[Hawaiibadboy]

  Yeah if it comes to that I will, kind of hoping to avoid it though since this issue doesn't seem to be that rare with these, and if I returned it I'd either end up getting another q40 which could have the same issue, or develop it down the road.

Or jump to one of the other headphones I was considering which are in a high price bracket and was hoping to put off until later.
 

 
If you use an amp get them out of your view. That problem is a big red flag.
The sound is above it's price range but you just quoted my experience and now you're having one of your own. It turned out good for me (the immediate return) it will for you. New **** acting like old broke **** is not acceptable.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

What issue are we talking about?

 

[Totes Ma Goats]

  What issue are we talking about?
 

A rattling/clacking inside the cups.
 
Sound quality is fine, doesn't sound like a damaged driver. Haven't opened it so can't be sure what it is yet, but it sounds like a large component is loose, not fastened correctly inside. If I  shake my head soflty, like if I were quietly gesturing "No" to someone, you can hear a *clack, clack*.  It's a lot more prominent in the left cup, but present in both. You won't notice it during music except on songs with strong bass, where it'll start to vibrate, significantly enough to tickle your ear (not in a good way), or if you turn it up to a high volume.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

  A rattling/clacking inside the cups.
 
Sound quality is fine, doesn't sound like a damaged driver. Haven't opened it so can't be sure what it is yet, but it sounds like a large component is loose, not fastened correctly inside. If I  shake my head soflty, like if I were quietly gesturing "No" to someone, you can hear a *clack, clack*.  It's a lot more prominent in the left cup, but present in both. You won't notice it during music except on songs with strong bass, where it'll start to vibrate, significantly enough to tickle your ear (not in a good way), or if you turn it up to a high volume.

Ahh yea that, if you open up the cup you will see that it's the driver itself moving around inside the driver protective casing. That's a big design fail for this headphone. My own pair do move around slightly but it never produces a "clank" sound even if I keep headbobbing but if intensively shaking sideways with the right pace etc I can get it to move around but it doesn't cause any sounds, I just feel it.

Then I bought a backup pair and it has more pronounced issue like you're describing, it moves around in the left side so easily it produces that "clank clank" if moving around the head a little. Probably the driver could be stopped from moving around in various creative ways by opening up the cup and making sure the driver stays put. I'm quite baffled why they designed the circular driver cage area BIGGER than the driver and with what seems no proper way of having fastened the driver.

What I don't understand though how this is related to the bass you're percieving as "tickling your ears", that's not a fault, it's what high quality bass capable drivers will do if getting strong enough bass output (For me LP2, XB500/700 were able to do this as well) and depending on the headphone design (pads mostly) etc. I love that ability to feel the bass "tickling" the ears, adds another level of satisfaction but you must listen pretty loud as I only get that if using digiZoid ZO amp with the bass boost set halfway or so. Have never experienced it ampless for example, the mids/highs would be hurting my ears at the point it'd start doing that.

 

[Totes Ma Goats]

The tickling feeling isn't so much from the bass itself, at least in this case as far as I can tell. What happen is the tickling only happens in one ear cup, the one with the overly 'loose' part that is rattling around more so than the other, which the vibration from the rattling around gets transferred to the skin of my ear on the part that is slightly contacting the inside of the earcup. I get no "ear-tickle" at all on the other cup which has similar bass quantity but less of a rattle/clack problem.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

  The tickling feeling isn't so much from the bass itself, at least in this case as far as I can tell. What happen is the tickling only happens in one ear cup, the one with the overly 'loose' part that is rattling around more so than the other, which the vibration from the rattling around gets transferred to the skin of my ear on the part that is slightly contacting the inside of the earcup. I get no "ear-tickle" at all on the other cup which has similar bass quantity but less of a rattle/clack problem.

Ok, it's still weird how it can create such a rattle ear-tickling issue as the driver isn't exactly weightless but I guess Q40's bass is pretty solid. I might have some picks lying around somewhere which shows how it looks inside, I took some when I opened it up but unsure where I saved them. 

 

[Totes Ma Goats]

Although probably not the smartest idea, I figure I'll order a 2nd pair and compare them side by side. Would be nice if the new one had zero clacking, but if the new one has the same issue I'll keep the one that has the lesser of it, and return the worse one. Then just try to find a way to minimize the clack with tape or some type of rubber cementy type glue on the one I keep.

Unless someone can recommend an alternative to the q40 with at least as much bass impact to it, without having worse quality in the mids/highs than the q40 has, without going crazy on the price.
 

 

[Taveren]

Sorry to hear your pair has some issues bro, my Q40s don't have this rattling issues and I have been using them at times as a portable (during my 45 min. bus ride to and fro the office). might be some QC issues though, but that is not definitely normal.

 

[Totes Ma Goats]

Alright, so my 2nd pair arrived, right ear-cup has no clacking at all and left ear-cup has it, but only ever so slightly, it's definitely no where near as bad as it was on the 1st pair, maybe like 5% of what the 1st pair had. So yeah, guessing it's a quality control issue from whenever they were made, no way that variance level of how 'loose/clackity/free-floating' the drivers are in their plastic cage is intentional XD, just bad quality control.  Especially since the better sounding pair of the two was the worse looking one, scratches on headband padding/plastic etc.

I'll keep the worn looking/better sounding one, and return the pristine looking/clackity mess one.  Then just find a way to silence the 5% clack on the one I keep.

 

 

[Totes Ma Goats]

On closer inspection of the 2nd pair, it has zero driver rattle/clack on both earcups, the 5% I mentioned in the above post wasn't the driver being loose at all, what it was is the piece of plastic on the outside of the left earcup, the one that says M-Audio on it and is kind of a soft-touch finish, is what is loose on the 2nd pair.
 

 

[Sam21]

Has anyone tried putting the M50 pads on this headphone ? I put a pair of fake M50 pads on and I notice improvements.... has anyone done that ?

 

[xxtorontoxx]

I want to buy these but dont want a massive cord. I read you have to screw in the cable so I dont no if ant regular cable will work

Will this? http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004G3UK5C?pc_redir=1400694068&robot_redir=1

 

[quisxx]

Looks thin enough to me, but can't say for sure. Might want to get one about 5 inches longer though. I have a 3 foot cable but it's just a tad too short for me. If you normally use a 3 foot cable, then by all means go for it.

 

[xxtorontoxx]

So how do I know I just have to buy it and see. Also if anyone knows of a 3 foot cable that 100% works so I dot need to go through trial an error post up.

But what about the turn feature of the cable I read about I dont need a special cable I just turn a regular one? Sorry im new to good headphones and I really want a 3 foot cable that will work. I would hate to spend a 100 only to be disappointed I cant use a cable I want. It may seem stupid but the long cord is simply a deal breaker.

 

[Taveren]

Check out the vmoda cable which I believe has been mentioned here.

http://v-moda.com/audio-only-cable/