[rlisin]

I have the quad SE-Q 404 from the same line as your SE 305 and with the same drivers I think, and those do not sound good at all, at least compared to modern headphones they don't. I actually had to swap 2 drivers for new substitutes because one was DOA and the new ones sound much better. Unfortunately I don't remember the exact model of headphones I got the drivers from, but they were cheap Monacor headphones from 5-10 years ago. Looked similar to the current MD-4600 model.

Come to think of it, my SE-Q 404 are another candidate for a Philips driver transplant. Thanks for reminding me!


Edit: Back to the SHL3300, I tested mine today with Beyerdynamic COP earpads and grille on and off.
Comfort is better with it off, my ears touch the grille when it's there - barely, but it can be annoying after some time. The 1mm depth difference with the grilles off was all I needed not to have this problem.
Sound-wise, unfortunately in combination with COP pads these headphones actually sound better with the grilles left in place. Like I wrote earlier, COP pads emphasize treble so removing the grilles (that also results in more highs) makes the sound unbearable, for me at least. And I like Beyerdynamic headphones and Sennheiser HD700.
With the grilles on they are still quite bright but not annoyingly so. So I keep the grilles in place for now and probably put something under the earpads to slightly increase their depth. Maybe I'll try with grilles off and a cloth filter (the test I did was with grilles removed and no cloth between ear and driver).
I might also try opening the vents a bit more (the ones on top of the cups), see what it does to the sound.

 

[actorlife]

On sale $13.30: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...87&cm_re=phillips_3300-_-26-138-187-_-Product

 

[trellus]

On sale $13.30: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...87&cm_re=phillips_3300-_-26-138-187-_-Product

I picked them up at this price!

 

[PetrosP8]

I have just bought a set of 3300, first of all they feel fairly comfortable to me with the stock pads and headband. Tho the pads heat up my ears quite a bit as they are on ear, my plan was to put the pads of my old razer kraken on them, but they don't fit at all. I'm now planning on getting the round brainwavz pads, I think they will fit better than the ovals. I was also trying also to remove the black grill, I've read here that the whole plastic structure that holds the orange mesh and the black grill twists and comes off, I didn't get it to come off and I'm afraid to break them. I haven't found any video out there about the process.
Has anyone tried the brainwavz round pads on the shl3300? Pleather or velour ones?

 

[trellus]

I have just bought a set of 3300, first of all they feel fairly comfortable to me with the stock pads and headband. Tho the pads heat up my ears quite a bit as they are on ear, my plan was to put the pads of my old razer kraken on them, but they don't fit at all. I'm now planning on getting the round brainwavz pads, I think they will fit better than the ovals. I was also trying also to remove the black grill, I've read here that the whole plastic structure that holds the orange mesh and the black grill twists and comes off, I didn't get it to come off and I'm afraid to break them. I haven't found any video out there about the process.

Has anyone tried the brainwavz round pads on the shl3300? Pleather or velour ones?

I'm still waiting on the set I purchased from NewEgg (should be getting them by Friday)... @Slater describes specifically how to remove that grill in this post of his mods, see the second step:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/rev...rrated-headphone.697813/page-12#post-13231408

 

[rlisin]

I have something that's probably Brainwavz round XL (not sure because I got them as an extra with 2nd hand headphones, but they look like Brainwavz XL and have the right dimensions) on my SHL3300 now. Comfort and sound is great, they're a bit loose on the cups but don't fall off, wide sleeve keeps them in place. Regular size and oval pads are probably a better fit.

I've also tried Beyerdynamic 770 (velour) and COP pads. COP fits perfectly but the sound is a bit too bright. 770 pads - good sound and comfort, but they are wider with a too narrow sleeve and I was afraid they would fall off on the go.

By the way, I tried the smaller brothers SHL3100 and SHL3200. Both are plastic toys, SHL3100 is really small, SHL3200 is a bit larger but still smallee than SHL3300 and ugly as hell. They're even less comfortable than stock SHL3300 (smaller cups, worse headband padding. They sound quite good (SHL3100) to very good (SHL3200), but because of form and comfort for me they're only good as driver donors. This is my Revox RH310 enclosure with SHL3100 drivers:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...adphone-mods-here.867426/page-2#post-13967121

I've also made a Beyerdynamic DT770 with SHL3200 drivers.

 

[trellus]

I have something that's probably Brainwavz round XL (not sure because I got them as an extra with 2nd hand headphones, but they look like Brainwavz XL and have the right dimensions) on my SHL3300 now. Comfort and sound is great, they're a bit loose on the cups but don't fall off, wide sleeve keeps them in place. Regular size and oval pads are probably a better fit.

I've also tried Beyerdynamic 770 (velour) and COP pads. COP fits perfectly but the sound is a bit too bright. 770 pads - good sound and comfort, but they are wider with a too narrow sleeve and I was afraid they would fall off on the go.

By the way, I tried the smaller brothers SHL3100 and SHL3200. Both are plastic toys, SHL3100 is really small, SHL3200 is a bit larger but still smallee than SHL3300 and ugly as hell. They're even less comfortable than stock SHL3300 (smaller cups, worse headband padding. They sound quite good (SHL3100) to very good (SHL3200), but because of form and comfort for me they're only good as driver donors. This is my Revox RH310 enclosure with SHL3100 drivers:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...adphone-mods-here.867426/page-2#post-13967121

I've also made a Beyerdynamic DT770 with SHL3200 drivers.

Thanks for reporting on the Brainwavz XL pads, I wasn't sure if wanted to get those or the non-XL round pads, these have 100mm diameter it seems:

https://www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-ROUND-Replacement-Memory-Earpads/dp/B072PPPWBF/


Are these below the XL pads you're using? 110 mm?

https://www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-Large-Replacement-Memory-Earpads/dp/B078HJ5GND/

Also, great to hear a report on the other Philips cans SHL3100 and SHL3200, and you did some great work by harvesting those drivers for your FrankenPhone from what I can tell from that thread you linked. Awesome!

 

[rlisin]

Yep, these projects are fun and results are really good. I got my hands on a few DT770 and DT990 housings and the above Revox, so I'm experimenting with them a bit. These housings are awesome - pro looks, comfy, sturdy and really easy to work with. Revox was actually more difficult because it originally had a foam cushion, no earpad - so no outer rim or recess to fit a pad on.

I think these are the Brainwavz pads that I have:

https://www.brainwavzaudio.com/products/headphone-memory-foam-earpads-xl-pu-leather

Same size, different finish. I would prefer hybrids, but they were a freebee, so no complaints I do like having the big ones, they have a larger ear opening - 65 mm, round regular have 55 mm, which is enough, but 65 mm is better. But they will probably end up on different cans because of the loose fit on SHL3300.

From the recent Philips SHLs I also have SHL3565. These look and sound really good, a bit brighter than SHL3300 but not too bright and there's enough bass for my taste. They're on-ear with nice soft pads so the comfort's not bad, but they have much smaller cups, only 75 mm, so there's no (easy) way of making them circumaural. Although 80 mm pads with wide sleeve could work.

 

[PetrosP8]

I can't decide now between pleather or velour. Thoughts on this?
EDIT:Finally bought the brainwavz round pleather pads. They arrive on monday.

 

[rlisin]

I think it's a good call sound-wise, there's usually some bass loss with velour pads and from what I've noticed these Philips cans can be sensitive to that. Not the case with Beyerdynamic pads, but I have DT770 velours which are a bit different than your average velours. Velour wins in comfort though.

 

[trellus]

Finally go them in today and wow, are they bassy... and uncomfortable, lot of pressure on my poor, Dumbo ears... so when I got home, I tried on the Cosmos velour pads (approx 106 mm diameter outside) and had a hard time stuffing them and finally had to just stretch them over the cups... soundstage increased greatly, but lost a little too much bass, and leakage was now substantial -- I guess that velour material is substantially porous.

Took those off -- wasn't completely satisfied with the change in sound.

...Remembered that my Superlux HD 681 EVO had come both with pleather (on the headphones already) plus a set of velour pads that literally had never been removed from the plastic.

Tried those and they were a little too big, too (I'm guessing same size as the Cosmos, perhaps 106 mm to 110 mm), but after working it around, I was finally able to get in there, but it's a bit loose goosey... but WOW did the sound get SUBSTANTIALLY better.

Soundstage is much better than with the stock pads, and comfort is 2X *at least* better, leakage even given that the pads kind of slide of bit and aren't perfectly secure with superb seal, is surprisingly minimal, substantially better than the Cosmos velour pads, so I'm guessing that the velour of the HD 681 EVO pads are just denser -- it feels that way to the fingers as well, so it makes sense.

• Bass is still there, maybe a little less, but still definitely north of natural, and nice and boosted in a way that is enjoyable
• Soundstage >> than with stock earpads

Given this experiment, I'll likely order the Brainwavz Round Ear-Pads -- as they are 100 mm outside diameter instead of the roughly 106 mm (Cosmos lists them as 4.2 inches), which should mean they are less loosey goosey even though they still won't be as tight as the 95 mm stock pads.

 

[rlisin]

If you Brainwavz velours, let us know how they affect the bass. I could only try Beyerdynamic DT770 velours so far, and those are bass happy but a bit too large. But yesterday I got DTX910 that have a bit smaller velour pads, I'll see how they do.

By the way, I've actually found use for the SHL3300 stock pads. They did wonders for old Philips N6326 electret headphones that had literally no bass with over ear pads, but after fitting the SHL3300 pads - wow, there's bass on them even without EQ! They still need a beast of an amp to drive them because of their insane impedance, but I got the tonal balance under control. I'll post something about that in the mod thread next week.

 

[trellus]

If you Brainwavz velours, let us know how they affect the bass. I could only try Beyerdynamic DT770 velours so far, and those are bass happy but a bit too large. But yesterday I got DTX910 that have a bit smaller velour pads, I'll see how they do.

By the way, I've actually found use for the SHL3300 stock pads. They did wonders for old Philips N6326 electret headphones that had literally no bass with over ear pads, but after fitting the SHL3300 pads - wow, there's bass on them even without EQ! They still need a beast of an amp to drive them because of their insane impedance, but I got the tonal balance under control. I'll post something about that in the mod thread next week.

Wow, you do have some obscure headphones for sure, I had to google those.

 

[rlisin]

Everybody has to google those
I think electret headphones idea died for a reason. Getting them to sound reasonably well without EQ took some doing. Funny thing that It was Philips that released SHL3300s with 95 mm on-ear pads with small openings that made it possible - it's the exact size of the original N6326 pads, but those were over ear - hence no bass.
I still had to add 2 cotton pads per side between the driver and earpad to tame the highs, but N6326 sound rather good now.

 

[PetrosP8]

My brainwavz round pads have arrived, it's a huge difference in comfort, and I find the sound more airy. The pads fit perfectly. I also removed the grills tho.