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500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2002
- Posts
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Just got the new HE headphone leather pads from Hifiman. i thought that i would share some thoughts with you guys.
The improvement of the craftsmanship is quite significant. Compare to the old ones, they definitely have put in a lot of thoughts into the designing and making of this leather pad. Although it's not real leather (for $20 i don't think anyone would expect it to be), it does feel soft and smooth. it is slightly thinner than the old ones, so some ppl might have issues with their ears constantly touching the back cloth. Not a problem for me though.
Attaching the new leather pad is relatively easy. with a little practice it should be no problem. With the leather pads on, it does give the headphone a more luxury look. not that i really care.
In terms of sound, I did notice some bump in the bass section which is very welcome for HE-500. Both midrange and treble stays pretty much the same. Fang claims that the new leather pads also extends the treble, but i haven't noticed yet. Not going to do any A/B with the old cloth pads, since it's such a pain in the butt to put the old ones back on. Since the leather pads are thinner which make the drivers just a little bit closer to your ears, the sound stage becomes slightly forward or compressed.
Overall, i would highly recommend every HE headphone owner to give it a try. For $20, they are definitely worth it.
