[kothganesh]

Wayne, I am prepared to wait. You let me know.

 

[hifimanrookie]

Quote:

Wayne, I am prepared to wait. You let me know.

Am curious also how a pad will sound with a combo of leather (with holes) and a velours underside.. Could that be the perfect pad for the he500/400? 

 

[Okamoto]

Quote:

 
Apparently, "Let Me Sleep All Night in Your Soul Kitchen" by The Doors, was about a cafe / restaurant / hangout in California by Jim Morrison.
 
I've had some Loudon Wainwright III playing on the HE-400s for the past hour or so.  Nothing beats some folk music about American social issues to start the day off.  LoL.  
 
 
 

Soul Kitchen is one of my favorite Doors songs.
 
And McDonalds is none of those. It's more like a drug den.

 

[modulor]

Quote:

 
OK, If I were to take a pair of J$ Beyerdynamic pads and professionally separate the pads enough to remove the leather layer that would rest on your skin around your ears, what would the pair of pads be worth?  This is an honest question, so I do expect a somewhat honest answer in return.  After all, the combination of velour and real leather would be a very "custom" modification.  Yet, all kinds of people pay lots of money for custom items that can make their lives better in some way.  Thoughts?

Though they are not readily available, another hybrid design was present on the FA-003 velour pads as seen in these pictures:
 

 

 
 
Comfort of velours with the sound of a pleather/leather.  Unfortunately, there is not a Brainwavz version that I can find, but you could easily convert the HM5 pleathers or any stitched pad with some careful surgery or DIY one yourself.  The matter is finding a good velour or soft durable fabric to use.  Not that I have issues with leather being too hot at the moment, but...
 

 
When I have some more time in the next few weeks I plan on making a couple demo pads to experiment with - right now I'm working on a removable leather headband cushion.  The prototype should be ready this evening!

 

[wje]

Quote:

Am curious also how a pad will sound with a combo of leather (with holes) and a velours underside.. Could that be the perfect pad for the he500/400? 

 
Actually, the J$ Beyerdynamic pads have the holes on the underside there by default.  So, it's just a matter of getting the velour in place.  Still a bit of an undertaking.  Still being pondered in my mind, just like 150 other things.  Thank goodness for music ... it's my stress-buster.
 
Quote:

Though they are not readily available, another hybrid design was present on the FA-003 velour pads as seen in these pictures:
 
 
 
Comfort of velours with the sound of a pleather/leather.  Unfortunately, there is not a Brainwavz version that I can find, but you could easily convert the HM5 pleathers or any stitched pad with some careful surgery or DIY one yourself.  The matter is finding a good velour or soft durable fabric to use.  Not that I have issues with leather being too hot at the moment, but...
 
 
When I have some more time in the next few weeks I plan on making a couple demo pads to experiment with - right now I'm working on a removable leather headband cushion.  The prototype should be ready this evening!
 

 
The Fischer Audio version of the pleater pads had two variants.  The Fostex T50 thread has covered the variations a bit.  The ideal pleater pad would be their first variant, because it was slightly thicker and featured a stiffer inner ring - just like the picture of your hybrid pads demonstrate.  The option of their velour pads having that piece in there was probably to keep the detail in the Brainwavz HM5 headphones alive and not have the upper frequencies get fully absorbed by the velour.
 
Someday ... I should teach you how to use a "home made" sewing stick made from a popsicle stick and a leather sewing needle can be used for sewing great lock stitch seams in leather and pleather.  It's quite a simple process and the seams are perfect.  This is what I used to build my sewn-on headband for my HE-400s.

 

[TexasBuck]

Anyone try the OCC balanced headphone Cable for HE series with the HE-400?
 
http://head-direct.com/Products/?act=detail&id=112#
 

 

[Shrew]

Anyone try the OCC balanced headphone Cable for HE series with the HE-400?

http://head-direct.com/Products/?act=detail&id=112#

 

What noticeable differences does an after-market cable do from stock?

 

[MattTCG]

IMO Cables make very modest differences with regard to change in the sound signature. If you've got a very dark hp, then a silver or silver platted copper cable might brighten it up a touch. Copper cables tend to give a warmer sound. 
 
The more appreciable difference with custom cables is that you can get a custom length and plug. Also you can get a cable that is softer and more flexible that tangles less and is more usable. 
 
Check out:
 
Norse Audio
 
Q Audio
 
Both make great cables and are a pleasure to deal with. 
 
 

 

[hifimanrookie]

Quote:

What noticeable differences does an after-market cable do from stock?

With my he500 the soundstage almost doubled the voices got more velvetly, the lows more punchy and lower then the stock silver cable..but i did choose a copper litz 2 cable, 22awg thick, check my pics on my profile if ur interested. The copper tames the highs a bit..and i like that! 

 

[merkil]

Anyone try the OCC balanced headphone Cable for HE series with the HE-400?

http://head-direct.com/Products/?act=detail&id=112#

 

IMO Cables make very modest differences with regard to change in the sound signature. If you've got a very dark hp, then a silver or silver platted copper cable might brighten it up a touch. Copper cables tend to give a warmer sound. 

The more appreciable difference with custom cables is that you can get a custom length and plug. Also you can get a cable that is softer and more flexible that tangles less and is more usable. 

Check out:

Norse Audio

Q Audio

Both make great cables and are a pleasure to deal with. 

I actually bought a custom cable personally made for me from a member here. It is in the mail and I should be getting it shortly. I will post some impressions about it. The only reason I got it was because I find the stock cable to rigid. It was not for improving the sound.

 

[beaver316]

Quote:

With my he500 the soundstage almost doubled the voices got more velvetly, the lows more punchy and lower then the stock silver cable..but i did choose a copper litz 2 cable, 22awg thick, check my pics on my profile if ur interested. The copper tames the highs a bit..and i like that! 

 
Soundstage doubled? Doesn't sound very likely..

 

[chewy4]

I have a Q cable. No audible changes for me, but it's nice and flexible unlike the bulky stock cable.

 

[Raskolnnikov]

Well, finally got my HE-400 from Moon Audio (gladly recommended!) and have been listening to them with the velour pads. 
 
I just gotta say I'm really impressed with these cans, coming from Sennheisers IE8 the first thing I noticed was how clear and natural the mids sounded. I've been reading a lot about the higher mids emphasis but have yet to find a song where this particular trait stands out enough as to bother me. I'm also amazed at how nicely the bass is reproduced, it doesn't have as much quantity as the IE8's (probably because the HE400 lack the eq bump @ 100Hz ) but it definetly is very tight and delivers efforrtlessly when the record calls for a deep bass. Regarding instrument sepparation, which was my favorite characteristic of the Senns, I can say that the HE blows them out of the water. It has this amazing clarity and separation to each instrument plus an airy feeling that the IE8's just couldnt produce.
 
 
I'm currently driving them with a Fiio E17 with Bass at +2 and Treble at -2 and have the feeling that, even though the Fiio is doing a great job driving them, I could get a little more out of these HP with a better amp.
 
 
Finally, I would like to recommend a few albums which sound nothing short of amazing with these cans:
    - Beck - [2009] Sea Change (MFSL Ultradisc): This is a hell of an album.
    - PinkFloyd - TSOTM (Black Triangle Edition - De-emphasized) : This one is easy to guess
    - Dan Reeder - [2010] This New Century : This album really surprised me, the recording quality is superb and it is quite fun to listen to.
    - Alice In Chains - [1996] MTV Unplugged: One of the best live albums I've ever heard, it is a must listen.
    - Patricia Barber - [1999] Companion [MFSL]: Such great detail and quality around this recording.
    - Paco de Lucía - [1987] Siroco: If you like Flamenco guitar, this is the album to hear.

 

[wje]

Quote:

 
Soundstage doubled? Doesn't sound very likely..

 
I was thinking the same thing.  Where's MLE when you need him?
 
 
Prior to the release of the HifiMAN OCC balanced cable, HifMAN had (or still has) the Canare balanced cable with the black jacket.  It is the cable that they shipped with the HE-6 and the HE-5LE.  I used that cable for about half a year.  It was the cable I used to connect my HE-400s up to speaker taps with. Usually, the Neutrik XLR connectors are placed towards the end of the cable, and one has about a 1.5 foot section of cable between the XLR connector and the 1/4" SET adapter.  The weight of the XLR connectors can be a bit of burden if you are not using the cable strictly as a balanced connector as you have the burden of weight with the connector.  If you are going to  use it for its balanced capabilities, then it will be an ideal cable.
 
At the stated price of $149.00, though, I'd really consider giving someone like Brian of BTG cable (a MOT of the forum here) a shake at building such a cable for you.  You'll get a better cable that wasn't mass-produced and a potential for higher quality, while still remaining in the same price league - as long as you don't get too crazy on choosing some upper-tier wires.

 

[Okamoto]

If there's one thing i'll never spend a cent on it, it's cables.
 
I'm yet to find a cable that makes any significant changes to the sound.