[qauptrgw]

Are the T90 earpads easier to wash?

 

[lawrecedent]

I always wash my pads with shampoo, seems logical bearing in mind most of the gunk probably comes from hair products etc. Herbal essences makes them smell really good too!

 

[lawrecedent]

Does anyone have any experience of the after market pads for the beyers. They can be bought on ebay for around £5 instead of £25 for the official Beyer pads. I wondered if tgey had a negative effect on the sound at all?

 

[pp312]

Does anyone have any experience of the after market pads for the beyers. They can be bought on ebay for around £5 instead of £25 for the official Beyer pads. I wondered if they had a negative effect on the sound at all?

 
Haven't had experience of them but apart from anything else they have no holes in the back, which, given jerg's experiences with the jergpad, would rule them out straightaway. IOW, they won't sound the same.  

 

[lawrecedent]

Haven't had experience of them but apart from anything else they have no holes in the back, which, given jerg's experiences with the jergpad, would rule them out straightaway. IOW, they won't sound the same.  

Sorry, Jerg's experience with the Jergpad!!?@ I'll have to search that up but it sounds painful!
On a serious note, that's what I noticed aswell and thought the holes were probably part of the bass reflex system. So, does the sound suffer and specifically in what way?

 

[lawrecedent]

Sorry, Jerg's experience with the Jergpad!!?@ I'll have to search that up but it sounds painful!
On a serious note, that's what I noticed aswell and thought the holes were probably part of the bass reflex system. So, does the sound suffer and specifically in what way?

Haha found the thread and it seems the holes are indeed beneficial. Oh well £25 it is then... or maybe... a pair of scissors lol!

 

[pp312]

Good luck with the scissors.

 
You could try those hole stampers they use for ring binders.

 

[JacobLee89]

Alongside using washing detergents, I also soak the pads in some fabric conditioner before I do the clean water pass. I cannot imagine how that would change much of the pad's properties
 
Though I can be wrong, or my ears are not as sharp as others.

 

[streetdragon]

  Alongside using washing detergents, I also soak the pads in some fabric conditioner before I do the clean water pass. I cannot imagine how that would change much of the pad's properties
 
Though I can be wrong, or my ears are not as sharp as others.

It can make your foam inside softer faster and thus affecting the acoustic properties, a warmer and less refined sound

 

[JacobLee89]

  It can make your foam inside softer faster and thus affecting the acoustic properties, a warmer and less refined sound

 
I do have my doubts, considering foam is largely plastic. My reasoning would be that if a structure is getting softer, then the structure itself is damaged or compromised in a certain way. Foam itself shouldn't , to be best of my knowledge, absorb anything into the plastic itself and I'm sure that fabric conditioners wouldn't have anything in them to deteriorate plastic based materials (most fabrics nowadays are made partly with plastics). Though we might need a chemist to explain this better since wikipedia is spewing a lot of technical words, and we may never get to know what composition the foam is. 
 
As far as I gathered from the wiki page, the fabric conditioner just coats the surface with "chemicals" which have lubricant properties and are electrically conductive. I may even need to provide the list of active ingredients on the conditioner I was using to solve this little mystery.
 
If we do take your statement on board and that it is affecting my pads in such a way, I still have very little to worry about with my second hand HD650's. The pads are 7 years old so I wouldn't know how it could have sounded like if they were brand new. If you yourself have experienced it, then all this reply is but a ridiculous ramble 

 

[lawrecedent]

I just washed the pads on my dt770 with shampoo and it removed the marks. However, they were a right bugger to dry out properly and I'm certain they'd shrunk a bit as when I went to put them back on they were a lot tighter fit. When I compress the foam I can tell it is on the turn as it is a little crispy in places but suprisingly they're still comfortable to wear and sound great. Maybe there would be a difference if measured with sensitive sound equipment but nothing that offends my ears.

 

[JacobLee89]

I just washed the pads on my dt770 with shampoo and it removed the marks. However, they were a right bugger to dry out properly and I'm certain they'd shrunk a bit as when I went to put them back on they were a lot tighter fit. When I compress the foam I can tell it is on the turn as it is a little crispy in places but suprisingly they're still comfortable to wear and sound great. Maybe there would be a difference if measured with sensitive sound equipment byt nothing that offends my ears.

 
I normally squeeze out as much moisture as I can by pressing the pads against a dry towel. Maybe that would have prevented some shrinkage

 

[streetdragon]

Im not sure if its purely due to age but washing it seemed to accelerate the softening of the earpads of my HD558, so i had to buy a new one, and the difference between the sound signature was like the HD650 compared to the HD700

 

[JacobLee89]

  Im not sure if its purely due to age but washing it seemed to accelerate the softening of the earpads of my HD558, so i had to buy a new one, and the difference between the sound signature was like the HD650 compared to the HD700

 
I can imagine that you're introducing force onto the earpads as you are washing, and that itself can strain the foam. I might consider washing by just soaking the pads for around half an hour in a mild solution, and then rinsing the earpads out. Not squeezing the pads may be a better way to wash them, though that could mean longer drying times.
 
The beyer pads I wash however, seem to return with more vigour every time I wash them. It's possible that Sennheiser slacked out a bit with their choice of foam.
 
Now that I think about it, I don't think any headphone manufacturers put much consideration onto designing their pads to be washed.

 

[pickyear7]

I usually just get a new pair when mine are worn out. Depending on how much I've used my headphones, they'll last anywhere from 6 months to a year.