[ArChaos]

Sorry for another off top , but this could be related to the all modells discussed in this topic . After looking in the local Amazon I could find mainly two types of ear pads available these days: either made from leather or velvet (see enclosed pictures) . Which one should be better with hd540/560 in terms of the neutrality of the sound??

https://www.ebay.com/itm/251387223412?hash=item3a87d89d74:g:bXoAAOSwG-1WweDy&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAA8McItUGJwWpfK+jDFcHMWqGv/MMxMUsjrmSHhrwwkfsQRuQmAYqihLos/RCCErD1UMn0K2d5T9OR5e+KYTmeruEdK6TBc/qsbdb62J9hpBEgM4zMye8y2qIvc8uh+eK57+6IGqcZm7/xSWjFsHnKijyV5f9AB/Wq8ydjFw2gpkI1wcrEu6tLk9icqQyZ37IJSH42ehDQMCqCve5mNZJfPTsZaRXmuIQ7WWseUErSyzlEVVZYe2AWRS2asG/myFe9AHDiG4G95S4/ulGIGWhzUc48WA7nICWeQisbU72NAbTd/E0BdlhUlHdaD3pvKQVMgw==|tkp:BFBMlPr7ifxg

The pleather version of these are considered the best (closest to the original sound) replacement ear pads for the 540 and 250. rather counter-intuitive by the way they look, but that's life... they are a bit too flat for me so I inserted a flat 3mm thick felt ring in the rear flap to make them higher.

I didn't hear the ones you posted, so I cannot comment about their sound, but by their looks they do not look promising: one is thick pleather and the other's "velour" looks rather "furry" to me...

 

[Maitre Renard]

Right, I gotcha, thank you very much !
Actually I always thought that all open Sennheisers should be equipped by velour pads in contrast to the closed ones..

By the way, I ve just noticed that you have also BD DT990 which should be also open headset, right ? How they are compared to the HD540 reference ?

 

[ArChaos]

Right, I gotcha, thank you very much !
Actually I always thought that all open Sennheisers should be equipped by velour pads in contrast to the closed ones..

By the way, I ve just noticed that you have also BD DT990 which should be also open headset, right ? How they are compared to the HD540 reference ?

You're right about the velour - These wang-yifei pads are a "black swan" in my eyes too. The fact is the pleather is very-very thin and perhaps that's the reason they sound so good. By the way, after some use, the pleather starts to crack and I decided to peel it off all together from the ear-pads and turn them into sort of "velour" ear-pads. As such, they sound even better IMO...

To my ears the DT990 are not even in the same league with the 540s. But if you use a vintage SS amp/receiver from the golden age of the seventies the sound much improves and the difference gets smaller.

 

[Maitre Renard]

Ok thank you very much for sharing your experience
By the way, do you know really why the sound of the 540th/ 560 was so interesting (very natural with wide open soundstage) compared to the hd600th ? Looking on my hd540refII I haven’t noticed anything special even inside the pads or in the design of their drivers ( see the photos enclosed !)

 

[ArChaos]

Ok thank you very much for sharing your experience
By the way, do you know really why the sound of the 540th/ 560 was so interesting (very natural with wide open soundstage) compared to the hd600th ? Looking on my hd540refII I haven’t noticed anything special even inside the pads or in the design of their drivers ( see the photos enclosed !)

This is a blown up diagram of the HD250 design. I guess the HD 540 is rather similar...
Much more than meets the eye on first look from outside, don't you think?

 

[Maitre Renard]

Wow looks very complicated, I guess I could see something like this in some top models of the Audiotechnica!
Btw do you thinks everything what we may buy on eBay these days would match to this picture ??

For instance I’ve just noticed on my refII that on the small plastic plate ( on the left ) is written “made in Germany” while on the same plate on the right this is “made in Ireland”
Otherwise the headset sounds amazingly

 

[moriez]

Btw do you thinks everything what we may buy on eBay these days would match to this picture ??

Chances are quite good in my experience, but what you cannot see you cannot know. To be sure you need a seller who is either willing to dismantle and show additional pictures or ask via their messaging system if he's willing to accept return if you find out something is not up to your standards. That way there can't be much misunderstanding if it would come to a refund case.

For instance I’ve just noticed on my refII that on the small plastic plate ( on the left ) is written “made in Germany” while on the same plate on the right this is “made in Ireland”

Yeah. Sounds like pieces of more than one headphone put together. Any pics?

By the way, eventhough there is subject overlap here the official HD540 thread and here the HD250 thread

By the way, after some use, the pleather starts to crack and I decided to peel it off all together from the ear-pads and turn them into sort of "velour" ear-pads. As such, they sound even better IMO...

Clean job! Interesting to give peeling a shot given their price. They're definitely different from the wang_yifei velours?

 

[Maitre Renard]

Yeah. Sounds like pieces of more than one headphone put together. Any pics?

hey thank you for your kind feedback!
Here are the pics of my hd 540 refII . I did not notice anything strange besides this small piece.. in principle could it be replaced ??

P.S. Actually I have already asked in the topic related to the hd 540 bur there were no response

 

[moriez]

Indeed one of the pieces must've been taken from another set. And So yes, they are replaceable

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/wow...nce-are-so-good.670255/page-214#post-16312286

 

[Maitre Renard]

Sorry one more question related to the hd540 refI. I’ve just received a 300 ohm version in much better overal conditions compared to the ref II discussed here earlier.

One thing that I’ve noticed is the absence of two plastic circles that should be present inside to keep pads I enclose the photos of the received hd540 ref I. although the provided leather pads are relatively rigid and keep perfectly without these supports , might it influence the sound ?
Otherwise is it possible to find these parts somewhere ?

 

[ArChaos]

Wow looks very complicated, I guess I could see something like this in some top models of the Audiotechnica!
Btw do you thinks everything what we may buy on eBay these days would match to this picture ??

For instance I’ve just noticed on my refII that on the small plastic plate ( on the left ) is written “made in Germany” while on the same plate on the right this is “made in Ireland”
Otherwise the headset sounds amazingly

The 'made in Germany' version has silver plastic rings around the ear cups - the Ireland version have gray ear cup rings. Probably the miss-match of the plates is either because of the owner using a later spare part or a "cannibalized" headphone (reconstructed from parts of different headphones). Either way, most of the chances are your HP is Germany made (because of the silver rings).

Edit - Sorry, my mistake - I mixed them up with the HD250 regarding the silver vs. the gray ear cups' rings...

 

[ArChaos]

Sorry one more question related to the hd540 refI. I’ve just received a 300 ohm version in much better overal conditions compared to the ref II discussed here earlier.

One thing that I’ve noticed is the absence of two plastic circles that should be present inside to keep pads I enclose the photos of the received hd540 ref I. although the provided leather pads are relatively rigid and keep perfectly without these supports , might it influence the sound ?
Otherwise is it possible to find these parts somewhere ?

The plastic rings you're talking about are part of the ear pads, not the headphones. Many knowledgeable owners kept the rings of weared out ear pads to use them with replacement ear pads, both to keep them in place (the outer flat ring) and to space them from the resonator and hold the 'foams' in place (inner ridged ring).

First pic is from a pair of very good condition velour ear pads, but from some reason the rings were partly disconnected, so I took them apart completely in order to re-glue them properly later.

The second pic is from a weared out pair of ref.1 ear pads from which I tried to take out the middle rind only, and leave the outer ring intact, as originally glued to the ear pads (keep them for re-foaming in the future). As you see - bad idea... not elastic enough to do that without damaging it.

Regarding your question about the sound - I, personally, do not think/feel any significant influence. Although I'm sure the "purists" among us would argue that ANYTHING is of influence..

 

[Maitre Renard]

Thank you for this information!
So basically in my case it would be better to look for new pads with the plastic supports, wouldn’t it? Is it possible nowadays to buy pleather pads for hd540 with the rings included ?
What can we say about the ref 1 that I’ve just purchased based on the shared photos ? I could only conclude that the general condition might be better compared to my ref II . Also in my opinion the ref 1 is slightly lighter compared to ref 2 , although it could be due to the different pads…
Cheers !

 

[ArChaos]

....................
Clean job! Interesting to give peeling a shot given their price. They're definitely different from the wang_yifei velours?

They are very close to Wang's sound before the peeling process, only better and closer to the original Senns' velours sound signature. To my ears the pleather Wangs take the 540s timbre in the direction of the 250s sound signature , which has both it's advantages (punch) and disadvantages (openness, transparency).. I prefer to keep the timbre and sound signature of each one of them as close to the original as possible.

IMO, they definitely sound much better than the velours alternative Wang sells, which to my years "mute" some of the magic high range of the 540's. That's exactly the reason I use them on my 560s and took the 560s original Senns velours for one of my 540s... The 560s treble is over bright to my ears, not as the 540s one, which although bright by itself, always remains "reference" tuned.

 

[sennsay]

You're right about the velour - These wang-yifei pads are a "black swan" in my eyes too. The fact is the pleather is very-very thin and perhaps that's the reason they sound so good. By the way, after some use, the pleather starts to crack and I decided to peel it off all together from the ear-pads and turn them into sort of "velour" ear-pads. As such, they sound even better IMO...

To my ears the DT990 are not even in the same league with the 540s. But if you use a vintage SS amp/receiver from the golden age of the seventies the sound much improves and the difference gets smaller.

In what way are the pleatherless wangs better for you? I have a used set on my second HD540s and I am not enamoured I may look into that further and not use the stock cable and pop in the Mogami I normally listen with. However, I am so utterly enjoying my Wanged No 1 HD540s with the upgraded FrankenZero DAC and terrific Burson Vivid V6 installed - now well run in, that the loss of bass extension and exquisite focus does not endear me to lose any of that.