[Corti]

So, if anyone is still following this thread..
the german maestro ear pads 41-6059 have arrived and they fit almost perfectly.
i prefer them over the stock pads and the brainwavs round 100mm.
here are comparison pics:

the lips of the gm-pads fit very well on the K245's mounting rim, because the inner diameter of the lip is almost identical to
the ones found on the stock-pads (81mm to 82mm). you can zoom in on the pictures below.

but having a little bigger outer diameter the pads do not sit 100% tight, though tight enough to not fall off. once on your head they do not move at all, even when walking around.
also are they not as 'baggy' as the brainwavz round 100mm. the pad-foam is much stiffer.

lastly here is proof that the gm pads do fully reveal the bass port vents (you should definitely get the dust cover (like on the right side) from
their site aswell, or use something else.. b/c the pads are unfortunately not very deep, but deeper than stockpads).

as already with the brainwavz pads, the bass gets better with the gm-pads aswell because of what Precaud explained about revealing the venting holes that reduce midbass.
They still have the ~5kHz issues, so i'll probably also try the damping mod soon.

 

[Precaud]

Glad to hear of your good results with the GM pads, @Corti . The inner hole certainly is large enough!

I have some good results to report as well, but won't have time to write it up until the weekend.

 

[Precaud]

My apology in advance for the photos, the camera badly overexposed them, making the pads look filthy.

These were the first pads I bought early last year, long before doing any mods. The seller is no longer around, but the listing, specs, and photos are identical to this one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/354054744879

The 95mm one is advertized as having a 58mm inner hole. The ones I got have a 55-56mm hole, close enough. They fit well, the boominess went away but they emphasized the brightness even more so I put them away and forgot about them.

Until I found them this week. I put them back on and the sound was really close to excellent, bass-mid region just a tad weak. Adding two layers of cloth tape around the perimeter and damn... these things sound superb.

Personally, I don't care what my pads look like. This isn't a beauty contest. AFAIC, I'm extremely pleased with the results, and my project is completed. If something better shows up, great. Meanwhile, I'd like to buy a pair or two of these for spares.

Nine sellers on eBay list these same pads (search for "velvet ear pads"). I wrote every one of them asking to verify (by measuring) the inside hole diameter. None of them would do it. That tells me they didn't have them and were shipping from someone else's warehouse.

Numerous sellers on Alibaba also have the identical listing. I asked a bunch of them to measure the inner hole. Most didn't reply. One of them did, and said it was 42mm. Ouch. That is not even close.

This one said the spec table was correct. When pressed, he wouldn't say whether he measured or not, but twice said it was correct. So I ordered a set of the 95mm and 100mm.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256801271444782.html

If they're the same as mine then I'll order a couple more. The price is certainly right.

Driven by an amp that has low distortion into low-impedance loads, these headphones have the best resonance-free tonal balance in the low-mid frequency range I've ever heard. And coupled with their deep bass extension, they do it over a wider frequency range. This makes other much more costly HP's sound highly colored. Are they perfect? No. They are just a hair forward around 1.5-2 kHz. It's mostly noticeable with older, bright recordings. And just like they did stock, the highs roll off gently above 10-12kHz. Not a big deal for me.

But what they do well is definitely worth hearing.

 

[Precaud]

I received the pads mentioned in the previous post. This is why you ALWAYS should ask the seller to verify any important dimensions. The 95mm pads were listed as having a 58mm inside hole. The pair I got had 40mm. I don't understand how some of these Chinese sellers think they can get away with this BS.

So the hunt for good pads is still on.

 

[kkl10]

They still have the ~5kHz issues, so i'll probably also try the damping mod soon.

Any news?

 

[Precaud]

Any news?

I think the best way to deal with the the rather harsh peak (it's closer to 4kHz with the damping mods) on these phones is with EQ. The damping mod lessens but doesn't eliminate it.

 

[Corti]

Any news?

News are that I'm still enjoying these very inexpensive headphones very much. THey are not my daily drivers but they come out when i want that extremely satisfying bass response that the K245 deliver with the new GM pads. The subbass of these - combined with the semi-open back design is just incredible (some Techno tracks sound even better on them than on my Denon 7200 - which are real bass-champs and 10x the price). For example, this track is on another level with the K245 bass:



Regarding the mids/uppermids harshness: I still havent tried the damping mod, am just too lazy. Digital pEQ is doing a great job for me.

 

[Precaud]

Just a reminder, the hunt is still on for 95-100mm pads with actual 60mm inner holes...
Velour or other soft material is preferred inside the hole, to lessen the upper-mids peaking.
I have inquired of four sellers in the past week, asking them for actual measurements of their 60mm-advertised inner holes. They were all in the 50-54mm range.