[kothganesh]

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Here's my attempt at the first part of the mod: 
 
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Does anyone else mess up their clips on the earpads when changing them in and out? I haven't found a perfect way to change them yet.

I messed up a couple of pads and then found the answer to the perfect fit. I gave it to my younger daughter 

 

[disastermouse]

So, I've been putting off this mod because I was afraid of destroying a set of pads and because I thought I had to destroy my velours at the very beginning.  I did parts 1&2 (cut the holes and placed the tape layers for bass vent).  I'm waiting for a replacement of each type of pad before I finish the last two steps - or at least I thought I was - these modded pads sound so much better that I doubt that I'll really want a set of velours hanging around anymore anyway.  Certainly, I won't want to change back while I'm waiting for my replacement pads to come in.
 
First off - holy more and better bass!  It's like a different headphone.  Mids and highs are crisper, and instrument placement is MUCH more precise.  I should note that I'm coming from velours almost completely (My headphones came with the pleathers on the headphone but warped like a warped record, so I used the velours.  They remolded back to normal after a little while but I never went back to the pleathers.).  How much of this change is from going pleather and how much is the mod?  I mean, my head is vibrating a lot more than usual with bass.  It's awesome.
 
Lastly, they seem just a tad sibilant compared to velours.  Is this the material change or the mod?  Does it indicate that I've done anything wrong? 

 

[jerg]

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So, I've been putting off this mod because I was afraid of destroying a set of pads and because I thought I had to destroy my velours at the very beginning.  I did parts 1&2 (cut the holes and placed the tape layers for bass vent).  I'm waiting for a replacement of each type of pad before I finish the last two steps - or at least I thought I was - these modded pads sound so much better that I doubt that I'll really want a set of velours hanging around anymore anyway.  Certainly, I won't want to change back while I'm waiting for my replacement pads to come in.
 
First off - holy more and better bass!  It's like a different headphone.  Mids and highs are crisper, and instrument placement is MUCH more precise.  I should note that I'm coming from velours almost completely (My headphones came with the pleathers on the headphone but warped like a warped record, so I used the velours.  They remolded back to normal after a little while but I never went back to the pleathers.).  How much of this change is from going pleather and how much is the mod?  I mean, my head is vibrating a lot more than usual with bass.  It's awesome.
 
Lastly, they seem just a tad sibilant compared to velours.  Is this the material change or the mod?  Does it indicate that I've done anything wrong? 

That's a bit peculiar, both measurements and my subjective impressions point to the jergpads having a smoother and less peaked-up treble than velours. In fact that was one of the main goals of the mod, to smooth out the treble "hump" that HE500s have with stock pads.
 
Try to do some repeated pad swapping to really nail your analysis; memory especially for sound signatures is usually unreliable. Pad swapping is easy, just use a credit card to pop the mounting ring tabs in and out.

 

[disastermouse]

I'm wondering if it's the venting that's preventing some reverberating that was canceling the sibilance before.  In general, I can actually hear the treble better than I could before.  My big holes are a little smaller than some I've seen here before, but generally the right size.  The small holes may be a bit smaller though.  The tape that vents is VERY thin at 5 and 7 layers, but I think that's the way it's supposed to be.
 
It doesn't make the headphone itself sibilant - the cymbals don't 'shhhh', it's just that singers' 'eses' slide more - especially female vocals.  I'm thinking that it's the rear-venting, but it's hard to know since I never used the pleathers before the mod.
 
I'm definitely not going back to the velours now - the increased clarity and bass/mid-bass is amazeballs.  There does seem to be a bit more of some sounds on the right side than the left though - however, I think that might be the better imaging and that this is where the sounds are actually placed.

 

[davidsh]

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I'm wondering if it's the venting that's preventing some reverberating that was canceling the sibilance before.  In general, I can actually hear the treble better than I could before.  My big holes are a little smaller than some I've seen here before, but generally the right size.  The small holes may be a bit smaller though.  The tape that vents is VERY thin at 5 and 7 layers, but I think that's the way it's supposed to be.
 
It doesn't make the headphone itself sibilant - the cymbals don't 'shhhh', it's just that singers' 'eses' slide more - especially female vocals.  I'm thinking that it's the rear-venting, but it's hard to know since I never used the pleathers before the mod.
 
I'm definitely not going back to the velours now - the increased clarity and bass/mid-bass is amazeballs.  There does seem to be a bit more of some sounds on the right side than the left though - however, I think that might be the better imaging and that this is where the sounds are actually placed.

The bass you are experiencing is from changing to pleathers... I suppose. The thing is, that the pleahters does not OBJECTIVELY have more bass as far as I am concerned. But they seem warmer, and the instruments and vocals seem 'grounded', as if their sound was built from the bottom and up, frequency wise, whilst with the velour they seem to be soaring in space (in a negative way, lol). 
 
The so called 'sibilance' is probably not sibilance objectively. I suppose it is because the high mids/ low treble is brought a bit more forward. Probably something you should get used to, and not a flaw. Or maybe you haven't made enough/ big enough holes for dampening.
 
 
The thing with the rear venting mod is, that it makes the decay seem more natural to me, and like if the sound decays out in a room = more realistic sound stage

 

[davidsh]

I'm in the modding process again. Making small holes, and expanding the big holes I had already made. It takes ages with the tools I have. Think I must have used at least 3 hours on cutting the holes as of now.

 

[tresenddrums]

Just finished all four parts of the mod. Took around 3 hours to complete and absolutely not a minute wasted; it sounds great! Bass is much more impactful and high trebles are less harsh (particularly cymbals and vocal "s's"). 
 
Thanks Jerg for this post!

 

[davidsh]

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Just finished all four parts of the mod. Took around 3 hours to complete and absolutely not a minute wasted; it sounds great! Bass is much more impactful and high trebles are less harsh (particularly cymbals and vocal "s's"). 
 
Thanks Jerg for this post!

I suppose it is the HE-400, right. Everyone should make clear which headphone they are talking about when mentioning the mod

 

[davidsh]

That is my finished Jerg pad. Now I need to find out where I can get some appropriate double sided tape, and maybe some velour-like material for part III

 

[disastermouse]

I went back to the velours - the Jerg mod was way too 'shouty'. Still, an interesting experiment.

 

[davidsh]

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I went back to the velours - the Jerg mod was way too 'shouty'. Still, an interesting experiment.

Ohh, I think it is the pleathers you find too shouty in general then. The velours should be the opposite as far as I know.

 

[jerg]

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That is my finished Jerg pad. Now I need to find out where I can get some appropriate double sided tape, and maybe some velour-like material for part III

That's a fairly good job excising the holes, 8/10. I would try to trim the center circle of large holes even a bit larger but hey, cut as far as you are comfortable.
 
 
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I went back to the velours - the Jerg mod was way too 'shouty'. Still, an interesting experiment.

Pleathers in general are more mid-centric, the jergpad mods just try to improve the coherency and clarity without removing that particular mid-centric voicing. Sounds like it's a basic tonality preference issue for you (as you mentioned earlier that the technical improvements of the mod were much appreciated). Ah well. Just don't try modding the velour pads this way, it doesn't do anything.

 

[davidsh]

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That's a fairly good job excising the holes, 8/10. I would try to trim the center circle of large holes even a bit larger but hey, cut as far as you are comfortable.
 

 
You bet I won't fiddle any more with it. A kitchen scissor (or mine at least) is not recommended.
 
Funnily I actually do find the sound to be more shouty after finishing the extra holes... But also more clear with more prominent lower/mid treble. But I don't trust myself, psychoacoustics you know

 
Actually, trying to deduce finer details in audio make me feel like I have a split personality, while hallucinating and being high on expectations.

 

[jerg]

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You bet I won't fiddle any more with it. A kitchen scissor (or mine at least) is not recommended.
 
Funnily I actually do find the sound to be more shouty after finishing the extra holes... But also more clear with more prominent lower/mid treble. But I don't trust myself, psychoacoustics you know

 
Actually, trying to deduce finer details in audio make me feel like I have a split personality, while hallucinating and being high on expectations.

It's weird how the "shouty" word is being thrown around; the measurements clearly show that HE500s gain a huge deal more coherency and smooth transition from upper midrange to lower treble, without any net raising of FR in that region OVER the levels of stock velour pads. Is the "shout" a relative thing you guys are experiencing then, rather than absolute?

 

[davidsh]

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It's weird how the "shouty" word is being thrown around; the measurements clearly show that HE500s gain a huge deal more coherency and smooth transition from upper midrange to lower treble, without any net raising of FR in that region OVER the levels of stock velour pads. Is the "shout" a relative thing you guys are experiencing then, rather than absolute?

Time will tell, Jerg. As of now, I'd have to agree with disastermouse. Also, I'm not sure I'd call it shouty, it is just past shouty, frequency wise, I think. Especially happens with s'es, but it does not seem like traditional sibilance.
Some time I might try some stock pleathers and velours.