[Aerial Wave]

Friends, whats the most effective mod for the Mad dogs if you intend to use it for games? 

 

[somniare]

Does anyone know of a good way to test leakage?

 

[sonitus mirus]

Does anyone know of a good way to test leakage?

I just put the headphones over my leg near my knee, making sure the earpads are completely sealed, and crank up the volume. If the sound is very low or inaudible at a certain volume level, I'm ok with playing music that loud without causing a distraction. With the MD with Alpha pads, the volume needs to be very high for anyone near you to be bothered in almost all situations unless you're in a dead silent room with a very light sleeper with exceptional hearing...like a baby.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

I got the Alpha Pads for my MDs in today. Thanks Dan for your willingness to do whatever it took to get the pads to me, but it turns out that it was just USPS screwing up. Anyway, I must say they're much more comfortable. Apparently my ears do stick out farther than I originally thought, so my ears were rubbing up against the sides of the dog pads and causing discomfort after a while. Other than that, not too much in the sound department changed, I think... I'll reserve opinions on it until I can get together with the only other local head-fi member here that has MDs as well.
I must say, right off the bat, I don't think much changed in the sound. These are still the Mad dog T50RPs we all loved. The treble and upper mids feel more "smooth" if you will. I'll report back after direct A/B comparisons.

 
Wondering if you removed all that extra dampening material the instruction calls for, black foam circle, white tape.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6xT2UbATJQ

 

[mechgamer123]

Quote:

 
Wondering if you removed all that extra dampening material the instruction calls for, black foam circle, white tape.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6xT2UbATJQ

Yes, but to be honest, I'd only listened to them for a few minutes when I posted that impression. I've had a few more minutes listening, and I must say that that I do notice some sonic differences. First off, the bass is not as pronounced as before. I actually preferred the bass quantity of the old Dog Pads. That being said, it does seem that the 10k spike has been lowered a bit, but is still not close to being recessed. Additionally, the sound is smoother overall, as in there aren't as many peaks and valleys in the frequency response. Again, I'll hold off on saying too much until I can get together with another head-fi member and compare our MDs side by side, one with Dog pads and one with Alphas.

 

[somniare]

Quote:

I just put the headphones over my leg near my knee, making sure the earpads are completely sealed, and crank up the volume. If the sound is very low or inaudible at a certain volume level, I'm ok with playing music that loud without causing a distraction. With the MD with Alpha pads, the volume needs to be very high for anyone near you to be bothered in almost all situations unless you're in a dead silent room with a very light sleeper with exceptional hearing...like a baby.

My knee is too thin so the MD slides down =_="

 

[gelocks]

Quote:

Yes, but to be honest, I'd only listened to them for a few minutes when I posted that impression. I've had a few more minutes listening, and I must say that that I do notice some sonic differences. First off, the bass is not as pronounced as before. I actually preferred the bass quantity of the old Dog Pads. That being said, it does seem that the 10k spike has been lowered a bit, but is still not close to being recessed. Additionally, the sound is smoother overall, as in there aren't as many peaks and valleys in the frequency response. Again, I'll hold off on saying too much until I can get together with another head-fi member and compare our MDs side by side, one with Dog pads and one with Alphas.

 
Hmmmmm....

 

[nam3less]

Quote:

Yes, but to be honest, I'd only listened to them for a few minutes when I posted that impression. I've had a few more minutes listening, and I must say that that I do notice some sonic differences. First off, the bass is not as pronounced as before. I actually preferred the bass quantity of the old Dog Pads. That being said, it does seem that the 10k spike has been lowered a bit, but is still not close to being recessed. Additionally, the sound is smoother overall, as in there aren't as many peaks and valleys in the frequency response. Again, I'll hold off on saying too much until I can get together with another head-fi member and compare our MDs side by side, one with Dog pads and one with Alphas.

 
This is something I noticed as well. Perhaps because of the extra distance between ear and driver? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts after you met up with the other member and compare. I can't get the pads on/off fast enough or i'd be switching back and forth (replacing the tape as best as I could) to test.

 

[BobJS]

Quote:

Yes, but to be honest, I'd only listened to them for a few minutes when I posted that impression. I've had a few more minutes listening, and I must say that that I do notice some sonic differences. First off, the bass is not as pronounced as before. I actually preferred the bass quantity of the old Dog Pads. That being said, it does seem that the 10k spike has been lowered a bit, but is still not close to being recessed. Additionally, the sound is smoother overall, as in there aren't as many peaks and valleys in the frequency response. Again, I'll hold off on saying too much until I can get together with another head-fi member and compare our MDs side by side, one with Dog pads and one with Alphas.

 
My experience was not less bass, rather more, slightly unctrolled bass, which also seems contrary to most assertions (and Dan's, who PM'd me to discuss).  Very subtle difference.  I still think it sounds great.  For now, I'm chalking it up to a problem of acclimation.  I intend to listen through the Alpha pads for a week, then slap the tape and dog pads back on to compare as an experiment.  I'm hoping at that point to find the Alphas preferable.

 

[Clemmaster]

Quote:

 
This is something I noticed as well. Perhaps because of the extra distance between ear and driver? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts after you met up with the other member and compare. I can't get the pads on/off fast enough or i'd be switching back and forth (replacing the tape as best as I could) to test.

 
Did you try keeping the foam tape with the Alpha Pads?
 
I removed the foam tape before actually getting the Alpha Pads (they're on their way) and use the Dog Pads instead (which I will refer to as "stock MDs" in the following).
 
This shifted the tonal balance towards brighter sound. Don't get me wrong, the overall sound is not bright, still slightly darker than neutral, maybe, or just plain neutral, depending on where you set "neutrality".
I slightly EQ down the bass region with the stock MDs but I don't need to do it when I remove the foam tape. This slight decrease in bass quantity you noticed with the APs might be a direct consequence of removing the foam?
 
Note: I know that my preference is not the same as everyone here since I need to use EQing to fully enjoy the stock MDs. The stock sound is too dark for me, but I'm the minority.
 
The resulting tonal balance is pretty much perfect, but the technicalities got a noticeable hit in the process. The sound is not as "tight" or well focused as it used to be, but rather "hollow".
I don't recommend removing the foam tape w/ the Dog Pads. I'd rather play with EQing to shift the tonal balance and keep the technically excellent sound of the stock MDs!
 
I'm pretty excited to see if I can get the best of both worlds with the Alpha Pads: shifted tonal balance + same technicalities as the stock MDs (or even better)!

 

[nam3less]

^^ No. From reports the foam tape made it sound...erm.."off" with the alpha pads so it got removed. I still have it in decent condition. Maybe this weekend I can try putting it back on and seeing if I prefer it that way. I'd tend to believe reports of removing the tape though, especially based on your experience with removing tape and using original dog pads. But who knows.

 

[mechgamer123]

Hmmmmm....

I think the bass is more linear now than it was before. However, I did prefer the ever so slightly elevated bass of the dog pads. That being said, basically everything else is better on the alpha pads.

This is something I noticed as well. Perhaps because of the extra distance between ear and driver? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts after you met up with the other member and compare. I can't get the pads on/off fast enough or i'd be switching back and forth (replacing the tape as best as I could) to test.

That very well might be the case. Hopefully we can get together this weekend and I'll report my results afterwards.

My experience was not less bass, rather more, slightly unctrolled bass, which also seems contrary to most assertions (and Dan's, who PM'd me to discuss).  Very subtle difference.  I still think it sounds great.  For now, I'm chalking it up to a problem of acclimation.  I intend to listen through the Alpha pads for a week, then slap the tape and dog pads back on to compare as an experiment.  I'm hoping at that point to find the Alphas preferable.

You probably weren't getting as good of a seal with the dog pads as I was.

 

[cn11]

I notice that bass becomes a touch more full with the alpha pads if I compress the ear cups toward my ears. If I let go, it returns back to the slightly leaner presentation. I would say this confirms that the larger distance from the ears is contributing to the impression of leaner bass. That said, I do think it's a quicker and more detailed bass than with the dog pads. Maybe over time the foam will remain compressed a bit closer to the ears, maintaining the full bass.

 

[mrspeakers]

The website issues have been addressed and it is functional again.  Thanks for the patience!

 

[Sniper2075]

I've finally settled on getting a set of Mad Dog's with the Alpha Pads.
 
My question to those that have them here is what kind of power is needed to make these really perform.
Now unfortunately I have a limited selection of portable DAC/Amps to pick from that will work with my phone but here are the options that are confirmed to be working.
 
 
. Apex Glacier (USB DAC/amp) 
. Asus Xonar U3 (USB DAC/amp)
. Audio-gd NFB-16 (USB DAC/amp)
. ELE EL-D01:
. GoVibe Magnum (USB DAC/amp):
. GoVibe Martini-U (USB DAC/amp):
. GoVibe Vulcan (USB DAC/amp):
. HRT HeadStreamer Mobile (USB DAC/amp):
. HRT microStreamer (USB DAC/amp):
. HeadAmp Pico USB DAC/Amp: bug fixed by HeadAmp
. Headstage Lyrix Pro USB total (USB DAC/amp):
. iBasso D-Zero (USB DAC/amp):
. iBasso D12 (USB DAC/amp):
. Leckerton UHA-6S MKII (USB DAC/amp):
. MyST 1866 PortaDAC (USB DAC/amp):
. Objective DAC (ODAC):
. ODAC+O2 (USB DAC/amp):
. RSA Intruder (USB DAC/amp):
. RSA Predator (USB DAC/amp):
. Sony PHA-1 (USB DAC/amp):
. Stoner Acoustics UD100:
. VentureCraft Go-Dap X (USB DAC/amp): USB cable provided by VentureCraft
. xDuoo XP-1 (USB DAC/amp):
 
I would love to keep it under/around $200 dollars, because honestly if I have to go higher I may just go with a Schiit MODI/MAGNI setup both at work and at home but that would be $400 and isn't portable
I know a couple of the options above would work great but they cost $500 or so, is using a iBasso D-Zero worth it? Is the iBasso D12 that stronger in the amp section? I mainly listen at work and at home but would like to have the portable option to listen by the pool or outside somewhere.
 
Thanks for the feedback