[brunk]

I tried sealing the slight gap between the cups and the pads with double sided tape using stock pleather and don't hear any difference at all. There is still no pressure/vacuum when I push and draw to check if there is a complete seal, so I thought the headphone itself isn't airtight around the driver. Theoretically a complete seal could improve sub bass performance AFAIK, but I haven't heard it.

The most notable improvement for bass with the Jerg mods on HE-500 was making "bass vents"
 
I encourage everyone to read through this guide made by Jerg/Modulor. Much thanks to them for going that far with it.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/646812/hifiman-he500-he400-jergpad-mod-v2-5-modulor-orders-updated-november

  The Stock Denon pads have served me well for over a year now.

  I have tried several different ear pads in my HE-6 from all the different models from HiFi-Man, several Beyerdanimic, Denon JMoney and the Audeze vegan. IMO the Audeze vegan are the best and the ones I am still using.
 

Looks like good contenders we have then are Denon, Audeze Vegan, and possibly Jerg/Modulor pads.
 

  I should try the pleather pads then. The HE-6 is one of the most neutral headphones I've heard, but it is still slightly bright. Not HD800 bright, but one could hope for a bit more warmth. I would like to see how the pleather pads could make the HE-6 sound warmer, at the expense of soundstage.

 
Give them a try. Do this before removing velours though. Put your hands over the HE-6 grills. Notice the collapse in stage? That's the tradeoff, but it wont be that significant.

 

[jackiedh]

  I'm thinking about giving the Audeze "Vegan" pads a try with mine.

I am using the Vegan pads with mine and I just used the double sided tape rings that comes with them and placed the tape ring directly on the pad then stuck the hi fi man ring directly to that and mounted them to the cups--PS a little tape between pads & cups stops any movement in the pads once you have them in the correct position for you--
 
Sound Great--Pretty comfortable also...
 
Jack

 

[brunk]

 
I am using the Vegan pads with mine and I just used the double sided tape rings that comes with them and placed the tape ring directly on the pad then stuck the hi fi man ring directly to that and mounted them to the cups--PS a little tape between pads & cups stops any movement in the pads once you have them in the correct position for you--
 
Sound Great--Pretty comfortable also...
 
Jack

Does the tape cover the holes around the retaining ring? If it does, try poking holes through the tape where they are at. It should allow for greater air/sound to come through into the pads for what should be an audible improvement.

 

[jackiedh]

  Does the tape cover the holes around the retaining ring? If it does, try poking holes through the tape where they are at. It should allow for greater air/sound to come through into the pads for what should be an audible improvement.

No---the tape is on the outside of the pad to the outside of the cup--just a small piece--to keep the pads from moving-spinning around once positioned where you like them...
 
Jack

 

[Silent One]

Interesting finds...

 

[kensonic]

More warmth ?
You should really try the Allnic HPA-5000 with the HE6

 

[brunk]

I am performing listening sessions between velour/pleather/jerg pads now on my HE-6. In addition to some earlier discussion among cables, I have purchased 30ft. of GE Ultra Pro 87646 Flat Speaker Wire. The price was reasonable enough for me to play around with it, with my theory/guess that this particular geometry is optimal for power delivery, and still is practical in terms of flexibility and durability.
 
For those that are interested in seeking a higher understanding (or confusion) of cables, I highly recommend this article that attempts to explain the conglomeration of basic laws and builds upon it, developing Maxwell's equations. I'm not going to blow smoke and say I understand half of it, but it just so happened at the summary of the article, that my theory/guess coincides with it. I am a very visual-oriented person in my think and the pictures do speak a thousand words to me, so i do get the gist of Maxwell's equations. There are still many questions left unanswered simply because we either don't have certain measurement tools advanced enough, or someone hasn't yet been able to further refine upon these equations.
 
Article here:
http://www.stereophile.com/reference/1095cable/index.html
 
Stay tuned for Jerg pad impressions! 

 

 

[Happy Camper]

I take it that the tape stands the pads a bit from the body, eliminating the tabs.

 

[dleblanc343]

I take it that the tape stands the pads a bit from the body, eliminating the tabs.

No, the pads sit much more tightly and flush to the headphone. With just the tabs locked in, the earpads did not sit so flush.

 

[Karllin]

Dleblanc343'

I think Happy Camper was wondering if by using the tape, you eliminated the tabs, cut them off or they do not insert? Ii guess you are saying even with the tape the tabs still insert providing a double bond?

 

[brunk]

OK, listening session complete! What are my finding of jerg vs. velour?
 
Well, there are definitely some differences. First, the Jerg pads are not a perfect match with the HE-6 

 They do give back bass compared to velours, but they really, really accentuate the upper mids lower treble way too much. My ears became fatigued rather quickly. Second, I completely removed the outer grills, leaving the cotton inside to listen for a difference. There seemed to be better mids with the grills on, but no soundstage difference. Third, I kept the grills removed and took out the cotton, then i would put it in and out rapidly. This made a great difference in taking out alot of treble energy, giving that sense of ease and air the HE-6 is known. That cotton is very important. Fourth, I moved the cotton around while listening. and there is audible differences for the better when you have it positioned on the upper-rear of the cup. It's akin to forming a cup around your ears with your hands. You magically hear hings better. It's a key element! Fifth, I tried it without the cotton, removing the grills on and off, again the mids were better, but the treble energy was huge.
 
Conclusion:
The upper mids and treble boost of the Jerg pads is simply overwhelming.
The cotton in the grills is extremely important in attenuating HF content, and acts as a magnifier where you can just hear everything better.
The grills reinforce the mids, I like it better on, or else it's a little too thin sounding.
Bass vents on jerg pads work.
 
I would like someone to experiment with just bass vents, not a cut up jerg pleather. I would also like to see someone play with different densities of cotton in the grills. Placement of cotton does make a difference.
 
I did not test the sticky tape as it was impractical to do so.

 

[ohhgourami]

Interesting findings!

 

[brunk]

  Interesting findings!

I still prefer the velour overall. I didn't test an unaltered pleather because I lost them lol. I have a hunch that the pleather with bass vents, and some varying density of cotton in the grills will bring a nice improvement. I also experimented with angling the drivers, and found an audible improvement, but I was losing any sort of seal I had that ruined everything else. Therefore, I see the merit of the Audeze pad for sure. The Audeze pad may in fact be better than we can ever get the hifiman pads. I'm buying a pair for sure.

 

[Clemmaster]

  Sounds to me that what you're looking for is a HE-500 with velours pads

 
There's no way a HE-6 + pleather will have the same soundstage as HE-500 + velour.
From experience, it's still much bigger.
 
I actually like the pleather with the HE-6. It gives it that darker tone that matches well with the inherently bright presentation of the phones. I hated the pleather with the HE-500: sounded off in the mids and muffled, like many other said (I heard it before I read it here, so no bias at play here).
 
The HE-6 + pleather don't seem to get anything off, which is a good start at least. It might give a smaller soundstage and reduce the details level a bit (I said might, I never actually compared the 2) but it's in no way dramatic.

 

[dleblanc343]

Dleblanc343'

I think Happy Camper was wondering if by using the tape, you eliminated the tabs, cut them off or they do not insert? Ii guess you are saying even with the tape the tabs still insert providing a double bond?

That is correct, the 4 tabs are still being used, as well as the extra 6 strips of double-sided tape on each side.