[wolfwalker78]

The more the seal the higher the bass

Yeah, I mean like any can you can press them into your ears hard enough the bass picks up, but within reason they work ok for my head.
+3db or so down low on the EQ and they sound full on the bottom to me without mucking up anything else that I can perceive.

 

[HTSkywalker]

Yeah, I mean like any can you can press them into your ears hard enough the bass picks up, but within reason they work ok for my head.
+3db or so down low on the EQ and they sound full on the bottom to me without mucking up anything else that I can perceive.

Mostly the Audeze technic to increase the bass by increasing pressure and beefing up the pads

 

[HTSkywalker]

AKG is a good brand which stands behind its products, only wished they did provide original replacement pads.

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

AKG is a good brand which stands behind its products, only wished they did provide original replacement pads.

Like I said in my other post, carradiorepairs oddly enough do/did sell the original pads. As they work with certain brands such as Harmon/kardon, they must be able to get that brands headphone brands (AKG) spare parts directly from them.

At the time I only wanted to buy original replacement pads, and I kept them for about a year without using them so I would be able to have new original pads without worrying about where to get them from. As it happens they are now discontinued so lucky I did that.

It is just interesting that AKG don't sell them anywhere else.


I trust that the pads I got are genuine as a proper UK Hifi retailer (superfi) directed me to them when i asked where to get genuine replacement pads.

 

[HTSkywalker]

Like I said in my other post, carradiorepairs oddly enough do/did sell the original pads. As they work with certain brands such as Harmon/kardon, they must be able to get that brands headphone brands (AKG) spare parts directly from them.

At the time I only wanted to buy original replacement pads, and I kept them for about a year without using them so I would be able to have new original pads without worrying about where to get them from. As it happens they are now discontinued so lucky I did that.

It is just interesting that AKG don't sell them anywhere else.


I trust that the pads I got are genuine as a proper UK Hifi retailer (superfi) directed me to them when i asked where to get genuine replacement pads.

Lucky you

 

[HTSkywalker]

I used these, no issues, far as I remember they are about the size of stock ones. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076SGPZ2D

I would be ordering those too, which texture you ordered as there are quite a choice (real leather, perforated etc). Any hassle in term of fitting ?

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

I would be ordering those too, which texture you ordered as there are quite a choice (real leather, perforated etc). Any hassle in term of fitting ?

https://www.head-fi.org/threadgalle...sion-thread.613707/#lg=thread-613707&slide=16

They are slightly oversized so very easy to fit. But the PU leather doesn't feel as premium as real leather, but then I've never felt real leather ear pads. This is a close up of the material used on these:

The problem with these is as I said before. If you had a good fit with the originals, these pads reduce the impact / quantity of the bass quite significantly due to having much more space (width and depth) between the driver and your ear. To me they result in my old K550s needing a boost in the low to mid bass or else the mid range just sounds to sharp and thin. If you had a bad fit with the originals, then these will likely be an improvement. However, i also think some of the bass is lost due to the pads not being totally sealed to the foam on the inside like the originals were. The stitching has gaps which allows air through.

I personally think these pads were a little over priced given for me they make the sound worse. Unless you want an upgrade trying to improve the fit and feel, I would recommend saving a lot and getting close to the originals like these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1Pair-Ea...842842?hash=item2165343c1a:g:6cIAAOSwOIpdv~TN

 

[HTSkywalker]

https://www.head-fi.org/threadgalle...sion-thread.613707/#lg=thread-613707&slide=16

They are slightly oversized so very easy to fit. But the PU leather doesn't feel as premium as real leather, but then I've never felt real leather ear pads. This is a close up of the material used on these:


The problem with these is as I said before. If you had a good fit with the originals, these pads reduce the impact / quantity of the bass quite significantly due to having much more space (width and depth) between the driver and your ear. To me they result in my old K550s needing a boost in the low to mid bass or else the mid range just sounds to sharp and thin. If you had a bad fit with the originals, then these will likely be an improvement. However, i also think some of the bass is lost due to the pads not being totally sealed to the foam on the inside like the originals were. The stitching has gaps which allows air through.

I personally think these pads were a little over priced given for me they make the sound worse. Unless you want an upgrade trying to improve the fit and feel, I would recommend saving a lot and getting close to the originals like these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1Pair-Ea...842842?hash=item2165343c1a:g:6cIAAOSwOIpdv~TN

Thanks

 

[wolfwalker78]

I would be ordering those too, which texture you ordered as there are quite a choice (real leather, perforated etc). Any hassle in term of fitting ?

I'm pretty sure I ordered the black pleather ones, I don't recall there being such a selection when I got mine.
That said, I didn't notice any real difference in sound, they were bass shy with the stock pads and are bass shy with
these, seal has never been an issue for me that I can tell despite having glasses and a lot of hair.
I use an EQ to slightly, only slighty, up the bass and all is well.
Much like every single other human being to comment on the sound of a headphone, I seem to have had a different
experience than others. Ain't diversity grand?

I don't recall them being troublesome to fit and they were the first set of pads I've ever changed.
The K550 are almost annoyingly good for the money, it's hard to find a real upgrade without either going open
back or spending a hell of a lot of money.

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

I'm pretty sure I ordered the black pleather ones, I don't recall there being such a selection when I got mine.
That said, I didn't notice any real difference in sound, they were bass shy with the stock pads and are bass shy with
these, seal has never been an issue for me that I can tell despite having glasses and a lot of hair.
I use an EQ to slightly, only slighty, up the bass and all is well.
Much like every single other human being to comment on the sound of a headphone, I seem to have had a different
experience than others. Ain't diversity grand?

I don't recall them being troublesome to fit and they were the first set of pads I've ever changed.
The K550 are almost annoyingly good for the money, it's hard to find a real upgrade without either going open
back or spending a hell of a lot of money.

If you cut your hair and removed your glasses, I'm sure you would notice some bass difference though! I find if I slide something between my ears and the pads like you would with glasses, the bass decreases a lot. Does the bass increase for you if you push the headphones firmly against your ears? Many say this is the case, but the bass is the same for me weather I push them firmly or not.

I always have my hair cut very short, and sometimes when i let it get a bit longer then have it cut, i can even tell a slight difference with the quantity of bass. Hair / other objects IMO will reduce the bass response slightly.

 

[HTSkywalker]

If you cut your hair and removed your glasses, I'm sure you would notice some bass difference though! I find if I slide something between my ears and the pads like you would with glasses, the bass decreases a lot. Does the bass increase for you if you push the headphones firmly against your ears? Many say this is the case, but the bass is the same for me weather I push them firmly or not.

I always have my hair cut very short, and sometimes when i let it get a bit longer then have it cut, i can even tell a slight difference with the quantity of bass. Hair / other objects IMO will reduce the bass response slightly.

In this case I will keep my hair and listen to loudspeakers instead of cans

 

[wolfwalker78]

Any headphone you can press to your head and increase the bass(every one I've tried anyway), but that isn't practical or illustrative really, by that yardstick none of them have good seal.

I've read since before I got them about the seal and bass issues
with the K550 and I've just never experienced it. Glasses on/off I don't hear a difference, and I have 40yo white dude hair so it's not holding the cups away from my head
like crazy or anything. I've got six other lower midrange headphones over here, pleather, leather, velour, they all act about the same seal wise. The biggest difference with the K550 is the articulation of the ear cups is stiff, or damped might be a better term. It makes them feel quality since they don't rattle but you have to actually position the angle and such of the drivers onto your head, you can't just pop em on there and let the clamp do the rest like most headphones. Whenever I put them on I press in and settle the cups on my head a bit. Rest of them you just sorta pop em on and make sure they are clearing your ears comfortably and the clamp does the rest. And much like I've come to believe every single pair of human ears hears things differently, there is a heck of a lot of variance with the shape our our heads, maybe mine just happen to jive with these big cups.
Who knows.

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

Any headphone you can press to your head and increase the bass(every one I've tried anyway), but that isn't practical or illustrative really, by that yardstick none of them have good seal.

I've read since before I got them about the seal and bass issues
with the K550 and I've just never experienced it. Glasses on/off I don't hear a difference, and I have 40yo white dude hair so it's not holding the cups away from my head
like crazy or anything. I've got six other lower midrange headphones over here, pleather, leather, velour, they all act about the same seal wise. The biggest difference with the K550 is the articulation of the ear cups is stiff, or damped might be a better term. It makes them feel quality since they don't rattle but you have to actually position the angle and such of the drivers onto your head, you can't just pop em on there and let the clamp do the rest like most headphones. Whenever I put them on I press in and settle the cups on my head a bit. Rest of them you just sorta pop em on and make sure they are clearing your ears comfortably and the clamp does the rest. And much like I've come to believe every single pair of human ears hears things differently, there is a heck of a lot of variance with the shape our our heads, maybe mine just happen to jive with these big cups.
Who knows.

Regarding sounding different when you press them in, I haven't noticed that really. The thing with the K550s is that the clamp force is very very little indeed, and I much prefer this on all headphones. Headphones that clamp hard have less issues with seal but I havea big head so that doesn't matter! But I can easily imagine that those with small heads that can't get the K550s to have the pads flush with their head all the way round their ears will lose some of the bass impact. And anything such as glasses in that case really will reduce it, and I fully understand why. But if you already have a good fit, then maybe not.

I however do notice that with the K550s, if you do what you say and don't manually adjust them so they go round your ears properly, to me the bass almost goes completely. From my experience, on closed back headphones, seal distance from the driver and all of these things can make a massive difference to the sound. On my open backed headphones such as my Audio technica ATH-ad700s, I can lift the drivers several centimeters away from my ears and the only change to the sound is volume, no specific frequencies are lost. And regarding pushing against earcups on open back headphones, I don't think that would make any difference to the bass.

 

[wolfwalker78]

My open HD599's go bass shy if I pull them off my ears but not as dramatically as closed backs.
Lack of seal certainly effects bass, more so on closed backs, I just haven't had much trouble with it on any of mine.
Everything effects sound apparently, your ear shape, your head shape, the shape of the ear canal,
the shape of the ear drum I assume, the pad, shape of your head where the pad lays, the driver, the clamp, and on, and on, and on, and on.
It's astounding we can compare anything at all from person to person when you think about it.


I have a pretty big head too, clamp feels less than some but it's pretty much perfect to me, for being more or less stationary anyway.
I love these things.
I also have glasses with tiny arms that fit really tightly to my head where pads lay, so not much effect vs someone with
something wider or that sits out further I imagine. Hell I've been wearing this same frame so long there's a permanent indent
in the side of my head from them lol.

 

[rwpritchett]

I got tired of my junk earbud headset working from home for COVID, so I...