Oppo PM-3 : The Portable Planar - Impressions

[megabigeye]

Are there any earpads for Oppo PM3 that can reduce bass? Are perforated? Or hybrid velour?

Getting the headphones to seal less well will reduce the bass significantly. Do you wear glasses? That does it for me. I don't know your preference, but for me this reduces the bass so much that I won't wear the PM-3 while wearing glasses of any sort.
You could experiment with breaking the seal, maybe put something like soft earplugs between the pad and your skull, changing placement of the aperture.
Or maybe a pad made of perforated leather would work? Dunno, never tried it.

I think your best bet is going to be EQ, though. Unless you really want to go all in with testing different pads and/or experiment with breaking the seal, it's mostly going to be a craps shoot as to whether or not it'll match your preferences.

 

[Chris Kaoss]

There're plenty of options on Amazon which includes Hybrids, velours and perforated.

You can also have a look on Audio Technica M50 pads for a greater variety.

 

[peterinvan]

Are there any earpads for Oppo PM3 that can reduce bass? Are perforated? Or hybrid velour?

On Amazon, I got the

Brainwavz Sheepskin Ear Pads Compatible with ATH M50X​

I stretched the pads over the cups. I also got the Oppo pads with the plastic frame but I prefer the Brainwaze pads.

I see lots of variations on Aliexpress.

 

[Bambule]

Today my new earpads from Vesper Audio arrived.
No more pleather in my ears at last..
Putting them on was slightly challenging at first, but then went smoothly
Fit seems great. Quality seems great. Leather feels great

Haven't heard them as of now

 

[peterinvan]

Today my new earpads from Vesper Audio arrived.
No more pleather in my ears at last..
Putting them on was slightly challenging at first, but then went smoothly
Fit seems great. Quality seems great. Leather feels great
Haven't heard them as of now

They look really nice. Looking forward to a sound quality report..

Did these stretch over the cups, or did you use the plastic clip-on? Any pics of the installation effort?

 

[Bambule]

I don't have pics from installation
They stretch over the plastic click on similar to the original pads

 

[Ashimaru]

Getting the headphones to seal less well will reduce the bass significantly. Do you wear glasses? That does it for me. I don't know your preference, but for me this reduces the bass so much that I won't wear the PM-3 while wearing glasses of any sort.
You could experiment with breaking the seal, maybe put something like soft earplugs between the pad and your skull, changing placement of the aperture.
Or maybe a pad made of perforated leather would work? Dunno, never tried it.

I think your best bet is going to be EQ, though. Unless you really want to go all in with testing different pads and/or experiment with breaking the seal, it's mostly going to be a craps shoot as to whether or not it'll match your preferences.

I don't wear glasses. Yes, reducing the seal will reduce the bass, but I want something permanent, so experimenting with pads might be the way to go. Maybe using a hybrid pad (velour on the area that goes to the head, pleather the rest) might help reduce the seal. I also don't know if perforated pads will reduce the bass or not.

 

[Ashimaru]

There're plenty of options on Amazon which includes Hybrids, velours and perforated.

You can also have a look on Audio Technica M50 pads for a greater variety.

Yes, luckily the PM3 earpads are compatible with the very popular M50s, so they're easy to get.

 

[Chris Kaoss]

I don't wear glasses. Yes, reducing the seal will reduce the bass, but I want something permanent, so experimenting with pads might be the way to go. Maybe using a hybrid pad (velour on the area that goes to the head, pleather the rest) might help reduce the seal. I also don't know if perforated pads will reduce the bass or not.

Yes.
Perforated pads could reduce bass, can increase headstage and alter the frequency response significantly.
Especially on a closed back headphones.

It could be a hit or miss, depending on the foam used, the amount of perforation and how small (or wide) the holes are.

I think, cheap hybrid pads, with the inner material being velour, should be your first step.

Perforated pads on closed back headphones are a bit critical, because of the drastic changes they can cause, imo.
Not only on the bass intensity, but most to the maybe somewhat diffuse headstage, they can create.

In the end, it's a matter of how you'll like the outcome.
If it fits your taste, it's always a win.

 

[HipHopScribe]

I would second the earlier recommendation to look at EQ rather than pad changes to alter sound. In my experience, the PM-3s are very susceptible to pads changes, more than even many other closed headphones, and it's going to be hard to target bass reduction with pads without drastically altering the rest of the frequency response, potentially for the negative. I even had issues with other full pleather pads until settling on the Sixsop pads I use now

 

[Ashimaru]

Yes.
Perforated pads could reduce bass, can increase headstage and alter the frequency response significantly.
Especially on a closed back headphones.

It could be a hit or miss, depending on the foam used, the amount of perforation and how small (or wide) the holes are.

I think, cheap hybrid pads, with the inner material being velour, should be your first step.

Perforated pads on closed back headphones are a bit critical, because of the drastic changes they can cause, imo.
Not only on the bass intensity, but most to the maybe somewhat diffuse headstage, they can create.

In the end, it's a matter of how you'll like the outcome.
If it fits your taste, it's always a win.

The earpads I mean are between these two. I am comfortable with the mid and treble. I just need to reduce the seal a little so that the bass is reduced.

I would second the earlier recommendation to look at EQ rather than pad changes to alter sound. In my experience, the PM-3s are very susceptible to pads changes, more than even many other closed headphones, and it's going to be hard to target bass reduction with pads without drastically altering the rest of the frequency response, potentially for the negative. I even had issues with other full pleather pads until settling on the Sixsop pads I use now

Yes, EQ would help a lot. But really all I need is to break the seal a little bit so the bass will reduce by itself.

 

[StokeNewingtonJohn]

Today my new earpads from Vesper Audio arrived.
No more pleather in my ears at last..
Putting them on was slightly challenging at first, but then went smoothly
Fit seems great. Quality seems great. Leather feels great
Haven't heard them as of now

Nice! I'd also be interested in hearing how they sound.

 

[oratory1990]

Has anyone had to replace their headbands yet?
Mine is flaking quite a bit.

I replaced the earpads already (with sheepskin ones, no effect on the sound!) but now it's the headband's time to go

 

[evanft]

Has anyone had to replace their headbands yet?
Mine is flaking quite a bit.

I replaced the earpads already (with sheepskin ones, no effect on the sound!) but now it's the headband's time to go

I had a cover on mine. I don't think there are direct replacements available.

 

[Mister Crash]

I like the PM-3's sound, but the headphones fall apart. I've got three of them for my kids and have had to replace the pads and cables on all of them, and get headband covers as well. These were the ones I got, which have held up pretty well.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B082X3K44S?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Getting the right cable replacement is so difficult because the size of the input hole is relatively small and not consistent between units. I have a replacement cable that fits in one of my PM-3s, but not another. I contacted a reputable cable manufacturer that makes PM-1 cables and asked if they could make a PM-3 cable. They said they had explored that, but the unit-to-unit variation on the headphones was wide enough that they didn't feel comfortable selling them.