[Fearless1]

  On the Alpha pads website, they state that they fit on the HE400 and HE500, but I am struggling to find photos of them working - or heading success stories.
 
I haven't read this entire thread.
 
Has anyone had luck with this?

They fit. You can stretch the Alpha pads a good bit.

 

[White Lotus]

Wonderful - thank you. I might buy some for my upcoming HE-400 purchase..

 

[VortexBlast]

Wonderful - thank you. I might buy some for my upcoming HE-400 purchase..

 
I personally use Alpha Pads on my HE-500 and while I found them to improve the soundstage and imaging of the HE-500, it's at the expense of bass but you do get sweeter, more forward mids with a touch softer treble compared to the velours. They are extremely comfortable and they fit without so much of a stretch.

 

 

 
Though when I noticed that the bass has been tamed down, I did some modifications to the pads to lift the bottom end a bit.
I was a bit inspired by the Jerg/Modulor pads.
First of all, I cut off a tiny portion of the lip for easier mounting to the plastic rings.
 

 
Second, I reversed the pads so that the underside is exposed and I cut eight roughly equidistant holes on it.
The results aren't exactly pretty because I didn't have an exacto knife lying around so I used scissors.

After the mods, low end frequency is a bit more present without hurting the soundstage but keep in mind that this is for the HE-500. I have no idea for the HE-400 though and again, I stopped at eight holes but I don't know what the effects will be if I add more. I will stay at eight for the meantime.

 

[jerg]

 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 
I personally use Alpha Pads on my HE-500 and while I found them to improve the soundstage and imaging of the HE-500, it's at the expense of bass but you do get sweeter, more forward mids with a touch softer treble compared to the velours. They are extremely comfortable and they fit without so much of a stretch.

 

 

 
Though when I noticed that the bass has been tamed down, I did some modifications to the pads to lift the bottom end a bit.
I was a bit inspired by the Jerg/Modulor pads.
First of all, I cut off a tiny portion of the lip for easier mounting to the plastic rings.
 

 
Second, I reversed the pads so that the underside is exposed and I cut eight roughly equidistant holes on it.
The results aren't exactly pretty because I didn't have an exacto knife lying around so I used scissors.

After the mods, low end frequency is a bit more present without hurting the soundstage but keep in mind that this is for the HE-500. I have no idea for the HE-400 though and again, I stopped at eight holes but I don't know what the effects will be if I add more. I will stay at eight for the meantime.

 

 
Interesting. The damping holes in my mod are not for the sake of changing the bass at all, they are for smoothing out the 2kHz - 7kHz region as well as for reducing energy around 1kHz. 
 
But that's with a LOT more holes cut out at the bottom, and is for the pleather earpads which are much shallower than the alpha pads and which have different kind of foam/covering materials. So what you did may not have produced similar effects at all.

 

[VortexBlast]

   
Interesting. The damping holes in my mod are not for the sake of changing the bass at all, they are for smoothing out the 2kHz - 7kHz region as well as for reducing energy around 1kHz. 
 
But that's with a LOT more holes cut out at the bottom, and is for the pleather earpads which are much shallower than the alpha pads and which have different kind of foam/covering materials. So what you did may not have produced similar effects at all.

 
Well you need to take my words with a grain of salt. What I hear is that there's a bit more bass coming out but then objectively, I don't exactly know if this mod really upped the bass or has other effects on the FR.
I put those holes because when I saw the HifiMan pleathers, there were some damping holes as well so I thought why not put some on the Alpha Pads and see what happens.
I did notice after I cut those holes that the sound did slightly change around the low frequency region. Maybe cutting holes on the Alpha Pads makes it easier for bass to travel through the earpads.

 

[jerg]

   
Well you need to take my words with a grain of salt. What I hear is that there's a bit more bass coming out but then objectively, I don't exactly know if this mod really upped the bass or has other effects on the FR.
I put those holes because when I saw the HifiMan pleathers, there were some damping holes as well so I thought why not put some on the Alpha Pads and see what happens.
I did notice after I cut those holes that the sound did slightly change around the low frequency region. Maybe cutting holes on the Alpha Pads makes it easier for bass to travel through the earpads.

The 4 tiny pin-holes on the stock pleathers don't do much damping I'm afraid. I think they are more for the sake of making the earpads easier to wash - since if they are fully sealed or almost fully sealed without those 4 holes, they'd be a nightmare to dry after washing with water/soap.

 

[VortexBlast]

  The 4 tiny pin-holes on the stock pleathers don't do much damping I'm afraid. I think they are more for the sake of making the earpads easier to wash - since if they are fully sealed or almost fully sealed without those 4 holes, they'd be a nightmare to dry after washing with water/soap.

 
Didn't know you can wash earpads... 

 

[jerg]

   
Didn't know you can wash earpads... 

Oh you can, and you should, to maintain their longevity. Just warm water, mild soap, soak + squeeze thoroughly a few times, scrub the cover material clean, then squeeze as dry as you can in (paper) towel, and leave to air-dry for 24hr.
 
That's with non-leather earpads (pleather/velour/whatnot) though. With genuine leather earpads, it might not be a good idea. Instead, just wiping the leather thoroughly with a damp cloth, air-drying, and applying a hypoallergenic leather protective product might be the best course.

 

[Firminator]

Ok so Alpha pads are amazingly comfortable but sound awful on the HE400s. All bass is completely gone and the soundstage is also decreased. 

 

[White Lotus]

  Ok so Alpha pads are amazingly comfortable but sound awful on the HE400s. All bass is completely gone and the soundstage is also decreased. 

 
That's a shame.

 

[nk77]

  Ok so Alpha pads are amazingly comfortable but sound awful on the HE400s. All bass is completely gone and the soundstage is also decreased. 

You don't have the HE-500 to test with as well by any chance?

 

[nixkid]

So what is the verdict on the best non-jergpad pads on the HE400 for us non-crafty types?  Is it the vegan pads or the stock velours?  I want lots of comfort that doesn't negatively impact the sound too much. 

 

[moriez]

I've tried the stock pleather, velour and J$ Beyer pads and the latter wins big time when it comes to comfort. Soft and a snug fit. I think they might cause a little more brightness than velours but far from sure. Other guys will know. Also have some Alpha pads coming in so I can compare the two soon.

 

[nixkid]

  I've tried the stock pleather, velour and J$ Beyer pads and the latter wins big time when it comes to comfort. Soft and a snug fit. I think they might cause a little more brightness than velours but far from sure. Other guys will know. Also have some Alpha pads coming in so I can compare the two soon.

Please post your impressions.
 
Any others tried the microsuede pads from Audeze?  I'm really interested in those but need to see more opinions before I spend $100 on pads.

 

[Kursah]

I gotta say I enjoy the stock pleathers minus the foam inserts or the stock D2000 pads. I may try the foam inserts on the D2000 pads as well. So far both produce the best bass and overall sound to my ears. The D2000 pads are probably the most comfortable I have tried so far!