[U-3C]

Curses! The headband bumps become headband pits. =P But it looks like they aren't very noticeable with the layer of felt. Okay, I'm definitely going to butcher mine now. This is going to be..interesting. Thanks for the motivation!

There are less destructive ways. From the ugly "tape-foam-between-bumps" method to the "wrap-something-really-decorative/cool-looking-around-it."

Since you are considering cutting off the bumps, I should stress that once they are off, they are off. You can't glue them back and make it look seamless unless you are willing to take apart the headphone and put on a custom leather headband.

In the end, they are your headphones. If you mess up and end up not liking it, you are the only one who pays the price.

 

[CaveManta]

I'm totally willing to pay the price. The bumps have been so cruel, keeping me from listening to these amazing cans. I'll take the ugliest hack-job rather than suffer through them. -Maybe I over-exaggerate a bit, but the bumps really suck. If worst comes to worst, a custom headband might actually be pretty nice^^. I could find something soft and pliable.

 

[U-3C]

  I'm totally willing to pay the price. The bumps have been so cruel, keeping me from listening to these amazing cans. I'll take the ugliest hack-job rather than suffer through them. -Maybe I over-exaggerate a bit, but the bumps really suck. If worst comes to worst, a custom headband might actually be pretty nice^^. I could find something soft and pliable.

Unfortunately, I've looked everywhere and I still can't find those pics. Shame, as I used them to document the whole process because I thought it might be useful for others to reference. I never really saw anybody else post step-by-step pictures on how they did it. I guess I should have posted online after I took them so they won't be lost.
 
Anyway, just keep in mind that the leather that's covering the foam bumps is a very thin skin. If you are not sure, just take a knife and poke it in the center of a bump, You will cut the entire thing off anyways so that is a good way to get see how get a feel for how it it works.
 
Here's a picture I found on the internet. Try not to end up like this because I've heard people had to scratch all the foam off by hand. The foam can be peeled off in one shot if you do it right and can save quite a bit of trouble.
 

 

[U-3C]

Blah, can't find the pictures I took.


Decided to have some fun instead :



UPDATE: I meant to say PEEL FOAM OFF THE FELT. I hope nobody interprets it as "PEEL THE FELT OFF THE HEADBAND."

Of course, you can do that if you want, but I think it looks ugly with the pits.

Here's a close-up of my Q701 headband, bent backwards. You can see the layer of felt:



Hope it helps.


-------------------------

Disclaimer: Instructions are clear. Please be careful. I am not responsible for anyone getting anything stuck in anywhere because they did not follow the instructions properly. If somebody dares to change the image and break the delicate harmony that I have created with a state of mind that can only be achieved with 3 nights of no sleep and 20 cups of coffee, then that person is responsible for any stuck objects/body parts, not me. :angry_face:

 

[Devodonaldson]

Wow. Can't imagine cutting into the headband. The look alone would kill me. I had to settle for a much less permanent, less personally scarring solution. The foam material, really helps to lessen the discomfort. Worse case, I have to slightly adjust after I few hours, but I sleep with them on at night without issue.

 

[B-Dawk20]

The whole bumps bothering people thing is still really perplexing to me haha

 

[U-3C]

The whole bumps bothering people thing is still really perplexing to me haha

 
Haha.
 
Well, I cut the bumps off my very old Q701 and did not feel a difference.

Why? Because they are so old, the top bumps have become super soft....0_0;
 
The two bumps on the side have pretty much been left untouched, reminding me that the stiffness of brand new bumps were not an illusion. However, i do still regret cutting them off as I didn't gain much, and they don't look as good anymore...

 

[CaveManta]

I'm surprised that people aren't bothered by the bumps =O. I guess I'm just very sensitive.

 

[headphones1999]

Originally Posted by Me x3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Well engineered, neutral amplifiers with low output impedance and enough power is what I define as a correct amplifiers and all my comments are based on the headphones used with this kind of amplifiers which by the way normally sound more similar than different in the big scheme of things.
 
You can plug DT880 or HD800 into a receiver with 470 Ohm output impedance or a tube amplifier with high levels of second order distortion and tweak the sound, transform it, make it warmer, more liquid, softer, etc. These are "wrong" amplifiers in my book when it comes to headphone judging. Might be more pleasing depending on your preferences, nothing wrong about that. Same applies to equalizers. Same applies to crossfeed effects.

​sorry I didn't answer back then, you really say very interesting things I never really thought of, so I thought its still worth commenting even after a month.
 
First about "how to judge" the headphones, as you said, there is nothing wrong and you should use whatever you like that make you feel like the headphones are better, there is no such a thing as "wrong" in this hobby,
but your problem comes to when you want to review them...
So yeah, people that will read your review will scratch their head when you will read that you plugged your HD800 to extremely rare vintage amp, used some special EQ program and now your HD800 sounds better then anything else, because no one will actually do what you did,  and that makes your review kind of useless
 
So I think that the right way to do a review when you got a situation like this, when you have the rare amp, and the well known natural headphones amp, is to feature them both, that way you will be honest with what you review, and not just putting the non-natural sounding amp aside while making the review
 

  Let me add something.

The enjoyment of listening to recordings with headphones (and speakers to a lesser extent) is based on an illusion. Sometimes, slight differences in the overall sound quality can help you to strenghten the illusion and make it more believable. Then you can say DT880 into E10 sounded good but just that, but DT880 into Yggy/Rag sounded like the real thing, and that's fine from an audiophile's perspective.
 
When it comes to describe sound in an relatively objective manner, I prefer to put things in context. A hall full of musicians is the real thing, a recording is not the real thing, although a good one can be close. Then most of the times (99% of the times) the recording was ment to be played on speakers where you have natural crossfeed. Then a good recording played trough quality speakers placed on a treated room will offer a soundstage that's relatively big and easy to believe. Then we go down into the headphone world where there's no natural crossfeed to speak of. Important part of the soundstage clues are lost in this case (headphones) and thus headphones are not close to speakers placed in the right place.
 
In that context, we are comparing the AKG Q701 which is one of the headphones with bigger soundstage, with Sennheiser HD800, probably the headphone with bigger soundstage. So, when you put things in perspective, these two are really close indeed. You can change the amplifier or DAC to tweak the sound a bit towards your preferences, improve/refine it a bit here and there, and make the illusion more realistic for you, but in the big scheme of things differences are still subtle.

thanks for that one, very interesting way of thinking andI cant really argue about this, but I hope that when you listen to your headphones you are judging them from an audiophile perspective 

 

[headphones1999]

   
Haha.
 
Well, I cut the bumps off my very old Q701 and did not feel a difference.

Why? Because they are so old, the top bumps have become super soft....0_0;
 
The two bumps on the side have pretty much been left untouched, reminding me that the stiffness of brand new bumps were not an illusion. However, i do still regret cutting them off as I didn't gain much, and they don't look as good anymore...

cut peace of leather and and put it there instead?

 

[jasonb]

When you cut the bumps off, just use a piece of adhesive backed felt from a craft store. That's what I did to mine years ago.

 

[rickydenim]

Sorry guys, would anyone know what page the Q701 bass mod is located? After a few months of use I think I am wanting to give it a try. Thanks!

 

[U-3C]

Sorry guys, would anyone know what page the Q701 bass mod is located? After a few months of use I think I am wanting to give it a try. Thanks!

Try this:

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d2DsUnutSzw[/video]

There's another one, where you open it up and add a few layers of microfiber:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/607019/akg-q701-simple-mod-increase-bass-and-decrease-soundstage-a-little

The latter one is easier to undo, so if you have a hard time choosing, I recommend starting with that one. Putting back the sticker that you take out on the second mod can be tedious, and since you have removed all the covers, you might break something if an accident happens.

 

[Devodonaldson]

When you cut the bumps off, just use a piece of adhesive backed felt from a craft store. That's what I did to mine years ago.

Credit given. Unlike most jobs, that actually doesn't look half bad.

 

[tegR]

I rarely follow this thread so most likely a repost. For anyone with time wanting to replace the the headband, you can buy flat ones from ebay. No idea whether they are genuine or not, sit more flat/straight original, but that doesn't bother me now i can wear them for more than 20 mins. Put on with random screws and such