[U-3C]

Hello everyone and thank you for reading!
 
I've purchased a (used) Q701 and I'm eagerly waiting for it's arrival. Many people have said that the pads on the K712 and the K7xx are more comfortable than the ones on the Q701. I wanted to know if there is a place to purchase such pads for the Q701 for a relatively cheap price.
 
On Ebay, I've bumped into quite a few and I can't really tell a difference based on the info that the sellers provided, so I'd like to ask if anybody has any experience?
 
Thanks in advance!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by U-3C /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I've purchased a (used) Q701 and I'm eagerly waiting for it's arrival. Many people have said that the pads on the K712 and the K7xx are more comfortable than the ones on the Q701. I wanted to know if there is a place to purchase such pads for the Q701 for a relatively cheap price.

 

I wouldn't know about whether the earpads on each model are more comfortable or what isn't, but on headphones like the Q701 and K712, I wouldn't use the K7XX earpads on them much less any third party earpads from eBay. These headphones use earpads that are asymmetrical, fatter towards the rear of the cups, so that the drivers have a toe-in angle much like where speakers would be relative to your ear canals (ie, you don't put speakers squarely to your flanks). This reduces fatigue and improves soundstage depth. On other headphones the driver angling is built into the chassis, like how the mounting on the HD800 is angled already, as well as on the T1 and T5P.

 

You don't see it from the outside on the Beyers, but here's another view - look at how it isn't centered

 
Stock K701 earpad (K702, K712, and Q701 are essentially the same shape, but with different fabric on the outside) - notice how it's fatter to the right, which should be to the rear

 
One of such replacement earpads on eBay/Amazon - notice how the mounting "mechanism" isn't even the same, ie, it's supposed to stretch around the circumference of a mounting lip, while the rear side of a stock earpad has a plastic base that snaps on

 

 

The K7XX AFAIK is basically a K702 65th Anniversary using what looks like the symmetrical K612 earpads; if anything, if I ever get one of those, I'd swap in the regular K702 earpads. 

 

What I'd check on the Q701 is the proper orientation of the earpad. I've seen several demo units in Harman showrooms here where the fat side on at least one cup isn't at the rear, and the staff had no clue there was anything wrong with it, they just took it out of the box and hung them up on the display rack. 

 

[U-3C]

Okay, thanks for clearing that up!
 
Cheers ^_^

 

[U-3C]

In the end, I bought a pair off of eBay because I'm too broke. They work just fine, only they feel a lot more stiff as they are not memory foam. The pads for HM5 are advertised as suitable for the q701, but I can't see how it will fit on so I didn't go with those.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

The pads for HM5 are advertised as suitable for the q701, but I can't see how it will fit on so I didn't go with those. 

 
Well don't toss out the older pads because that's how you make that work. The HM5 uses a mounting mechanism similar to Beyer and some older AKGs - there's a lip on the chassis and on the earpads and you stretch it over that. For earpads that use a plastic frame that clips on, you gut the worn out earpads, stretch the earpad with the stretchy lip mounting mechanism, and then clip that on.
 
Note you need to stretch the earpads a bit, however the diameter and circumference of the AKGs look like a hell of a lot of stretching. You might just end up stressing the HM5 earpads. 
 
 

In the end, I bought a pair off of eBay because I'm too broke. They work just fine, only they feel a lot more stiff as they are not memory foam.

 
Are they asymmetrical, ie, fatter to one side? If they are make sure to set the fatter side towards the rear.

 

[U-3C]

Well don't toss out the older pads because that's how you make that work. The HM5 uses a mounting mechanism similar to Beyer and some older AKGs - there's a lip on the chassis and on the earpads and you stretch it over that. For earpads that use a plastic frame that clips on, you gut the worn out earpads, stretch the earpad with the stretchy lip mounting mechanism, and then clip that on.

Note you need to stretch the earpads a bit, however the diameter and circumference of the AKGs look like a hell of a lot of stretching. You might just end up stressing the HM5 earpads. 



Are they asymmetrical, ie, fatter to one side? If they are make sure to set the fatter side towards the rear.

Asymmetrical, exactly the same shape as the original pads, so I mounted them on in the same orientation as the original pads.

Since the headphones were used, the memory foam on the original pads are crushed. They are soft, but my ears are constantly being crushed by the drivers as they are no longer thick. The new pads fixed the issues and improved the sound a bit, and I've gotten used to the comfort.

I also cut out the foam bumps on the headband and glued on a sennheiser headband.

All in all, I'm pretty satisfied. However, whenever I visit my parents and grab the ad700x I got them, the q701 monstrosity I created feels like a torture device haha.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Note how much faster they wear out compared to the original pads, roughly but at least this pair will give you an idea as to whether the original pads last longer for the money.

 

[U-3C]

Note how much faster they wear out compared to the original pads, roughly but at least this pair will give you an idea as to whether the original pads last longer for the money.

Unfortunately the headphones were used so I don't know how long the original ones lasted. however, I assume the new ones will last longer. The original pads crumble a bit every time I unlock it. The foam is that ol, and I've never seen non memory foam pads do that.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Unfortunately the headphones were used so I don't know how long the original ones lasted. however, I assume the new ones will last longer. The original pads crumble a bit every time I unlock it. The foam is that ol, and I've never seen non memory foam pads do that.

 
Ummm...there's some contradiction in the data there. If you bought them used and had no idea about the usage of the previous owner, therefore not knowing how long it took to get to that condition, you cannot assume the new ones to last longer when the data you want to compare it to (even roughly) technically doesn't exist.
 
What does though is that most people who bought replacement third party earpads did find that they don't last as long as Sennheiser and Beyer earpads, and given this is an angled AKG earpad, overall wear isn't the only problem, but also uneven wear that might alter the relative thickness front to rear.
 
In any case log roughly how long you use them each day, that way at some point if you do get the AKG pads you can do the same and get rough data for that one as well.

 

[U-3C]

I see.
 
I guess I should have clarified that was referring more towards my impression of the foam.
 
Indeed, I can't tell. I just know that the foam in the new pads are not memory foam, so I suspect that they will not crumble away like the memory foam in the original pads. They give the impression that they are durable, but they are harder. Again, as you pointed out, I cannot really prove anything as I do not know how old these headphones are.
 
Hopefully this can help people who are looking to purchase pads in the future as well as avoid confusion.
 
Cheers!