[JD1993]

I LOVE  my HiFiMAN HE-400's too death, but they're just so uncomfortable! I can barely wear them for more than an hour before experiencing some really annoying pressure and pain issues. The weight, and lack of padding is just horrendous. Anyone have any comfort mods on these headphones? Also, I'd preferably like to keep the cost of the mods a bit on the cheap side. 

 

[IDReaper]

Hey, I saw a thread a while ago that may have what you are after. I was thinking of doing this to mine as well.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/635480/simple-but-successful-mod-on-he-400s
 
Also I hear around the forums that the Beyerdynamic replacement headband padding works but doesn't snap all the way down, if you don't mind that.

 

[audiotwo]

Bump.

Are there mods to solve 1) clamp too strong and 2) pads are very stiff, even the velour pads that came with them.

Thanks!

 

[JD1993]

@audiotwo
There are a few, actually. For the clamping, unfortunately, I don't know of any. You just need to get more comfortable padding. I recommend this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/886679-REG/Sennheiser_549375_HD_580_Headband.html for the headband, You can secure it with either rubber bands, or get fancier and use velcro.
For the stiff earpads, I've heard of some custom made earpads that fit on the HiFiMAN HE series headphones. I'm not 100% sure on this, so you'd probably want to double check if it does, but I think pads like the J$ pads or even the Mad Dogs Alpha Pads would fit on them. However, those earpads are actual leather, and come with a high price tag. The Alpha Pads are $60 on https://www.mrspeakers.com/ (the official Mad Dogs website). I'm not sure how much the J$ pads are, or where to buy them. 
 
Hope this helps!

 

[jerg]

Clamping:
 
carefully flex the headband (especially the top middle section of it) with your hands until clamp is looser.
 
 
 
Weight / hotspot on top of your head:
 
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Headband-Cushion-Pad-fit-BEYER-HiFiMAN-DENON-SONY-KOSS-BOSE-BEATS-DRE-Headphones-/200799150982
 
Or contact GREQ (a user on head-fi) about his custom designed leather headband for Hifiman headphones.
 
 
 
Pads:
 
try pleather pads instead, those have much softer foam than the velours, and the pleather material might couple with your skin a bit better.

 

[JD1993]

@jerg
 
I've had terrible experiences with the pleather pads that the HE-400s come with. They were more stiff than the velour ones, and also made my ears hot and sweaty to boot. I guess it's all preference, but if you don't like pleather then you will DEFINITELY not like these.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

@jerg
 
I've had terrible experiences with the pleather pads that the HE-400s come with. They were more stiff than the velour ones, and also made my ears hot and sweaty to boot. I guess it's all preference, but if you don't like pleather then you will DEFINITELY not like these.

The foam in the pleather pads are heat-activated, meaning once you wear em for a while they turn really soft.

 

[JD1993]

Oh, really? So can I just leave them outside in the sun or something?

 

[jerg]

Quote:

Oh, really? So can I just leave them outside in the sun or something?

Or microwave em, or stew em, barbeque em maybe; whatever way that gets the foams heated up.
 
I like to just use them on my head which exerts heat, but hey that's just me.

 

[JD1993]

Quote:

Or microwave em, or stew em, barbeque em maybe; whatever way that gets the foams heated up.
 
I like to just use them on my head which exerts heat, but hey that's just me.

I'll get creative.

 

[audiotwo]

Quote:

@jerg
 
I've had terrible experiences with the pleather pads that the HE-400s come with. They were more stiff than the velour ones, and also made my ears hot and sweaty to boot. I guess it's all preference, but if you don't like pleather then you will DEFINITELY not like these.

 
I picked up some Beyer DT-990 velour pads (black) from Amazon.  I had to shave some of the plastic ring to get them to fit properly, but cosmetically, it looks fine.  These are much more comfortable than the HE-400 velours and I haven't noticed any impact to the sound. 

 

[JD1993]

Quote:

 
I picked up some Beyer DT-990 velour pads (black) from Amazon.  I had to shave some of the plastic ring to get them to fit properly, but cosmetically, it looks fine.  These are much more comfortable than the HE-400 velours and I haven't noticed any impact to the sound. 

Oh, really? Interesting!  Maybe the Mad Dogs Alpha Pads could fit on the rings. That would be really great.

 

[audiotwo]

The Beyer pads come with a thicker screen (sits btwn your ears and the driver cage). I had to trim that down a bit too with scissors but it's very comfortable and I can't notice a big difference in sound even with a thicker pad.

 

[money4me247]

  Weight / hotspot on top of your head:
 
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Headband-Cushion-Pad-fit-BEYER-HiFiMAN-DENON-SONY-KOSS-BOSE-BEATS-DRE-Headphones-/200799150982
 
Or contact GREQ (a user on head-fi) about his custom designed leather headband for Hifiman headphones.

I've tried the 6 button headband cushion for my HE400, and it does not really fit the wide headband. Just ftw for people looking into this.
 
Perhaps the 4 button headband cushion may work, better: http://north-america.beyerdynamic.com/shop/kopfpolster.html
 
However, I'm done trying wrap around cushions... I'm off to try the Sennheiser hd600 cushion + velcro next It looks like a much more elegant solution & props to KCxSmacker who found it: http://www.head-fi.org/t/635480/simple-but-successful-mod-on-he-400s

 

[money4me247]

  I've tried the 6 button headband cushion for my HE400, and it does not really fit the wide headband. Just ftw for people looking into this.
 
Perhaps the 4 button headband cushion may work, better: http://north-america.beyerdynamic.com/shop/kopfpolster.html
 
However, I'm done trying wrap around cushions... I'm off to try the Sennheiser hd600 cushion + velcro next It looks like a much more elegant solution & props to KCxSmacker who found it: http://www.head-fi.org/t/635480/simple-but-successful-mod-on-he-400s

For clamping issues, I have found that if you have been wearing it on a tight setting & then add cushioning which causes to you to adjust the headphones to a larger setting, all the clamping issues go away like magic! lol.
 
For my results with the HD600 cushion mod, unfortunately, it did not improve the comfort for me personally: http://www.head-fi.org/t/643308/he-400-mods#post_10114877