[Folex]

Order it directly from Audio-technica, its $4 for the pads i think $4-5 for the shipping. To do the mod you need coax cable and some foam which is like $6 at most. 
 
 
E-mail (Parts): parts@atus.com
 
If nothing else the pads will give you a completely different sound and comfort both stock and modded. 

 

[thefranklin]

Quote:

After a few days of burning in with pink noise, playing Skyrim, and listening to music, I can say I find these to be just as satisfying to my ear as the GR07, if not more. Burn-in doesn't seem to affect the SR850's much at all, but I'm still far from 100 hours.
 
1) While the SR850 and GR07 are similar in that both exhibit some sibilance, the SR850's sibilance is far more tamed and doesn't require me to EQ the hell out of it. That's easily my biggest gripe with the GR07. Even after extensive burn-in, without massive EQ-ing in the 6-8kHz region, they really hurt my ears. For the SR850's, flat EQ sounds just fine, though I prefer having the same region slightly toned down.
 
2) Sub-bass quality and quantity easily go to the GR07 but overall bass quantity and punch might go to the SR850. On tracks that don't have a sub-60Hz bass line, the SR850's bass is more satisfying to my ears. And I only have a few dubstep tracks that can actually bring out the sub-bass of the GR07.
 
3) SOUNDSTAGE! It's something that the GR07's get completely destroyed in, but that's not surprising considering I'm comparing tiny IEM's to semi-open cans. I can hear instrumental separation in my music that I have never heard before in my life. This also makes the SR850 amazing for positional audio in gaming. Just playing the circling helicopter demo in Creative's software suite is mind-blowing, and the same effect transfers into Skyrim. 
 
I have very little experience with cans, but if the sound quality of these is "normal" for cans in the sub-$80 price range, I can't even imagine what to expect from $200+ cans.
 
My last comment is that the SR850 is probably the least comfortable headphone I've ever tried (I haven't tried many). While the automatic adjustment strap is a nice feature, the tightness of the headband gives me a headache after a short period of time. The squeeze also makes my ears hurt and sweat after a while. My cheapo $20 HD428's are much better in this regard. Can any owners comment on whether placing the SR850 on a wide object (like my BX5a monitor) for a long period of time will help ease the squeeze? Also, what about the AKG velour pads I've been reading about? Do they make these a lot more comfortable?

Thank you for the impressions.  I just got mine on Friday and I don't know what to think about them.  My first problem was that when plugging them my cell phone is that the right error cut out when they weren't positioned perfectly.  This worried me because I have used at least 4 other pairs of headphones/earbuds and have not had that problem.  They worked fine on my wife's laptop and my desktop, so I guess I am okay with it.
 
Next, I found that anything below 100 Hz is very quiet, and there is nothing at all below about 50 Hz.  Not that I am complaining, I didn't know what to expect.  I don't think they are better than my $20 best buy Phillips earbuds, which is disappointing.  They are at work, so I may be wrong.
 
I also noticed painful highs while listening to Fugue in G minor by Bach.  It could just have been the recording (or the song, I am pretty clueless about music and audio quality etc.), but it seems people have been eq'ing the highs.

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

Yeah, I was playing around with these cans a bit today. I noticed that my HD598 actually has more sub-bass than the SR850. That kind of surprised me considering that these are supposed to be bassy cans. Sadly its just that boomy mid-bass. 
 
 

 

[skeeder]

Quote:

Yeah, I was playing around with these cans a bit today. I noticed that my HD598 actually has more sub-bass than the SR850. That kind of surprised me considering that these are supposed to be bassy cans. Sadly its just that boomy mid-bass. 
 

Still comparing an apple to an orange, the HD 598 is a completely different driver.  I haven't pulled tech specs, but I be the response levels are much wider than the SR850.
 
I'm looking at snagging a pair of these...anyone comment on what music they find most suitable for them?

 

[Atraii]

I know that there isn't too many similarities other than the low budget, but I've been wondering what anyone has to say about these compared to the Monoprice Hi-Fi headphones(MHP-839).
 
Both low budget sets, but the Monoprice is said to have a very similar sound to the M50, and is more bass-centric. What kind of music do each set of cans excel in?

 

[aznofazns]

Quote:

Thank you for the impressions.  I just got mine on Friday and I don't know what to think about them.  My first problem was that when plugging them my cell phone is that the right error cut out when they weren't positioned perfectly.  This worried me because I have used at least 4 other pairs of headphones/earbuds and have not had that problem.  They worked fine on my wife's laptop and my desktop, so I guess I am okay with it.
 
Next, I found that anything below 100 Hz is very quiet, and there is nothing at all below about 50 Hz.  Not that I am complaining, I didn't know what to expect.  I don't think they are better than my $20 best buy Phillips earbuds, which is disappointing.  They are at work, so I may be wrong.
 
I also noticed painful highs while listening to Fugue in G minor by Bach.  It could just have been the recording (or the song, I am pretty clueless about music and audio quality etc.), but it seems people have been eq'ing the highs.

Really? Like I mentioned, sub-bass is one of the SR850's weaknesses, but I still find it satisfying for most bassy music. It has plenty of punch to it.
 
As for the painful treble, maybe you're a bit more sensitive to sibilance than I am. I find the treble to be clean and non-fatiguing, though it sounds a little better when I EQ the 8kHz band down by about 2db. It's also possible that your headphones need burn-in, though I'm not noticing a difference with mine.
 
Also, what source are you using? Most laptops and desktops have sub-par audio cards. And try not to judge audio quality using anything below 192kbps MP3... it's just too lossy.
 

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

No sh**, my point was that I was surprised that an open can would put out more sub-bass than a headphone that has a reputation for being a bassy can. 
 
Quote:

Still comparing an apple to an orange, the HD 598 is a completely different driver.  I haven't pulled tech specs, but I be the response levels are much wider than the SR850.
 
I'm looking at snagging a pair of these...anyone comment on what music they find most suitable for them?

 

 

[skeeder]

Quote:

No sh**, my point was that I was surprised that an open can would put out more sub-bass than a headphone that has a reputation for being a bassy can. 
 


 

My comment was basically saying that if a speaker is not designed to go that low, it will not go that low.
 
It's like getting mad that bookshelf speakers don't have bass.  
 
 

 

[thefranklin]

Quote:

Really? Like I mentioned, sub-bass is one of the SR850's weaknesses, but I still find it satisfying for most bassy music. It has plenty of punch to it.
 
As for the painful treble, maybe you're a bit more sensitive to sibilance than I am. I find the treble to be clean and non-fatiguing, though it sounds a little better when I EQ the 8kHz band down by about 2db. It's also possible that your headphones need burn-in, though I'm not noticing a difference with mine.
 
Also, what source are you using? Most laptops and desktops have sub-par audio cards. And try not to judge audio quality using anything below 192kbps MP3... it's just too lossy.
 

Thanks for the response.  I know they are out of the box, so it will be interesting to see if my opinions change after a burn in period, and I will know where to find them.
 
I had listened to some random bassy stuff on youtube and it didn't excite me too much, but the fact I was on a laptop is true.  What frequency range is sub-bass anyways?   I messed with a cd of frequency tones to try and judge perceived loudness of the bass, but I guess that probably isn't the best approach.  Any speaker knowledge I have is related to home theatre where the sub doesn't take over until ~80Hz. 
 
I will pull out some cd's (or a DVD movie) and have a listen when I get a chance.  I am too busy playing battlefield 3 on my desktop whenever I can get free, in which case these headphones did make me smile. 
 
They are more isolating as I had hoped. I have to relearn how to use a mic with these on, and now I run the risk of the wife showing up unexpectedly because I couldn't hear her yelling.
 
Though I am still disappointed they are unusable on my cell phone.

 

[BBEG]

I've had no problems at all with sound quality from my cuss-word-worthy Droid X. The E6 amp makes the bass a bit clearer. While my SR850s did not sound terrible out of the box, 300+ hours of use has really made a difference. The AKG pads should be here this week, which will likely also make a difference.

 

[Folex]

How much you pay for the akg pads ?

 

[aznofazns]

Quote:

Order it directly from Audio-technica, its $4 for the pads i think $4-5 for the shipping. To do the mod you need coax cable and some foam which is like $6 at most. 
 
 
E-mail (Parts): parts@atus.com
 
If nothing else the pads will give you a completely different sound and comfort both stock and modded. 

I went ahead and emailed AT. Hopefully I can get the velour pads for $10 shipped. Is it possible to install these pads on the SR850 without doing the circumaural mod? You mentioned that the point of the mod is to make it more comfortable for small heads, which I have the opposite of.

 

[BBEG]

Quote:

How much you pay for the akg pads ?

$35 per pair shipped straight from AKG. They don't list it on their site but calling or emailing them will work.

 

[Folex]

I paid $3.9 + $4 shipping in US. You can use them without the mod but they tend to cause jaw pains.  I paid $4 for the foam and finding a free coax cable should be easy. Another issue with the stock pads is they sweat a little, only about 20% vs stock pads. With the mod my ears don't sweat or heat up at all. 
Quote:

I went ahead and emailed AT. Hopefully I can get the velour pads for $10 shipped. Is it possible to install these pads on the SR850 without doing the circumaural mod? You mentioned that the point of the mod is to make it more comfortable for small heads, which I have the opposite of.

 

 

[aznofazns]

Quote:

I paid $3.9 + $4 shipping in US. You can use them without the mod but they tend to cause jaw pains.  I paid $4 for the foam and finding a free coax cable should be easy. Another issue with the stock pads is they sweat a little, only about 20% vs stock pads. With the mod my ears don't sweat or heat up at all. 


 

Just ordered the same pads for $7.90. Can't wait to try them out. I can't believe they're selling velour pads for so cheap. I'm going to try them without the foam/coax mod and see how I like them first. I wish I could +rep you haha.