Spent another few hours listening to my DJ100/TB with M40 pads again. Within the first 2 minutes, this time I got the impression that the foam I put inside the pads was causing the bass to kind of muddy up the sound, which should never ever happen. I took it out and it was much better.
I guess previously the M40 pads fooled my ears into thinking the mids were less forward. This really isn't the case. It's just that vocals and other instruments are now more accurate to the recording. If vocals or other specific sounds are spaced back in the recording, they're now more likely to be more accurate. I guess less of an upfront like sound, but it doesn't ruin them. Any vocals that are recorded to be upfront are still that way.
I actually think the M40 pads offer more bass than M50 pads! Not much more and I don't know how it's done. I did a little test where if I force more clamping force with my hands, the bass has more volume. I guess when your ears are closer to the driver you get more bass. Also, if there's a ton of air between the driver and your ear, the bass can suffer.
The M40 pads give you more room than the M50 pads and they're slightly taller. I think though that they're a tiny bit less deep or maybe the foam flattens a little. I love the feel of the pads better than that of the M50 pads.
The M40 pads have a much better soundstage than the M50 pads. They're actually pretty close to sounding semi-open or open now. Pretty similar in size to the HD-600 now. I know that's hard to believe. This was just with my Xbox 360 connected to my E9.
I did some testing tonight and am still impressed with the sub-bass on these. I tested them with gaming and they had more sub-bass than all my other headphones. The one with the 2nd most was the KRK KNS-8400! Yeah really! Even over the HD-600 and Q701. I still don't think they found like they have any large mid/upper bass humps. Maybe to some. I do think they're warm and full sounding still though. Not excessively warm. About the same as my modded HD-600 (less warm than stock).
I noticed something weird about many game soundtracks. The KRK KNS-8400 and DJ100 with M40 pads can often make them sound considerably less clear than my Q701 and HD-600 (modded). This is just that they're actually MORE revealing of the real sound quality I think.
It's kind of amusing that in Fallout 3 I was wandering around in some subway tunnels. There's some low bass rumbling sounds that just barely even registered on my AD700, KRK KNS-6400 and new Koss UR-22v. The HD-600 and Q701 did pretty well. The HD-600 very slightly better than the Q701. To be more revealing, my Q701 and HD-600 just needs a better source than the Xbox 360.
The low bass quantity of my DJ100 w/m40 pads is a little bit better than my modded HD-600 with HD-650 cable. HD-600 still has more mid-bass perhaps.
BTW if you want the perfect portable source for the TB/DJ100, i'm now convinced it's the Clip+. I think the Clip+ might be very slightly warm (compared to my ODAC) and that might help the sound even further. Unlike some external amps, the bass doesn't seem to roll off that much on the Clip+. It still improves a ton with my ODAC and Micro Amp.
I also noticed Koss rates these as 10hz to 25khz. They actually go much lower than 10hz. Try it out! My KRK KNS-8400 and Dj100 actually have the best sub-bass out of all the rest of my headphones. Some even claim both of these are bass light! Rather just not bass emphasized. OK, maybe slightly.
So..if you don't think a closed headphone can fool your brain into thinking it's open, try the DJ100 with M40 pads and a very revealing DAC and amp
Even the Clip+ is enough for me.
I also discovered if the DJ100 sounds bad (for me) it's usually the stupid recordings fault . I really do think these pads make it even more detailed and revealing, but still fun to listen to.
BTW it's amazing how many tracks sound really thin through the entire recording. It's easy to often be fooled and blame the headphones. Sometimes a headphone is good at making these crappy tracks better than they really are (my HD-600 does this). I could pick out two tracks on my DJ100 and you'd listen to them and think they're being played on two different headphones. One like a DT-880 and the other on an HD-650! I know this sounds crazy. I've never experienced this really much until I got my ODAC and these new M40 pads. Maybe a little with the DT-880. Sometimes it's like you're hearing the other person's gear