[musubi1000]

Quote:

hmmmmm I am not getting that much more bass, seems to have less clarity after taping the slots on the outer area of the driver face.

 
Hmm I have the a bit of paper towel in the seal as well plus the paper towel in under the pads. I'm getting excellent bass response that brings power to the bass to match the highs. This is my new favorite set up. I felt the same as you before the tape when I first put mine together. You taped the 3 open slots and not the fabric ones right?

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

 
Hmm I have the a bit of paper towel in the seal as well plus the paper towel in under the pads. I'm getting excellent bass response that brings power to the bass to match the highs. This is my new favorite set up. I felt the same as you before the tape when I first put mine together. You taped the 3 open slots and not the fabric ones right?

I tape the 3 outer very perimeter open slots that are next to the popped up arch plastic things. It doesn't seem to make much of a difference. I used something to poke through the open arch slots, it just goes into the ring where you would insert the lip of the pads.......
 
Then I taped over the white fabric circle where you can see some rectangular slots that was originally taped over. The bass SEEMS to have gotten a little bit more but only slightly, it's late so I am probably not hearing right. 
 
Can you post pics of what you did? Cuz if you are talking about those 3 small open arch slots, I doubt it makes any difference in sound, since they don't seem to be related to the driver.....  

 

[cyloh]

I'm now enjoying the stock pads stuffed(similar to how you guys stuff the AKGs) + HM5 on top of it.

This is overwhelming. I should pick up a few pairs of S500 and have each of them on different pad configurations.

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

I'm now enjoying the stock pads stuffed(similar to how you guys stuff the AKGs) + HM5 on top of it.

This is overwhelming. I should pick up a few pairs of S500 and have each of them on different pad configurations.

Yeppp I rolled/ stuffed paper towels inside of the AKG pads for the S500s and put another pad on top of it for over ear comfort/ improve soundstage. And the HD clarity is amazing but the bass is really tight/ thin. This is why I was so interested in that bass enhancing slot tape mod, but it is not working for me at all.
 
And I also stuffed the stock pads of the S500s with one ball of cotton as the inner layer, then a layer of paper towel for the very outer one. This has tons of bass compared to the stuffed AKG pads but lack the amazing HD clarity. 
 
Please post some pics musubi1000 of what you have on your set up/ mod cuz only that bigger bass is missing with these AKGs.
 
But it seems you have the exact same set up as me though, just not sure how exactly that taped slot thing works. 

 

[musubi1000]

Yeppp I rolled/ stuffed paper towels inside of the AKG pads for the S500s and put another pad on top of it for over ear comfort/ improve soundstage. And the HD clarity is amazing but the bass is really tight/ thin. This is why I was so interested in that bass enhancing slot tape mod, but it is not working for me at all.

And I also stuffed the stock pads of the S500s with one ball of cotton as the inner layer, then a layer of paper towel for the very outer one. This has tons of bass compared to the stuffed AKG pads but lack the amazing HD clarity. 

Please post some pics musubi1000 of what you have on your set up/ mod cuz only that bigger bass is missing with these AKGs.

But it seems you have the exact same set up as me though, just not sure how exactly that taped slot thing works. 

Ok now when I say bigger bass lets say just a bit bigger than the fx40s but excellent low extension. I've come up with a few hypothesis on the pads and ports. The grill cloth material on the stock pads is probably a bit restraining on the highs by about 10-15%??? the AKG pads grill material is more audibly transparent to the highs which leads to better everything. I haven't heard the ATs but I suspect similar grill material characteristics. Ok now to the ports. I think they are functional ports because the little ridges beside them are there to keep them from getting plugged. That's probably why we are hearing differences in the bass response because of how well the pads interact with the ports and vents.

Ok I simply put a single layer of scotch tape over each of the three slot ports. Each port is completely sealed. Each port is guarded by a small ridge on the face of the driver. With my AKG pads I put a thin rolled paper towel in with the mounting edge to help fill as one other member mentioned and I think that helped a bit with the seal. But on the inside of the pads between the grill cloth and pads I had another thin rolled PT that I stuffed in the outer perimeter of the driver, over the little ridge, and on top of the ports to ensure a seal over all three. I then stuffed two more rolled up PTs in each. Perfect.

 

[cyloh]

OK. So I was testing pads and their combos again.
 
I had chores planned for the day and suddenly I tried something on the S500 that made me waste a couple of hours rediscovering my music in disbelief.
 
But here's how it is to me.
 
S500 with only HM5 pads over it = ATH-A2000X with a slightly more bass.
 
cute(or anyone with HM5 pads) you have to try it and tell me I'm not crazy.

 

[hatefulsandwich]

Hi, everyone.
 
I've been lurking head-fi for some time and now that I've just picked up my S500s from the post office in not-so-sunny South Africa and am letting them burn in, I thought I'd register. I am officially part of the S500 club now. I've got some HM5 pads on their way - so I'll be sitting with uncomfortable, crappy pads for a little while. 
 
Thanks for this thread. Before this I was looking at some much more expensive headphones that would've left me financially uncomfortable. So this is my introduction into the world of more high-end sound. Woohoo!
 
I must say I don't like the sound of them currently, but I know they'll sound better as they burn in and when my pads finally arrive. 

 

[cute]

Quote:

OK. So I was testing pads and their combos again.
 
I had chores planned for the day and suddenly I tried something on the S500 that made me waste a couple of hours rediscovering my music in disbelief.
 
But here's how it is to me.
 
S500 with only HM5 pads over it = ATH-A2000X with a slightly more bass.
 
cute(or anyone with HM5 pads) you have to try it and tell me I'm not crazy.

 
Cyloh,  tried just the HM5 pads, sound is awesome......I am using 2.75" soft rubber O rings that fit in the groove to help keep them in place....I rolled some paper towel in an arc on the bottom and top inside of the pads for a little more of a snug fit.....works perfectly and sounds a little better than the AT velour with HM5 over....comfy fit!
 
Thanks for putting me on to it........yet another pad mod....will it ever end!

 

[musubi1000]

Yeppp I rolled/ stuffed paper towels inside of the AKG pads for the S500s and put another pad on top of it for over ear comfort/ improve soundstage. And the HD clarity is amazing but the bass is really tight/ thin. This is why I was so interested in that bass enhancing slot tape mod, but it is not working for me at all.

make sure the ports aren't leaking at all and I use a thin rolled PT over the tape to put pressure on it to maintain and reinforce the seal. I tried this with the stock pads no PT inside no tape and it was thin. by just sealing off the ports and making sure they stay sealed I perceived an increas of bass that matched or bettered slightly stock pads but with better imaging and separation.

And I also stuffed the stock pads of the S500s with one ball of cotton as the inner layer, then a layer of paper towel for the very outer one. This has tons of bass compared to the stuffed AKG pads but lack the amazing HD clarity. 

Please post some pics musubi1000 of what you have on your set up/ mod cuz only that bigger bass is missing with these AKGs.

But it seems you have the exact same set up as me though, just not sure how exactly that taped slot thing works. 

I didn't tape my fabric covered ports but just the three outer perimeter open ports. make sure they are completely sealed and I used a thin rolled PT over all three ports to ensure they stayed sealed and won't leak. this setup brought th bass back but kept the staging. I'll post pics in a few

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

Ok now when I say bigger bass lets say just a bit bigger than the fx40s but excellent low extension. I've come up with a few hypothesis on the pads and ports. The grill cloth material on the stock pads is probably a bit restraining on the highs by about 10-15%??? the AKG pads grill material is more audibly transparent to the highs which leads to better everything. I haven't heard the ATs but I suspect similar grill material characteristics. Ok now to the ports. I think they are functional ports because the little ridges beside them are there to keep them from getting plugged. That's probably why we are hearing differences in the bass response because of how well the pads interact with the ports and vents.
Ok I simply put a single layer of scotch tape over each of the three slot ports. Each port is completely sealed. Each port is guarded by a small ridge on the face of the driver. With my AKG pads I put a thin rolled paper towel in with the mounting edge to help fill as one other member mentioned and I think that helped a bit with the seal. But on the inside of the pads between the grill cloth and pads I had another thin rolled PT that I stuffed in the outer perimeter of the driver, over the little ridge, and on top of the ports to ensure a seal over all three. I then stuffed two more rolled up PTs in each. Perfect.

 
I was about to followed you up until this point. So are you talking about stuffing the inside of the pads like this picture below? Which i already did for all my pads.....

 Or are you talking about extra stuffing on the UNDER side of  the pads in the area where it makes contact with the driver opening? Some pictures of what you did would really help.
 

 
As in putting some more paper towel on top of the plastic driver disk with the stuffed AKG over them? 
 
I think you are right that the slots do affect the sound properties, it might be used to channel away the sound after it's released by the driver.
 
This makes sense once you analyze the drivers between the S500s and the S400s. As you can see from the picture below there is only one open arch slot on the S400s compared to the 3 arch slots on the S500s. And there is no white tape circle on the S400s, just one arch tape unlike the full white taped circle on the S500s. So that original white tape layout might also change the sound properties as well, I am gonna tape that one slot opening and the remaining untaped areas on my S400s to see if it makes a difference in sound............................ will report back. 

 
Also since i taped over the white circle area of my S500s and it seems to have added slightly more bass, i decided to use a thin piece of felt to cover the entire disk area with only the driver hole open, which seems to have improved the bass a bit which making my S500s sound really fantastic. 
 
 
......cut a round piece of thin felt material like the 1st picture ------  ..........then used it to cover the entire driver disk area of my S500s, leaving only the driver hole open, then I put my stuffed AKG pads over them. Sounds great with good amount of bass coming through, less lean/ thin as before it seems.......

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

I didn't tape my fabric covered ports but just the three outer perimeter open ports. make sure they are completely sealed and I used a thin rolled PT over all three ports to ensure they stayed sealed and won't leak. this setup brought th bass back but kept the staging. I'll post pics in a few

 
Oh i see now, so you taped the 3 arch open slots then rolled a piece of paper towel and put it on top of the taped slots to further block the slots/ keep the tape from coming off. Ok, sweet that you are gonna post some pics, I am going to post some pics of what I did when I get a camera later today.  

 

[musubi1000]

ok guys here's what I've been toying with on my set up.
S500
AKG K518 stock pads
 
The first problem with my AGK K518 pads was the diminished bass. The stock pads had ample bass but the AKGs seemed to or not. mostly not. But I wasn't ready to part with my newfound awesomeness afforded by unrestricted mids and highs the AKG pads revealed. I wanted my bass and after stuffing with paper towels it brought some back. Just still not as much as stock. but doable. After disassembly I noticed the three ports on the face of the drivers. ( Image: Lower L corner. only two visible now covered with scotch tape.) I thought I'd experiment and covered them with scotch tape. and voila! all the bass came back and now these totally remind me of the fx 40s bass and overall signature but now with more impact! . Nice strong low and fast. except now it's definitely stronger! but in my opinion more in balance the way I like it with a full bass sub bass section and those wonderful highs are all still there and more! You can do this to for under 25 cents! of course if you have the pads to do this
 
You will need:
1: 1" of scotch tape
2: scissors or knife (Exacto/ Razor for clean install)
3: 1 paper towel  
4: Pads of choice. ATs and AKGs seem pop
 
Here are the steps 
1: remove pads
2: locate three outer ports and cover with scotch tape (photo bottom left driver)
3: roll paper towel to fit inside the driver side facing pad (photo top pad) this item doubles to reinforce the scotch tape and to create a better seal as the stock pad is loose fitting
  Note: I can't remember who I read this step from in one of the S400 or S500 threads but I felt as though that this made a difference so props to him fo sho!
4: Roll a couple of more paper of paper towels to fit the pad (photo right pad)
5: reassemble Note: when reattaching pad be careful to keep the paper towel on the facing side of the driver and not behind it. This will help reinforce the seal to the ports
 
This just in!!! use a bit more scotch tape as the little amount I used got the seal blown through. I thought the bass fell off.

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

Here are the steps 
1: remove pads
2: locate three outer ports and cover with scotch tape (photo bottom left driver)
3: roll paper towel to fit inside the driver side facing pad (photo top pad) this item doubles to reinforce the scotch tape and to create a better seal as the stock pad is loose fitting
  Note: I can't remember who I read this step from in one of the S400 or S500 threads but I felt as though that this made a difference so props to him fo sho!
4: Roll a couple of more paper of paper towels to fit the pad (photo right pad)
5: reassemble Note: when reattaching pad be careful to keep the paper towel on the facing side of the driver and not behind it. This will help reinforce the seal to the ports
 
This just in!!! use a bit more scotch tape as the little amount I used got the seal blown through. I thought the bass fell off.

haha that was me, although I used cotton to stuff the inner rim/ lip of these AKG pads, but your paper towel method might be better. I ended up taking all of the cotton off cuz it made pad changing a pain in the @ss.  I am currently messing with my S500 set up, will up some pics soon.........

 

[musubi1000]

Quote:

haha that was me, although I used cotton to stuff the inner rim/ lip of these AKG pads, but your paper towel method might be better. I ended up taking all of the cotton off cuz it made pad changing a pain in the @ss.  I am currently messing with my S500 set up, will up some pics soon.........

Bwahahaha

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

Bwahahaha

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I think I am going hysterical over these CRAZY S500s.
 
The bass still felt overly tight/ thin with with my AKG pads/ mod: The sound is almost to the point of a surgical HD sound, wayyyyy too clean and lean on the bass. I am looking to up the bass to give it more warmth, but still trying to accomplish this. 
 
SO I put back my stuffed stock pads on (inner stuffed with one cotton ball, very outer layer stuffed with one thin-ish circle of paper towel so it would not block the driver hole) OMG these stock pads are BASS monsters compared to the AKG pads. Stuffing the stock pads brought the mids/ highs out as similar to what the AKG pad did, but the bass is DEEP and BIG!
 
Not sure if my felt cover mod added EXTRA bass with the stock pads, but these are crazy in bass quality now as I am listening to them as compared to the extremely tight/ lean bass with the AKG pads.
 
Here are some pics of my S500 pad-on-pad set up.

 
With the stuffed AKG pads under....

 
My felt cover mod over the driver disk of my S500s (did not tape down the 3 open arch slot )

 
Out in their naked openness.......

 
 
Holy cow, the bass with the stuffed stock pads hits hard and deep, (go stuff your stock pads with one layer of cotton as the inner layer and a layer of paper towel as the outer layer... I gives you the best sound as compared to all cotton stuffing or all towel stuffing, trust me I tried it all already)
 
This is crazy yo! With the AKG pads these S500s almost sound "flat" really balanced in sound with a crazy tight/ lean bass, almost surgical HD sound. BUT with these stuffed stock pads the bass literally KILLS, yet the mids/ highs are no longer as compromised/ congested as the original un-modded stock pads. 

FUN FUN FUN LoLs
 
edit: alright having too much fun/ amazement with/ by these S500s, gonna give your mod a spin in a quick minute musubi1000.  Will report back, but I think you are onto something where with the taped slot mod for increased bass on not just these S500s but the S400s as well, more on that later on........