I have tried several genuine lambskin pads on the 6se and all had some similar traits (that I don't care for) so I really haven't pursued the Ether ones.
Strange thing is the ZMF Ori lambskin are THE worst pad I have ever heard on the 500 and 6 SE (micro sized stage, mid bass fat, and upper mids down) - and I tried the twice - and my favs are lambskins.....
But, speaking of sheepskin pads with larger openings, I picked up a pair of sheepskin TH900 pads on 11.11 AliExpress sale for peanuts after all the coupons and such. Those have a pretty big ear opening and I plan to try them on my 6se (like I do with every pad I get that will fit it, lol) so I will let you know how that goes, if you are curious. I will probably recieve them in the next week or so.
I have also tried the VelPad. Has better imaging than a regular round velour donut, given that it's angled, but while it sounds similar, it has some more spice to the treble which I can find a tad harsh at times. Also, not quite as comfortable to me as the velour pads I use currently, so I always end up going back to those.
Anyway, wasn't intending to prattle on that long (so, sorry for the wall of text!), but it's par for the course when I start talking about stuff like this... Lol
This has been my general experience with solid leather pads on this headphone, too. Generally, I've found they put too much emphasis around lower midrange making everything sound "thick," for lack of a better term, and not really in a good way. I am of the camp that this headphone needs pads that breathe to sounds it's best. The stock PaliPad is about halfway between a solid pad and something like a velour (which is my fave).
But now you have tried it, you know they aren't for you, and that's always helpful to be able to put that nagging "what if" out of your mind. At least, that's been my experience and why I tried so many pads on mine (over 2 dozen). I don't want to worry about be leaving some magical combination (for my ears) on the table (like the sheepskin Ori on the HE-400). Everything I try just reaffirms that my ears like velour pads the best on the 6se.
Anyway, sorry for the ramble. But thanks for sharing your thoughts on them. Happy listening!
I am SO enjoying the V2's with my stock pads. I think my ears are just tuned to the stockers. Thanks for the idea though! I'll try almost anything once.
Yes - the OG pads (edges) and headband (sin) of my HEX v2 flake city by mid '23 the cost of repair plus the cost of the semi-replacement XS driving the HEX v2 price down - let them go very litte - none of my other HFM including the much older 5LE and 500 or nearly as old 6 SE v1 and 4XX are behaving this way.
What I wrote is not about the two headphones in general but about my history with them. In fact, many years ago I fell in love with the HE6, but not having an adequate amplifier I had to fall back on the HE400i. But I promised myself that if one day I had a suitable amplifier and the HE6 were still on the market I would buy them. Now I own a Cayin iHA-6 and therefore I was able to fulfill my dream and purchase the HE6, but since many years have passed their aesthetics have also changed and therefore I wanted to make them as equal as possible to the HE400i which in recent years had worthily replaced them . Now the sisters have reunited, they seem to be the same age but that's not the case... in reality the older sisters are the HE400i... strange but true.
@bagwell359:
I'm on my phone so quoting is cumbersome, so I'm just going to answer in order.
Yeah, the Ori pads on the 500 and 6se weren't good, but are magical on the 400 for me. It does better vocals that any other headphone I have tried including a 6XX on tubes. Adele on the 400 with those pads is incredible. This was especially surprising to me since the 400 isn't known for vocal performance.
Yes, I have read the Voce pad on the 6se was mixed. I don't have high hopes for the TH900 pads, but they were cheap and I have lots of headphones I can try them with.
Mods on my 6se v2 and 500 outside of pads are just custom 3d printed screens and non-stock cables. Probably will try some version of a fuzzor mod on my 500 someday, if I ever get around to it. I'm pretty happy with how both sound right now, though.
What I wrote is not about the two headphones in general but about my history with them. In fact, many years ago I fell in love with the HE6, but not having an adequate amplifier I had to fall back on the HE400i. But I promised myself that if one day I had a suitable amplifier and the HE6 were still on the market I would buy them. Now I own a Cayin iHA-6 and therefore I was able to fulfill my dream and purchase the HE6, but since many years have passed their aesthetics have also changed and therefore I wanted to make them as equal as possible to the HE400i which in recent years had worthily replaced them . Now the sisters have reunited, they seem to be the same age but that's not the case... in reality the older sisters are the HE400i... strange but true.
. It does better vocals that any other headphone I have tried including a 6XX on tubes. Adele on the 400 with those pads is incredible. This was especially surprising to me since the 400 isn't known for vocal performance.
Yes, I have read the Voce pad on the 6se was mixed. I don't have high hopes for the TH900 pads, but they were cheap and I have lots of headphones I can try them with.
Mods on my 6se v2 and 500 outside of pads are just custom 3d printed screens and non-stock cables. Probably will try some version of a fuzzor mod on my 500 someday, if I ever get around to it. I'm pretty happy with how both sound right now, though.
Listening to HE6se this morning. The velour pads dont have the bass impact / slam of HE500’s hybrid pads. Ive tried several hybrid pads with 6se (including stock) but couldnt get one just right for me. Im done trying to find the perfect pads for 6se when 500 is already so similar yet satisfying. Solid pads with 6se create a little too much air pressure for me otherwise 6se does sound it’s best with solid pads: most bass impact / slam, seeming increase in sense of speed and delineation of highs, and possibly driver resonance control. Velour pads allow a sense of openness but also makes me wonder if HE6se is doing a poor Stax imitation. Velour pads also allow a warmer / more even frequency response, however highs may sound more apparent than measured and I think that might be related due to less driver damping of possible driver resonance… Hard for me to know and I dont care to try to investigate further, especially since Ive done fuzzor and grill mod as well. Without solid (or possibly hybrid pads), HE6se seems to lose any advantage over HE500. And when HE6se is using solid pads the fight is a draw with my preferred compromises aligning more with HE500. They are too similar for me to want to keep both much longer. 6se was partially justified as a reference headphone for reviews but I dont really care about writing reviews any more.
One thing I really like about 6se is that it is less sensitive than HE500. 6se is my one headphone where I can turn Apple Music digital volume scale to full and still listen comfortably.
Ive collected some Grado which can compete with 6se in some criterias but mainly they both have similarly fast sounding character while still sounding punchy and clean unlike Sennheiser 6X0. HFM plays nicer with deep bass electronic beats, while Grado works well from iPhone dongle for portable use.
Next I am going to try some Stax: the final frontier. I think Stax Lambda lightweight and open-ness make them relaxing and their treble presentation is unique and mesmerizing. But I will listen to HE500 when I want to rock out or anything that requires higher bass capabilities to enjoy.
Just going to post a quick follow up on the TH900 sheepskin pads that I ordered. They finally arrived and I got around to listening/measuring them.
TL;DR: Not good, definitely not for me.
Long answer:
Subjective Impressions: The sound ranges from meh to bad, depending on the track. These pads add a nasty glare to upper midrange (things like female vocals and piano). They also lack some focus and sound more diffuse compared to the velour pads I usually use. This diffusion isn't a bad thing, necessarily, but these are my detailed planars. If I want something bigger-sounding and more laid back I grab my modded M1060 or my HE-500 which is more middle ground. This diffusion is probably because of the larger ear hole. This does mean they are very comfortable, though.
Objective Reasoning: I think that glare I'm hearing is the added focus around the 800hz-1.25khz range. This is typical with most leather pads on this headphone, but this one seems like the midrange glare was especially bad, for whatever reason. This emphasis also exaggerates the dip at 2khz more, I think. There is another large dip/peak at 6khz and 7khz respectively that might also be a factor (maybe why it sounds more glarey than other leather pads) but I didn't really noticed this dip while testing. However, I could have just been too distracted by the midrange to notice or care.
AliExpress TH900 Sheepskin Pad Dimensions: (Note: measuring pads isn't exact due to the squishy nature, so these are approximate measurements)
Outer Diameter: 105mm
Ear Hole Diameter: 68mm
Thickest Point: 27mm
Thinnest Point: 19mm
Just like always, these were made with my homemade flatplate rig so take them with a large grain of salt and they shouldn't be compared to measurements made on any other rig, etc., etc.
Welp, another pad tried that didn't dethrone the velours for me. I had been curious about TH900 pads for a long time but my curiosity has been sated, so I can mark that one off the list! I have plenty of other headphones to try them on, so they won't be going to waste, either, lol.
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