[DJScope]

   
Which hm5 pad did you get ? Velour or Pleather ?

 
I trialed that velour pads and didn't like them. I ended up getting another pair of the original pleather pads. I like the original ones over the memory foam ones, they're much softer and comfortable.

 

[wgrish7]

I trialed that velour pads and didn't like them. I ended up getting another pair of the original pleather pads. I like the original ones over the memory foam ones, they're much softer and comfortable.

Opposite opinion here. The stock pad's foam was too tough for the amount of clamping force.

 

[beyondtool]

Like I said I went with the velour. Gets too damn hot in these parts for pleather..

 

[wgrish7]

What do you think of the Beyer (DT880) semi-open driver design?
One ring of holes letting sound go out through the grill and the other does not. Half open and half closed.
 

 

[BIgsteviet]

Thank you for you're valuable contribution the community. Ofcourse you're right and all others are wrong.

Cheers

'Your' darling, if you're going to be haughty (and rightly so!)

 

[BIgsteviet]

Yep, imho the bass becomes both more controlled and more extended over time. This is based only upon my own ears...

 

[Folex]

  What do you think of the Beyer (DT880) semi-open driver design?
One ring of holes letting sound go out through the grill and the other does not. Half open and half closed.
 

 
I personally don't like the 880's. I'm a huge fan of the 990's which has a more open design. The open design makes voices shine, although at times a little fatiguing. The 880 sound a little lifeless for me. 

 

[aaDee]

Does anyone finds upper mids on Pro80 metallic or nasal?? I use Re-262 where mids are too sweet and Baldoor E100 where mids are too natural sounding.

 

[DangerClose]

Various comments about the Pro 80 having a big soundstage and lots of bass surprised me since I have a different opinion on that.
The stock pads are decent in quality and size but, like most supposedly "circumaural" pads, they still sit on part of the ear and annoy me.  
 
Putting on Shure pads pretty much solved all of those problems.  The bass still doesn't go as low as I expect, but now it's a little more full.  It's also a little more boomy, but not an unwelcome amount.  And my ears fit fully inside the pads.  And the soundstage is bigger.  The Pro 80s have very good imaging and separation, but it can be hard to tell when the stock pads are slamming it all up in your face.  With the stock pads and a certain song, a guitar coming from the left pretty much just came from the left, filling up my ear and being right there.  With the Shures, that guitar coming from the left came from not only farther left, but lower left.   
 
I might have sold these already with the stock pads due to the small soundstage being uninteresting and in your face.  Now they're about the same in width to HM3/F38/FA-004, (those don't have quite as much height), but are still somewhat inferior to Senn 439 in overall size.  Both of those have quite big soundstages for closed, so that's good company to be in.   
 
These feel durable, though a little heavy, and when adjusting them or my glasses it's not uncommon to catch a finger on the wires.
 
I saw a comment somewhere in this thread from someone saying they're probably the only person who EQ'd down the mids since they're so forward they hurt his ears or something.  There's something in the mids that blasted my ears too.  That and the small soundstage were probably a bad combo.  The Shures helped smooth that (and the 8k hump) out, but I still currently drop the 1k range a little.  

 

[Roderick]

Yeah... I'm in the same boat with DangerClose regarding the bass performance of pro80. I'm starting to think that there are variations between different pro80's. Does anyone have multiple pairs? Graphs indicate that pro80 have quite a bit bass emphasis but my pair sounds nothing like that. There is more bass than on hi2050, less than on hm5 and a lot less than on superlux hd681. Bass shy side of neutral to my ears. I have the old model with coiled cable and small headband. Soundstage is excellent though. With stock pads it is better than average and with hm5 pads it is very big.  I have had few different hm3 clones and the soundstage on those is no where close to pro80's. You can clearly hear the drivers on hm3, if you  know what I mean. It is just two speakers next to my ears which I can easily locate. They do nothing to push the sound behind the drivers and outside the head. However those are excellent headphones for 20$. Very good balance and clarity making cheap and often recommend headphones such as koss portapro sound bad in comparison.  I am not surprised that many people find highs on pro80 (and hi2050) piercing. It is very source dependant. I have had those sound anything from smooth to piercing depending on the gear used. But the highs have never been as razor sharp as on superlux hd681, Akg k514, sony mdr-sa5000 and Beyerdynamic T1. There are others of course but those four have been the most sibilant and shrill headphones I've encountered so far and the pro80 are far from being that bad.

 

[altrunox]

  Yeah... I'm in the same boat with DangerClose regarding the bass performance of pro80. I'm starting to think that there are variations between different pro80's. Does anyone have multiple pairs? Graphs indicate that pro80 have quite a bit bass emphasis but my pair sounds nothing like that. There is more bass than on hi2050, less than on hm5 and a lot less than on superlux hd681. Bass shy side of neutral to my ears. I have the old model with coiled cable and small headband. Soundstage is excellent though. With stock pads it is better than average and with hm5 pads it is very big.  I have had few different hm3 clones and the soundstage on those is no where close to pro80's. You can clearly hear the drivers on hm3, if you  know what I mean. It is just two speakers next to my ears which I can easily locate. They do nothing to push the sound behind the drivers and outside the head. However those are excellent headphones for 20$. Very good balance and clarity making cheap and often recommend headphones such as koss portapro sound bad in comparison.  I am not surprised that many people find highs on pro80 (and hi2050) piercing. It is very source dependant. I have had those sound anything from smooth to piercing depending on the gear used. But the highs have never been as razor sharp as on superlux hd681, Akg k514, sony mdr-sa5000 and Beyerdynamic T1. There are others of course but those four have been the most sibilant and shrill headphones I've encountered so far and the pro80 are far from being that bad.

 
Less bass o the HD 681 "classic" or the Evo?

 

[DJScope]

Yeah... I'm in the same boat with DangerClose regarding the bass performance of pro80. I'm starting to think that there are variations between different pro80's. Does anyone have multiple pairs? Graphs here indicate that pro80 have quite a bit bass emphasis but my pair sounds nothing like that. There is more bass than on hi2050, less than on hm5 and a lot less than on superlux hd681. Bass shy side of neutral to my ears. I have the old model with coiled cable and small headband. Soundstage is excellent though. With stock pads it is better than average and with hm5 pads it is very big.  I have had few different hm3 clones and the soundstage on those is no where close to pro80's. You can clearly hear the drivers on hm3, if you  know what I mean. It is just two speakers next to my ears which I can easily locate. They do nothing to push the sound behind the drivers and outside the head. However those are excellent headphones for 20$. Very good balance and clarity making cheap and often recommend headphones such as koss portapro sound bad in comparison.  I am not surprised that many people find highs on pro80 (and hi2050) piercing. It is very source dependant. I have had those sound anything from smooth to piercing depending on the gear used. But the highs have never been as razor sharp as on superlux hd681, Akg k514, sony mdr-sa5000 and Beyerdynamic T1. There are others of course but those four have been the most sibilant and shrill headphones I've encountered so far and the pro80 are far from being that bad.

I have the coiled cable one as well. I got it with the box too. It has good neutral bass response which extends pretty well. I guess normal manufacturing tolerances need to be applied but I bet all units have that distinct 10db dip in the 4khz region.

 

[Roderick]

Yeah, the 4khz thing is there definately. I have no complaints about the bass actually. It just isn't as prominent as the graph and other people opininons indicate. Over the years I've enjoyed many headphones with different sound signatures. It doesn't matter if it's akg k501 or sony xb1000 as long as it does right what it is supposed to do Only when I'm choosing my main headphone I get more picky.  Btw has anyone noticed that when using hm5 pads it takes about 5-10 minutes before the bass is on its full potential? I had the same thing with hm5 (and propably with all the headphones I have used with those pads). It might be that it takes a while before the pads provide a good seal because I use glasses. Or the air pressure needs to balance itself out just in general. Just a reminder that cycling through headphones fast when auditioning is not a good idea
 
Quote:

   
Less bass o the HD 681 "classic" or the Evo?

Both.

 

[DangerClose]

  Soundstage is excellent though. With stock pads it is better than average and with hm5 pads it is very big.  I have had few different hm3 clones and the soundstage on those is no where close to pro80's. You can clearly hear the drivers on hm3, if you  know what I mean. It is just two speakers next to my ears which I can easily locate. They do nothing to push the sound behind the drivers and outside the head. 

 
"Two speakers next to my ears" makes me think of JVC HAS-400.  Some people say those have good soundstage.  

 
I hated the HM3 fresh out of the box.  No soundstage, no bass, tinny, lifeless.  That certainly changed.  HM3 and clones are routinely praised for their soundstage, so it's surprising you found it lacking that much.  HM3 stock pads are small and have the plushness of a rock, so maybe they just fit differently.  
 
I don't hate the Pro 80 with stock pads, they have detail and clarity and a certain rich yet clean sound, but they're closed in.  I don't want to say they give me the "two speakers next to my ears" effect, but they do more than they don't.  But then slapped on some bigger Shure pads and they opened up a bit.  HM5 pads are probably even better.

 

[Roderick]

   
"Two speakers next to my ears" makes me think of JVC HAS-400.

I have the s400 also and I agree that they don't have much soundstage either.

HM3 and clones are routinely praised for their soundstage, so it's surprising you found it lacking that much.  HM3 stock pads are small and have the plushness of a rock, so maybe they just fit differently.    
 

I guess it could be a fit issue because the pads are indeed stiff and I wear glasses. I'm a bit sceptic though because I get nice bass out of hm3 and usually the bass is the first thing to go when there are fit issues.
 
I guess this is yet another example on how differently we hear but i'm glad you like your hm3! We don't  always remember how unique our own impressions are and that all reviews should be taken with a grain of salt. Possible varioations between headphones, different music, source, amp, volume, enviroment, personal biases and our physical differences. Such a subjective hobby