How to mod the Sennheiser 414 pads

[mtbaird5687]

Im going to recieve my pair of sr-225s with the 414 pads.

How large of a hole do i cut in them? and do i just use an exacto or somethign. ive read some threads on the subject but just wanna get confirmation before i go and mess something up.

and is it just cut exactly in the center of the bad? thanks.

 

[Kirosia]

Cut it so that it exposes the drivers. (the white mesh area)

 

[BowerR64]

Do it a cool way, go to the hardware store and get some plastic pipe or metal pipe and file the edge of the pipe so it has a sharp edge then take a hammer and whack it in the center of the pad so it cuts a perfect circle in it so it looks like its done from the factory. I think you could use a file or sand paper to sand the pipe into a nice sharp edge. maybe even heat the metal pipe so its nice and hot and it can just melt threw the foam like butter.

 

[SDA]

I used a hobby knife with one of those curvy heads (wish I had a picture, it's one of the heads with a straight back and a curved blade; think machete). Tried it with the standard "scalpel" head at first, but that worked out.. badly. I'm glad I purchased three pairs. As for the hole outline, I used various coins to make the cut. A quarter seemed to work best. Based on the sound with no cut, dime cut, and quarter cut, a smaller hole makes things darker. No real difference in comfort unless the coin is large enough that some part of your ear touches the driver (half dollar coin didn't work out so well).

EDIT: Bower's idea does seem better for a clean cut. In retrospect, I wish I had tried that before wasting two perfectly good HD414 pads

Maybe I'll try it with the spares..

 

[mtbaird5687]

if i do that Bower how large in diameter should the pipe be?

 

[Jam_Master_J]

I did something similar to Bowers idea. Except I used a small punch to do a dime sized hole. It's very clean, but I think I'll punch a larger hole. Maybe about 35mm or so.

I'm also going to dye mine soon (as cool as the yellow is). I just bought normal clothing dye from the grocery store, what is the best method to get a nice looking result(I'm doing it black)?

 

[Futhermucker]

I started with a quarter size hole.... Then decided to make it big enough to expose the driver.... I find that with the bigger hole, the driver touches my ear, and is uncomfortable, and too bassy / boomy with my sr80's. I now use the reverse senn mod which are super comfortable and sound great.

However, I may get some more senn pads and try again.

 

[holeinmywallet]

I always thought quarter size cut was too small. I use a small medicine cap, or if you can find a dollar coin it would work well too.

 

[holeinmywallet]

I haven't seen any mentionining of this but, don't you guys find the 414 pads to be too small to fit on the Grado housing? The 414 pads get so tightly fitted they end up bending like a crescent shape on the actual Grado.

 

[cmanc]

Yeah, it fits tightly. I lost a bit of yellow fluff in fitting it due to abrasion between the edge of pads and the housing you're trying to cover. I was a bit scared that it needed to stretch as far as it did at first, but after a while the yellow stopped falling off fortunately

. I also noticed the edges are raised as you mentioned. I think this is caused by the back of the pad where the hole has been enlarged significantly which has displaced the foam to the outter edges. I have flattened them a little by letting a couple of encyclopedias wear my headphones over night, this has also helped bend the head bands a little so they don't clamp as hard.

All in all i'm satisfied with the result. It doesn't itche as much as the comfies did while also managing to stay on my head better while feeling easier on the ears. This alone is enough justification for me to use them.

 

[BRBJackson]

cmanc, what did you use to cut your holes? They look pretty perfect from that shot.

 

[cmanc]

Good old fashion Quarter mod with a very sharp modelling knife. Although we don't have quarters in Aus, so I used a franc I had lying around or was is it a 10 franc

. Anyway it was the perfect size.

 

[1967cutlass]

i freestyled mine, looks terrible, works great.

 

[BowerR64]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtbaird5687 if i do that Bower how large in diameter should the pipe be?

What ever size you wanted it to be, if you think the quarter size would be good get one that size. I got a set with my SR60s and i thought i would like a larger hole so i went larger but then it hurt my ears. I think the quarter size is the perfect size.