[RexAeterna]

I just ordered a pair of the HM5 pads and some Acousta-Stuf. I'm hoping (and assuming) that the Acousta-Stuf will be better than cotton. I've heard it's comparable to or potentially better than fiberglass. Yes, it's expensive, but I'd rather not deal with fiberglass!

yay! you guys are finally learning. i iz so proud. you guys deserve this

 

[mrspeakers]

Here are the results of cotton balls vs wool:
 

 
The configuration is:
 
1) Stock felt left on
2) 840 Pads
3) Wool stuffing
4) Rear cup lined with Paxmate
5) Felt cut away from ear-side of the driver
6) Paxmate around the ear-side of the driver
 
*There is no clay or fat mat/dynamat in this setup.  
 
You can see clearly that the wool does a superior job in all aspects, extending the LF response, smoothing the curve, and taming the resonance at 7K.  It also reduces the distortion throughout the entire spectrum, which was a bit unexpected.  
 
Now Wool vs. Acousta Stuff.  Configuration is exactly the same.  
 

 
I give a VERY slight edge to wool, which has a flatter overall response and nominally lower distortion.  
 
The wool has a very nice waterfall.  
 

The resonance at 7-8K is almost totally gone, and the falloff is uniform and very fast.  Mind you, this is for the fully reversible mods.  I still prefer the non-reversible Rastapants O2, which has an edge on slam and soundstage, but this is a remarkably good result.  The sound is very nice, fast and open, and given how cheap and easy this particular mod is...  The highs are sparkly and extended but no sibilance or splash, which was a minor annoyance for the first reversible mod I did.
 
Anyone with some 840 pads and a stock-paper-on-driver headphone want to give it a try and post their impressions?
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[Magick Man]

I've tried mine with the Objective2 amp.  Since the O2 is such a neutral amp and doesn't really provide any color to the music, I've found that it was just "OK" in my opinion.  Again, that's not a ding against the O2 at all, because the O2 is doing specifically what it was designed to do.

However, I've grown more fond of my EF-2A from HifiMAN, which is a hybrid tube amp to use with my Fostex T50RPs instead.  Granted, the HifiMAN is providing some color to the music, but to my ears, the amount of color seems "just perfect" and this is with using the stock tubes that it comes with, too.

I feel the same about my LD I+, it's perfect with my T50s and I just leave them connected to it all the time now.

 

[headphonatic]

Alright, after adding more acoustic foam to the outside of the square thing on the interior of the cups, I can tell the 7K peak has been somewhat tamed, resonance has been tamed, but for some reason. Am I the only one who actually enjoys the 7K peak? It gives a realistic edge to vocals.

 

[mrspeakers]

Quote:

Alright, after adding more acoustic foam to the outside of the square thing on the interior of the cups, I can tell the 7K peak has been somewhat tamed, resonance has been tamed, but for some reason. Am I the only one who actually enjoys the 7K peak? It gives a realistic edge to vocals.

Too much foam around the driver lifts the pads a bit and may cause a suckout around 5K.  Perhaps try using a very narrow band of foam that doesn't get under the pads...

 

[hans030390]

Quote:

yay! you guys are finally learning. i iz so proud. you guys deserve this

Uh, learning what? Fiberglass was mentioned on here long ago, but I didn't want to mess with it. I just happened to stumble on the Acousta-Stuf while browsing Parts-Express (I've been a customer there for a few years). The HM5/FA-003 pads aren't new either...it was more a matter of finding a place to get them.
 
But, hey, I'll take a cookie for nothing!
 

 

[proid]

Quote:

They can sound better, but it's DYI, guys, so YMWV.  
 
For any source, I always will take the Rastapants over my 650s, and for most material I prefer the them to the LCD2, though there are some recordings when the LCD2 sounds better to me.  This is kind of why I went on a test vs. pure ear rant the other day.  
 
Rastapants O2 current design:

 
 
LCD2 Rev 1 (Btw, when Purrin tested this set he said it was the best result he'd seen on the LCD2s to date):

 
And the HD650:

 
The 650's bass is not as powerful as the Rastapants, though it appears it from the charts, and the 650s mids from 1-5K seem over the top, and sound artificially forward relative to the Rastapants or the LCD2.  Also, you can see that below 100Hz, there's more distortion on the 650s than the orthos.  The LCD2 and 650 are both a bit flatter in frequency response than the Rastapants, but that's because they are open and there are no back waves or other issue to address.  However, as open devices all ambient noise intrudes, so this is a bit of a red-herring.  
 
Interestingly, the Rastapants kind of falls tonally between the 650 and the LCD2, and maybe that is why I like it so much.  Like the 650 it has the bass slam from 50-200Hz that gives heft to the lows that I love, and while it doesn't go quite as low as the LCD2 in practice I seldom notice the absence because it still has real output to near 20Hz.  In the mids and highs, the curve is closer to the LCD2, and it really offers the same clarity and ease.  From a transient response perspective, the Rastapants generally is faster than the LCD2 in the mids, and both the orthos are faster than the 650.
 

From the chart above, the fully reversible look even better than Rp2 O2 

 

 

[mrspeakers]

From the chart above, the fully reversible look even better than Rp2 O2 

 

They Reversible Pants have a flatter frequency response at this point, but the Rastapants still have a bigger soundstage and the seem to have more dark space between notes and instruments, so I prefer them. The O2 pads are über comfy, too. That said, the next step is to go wooly on the Rastapants.

 

[cn11]

O2 pads and wooly? Looking forward to hearing what that does for RP2. 

 

[hans030390]

Quote:

They Reversible Pants have a flatter frequency response at this point, but the Rastapants still have a bigger soundstage and the seem to have more dark space between notes and instruments, so I prefer them. The O2 pads are über comfy, too. That said, the next step is to go wooly on the Rastapants.

You should get some HM5/FA-003 pads from MP4Nation and see what you can do with those.
 

 

[kingoftown1]

Quote:

Quote:

You should get some HM5/FA-003 pads from MP4Nation and see what you can do with those.
 

Aaaaaagreed.  Also, hans if you happen to have any extra acousta-stuff after modding, I'd happily send you dollars via paypal for some.
 
 

 

[wje]

Quote:

Aaaaaagreed.  Also, hans if you happen to have any extra acousta-stuff after modding, I'd happily send you dollars via paypal for some.
 
 

I'm sure one bag of that stuff might be enough for 100 pair of Fostex headphones. 

 

[micmacmo]

hans030390, are the HM5 pads identical to the Fischer 003 pads? The look very similar in the photos I saw, but I was wondering if anyone had confirmed the similarity. For the price that MP4Nation is selling them for, they seem like a steal. (But the Fischer pads can be a b*tch to get on the T50 cups).
 

Quote:

Not sure if anyone posted this yet, but MP4Nation is selling spare HM5/FA-003 earpads. Found it in the orthodynamic thread and can't recall seeing it posted in here.
 
Link

 
 

 

[mrspeakers]

Quote:

Quote:

You should get some HM5/FA-003 pads from MP4Nation and see what you can do with those.
 

They were ordered last week my friend.  If there's anything else I can already have done be sure to let me know once I've also done it.  
 

 

[hans030390]

Quote:

hans030390, are the HM5 pads identical to the Fischer 003 pads? The look very similar in the photos I saw, but I was wondering if anyone had confirmed the similarity. For the price that MP4Nation is selling them for, they seem like a steal. (But the Fischer pads can be a b*tch to get on the T50 cups).

I'm 99.9% sure they're the same.