FRESHPINETRICKZ
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2013
- Posts
- 22
- Likes
- 11
Before the comparison, I want to share a little back-story. After selling my Audio Technica SJ55's, I came across the KOSS PRO DJ100 on clearance at a small electronics store for $40. I was (and still) don't like spending too much on audio stuff since I kinda abuse them and I travel a good deal. I figured for that price that they ought to fit the bill pretty well. Boy was I in for a surprise. They were built like tanks and they sounded excellent! Even plugged straight into my phone they were incredible and sounded almost perfect to my ears. The only two problems; no carrying case to protect them from the beating I would inevitably put them through, and the 8 ft coiled cable was much too heavy to use when doing stuff. So, I returned them, and got myself the PRO DJ200 for $70 on Amazon. They sounded just the same and everything was great with them until the pads started to thin out (this took about a year and a half of semi-daily use). It wasn't to the point where the pads were no good, but it was to the point where even my small ears couldn't wear them for longer than a couple hours because they were beginning to touch the baffle. So, I got two different pads from Amazon and compared them to my stock pads to see if I couldn't fix the PRO DJ200's biggest problem, it's comfort. And maybe even improve the sound and isolation while I was at it (both of which were already great to me). Here were the results.
Stock Pads
As I said I loved the sound that the stock pads produced straight out of the box. While haven't done extensive research on the actual technical aspects of the sound, I loved it. To my super-analytical ears (not
), I felt that the lows didn't have especially good rumble way down low, but had a nice punch that didn't at all interfere with the mids or highs (this fairly small flaw was mostly apparent in hip-hop tracks). The mids were really nice and forward sounding, with vocals of all kinds coming through loud and clear. The highs are just right to my ears, being a little rolled off so that they reveal some sibilance, but fall short of being too bright and fatiguing to listen to (one of my favorite things about the headphone's sound). The instrument separation and soundstage are pretty good to my ears (nothing really amazing here though), and note that I couldn't really get much of a soundstage at all after the pads started thinning out. I think this was because the baffle touching my ears took away from the effect of space. The pads aren't anything special, in fact they're pretty cheap, and don't serve this headphone justice as we'll see later. Note, however, that I could definitely see some people being very happy with the stock sound. To my ears though, there was a better alternative out there.
HM5 Pads
It was after changing the stock pads for the HM5 pads that I realized just how much the DJ200's are effected by changing out the pads, sometimes for the worse unfortunately. It's really a shame, because the pads were definitely the best comfort wise; wearing these pads was like wearing a pillow (yeah, they're that nice to wear). But for the sound, it just changed too much for me, and to my ears, made them much worse. The highs became overwhelmingly present, well to the point of being fatiguing to listen to, and drowning out the upper mids (they made vocals sound artificially sibilant all the time). The low end was fairly well preserved overall, though, some of the punch seemed to disappear, leaving the mids which sounded largely the same to me. Still clear on it's own, but harder to hear with the overwhelming treble. Isolation and sounstage actually seemed better with these pads, not surprising though, given the thickness of these pads. I would pass on these pads personally, but other people may find these pads to work better, especially since I found that they sounded much better when I pressed them closer to my ears. If you have a bigger head, then maybe. They just didn't work well for me.
M50 Pads
First off, these pads aren't as cheap as the HM5 pads, and much more than a replacement set of stock pads, but they are totally worth it. With these pads, the bass extension, well, extends, and far! Really brought out details in hip hop and EDM tracks I hadn't picked up on with the stock pads. The mids are good as ever, and the overall sound signature really flattens out nicely with these pads. Soundstage and instrument separation also became much better (how, I don't know. It just was to me. Maybe because I could focus better on them with the added isolation), and isolation is on par with the HM5 pads. They are also so much more comfy with these on than the stock pads, not quite as comfy as the HM5 pads, but really close. Basically, everything about the headphones that could be improved is improved, and everything that was awesome about them remained, leaving behind quite an amazing headphone and listening experience. If you have a DJ200/100, I highly recommend these as replacement pads. Oh, and they look the best in my opinion.
Stock Pads
As I said I loved the sound that the stock pads produced straight out of the box. While haven't done extensive research on the actual technical aspects of the sound, I loved it. To my super-analytical ears (not
), I felt that the lows didn't have especially good rumble way down low, but had a nice punch that didn't at all interfere with the mids or highs (this fairly small flaw was mostly apparent in hip-hop tracks). The mids were really nice and forward sounding, with vocals of all kinds coming through loud and clear. The highs are just right to my ears, being a little rolled off so that they reveal some sibilance, but fall short of being too bright and fatiguing to listen to (one of my favorite things about the headphone's sound). The instrument separation and soundstage are pretty good to my ears (nothing really amazing here though), and note that I couldn't really get much of a soundstage at all after the pads started thinning out. I think this was because the baffle touching my ears took away from the effect of space. The pads aren't anything special, in fact they're pretty cheap, and don't serve this headphone justice as we'll see later. Note, however, that I could definitely see some people being very happy with the stock sound. To my ears though, there was a better alternative out there.HM5 Pads
It was after changing the stock pads for the HM5 pads that I realized just how much the DJ200's are effected by changing out the pads, sometimes for the worse unfortunately. It's really a shame, because the pads were definitely the best comfort wise; wearing these pads was like wearing a pillow (yeah, they're that nice to wear). But for the sound, it just changed too much for me, and to my ears, made them much worse. The highs became overwhelmingly present, well to the point of being fatiguing to listen to, and drowning out the upper mids (they made vocals sound artificially sibilant all the time). The low end was fairly well preserved overall, though, some of the punch seemed to disappear, leaving the mids which sounded largely the same to me. Still clear on it's own, but harder to hear with the overwhelming treble. Isolation and sounstage actually seemed better with these pads, not surprising though, given the thickness of these pads. I would pass on these pads personally, but other people may find these pads to work better, especially since I found that they sounded much better when I pressed them closer to my ears. If you have a bigger head, then maybe. They just didn't work well for me.
M50 Pads
First off, these pads aren't as cheap as the HM5 pads, and much more than a replacement set of stock pads, but they are totally worth it. With these pads, the bass extension, well, extends, and far! Really brought out details in hip hop and EDM tracks I hadn't picked up on with the stock pads. The mids are good as ever, and the overall sound signature really flattens out nicely with these pads. Soundstage and instrument separation also became much better (how, I don't know. It just was to me. Maybe because I could focus better on them with the added isolation), and isolation is on par with the HM5 pads. They are also so much more comfy with these on than the stock pads, not quite as comfy as the HM5 pads, but really close. Basically, everything about the headphones that could be improved is improved, and everything that was awesome about them remained, leaving behind quite an amazing headphone and listening experience. If you have a DJ200/100, I highly recommend these as replacement pads. Oh, and they look the best in my opinion.
