[Slater]

Lmao I'm trying to remove the stock pads and the right pad twists off easily but the left pad seems stuck on there. I don't want to break it, but that plastic ring the pad sits on doesn't seem to want to twist

Twist it the other way.

 

[Seazer]

Twist it the other way.

Lol I tried and it was still hard. I managed to get it off without braking it eventually though. Trying the senitek pads, they are comfy but I feel upper mids push foward a bit much, maybe a bit of foam like in the original pads would dampen it

 

[Seazer]

Any idea where to purchase foam filters similar to what's in the stock pads? I know skme headphones come with some tuning filters that are kind of similar.

 

[Slater]

Any idea where to purchase foam filters similar to what's in the stock pads? I know skme headphones come with some tuning filters that are kind of similar.

If you search Aliexpress for “headphone tuning foam”, you’ll find different types of foam.

 

[wric01]

I like them a lot. Much better than the stock pads.

Obviously, someone else’s results may vary from mine. But I’ll try and break it down as I see it.

1. The Brainwavz HM5 sheepskin pads are luxurious feeling, as anyone who has sheepskin pads knows. They provide a tight seal, and the bassiest sound. The soundstage is fairly closed in, which isn’t that big of a deal and expected because these are closed headphones.

2. The HM5 non-angled pleather are similar to the stock pads, and the biggest advantage is more comfort due to the oval shape vs pear shape of the stock pads. The Brainwavz foam is also much more comfortable than the stock pads due to the Brainwavz pads using premium memory foam.

3. I don’t have easy access to my Brainwavz angled pleather pads right now, because my state is on lockdown so I can’t get to them at the moment. Sorry

4. The Brainwavz hybrid velour/pleather fenestrated pads sound excellent IMO. One of my top 2 choices. Same deal as the other pads with regards to comfort, and the big advantage is your ears don’t get hot like they do with pleather. The sound has just the right amount of balance IMO, but bear in mind that I prefer Harman tuning. As expected for a partially velour pad, the low end is more than an all velour pad but less than a sheepskin or velour pad. I think it’s just right. Also, the overall sound with the hybrid pad seems to be very clean and the soundstage is great.

5. The “Senitek fabric” pad is close to the hybrid pad, and my other top 2 choice. This one is a 3rd party (non Brainwavz) pad. It used to be known as the “Senitek Fabric” on Amazon, but I don’t believe they’re available anymore. You can get them directly from Aliexpress here:



They’re great quality, unique material that looks like tweed fabric but feels like a micro fiber suede or synthetic alcantara. Good soundstage and similar sound to the hybrid pad. A very unique pad, and I have a stash of a bunch of them in case they become no longer available. They’ve saved a lot of headphones, and I think they should be in everyone’s pad rolling kit



6. The all-velour pad has the flattest sound of the bunch (as expected), but really isn’t my cup of tea. That’s my personal tastes though, as I don’t like all velour pads on most headphones. It seems to accentuate the midrange a little too much for my liking, making it sound too forward IMO. But I think the reason is because the low end is reduced, so it accentuates the other frequencies especially the peaks that are already present. I’m sure others will like the velour pad though, especially those that feel the Ora is way too bassy and ‘consumer’ sounding.

Final thoughts:
Actually, other than the sheepskin pads, all of the Defean pads are very good quality and equivalent to Brainwavz pads (only at a much better price). I wouldn’t be surprised if they manufactured them for Brainwavz. Good stitching, and they use actual memory foam as well. So if you are looking to pad roll and don’t already have a collection of Brainwavz HM5 pads, order up one of each of the Defean pads.



The bottom line is that pad rolling the Ora is very much worth it, as it allows the sound to be tweaked from stock. I will add that the Ora only has channel indicators on the stock pads. It would have been nice for them to put indicators on the inside of the sliders. I mention it because once you swap to some 3rd party pads it’s easy to get confused about what channel is what. You can always remember that the physical control button is on the L cup and the touch control is on the R cup. Or you can add you own channel indicator, such as a small mark on the slider.

I hope that helps!

PS - you’ll have to carefully stretch the HM5 pads over the stock cups. It’s easiest to start at the pointy bottom of the cup. Put the pad around the point, and then gently work the pad all the way around the cup.

Also note that the back of the pad does cover the 3.5mm and usb C port, so you will have to figure out something for access to those ports. You can just ‘move’ the material out of the way when you need to plug in a cable, or you can trim a little bit of the material away with scissors. It’s just the back portion of the pad so it doesn’t hurt anything. But I thought I would mention it so there’s no surprises.

What's the link for the senitek fabric pads thanks. Did they change name to Defean? I just can't seem to find that 105mm dimension at all. Thanks

 

[Slater]

What's the link for the senitek fabric pads thanks. Did they change name to Defean? I just can't seem to find that 105mm dimension at all. Thanks

They don’t sell the exact Senitek pads anymore, but the Defean ones are nearly identical.

 

[MRM22]

They don’t sell the exact Senitek pads anymore, but the Defean ones are nearly identical.
[/QUOTE

Slater, where did you put the velour? I have some coming in today.

 

[Slater]

I lined the inside of the cups with it.

 

[MRM22]

I lined the inside of the cups with it.

Thanks. I wasn't sure if you put any on the front of the baffle as there is a large section of flat exposed plastic that could cause a reflection.

 

[Slater]

Thanks. I wasn't sure if you put any on the front of the baffle as there is a large section of flat exposed plastic that could cause a reflection.

No, but that’s a great idea

 

[Seazer]

I lined the inside of the cups with it.

Inside of the cup as in you opened up the headphone itself and lined the back cup?

 

[Slater]

Inside of the cup as in you opened up the headphone itself and lined the back cup?

Yes

 

[Seazer]

So I put a pair of those foam tuning discs you find under sennheiser pads (can be found easily on places like Amazon) under the senitek pads and it improved the sound imo. Diffuses the upper mids a bit, creating better sense of space, and balances it with the bass in a better way for me.

 

[Seazer]

Testing Dekoni choice hybrid pads (for M50x), they are a bit small but do fit. Soundstage closed in a little bit, subbass brought up. Definitely seals better than stock pads.

 

[Electrozart]

So I did it guys, I decided to get my ORA's individually calibrated by sonarworks, I shipped them out 3 days ago. I liked them as is but also noticed the slight left speaker bass emphasis and they felt slightly bloated on the lows. Since I'm moreso a producer/audio engineer these days than audiophile, I need them to be perfectly flat for mixing/mastering. They're more than awesome for casual listening though

I was debating between doing the individual cal on my hd650's (that I've had over a decade) but I liked the soundstage and noise isolation on the ora's better. I couldn't get over how huge the bass is on the ora's compared to the hd650s with average profile calibration and bass boosted, the ora's still blow them away. I agree hd650s sound smoother on the mids though and feel more relaxed, whereas the ora's are very intense and clinical but not fatiguing. I also compared them to m50x's (with and without calibration) which they made sound like tin cans and to my individually calibrated pxc550 that I got on their warehouse sale. The ora's might replace my pxc550 as my goto portable cans if the calibration holds up decently wirelessly compared to them. I opted only for the wired calibration (instead of also getting Bluetooth cal) to save cost and because I'd primarily use them wired because let's face it, Bluetooth just can't compete in quality to analog, especially with a good DAC.

Was listening on Spotify high quality on a variety of genres on my (used) mastering grade Benchmark DAC1 that I just got (that also acts as the amp), which btw sounds amazingly clean and detailed, but it's my first "good" DAC so my experience in boutique DACS is limited. The DAC I was using before was the built in one in my Focusrite 18i20 interface, which its headphone amp is pretty weak for the hd650s, so I normally used a presonus hp4 as amp but it's rather noisy

Anyways, super excited to get them calibrated and will report back the results and charts. Might even do a YouTube review as I've been trying to start making content. I also reached out to rtings to try and get them to test them fully but they said they don't do requests. Once I get the calibration chart back from sonarworks I'll send it to rtings to try and pique their curiosity moreso.