recessed, specifically vocals which made sense as the drivers were now further from the ears. So what do you think the HM5 improves, and technically what about the design of the HM5 pads do you think accounts for this difference?

 

[Whitigir]

I have some of these pads, maybe when my TH 600 gets here I'll try them, but I would think they make the bass even more prominent which is not what you would want. And I found the HM5s on my ATH WS99BT made the sound a little recessed, specifically vocals which made sense as the drivers were now further from the ears. So what do you think the HM5 improves, and technically what about the design of the HM5 pads do you think accounts for this difference?

Try these tweaks, go through it and you may find something useful for your 600

http://www.head-fi.org/t/802704/th-900-fostex-ez-simple-mods-and-other-fostex-dynamic-variants-x00-denon-more-bass-mid-soundstage-smooth-trebles

 

[Poki]

  I have some of these pads, maybe when my TH 600 gets here I'll try them, but I would think they make the bass even more prominent which is not what you would want. And I found the HM5s on my ATH WS99BT made the sound a little recessed, specifically vocals which made sense as the drivers were now further from the ears. So what do you think the HM5 improves, and technically what about the design of the HM5 pads do you think accounts for this difference?

" I would think they make the bass even more prominent"
 
Here is my experience searching for a pair of more comfortable ear pads: after trying two different kinds of HM5 and one pair of lamb skin Alpha pads, I went back to the original. The low end of the rumbles were (much) less prominent (with the velour HM 5 being the worst) than the factory pads.  YMMV.

 

[PxOR]

I hope so as well. I believe the PH turns out to be the version that will be more appreciated due to having a more attacking signature (More bass, better highs extension, less resonance). Some people will still prefer the original due to their signature. Just my prediction.

 
Right. You actually pointed out one of my concerns too. i like a somewhat musical sound, but not too aggressive. the frequency response description I inteprete is: more bass, more attack and a steeper v-shape - which isn't what i am looking for.

 

[marts30]

   
Right. You actually pointed out one of my concerns too. i like a somewhat musical sound, but not too aggressive. the frequency response description I inteprete is: more bass, more attack and a steeper v-shape - which isn't what i am looking for.

 
How are people coming to this more aggressive conclusion? I really think people are overplaying these differences. Changing pads changes the sound more than the cups.
 
"It does sound a bit different from the mahogany cups from the earlier runs. Hard to describe, but there was more of an obvious resonance play with the mahogany. The purpleheart seems tighter, yet at the same time smoother. Gone is the slight bit of treble sharpness the prior variant exhibited. However the tiny spotlit emphasis in the tape-hiss region is still present."
 
Really, the differences will be minimal, this is one guys measurements. Going by what he says they should be less aggressive -_- Some people are making it sound like they're going to be a different headphone.

 

[Sonic Defender]

   
How are people coming to this more aggressive conclusion? I really think people are overplaying these differences. Changing pads changes the sound more than the cups.
 
"It does sound a bit different from the mahogany cups from the earlier runs. Hard to describe, but there was more of an obvious resonance play with the mahogany. The purpleheart seems tighter, yet at the same time smoother. Gone is the slight bit of treble sharpness the prior variant exhibited. However the tiny spotlit emphasis in the tape-hiss region is still present."
 
Really, the differences will be minimal, this is one guys measurements. Going by what he says they should be less aggressive -_- Some people are making it sound like they're going to be a different headphone.

Yes, I think you are hitting it. The cup material will have a small effect on sound, and frankly I doubt anybody has ears that sensitive. Sound change would come more from the drivers if they were dampened differently, or if the cup airflow characteristics were changed. Maybe I'm wrong and the woods different enough, but I would have to think those differences pretty significant to yield an obviously audible difference. I wonder if the difference this person was seeing was simply a measurement artifact from a slight different position of the headphones? I'm not sure of course.

 

[DavidA]

I think the wood could have a noticeable affect on the sound signature depending on how much of a resonance different there is between the woods used, differences in the shaping of the cups if different and as @Sonic Defender noted if they changed the dampening within the cups.  With Grado's and SennGrado's the type of wood changes the sound quite a lot and also the shape of the cup, RS, GS, or any variations/styles that the cup builder decides on has a noticeable affect on the sound as well.  I've tried the same driver in mahogany, rose wood, walnut and cocobolo, they all have their own sound but with Grados it would be more noticeable since the cups play a larger roll in the sound than they do in the TH-X00.
Just my 0.02

 

[EinZweiDrei]

when i checked just now out of habitual browsing, i just noticed theres still a 13day drop period (yea i know im slow). so are they going to keep the drop up til all purplehearts get sold?

 

[thefitz]

when i checked just now out of habitual browsing, i just noticed theres still a 13day drop period (yea i know im slow). so are they going to keep the drop up til all purplehearts get sold?

Apparently they're offering some amazing prizes so there trying to sell all 2000 so they get the best value out of their prizes.