[MaciekN]

This is my first post here so hello everybody!
I've recieved my MS-1i just a few days ago, after ~50 hours of burn i must say I love the sound but as they come with comfies I really would like to try other pads. Problem is, as most Alessandro owners I bought them coz Grados are very expensive outside US, sadly so are dedicated pads, so I started thinking how to get bowls/flats without paying 1/3 of my headphones' price. Basically bowls = foam rings and as they are not placed between the driver and the ear theoretically any foam should do. My question is: Has anybody tried cutting out something similar to bowls out of the pizza box fill foam?

 

[MaciekN]

Bump.

 

[buffalowings]

Quote:

This is my first post here so hello everybody!
I've recieved my MS-1i just a few days ago, after ~50 hours of burn i must say I love the sound but as they come with comfies I really would like to try other pads. Problem is, as most Alessandro owners I bought them coz Grados are very expensive outside US, sadly so are dedicated pads, so I started thinking how to get bowls/flats without paying 1/3 of my headphones' price. Basically bowls = foam rings and as they are not placed between the driver and the ear theoretically any foam should do. My question is: Has anybody tried cutting out something similar to bowls out of the pizza box fill foam?

it could work, but it won't look as good as a store bought earpad, also, not sure how the density of the foam will affect the sound
 

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Here's a couple of pad modding options:
Quarter modded comfies with K270 velour pads glued or taped on
 
HD485 velour pads glued or taped on
Only instead of using reversed bowls use quarter modded comfies or quarter modded yellow HD414 pads
 
I've yet to experiment much with this sort of grado pad mod.  I tried one combo with a velour pad I found on a dead headphone from a thrift store.  Didn't work too well.  Became a bass monster.  The pads had vinyl backing and I don't think they were open enough under the velour.  So experimentation will be in order to find a proper combo.

 

[Ishcabible]

You know density has a lot to do with the sound of the bowls right? How dense is the box foam?

 

[MaciekN]

Thanks for your replies. The box foam consits of definetly larger cells and I guess it's much stiffer compared to pad foam. As bowls are not directly between ear and driver I think it won't affect the sound much. Guess I won't know until I try. What's the inner diameter and thickness of bowls?
I happen to have one k240 velour pad, it can be fit directly on phones but I can't really experiment with it until I'll get second one, though it looks like a very interesting idea!
What do you think of double quarter modded comfies/hd414 pads per side?

 

[Ham Sandwich]

The density of the foam, the diameter of the pad, and the distance that the driver is from the ear all make a significant difference to the sound with the Grados.  Grados are more sensitive to changes in the pads than many other headphones. 
 
The density and how porous the pad is to airflow will affect the sound.  Consider the basshead tape mod where you wrap a layer of electrical tape around the outside diameter of the bowl pads.  That mod makes a noticeable difference.  Headstage shrinks and bass increases, and all you've changed is the density around the outer diameter of the bowls.  The bowls from Grado have multiple layers of foam density.  The base is dense, the middle less dense, the top (by your ears) is dense again.  The density of the foam and where the density is all makes a difference.
 
You could experiment with foam density by doing things like dipping the foam in hair gel or something similar and washing it out a bit.  Maybe dipping the bottom layer in candle wax?
 
Using a pad like the K240 pads directly on the headphone is going to be different than using the same pads placed/glued on the comfies.  The details make a difference.
 
You can also change the frequency response curve of the Grados by changing the pads around.  You can make the sound signature more "U" shaped or more flat all by fiddling with the pads.
 
Another pad moding idea is the sock mod (scroll down to the bottom of the page).
 
You can also try adding a large Garfield Headphone Softie over the sock mod or over a foam pad.  Cut a hole in the middle of the Garfield Softie to quarter mod it.  The softie can be for looks or comfort and maybe some sound changes.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Here's a quick and dirty dimensioned drawing of the L-CUSH (bowls).  Measured by eye with a ruler.  Don't consider the measurements too accurate, just ballpark.  Close enough though to get the general size and shape.  Measurements are in millimeters.
 

 

[MaciekN]

Great thanks, this will defnietly help me in my DIY efforts!
I've read more stuff and some claim that bowls do not consist of 3 different layers, there is only a single layer but treated differently to get them harder at ends and softer in the middle. In the meantime I quarter modded and reversed my comfies but I'm not sure that SQ improvement was worth the huge degredation in comfort I suffer now. Simple quarter mod seemed to be the best compromise for me. Well, hopefully I will make my own bowls soon
EDIT: I thought that bowls are thicker, just 14 mm driver to ear distance? I expected around 35-40 mm, surprise...

 

[MaciekN]

I've cmpleted my pizza box foam based pads. Compared to reversed QM soundstage was pretty the same but I;ve heard a little more details in highs and the base seemed to slightly improve. Then I attached  pads from akg k240 and wow, much bigger soundstage, much more detail, and definetly better base. Sometimes on birghter recordings it may be too sharp but it's really fun to listen. One thing I changed from bowls project was that I cut out pads at an angle so that they would be circum aural but stay parallel to ears. a comfie-bowl mixture, really interesting.

 

[MaciekN]

After giving it some time I just can't listen to QM comfies, they fall far behind in terms of SQ. With the driver moved away from the ear vocals seem far more natural and base is not as lacking as it was. Sometimes it does is sibilant but I think it's a matter of recording. Great mod for 0 $