[sedminusn]

I recently purchased a pair of used RS-2s off of the forums, and I was initially pretty disappointed. I felt that they were far too bright and the bass was lacking a certain punch. They came with bowls, and I felt that even my SR-60 with comfies had punchier bass. By no means do I consider myself a basshead, but it sounded like the low end on the RS-2 was almost completely absent. I also found comfort to be a serious issue. I wear headphones for extended periods of time, and after a while the bowls would just grate my ears down. This did not create a pleasurable listening experience. As of this morning I was ready to resell the RS-2s and move on. As luck would have it, the Sennheiser HD414 pads were in my mailbox when I arrived home from work today. I had initially planned on putting these on my SR-60 because I'd always heard they sounded better than comfies and I still use the SR-60 for my portable. Since I was planning on reselling the RS-2, I figured "what the hell?", modded them, and dropped them on. All I can say is: wow. What a difference. The RS-2 with the modded HD414 pads sound amazing! The bass now has that punchy quality that I was looking for, and they are a lot more comfortable. I don't know if it is because of the addition of more bass or what, but the brightness also seems to have toned down a bit. It also had the unexpected effect of giving these headphones a more open sound. At first I was skeptical that a pad change could make such a difference in sound, but these RS-2s went from mediocre to amazing in no time flat.

So now my question becomes: if the modded 414 pads are this good, does that mean that flats are that much better? Or should I just stick with a good thing? Also, when I modded them I was unable to get the whole cut squarely in the center. This means that the different sections of the two drivers are covered, if that makes sense (see pic #3 below). Would it behoove me to get a new pair of 414 pads and make a more accurate center cut? Or does this not make any difference?

Here are some pics of the RS-2 with the 414 pads:

 

[Large4mat]

The highs will be a little more pronounced with the flat pads. The 414's are also more comfortable. I personally like the sound of the RS-2's with the flats, but it sounds to me like you would be happier with the 414's.

 

[Silfer]

You could make the holes slightly bigger by cutting away where they are covering the driver now. Then the drivers are covered equal.
If you push the foam onto the wooden housing all the way the pads will become flatter and you'll get a closer sound to flat pads. The bigger holes will make it easier to do this I think. If you don't like the sound with the foam lying flat you could always pull it back a bit.