[esmBOS]

  ESW55 or ES55?  I could only find ES55 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Official-audio-technica-replacement-ear-cushions-pads-HP-ES55-for-ATH-ES55-NEW-/271705813508?hash=item3f42edb204:g:JMAAAOSwiCRUisnN - and they're like you said 2x.
 
I'm just looking for something with the same sound as the ones I got from wang_yifei that others had recommended, but are no longer available.
 
I found two other sellers with similar ones for SJ5 headphones (like wang_yifei). 
- http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-pair-New-Replacement-Ear-Pads-for-ATH-SJ5-SJ55-ES7-Headphones-/252221849589?hash=item3ab997fff5:g:ttQAAOSw5IJWd6Ut
- http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-pair-New-Replacement-ear-pads-For-Audio-Technica-ATH-SJ5-SJ55-ES7-Headphones-/261358644810?hash=item3cda306e4a:g:jGgAAMXQVT9StSFB
 
Any ideas if these will give same sound - or am I being paranoid?

The ES7 replacement pads are basically identical to the S500 ones.

 

[journeyy]

Did anyone ever compare the S500 to the Beats Solo2? Or is there a new budget basshead king (didn't like the S680)?

 

[trellus]

Did anyone ever compare the S500 to the Beats Solo2? Or is there a new budget basshead king (didn't like the S680)?

I have both. Haven't done a thorough comparison by any means, but I did compare the two about a week ago, but only in a limited way: playing a few tracks of Infected Mushroom's "Friends on Mushrooms" from my iTunes collection on iPhone 6s Plus, I found them to have very similar sound sound signature and sound quality.

I felt that the soundstage was a little wider on the S500 than on the Solo 2, but overall I remember thinking they were very similar, V-shaped, and thinking I had definitely overspent on the Solo 2 from a pure SQ standpoint, though the Beats are more comfortable in my opinion.

Have you listened to either the S500 or the Solo 2?

 

[journeyy]

Interesting, thanks. I'm on my second S500, unfortunately one side is starting to fail again I stumbled upon the cable and nearly ripped it out. I still like them and preferred them to the M-100, Fidelio X1, WS99 and some others. I'm just curious if there are new alternatives to try.

I did listen to the Solo2 once in an Apple store, but it's hart to really judge it in such an environment and short timeframe.

 

[dakanao]

Interesting, thanks. I'm on my second S500, unfortunately one side is starting to fail again

I stumbled upon the cable and nearly ripped it out. I still like them and preferred them to the M-100, Fidelio X1, WS99 and some others. I'm just curious if there are new alternatives to try.

I did listen to the Solo2 once in an Apple store, but it's hart to really judge it in such an environment and short timeframe.

Can you tell me why you like the S500 over the X1? 

 

[trellus]

Interesting, thanks. I'm on my second S500, unfortunately one side is starting to fail again I stumbled upon the cable and nearly ripped it out. I still like them and preferred them to the M-100, Fidelio X1, WS99 and some others. I'm just curious if there are new alternatives to try.

I did listen to the Solo2 once in an Apple store, but it's hart to really judge it in such an environment and short timeframe.

If there is a specific song you have in mind that you use as a test, I can look it up on Spotify (I have a premium subscription) and compare S500 and Solo 2 and give you some rough impression of the differences I hear.

 

[journeyy]

Well, my music is not everyone's taste But i would probably test with any Stephan Bodzin or Dominik Eulberg tracks, as they have deep, intense basslines and many headphones struggle with them. If it's not horrible noise to you (i could understand that) I'd appreciate that.

 

[trellus]

Well, my music is not everyone's taste But i would probably test with any Stephan Bodzin or Dominik Eulberg tracks, as they have deep, intense basslines and many headphones struggle with them. If it's not horrible noise to you (i could understand that) I'd appreciate that.

I can hear that, lol. Listening to the top track from Stephan Bodzin on Spotify on the S500 right now. My Solo 2 are at home and I'll compare on this track and a few others later tonight.

How, in your estimation, did your S500 cans handle this track? It sounds good to me, but I have no other point of reference at the moment.

 

[journeyy]

Nice The S500 can handle these kind of tracks quite good IMO, including the deep bass notes - better than most headphones i listened to. I need to sleep right now (EU time ) but i'm curious to hear your thoughts tomorrow

 

[trellus]

Okay, 

Nice

The S500 can handle these kind of tracks quite good IMO, including the deep bass notes - better than most headphones i listened to. I need to sleep right now (EU time

) but i'm curious to hear your thoughts tomorrow

 
So, I just finished brief comparison of S500 and Solo 2 playing "Singularity", and this is the 7:01 length track of "Powers of Ten," and I first listened from my iPhone 6s Plus, but then later with my computer through FiiO E07k since it is easier to switch quickly thanks to the dual headphone jacks -- doing so helped tremendously for me to notice the differences.
 
I'm not well-versed in all the terminology I am using, so take my comparisons with at least plenty of salt.
 
Basically, the Solo 2 sounds a little more closed in to me, and I felt like the bass didn't hit me as hard, but it wasn't far off, just as low and arguably slightly tighter, though not as loud, for example at around the 2:38 - 2:54 marks, and also when it really dips low at around 4:59 and then the staccato of bass notes that hesitates.  I felt like the sound was more "squeezed" on the Solo 2, but that seemed to make it perhaps less rumbly/more defined in the bass, but I found I liked the more liquid sound of the S500.
 
Also, to get roughly the same loudness to my ears, I had to reduce the volume to about 90% of the full volume in the app (Spotify) on my computer when I put on my S500 in order to match the loudness of the Solo 2 at full 100% app volume.

 

[journeyy]

Thanks for the test, I think i understand what you mean with "closed in/squeezed", i had that impression with other headphones, too. This music really pushes headphones to the limit

I guess the (more expensive) Solo2 is not the alternative i'm looking for. If anyone reads this and has another suggestion i'd be grateful, otherwise i'll probably just order the S500 again when the current one breaks

 

[SmOgER]

Admittedly I haven't listened to Solo2s, but based on innerfidelity review I'am expecting them to be great.
However I just looked at FR graphs a bit surprised why someone would find them to have narrower soundstage than S500s (soundstage is already not the highest strength on these)...
To begin with, Solo2s have substantially more pronounced V shape and a weird peak at 200Hz which is 10dB above mids. And again, highs are much more sensitive than mids.

And when we take a look at S500s. Bass, 1khz (mids) and 8khz (highs) have roughly the same response, so FR is not V shaped (it's W shaped if anything).

Now JVCs lose out quite a bit of soundstage because of the dip at 2khz, but Solo2s have close to the whole midrange (700hz to 3khz) recessed almost just as much as that dip on JVCs.

 

[journeyy]

I guess the tuning is a bit similar to the M100? It makes many Pop/Rock/Dance tracks "pop", but doesn't work with every genre IMO.

The audio-technica WS99 was an interesting headphone, i'd like to try something similar again (it's cups were too shallow for my ears unfortunately). It didn't have the classic V shape but more of a downward slope with a mid focus, which made for a very intimate, unique sound.

 

[trellus]

Admittedly I haven't listened to Solo2s, but based on innerfidelity review I'am expecting these to be really good.
However I just looked at FR graphs a bit surprised why someone would find them to have narrower soundstage than S500s (soundstage is already not the highest strength on these)...
To begin with, Solo2s have substantially more pronounced V shape and a weird peak at 200Hz which is 10dB above mids. And again, highs are much more sensitive than mids.

And when we take a look at S500s. Bass, 1khz (mids) and 8khz (highs) have roughly the same response, so FR is not V shaped (it's W shaped if anything).

Now JVCs lose out quite a bit of soundstage because of the dip at 2khz, but Solo2s have close to the whole midrange (700hz to 3khz) recessed almost just as much as that dip on JVCs.

I was struggling to say it, but yes, more V-shaped is how it sounded the Solo 2 sounded to me relative to the S500.

Still, I found the Solo 2 to be fun to listen and when I wasn't doing the comparison with the dual headphone jacks I found it harder to hear substantial differences between the two.

 

[Griffith]

I figured I'd let the people in this thread know that I posted a long-term review of the HA-S500 that I have owned for nearly three years now: 
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/jvc-victor-head-band-portable-headphones-ha-s500-b-black-japanese-import/reviews/15579
 
If you happen to read it, please let me know if I made any technical mistakes when describing the sound characteristics.