satshanti
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2008
- Posts
- 86
- Likes
- 12
To wet your appetite and as an incentive for you to keep reading, some pictures first:
Philips N6330 with orange pads:
MB Quart Phone 70 with blue pads:
Don't they look good?
These are pads with an elastic ring, and according to the seller, suitable for AKG K240, K241, K250, K260, K270, K271, K280 and K290. A year ago, when I bought the two pairs I own, I had wanted to use one on my K340, but the K340 are slightly too large to easily fit the pads. It can be done, but they might slip off during handling. They do fit any headphones with about 105 mm diameter, like my MB Quarts for instance.
Let me mention first that these are sold here in Germany on eBay, and the seller (IdexMedia) does not ship abroad due to awkward legally complicated warranty and return policy regulations. Besides that, I contacted him before writing this review, and he mentioned that he has only about 50 pairs left in stock, which he does not intend to replenish. This means that for all you guys and girls in the Americas, obtaining these is unfortunately going to be somewhat difficult.
I still thought it worthwhile to finally post a review of these pads, because they look great, sound excellent, keep your ears cool and dry, and are very firm, so they flatten very little over time, all qualities one looks for in earpads.
Before I write about what they do to the sound, I'll first tell you a bit about their not-so-important qualities:
They are available in 5 different colours: black, brown, red, blue and orange (for pictures of the other colours, see the seller's website in German). They are handmade, genuine leather pads, so they "breathe", meaning they are great for people in hot countries and/or people that sweat a lot. They are well-made and firm, so they last long, unlike the original pleather AKG pads that tend to flatten quite a bit over time. They are pressed firmly and seamlessly to the head. Because of their firmness, some people may find them slightly less comfortable than pleather or velours pads, but personally I really love the fact that they don't sweat, so I prefer these over pleather. I haven't tried the standard AKG velours pads, so I cannot compare to that, but some head-fiers have commented that they change the sound too much (I do love velours too, as my Philips HP-1000 is the most comfortable set of cans I currently own). They are slightly smaller than the original AKG pads, meaning that also the inner ring is a bit tighter (6 mm smaller to be exact). In my own case, they just fit over my ears, but for people with big ears, this is something to consider.
Now, how do they sound, or rather, do they change the sound, compared to the pleather pads? I'll tell you my impressions.
Why did it take me a year to finally write something about these pads? Because I have had a love/hate relationship with them ever since I got them. I have used them on and off during the course of my headphones and equipment upgrades, on the AKG K340 (sold since then), my two current favourite cans, an MP and LP Sextett (AKG 240), a Philips N6330 and an MB Quart 70 that came without earpads. I will spare you the details of these upgrades, and cut down to the chase.
Do these pads change the sound, compared to the original pleather ones? YES! Do they sound better? A conditional YES! For the purpose of this review, I will talk about the sound signature of these pads, as heard through my two "reference" models, the Sextetts.
I currently have 3 old sets of pleather pads in varying stages of "flatness" and one brand new set of pads, directly from AKG. If I pair these up according to "flatness", I have 4 sets of AKG pads that all sound slightly different. Which one of these sounds best and would be the most suitable to function as a refererence for the leather pads? One would expect the brand new set to sound best, but funny enough this isn't the case. They sound ... confused, muddy, I don't know... just plain wrong. The flattest pads sound coherent, but muddy. They smooth the sound, but quite a bit of detail is lost. The best ones, which I will use as a reference for comparison, are the best conserved old pads. They are still quite firm, but already slightly flattened, compared to the brand new ones. These sound great!
How do these compare to the colourful ones? The difference is not that great, but it's not that subtle either. Comparing them one against the other positively, the pleather AKG pads lean towards smooth, warm, coherent, full-bodied with a solid headstage. The leather pads are transparant, clear, micro-detailed with fast transients, textured. On the negative side, the pleather pads smear the sound somewhat, mask certain details and absorb transients, while the leather pads are unforgiven in exposing flaws in the signal chain (something I have come to experience in the last year), not as full-bodied and solid-sounding, maybe not that suitable for rock/electronic, possibly a slightly less defined headstage.
Knowing these sound signatures, one can choose the best pads for a set of cans. For my MP Sextett, which is detailed but slightly warm, the leather pads are perfect, while for my LP Sextett the pleather pads are a perfect match. I use the MP with leather for classical and acoustic and the LP with pleather for pop/rock. Also the phones in the pictures, the Sextett-cloned Philips N6330 and the MB Quart sound better with the leather pads.
Objectively speaking, I'd say the leather ones are the most true to the ultimate reference (like how does an acoustic instrument sound in reality) and also subjectively, ever since my latest upgrades (amp mod, sextett recabling, digital source upgrade), I must say I prefer these babies. Only my LP Sextett, which is a bit too bright and has a somewhat thin bass, thrives on the original pleather, smoothing the highs and oompfing the bass, making it a great allround set for MP3's and electrically amped/electronic music. For acoustic detail I can only recommend these gorgeous pads.
I'm actually one set short at the moment. I think I might order another set and this time make it red ones.
Philips N6330 with orange pads:
MB Quart Phone 70 with blue pads:
Don't they look good?
These are pads with an elastic ring, and according to the seller, suitable for AKG K240, K241, K250, K260, K270, K271, K280 and K290. A year ago, when I bought the two pairs I own, I had wanted to use one on my K340, but the K340 are slightly too large to easily fit the pads. It can be done, but they might slip off during handling. They do fit any headphones with about 105 mm diameter, like my MB Quarts for instance.
Let me mention first that these are sold here in Germany on eBay, and the seller (IdexMedia) does not ship abroad due to awkward legally complicated warranty and return policy regulations. Besides that, I contacted him before writing this review, and he mentioned that he has only about 50 pairs left in stock, which he does not intend to replenish. This means that for all you guys and girls in the Americas, obtaining these is unfortunately going to be somewhat difficult.
I still thought it worthwhile to finally post a review of these pads, because they look great, sound excellent, keep your ears cool and dry, and are very firm, so they flatten very little over time, all qualities one looks for in earpads.
Before I write about what they do to the sound, I'll first tell you a bit about their not-so-important qualities:
They are available in 5 different colours: black, brown, red, blue and orange (for pictures of the other colours, see the seller's website in German). They are handmade, genuine leather pads, so they "breathe", meaning they are great for people in hot countries and/or people that sweat a lot. They are well-made and firm, so they last long, unlike the original pleather AKG pads that tend to flatten quite a bit over time. They are pressed firmly and seamlessly to the head. Because of their firmness, some people may find them slightly less comfortable than pleather or velours pads, but personally I really love the fact that they don't sweat, so I prefer these over pleather. I haven't tried the standard AKG velours pads, so I cannot compare to that, but some head-fiers have commented that they change the sound too much (I do love velours too, as my Philips HP-1000 is the most comfortable set of cans I currently own). They are slightly smaller than the original AKG pads, meaning that also the inner ring is a bit tighter (6 mm smaller to be exact). In my own case, they just fit over my ears, but for people with big ears, this is something to consider.
Now, how do they sound, or rather, do they change the sound, compared to the pleather pads? I'll tell you my impressions.
Why did it take me a year to finally write something about these pads? Because I have had a love/hate relationship with them ever since I got them. I have used them on and off during the course of my headphones and equipment upgrades, on the AKG K340 (sold since then), my two current favourite cans, an MP and LP Sextett (AKG 240), a Philips N6330 and an MB Quart 70 that came without earpads. I will spare you the details of these upgrades, and cut down to the chase.
Do these pads change the sound, compared to the original pleather ones? YES! Do they sound better? A conditional YES! For the purpose of this review, I will talk about the sound signature of these pads, as heard through my two "reference" models, the Sextetts.
I currently have 3 old sets of pleather pads in varying stages of "flatness" and one brand new set of pads, directly from AKG. If I pair these up according to "flatness", I have 4 sets of AKG pads that all sound slightly different. Which one of these sounds best and would be the most suitable to function as a refererence for the leather pads? One would expect the brand new set to sound best, but funny enough this isn't the case. They sound ... confused, muddy, I don't know... just plain wrong. The flattest pads sound coherent, but muddy. They smooth the sound, but quite a bit of detail is lost. The best ones, which I will use as a reference for comparison, are the best conserved old pads. They are still quite firm, but already slightly flattened, compared to the brand new ones. These sound great!
How do these compare to the colourful ones? The difference is not that great, but it's not that subtle either. Comparing them one against the other positively, the pleather AKG pads lean towards smooth, warm, coherent, full-bodied with a solid headstage. The leather pads are transparant, clear, micro-detailed with fast transients, textured. On the negative side, the pleather pads smear the sound somewhat, mask certain details and absorb transients, while the leather pads are unforgiven in exposing flaws in the signal chain (something I have come to experience in the last year), not as full-bodied and solid-sounding, maybe not that suitable for rock/electronic, possibly a slightly less defined headstage.
Knowing these sound signatures, one can choose the best pads for a set of cans. For my MP Sextett, which is detailed but slightly warm, the leather pads are perfect, while for my LP Sextett the pleather pads are a perfect match. I use the MP with leather for classical and acoustic and the LP with pleather for pop/rock. Also the phones in the pictures, the Sextett-cloned Philips N6330 and the MB Quart sound better with the leather pads.
Objectively speaking, I'd say the leather ones are the most true to the ultimate reference (like how does an acoustic instrument sound in reality) and also subjectively, ever since my latest upgrades (amp mod, sextett recabling, digital source upgrade), I must say I prefer these babies. Only my LP Sextett, which is a bit too bright and has a somewhat thin bass, thrives on the original pleather, smoothing the highs and oompfing the bass, making it a great allround set for MP3's and electrically amped/electronic music. For acoustic detail I can only recommend these gorgeous pads.
I'm actually one set short at the moment. I think I might order another set and this time make it red ones.
