[Artsi]

 
First of all i haven't listened to these with original pleather ear pads(which looked little uncomfy). I ordered beyerdynamic dt-770 velour pads with headphones and put them straight on. On the speaker there is original foam plastic and beyers foam/fabric on it to smoothen sound.
 
These sound pretty weird before burning-in. They had very boomy bass and all other things sounded quieten. After about 5h usage they started to settle their full brilliance.
 
There is slightly more power in bass and treble, than with complete flat sounding headphones. Bass goes very deep and has good quality. Singers sound excellent and everything is clean with midrange. Treble could surprise with it brightness, but it still has good details.
 
Got these 27€ and beyer velours 19€. Very happy with this setup and waiting anything, that could be better sub 1000€.

 

[Hairspray]

I have the 660 (closed version).
I did exactly the same: ordered the DT770 velour pads and put them straight on.
I recently did a pad-rolling session (stock pads, AKG 240 velour, AKG 240 pleather, DT770 pleather and other Superlux pads).
To my big surprise, the 660 sounded the best with the AKG 240 pleather pads. In fact, the SQ was imo way better than with the DT770 velour, which i guess are a tad too deep (more distance, more space and more air pushed a bit too much the lows and the highs).
With the AKG 240 pleather (shallower), the presentation kinda switched to "front row" and the signature got more mid-centric.
These cans are amazing with male vocals and strings (they're a bit too bright for female vocals).
Imo the dt770 velour pads are confortable and sexy but they degrade the SQ.
Btw, its kinda weird but the break-in at first helped a lot but

 

[Artsi]

These HD-330 are not my first "better" headphones so far. I own also akg K701, sennheiser HD 598, sennheiser HD 380 PRO and denon AH-D1001. HD-330 bests them all easily. After listening superluxes crisp and clear sound it's easy to hear all the flaws of those other headphones.

 

[sublimit1]

How are the leakage on these? with and without the aftermarket pads.

 

[Artsi]

These are open headphones so there is leakage. Not so much as AKG K701. Of course with velours leakage could be little bigger.

 

[Artsi]

Here is now frequency response curve for superlux HD-330 with little calibrated mic.

And here is curve for another copy of HD-330's. There is little differences.

 

[AxelCloris]

Wonder how easily I could change these over to a detachable cable.

 

[Artsi]

  Wonder how easily I could change these over to a detachable cable.

Superlux HD-330 is pretty simple to dissassemble. First take earpad off and then there is plastic ring that keeps speaker in it's place. Plastic ring needs little screwdriver. Under speaker you see wirings.

 

[Hal Rockwell]

  Superlux HD-330 is pretty simple to dissassemble. First take earpad off and then there is plastic ring that keeps speaker in it's place. Plastic ring needs little screwdriver. Under speaker you see wirings.

 
I tried to take the HD330 apart with no luck. I was too afraid to brake the rings with the screwdriver. Can you explain the steps you took to take them apart maybe even with some photos?
 

 
 
First of all i haven't listened to these with original pleather ear pads(which looked little uncomfy). I ordered beyerdynamic dt-770 velour pads with headphones and put them straight on. On the speaker there is original foam plastic and beyers foam/fabric on it to smoothen sound.
 
These sound pretty weird before burning-in. They had very boomy bass and all other things sounded quieten. After about 5h usage they started to settle their full brilliance.
 
There is slightly more power in bass and treble, than with complete flat sounding headphones. Bass goes very deep and has good quality. Singers sound excellent and everything is clean with midrange. Treble could surprise with it brightness, but it still has good details.
 
Got these 27€ and beyer velours 19€. Very happy with this setup and waiting anything, that could be better sub 1000€.

 
IMHO the velour pads make the HD330 highs sound too aggressive, ear piercing even.

 

[lisagorbin]

How does it compare to hd660? Ive read headfonia's comparison but that was just one person's opinion.

 

[lisagorbin]

Does this work with a n ipod with fiio e11?

 

[hekeli]

Ordered HD330/440/660 to try out.
 
Purely stock, 440 maybe has the most pleasing balanced and open sound, but the headband (and cable) is crap. Tough to get the cups fitting properly.
 
660 is actually quite balanced and less bassy than 330. But it does sound more closed, atleast easily heard in width (L/R). It seems this 660 is broken or so, right channel bass (<100hz) is 5dB quieter no matter how I adjust the fit.
 
330 is quite bassy by default, the slope goes down far to 300-500hz which muddies things a bit. Little EQ like this improves the balance:
 

 
I don't find the stock pads super terrible, could use them for few hours with some sweat.
 
Here are stock measurements for all (and HD800 for reference..). Taken with my calibrated Smyth Realiser -mics in ear. No compensation in the graphs, includes some HRTF/pinna-effect.   (as these are average of L/R, the bass on 660 could really be a few dB louder due to the imbalance)
 

 
THD etc looks very nice for HD-330. For around 90dB, ~2% <40hz, less than 1% >40hz, less than 0.2% >100hz. No ringing etc seen.
 

 
 
DT770V velour pads are certainly more comfortable. They slightly reduce bass but create a large hole for the 600-1500hz middle. Could be fixed with some EQ:
 

 
 
I'd recommend AKG K-240 pleather pads though, comparison of all HD-330 pads below:
 

 
- 240 pleathers: Slightly soft, bass drops a smidgen which is good. IMO best comfort/sound relationship, atleast when not EQ'd. Maybe even then.
- 240 velours: Really stiff, explains the stock bass level. Pleathers have bigger holes and more room for ears to breathe, so I'd choose them without hesitation.
- 770 velours: Deeper than others, which should explain loosing the mids. Very good comfort/sound relationship when EQ'd.
- 990 velours: Really soft, so bass leaks out. Not surprisingly sounded really airy.. but neutral bass would be somewhere between 90-95dB in the graph. I doubt anyone would care for these.

Measured depth and diameter of the hole, tried to get a decend average with slight pressure applied like they would normally have.
 
Stock D 20mm Ø 46mm
AKG240P D 19mm Ø 55mm
AKG240V D 20mm Ø 48mm
DT770V D 24mm Ø 57mm
DT990V D 21mm Ø 55mm
 
 
Measured isolation HD-330/440/660:
 

 
 
Just for fun some 30hz and 300hz square waves like Tyll does. For reference CAL and HD800 included..
 

Superlux HD-330 Stock	30hz	300hz
Superlux HD-330 w/ DT770V	30hz	300hz
Superlux HD-330 w/ AKG240P	30hz	300hz
Superlux HD-440	30hz	300hz
Superlux HD-440 (pushed in for better seal)	30hz	300hz
Superlux HD-660	30hz	300hz
Creative Aurvana Live!	30hz	300hz
Sennheiser HD800	30hz	300hz

 

[hekeli]

edit: moved info to original post

 

[hekeli]

If I didn't say it yet, yes HD-330 can be extremely good for the money, no harsness etc, very nice crisp sound. 

 But no way I'd use it without EQ, unless better pads are to be found. edit: Maybe I was a little too harsh, AKG 240 pleather pads are great option if you like a slightly bassy signature.
 
Forget 440 for the clumsy fit and 660 only if you need the isolation. I won't be testing either further.

 

[Artsi]

Good that someone with better testing equipment will post frequency response curves. Bought beyerdynamic DT-990 pro's. We'll see how they compare...