[bagwell359]

I would also recommend the Ether Flow angled pads, they are slightly angled and are the best sounding pads I have used so far on the HE-500.

Agreed. I have a pretty big collection and started with the felts, and ended with the Ether Flow Angled - took me like 3 months. I liked those two best, but when I put them up against each other - no question the Ethers crush the felts, and all others. If you have the HE-500 and want to maximize them pad wise - put down the cash.

 

[Mizicke5273]

My pair of HE-500 came with the Mr. Speaker Alpha pads and I found the ear holes to be far too cramped. It felt like my ears was never quite all the way in them and I was always adjusting the pads on my ears. I got a pair of the Ori pads and they fit much better.

 

[bagwell359]

My pair of HE-500 came with the Mr. Speaker Alpha pads and I found the ear holes to be far too cramped. It felt like my ears was never quite all the way in them and I was always adjusting the pads on my ears. I got a pair of the Ori pads and they fit much better.

Ori's are the other ones people talk about, but I haven't got those. What are your thoughts on them audibly?

 

[Mizicke5273]

Ori's are the other ones people talk about, but I haven't got those. What are your thoughts on them audibly?

I haven't spent enough time with any other pad to comment. I only had the Mr. Speakers on for a few days before I switched. I can say, I did not notice any glarringly obvious bad changes. I also recently got the Focus-A pads to try for a comparison as well.

 

[Slim1970]

I enjoy the FocusPad-A's on my HE-500. They seem to strike the right balance of bass, mid range and treble more so than the others I've tried. So far I've listened to the ZMF Ori, Dekoni fenestrated, and stock. I haven't tried any of MrSpeaker pads.

 

[bagwell359]

I enjoy the FocusPad-A's on my HE-500. They seem to strike the right balance of bass, mid range and treble more so than the others I've tried. So far I've listened to the ZMF Ori, Dekoni fenestrated, and stock. I haven't tried any of MrSpeaker pads.

When say felt, I mean FocusPad-A's. Good, well better than Pleathers, or Dekoni fenestrated. But you ought to try the Ether Angled if you get a chance.

 

[Slim1970]

When say felt, I mean FocusPad-A's. Good, well better than Pleathers, or Dekoni fenestrated. But you ought to try the Ether Angled if you get a chance.

I might have to give them a try. What kind of sound improvements have you noticed with the Ether angled pads on the 500's?

 

[bagwell359]

I might have to give them a try. What kind of sound improvements have you noticed with the Ether angled pads on the 500's?

The occasional twist of brightness in the treble seems tamed/gone. The soundstage is more solid, with more depth, and more focus on the front plane instruments - more 3D if you will. The bass is modulated down in the mix a bit with less thickness and a more nimble feeling (the seal is better so the pads must be eating bass). I'm also getting more instrument decay over a more silent background too.

 

[Slim1970]

The occasional twist of brightness in the treble seems tamed/gone. The soundstage is more solid, with more depth, and more focus on the front plane instruments - more 3D if you will. The bass is modulated down in the mix a bit with less thickness and a more nimble feeling (the seal is better so the pads must be eating bass). I'm also getting more instrument decay over a more silent background too.

Thanks for the quick run down on the sound of the 500's with the Ether angled pads. I liked everything you said except the loss of bass, which I think the 500's could use a little more of. The FocusPad-A's adds that and tames the treble somewhat. That's probably why I keep coming back to them after trying some of the other pad options.

 

[bagwell359]

Thanks for the quick run down on the sound of the 500's with the Ether angled pads. I liked everything you said except the loss of bass, which I think the 500's could use a little more of. The FocusPad-A's adds that and tames the treble somewhat. That's probably why I keep coming back to them after trying some of the other pad options.

I think the bass is too wompy at times with the Focus pads - and discontinuity with the lower mids. It's probably the single biggest criticism of the 500's by its fans. The bass is flatter and blends in better with the Ether's. The treble is much better with the Ethers over the Focus.

 

[Slim1970]

I think the bass is too wompy at times with the Focus pads - and discontinuity with the lower mids. It's probably the single biggest criticism of the 500's by its fans. The bass is flatter and blends in better with the Ether's. The treble is much better with the Ethers over the Focus.

Okay, you've convinced me to try them.

 

[Tuneslover]

I switched to the Focus pads a few years ago because the leather ones became too hot during listening sessions. Those pads are very comfortable and they sound ok to me. I considered trying the Focus A pads but decided to get a Schiit Loki instead. The Loki is very flexible in dialing in the desired amount of bass, mid and treble. I found very minor eq adjustments gives me a very satisfying improvement in sound. Of course I also use my system (Mimby, Loki & Jotunheim) to enjoy my other headphones too.

 

[FastAndClean]

i found the sound with focus pads to be very clean and neutral sounding and i purchased them today (the pair that i had was worn out), with perforated lambskin leather ones that i have now the sound is darker and lush, with more bass and lower mids and less treble, i kind of miss the clean sound with the focus pads, i can make more detailed comparison after two weeks or so

 

[bagwell359]

I switched to the Focus pads a few years ago because the leather ones became too hot during listening sessions. Those pads are very comfortable and they sound ok to me. I considered trying the Focus A pads but decided to get a Schiit Loki instead. The Loki is very flexible in dialing in the desired amount of bass, mid and treble. I found very minor eq adjustments gives me a very satisfying improvement in sound. Of course I also use my system (Mimby, Loki & Jotunheim) to enjoy my other headphones too.

Love Schiit. Loki won't work for folks like me. RCA only is a no go for those that are all balanced. Also 4 bands does not solve all issues.

This thread is a wonderful exposition into alternatives:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...ost-ideal-sound-for-non-professionals.796791/

anyone interested in EQ should check it out.

 

[bagwell359]

OK, at long last I took off the back screens. Immediate response: a veil was lifted from the upper mids and up;

But while the lower bass was about the same in character but down in amplitude, from the middle bass through the upper parts of the lower midrange - a notable loss of resonance/spatial cues, and signal strength making these wonderful cans sound very tipped up - steely and hard, and amusical IMO.

I panned the removal of the screens on the 4xx too. Certainly the tuning is changed by this move on both - the rear of the sound stage seemed lost on the 4xx, not so much the 500. Also the screens are very magnetic, not sure if that's to hang onto bits of metal to keep them from going inside and damaging something, or it has some effect on the mechanism inside?

All I can say with my cans (fazor, Ether Flow Angled, also felted the inside rim on the outside side of the cans (minor change in increasing treble focus)) was very pleasing - so this change is not at all a good change overall - to me.

My next move is to get some sound absorbing paint and treat the inside of the screen (have to remove the dust screen) in the theory that this will cut down back reflections at least treble if not lower, but keep the tuning as it was intended to be. I have an extra set of screens so I can A-B the change.

Edit: Forget the paint, doesn't eat much sound, and it's mostly in the mids. I'm looking at new grilles with the same percentage of open space using larger long holes so I can felt the grilles - probably a deep effort that is not going to give 100% satisfaction. What does? Oh yeah - BBQ....