[sbradley02]

I like the Beyer leather pads quite a bit, I am using them on my "backup" phones, a pair of DT770 Pro80s. They look good, are very comfortable, sound great, and hold up very well to heavy use. The change came due to Smeggy's ongoing evaluation, where he felt that the Audeze pads were somewhat superior. See this post:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/572793/thunderpants-t50rp-mod-group-buy/165
Note however that the Audeze are literally twice as much money (and the Stax for comparison are triple) compared to the Beyers. I would still recommend the Beyer leathers without reservation. They are a steal for the price.
 
Quote:

Where you not satisfied with the sound of or the looks of the Beyer pads? Or did you just want to try the Audeze pads?
 

 

 

[Prospero424]

Let me run an idea past you guys.  My Thuderpants are arriving in the next few days and I just found tonight that the Presonus Firebox I was planning to plug them in to has died
 
I need to get something quickly that's a safe bet (worried about performance and compatibility problems) for my purposes.  Since I plan to be using my main PC workstation pretty much exclusively as my listening station and I put a priority on a good, reasonably-priced DAC, and I do have a lot of 24/96, 24/88.2, and 24/192 source material, so I was thinking of grabbing a Xonar STX.  My concern is that the integrated headphone amp may not be up to driving my TPs.  Although I could certainly purchase a standalone headphone amp in the near future, would this still be a wise path for these particular headphones?
 
Oh, and it offers gain options of 0dB (< 64 Ohms), +12dB (64-300 Ohms) and +18dB (>300 Ohm) on the headphone out.  Which one is optimal?
 
I figure that at $180 for those DACs, I can't go wrong.  No?
 
Thanks!

 

[Nevod]

Are there any mods of the driver itself in the Thunderpants? I've seen pics of T50RP mod where driver's magnet plates are milled out to increase open area. Author said that increase in clarity was impressive. 

 

[VictorHalgaard]

Hmm, I've had mine for 3 days now, and for some reason they don't seem to have any low-frequency bass response? I use them as my portable can, but compared to DT 1350 or Denon AH-D7000 it seems these cant go low... I have some electronica tracks where the bass just isn't there with these cans, but with most of my other cans the track has mindboggeling sub-bass rumble. Anyone experienced this? Is that just their signature, or? I'm just confused because according to the charts at Innerfidelity.com these shouldnt deviate more than ~5dB in the bass region...
 
They are magnificent at other genres, relaxing ambient, electronica or house music just loses its "umpfh"...
 

 

[Prospero424]

Quote:

Hmm, I've had mine for 3 days now, and for some reason they don't seem to have any low-frequency bass response? I use them as my portable can, but compared to DT 1350 or Denon AH-D7000 it seems these cant go low... I have some electronica tracks where the bass just isn't there with these cans, but with most of my other cans the track has mindboggeling sub-bass rumble. Anyone experienced this? Is that just their signature, or? I'm just confused because according to the charts at Innerfidelity.com these shouldnt deviate more than ~5dB in the bass region...
 
They are magnificent at other genres, relaxing ambient, electronica or house music just loses its "umpfh"...
 

Yeah, they aren't really known for being heavy on the low end.  I just received mine today and experienced pretty much the same thing.  But that's what I expected and what I wanted: superb mid-range and accurate reproduction over impact.
 
I plan on playing with the EQ to bring the lows and highs in line with the mid range, which I understand is pretty common practice with TP1s.

 

[sbradley02]

I have the exact opposite experience. On mine bass is extremely strong and the classic rock I often listen to really kicks.
Seal is important on these phones. Experiment with the tension and fit.
 
Quote:

Yeah, they aren't really known for being heavy on the low end.  I just received mine today and experienced pretty much the same thing.  But that's what I expected and what I wanted: superb mid-range and accurate reproduction over impact.
 
I plan on playing with the EQ to bring the lows and highs in line with the mid range, which I understand is pretty common practice with TP1s.

 

 

[VictorHalgaard]

I think you misunderstood my statement, I'm not saying the bass is not strong, because it is - not overly so, but it has kick to it. The "problem" is that it doesn't appear to go very low on frequencies, it seems to have a pretty steep roll off somewhere. But innerfidelitys measurements tell that they only have a 5 dB roll off compared to the massive roll off of the Denon D7000 (in the measurements) which when i listen to it, goes lower than I'm able to hear, as much as feel. 
Theyre wonderful at rock/metal and most other genres, but net very exciting for electronica, ambient and other genres that use low frequency rumbly sounds, which actually include some metal.
 

 

[Radio_head]

I believe the Denons are also pretty flat and extended with the Jmoney pads (might be remembering wrong thats just off the top of my head.)

 

[sbradley02]

I see your point but still tend to disagree. I downloaded 1/3 octave pink noise from 25Hz to 100Hz and played them back. I perceived no particular difference in sound level between the 6 different tones, and the 25Hz tone was more felt than heard.
I would be surprised if many sources have much energy below ~ 25Hz (that was the lowest tone I could find quickly, though I have some 20Hz around) - though I could be wrong. 
As you mention, the Innerfidelity measurements show these as rather flat, and the 30Hz square wave test back this up.
I would try my own measurements but I have heard that this is pretty useless without a dummy head.
 
Quote:

I think you misunderstood my statement, I'm not saying the bass is not strong, because it is - not overly so, but it has kick to it. The "problem" is that it doesn't appear to go very low on frequencies, it seems to have a pretty steep roll off somewhere. But innerfidelitys measurements tell that they only have a 5 dB roll off compared to the massive roll off of the Denon D7000 (in the measurements) which when i listen to it, goes lower than I'm able to hear, as much as feel. 
Theyre wonderful at rock/metal and most other genres, but net very exciting for electronica, ambient and other genres that use low frequency rumbly sounds, which actually include some metal.
 

 

 

[Prospero424]

Quote:

I have the exact opposite experience. On mine bass is extremely strong and the classic rock I often listen to really kicks.
Seal is important on these phones. Experiment with the tension and fit.
 


 

You're exactly right.  If I put some inward pressure on the cups, the bass easily doubles.  I'll have to do some experimentation.  I JUST got my Xonar STX installed about five minutes ago, so I can really start playing around with them now.
 
Oh, and Yeah, as I mentioned earlier it turns out EQing helps a great deal, as well.

 

[The Neverhood]

Could anyone provide direct comparison to the W1000x or W5000?

 

[Radio_head]

better. Ad2000 gives it a run for its money though.

 

[VictorHalgaard]

Could anyone please try posting a photo of the insides of their thunderpants? I am trying to find out why i cant get those low frequencies. It seems mine simply roll completely off at around 40-50hz and is very low on volume all the way up to about 100hz. So im wondering if its the shape of the air chamber or the dampening or what the heck it is that is wrong.
 

 

[Prospero424]

Quote:

Could anyone please try posting a photo of the insides of their thunderpants? I am trying to find out why i cant get those low frequencies. It seems mine simply roll completely off at around 40-50hz and is very low on volume all the way up to about 100hz. So im wondering if its the shape of the air chamber or the dampening or what the heck it is that is wrong.
 

 
I'd post pictures, but without EQing I'm having about the same experience you are.  I've had to give them a +3db to +5db gain (in Foobar or in my audio adapter's software equalizer) on 55-100hz to get them to where I'd expect them to sound.  Understand that I am by no means a bass head and I don't need massive, thumping bass.  Never have.  I was, as you seem to be, just surprised by how much it took to get them there.  But then again, I don't have a lot of experience with orthos or even closed sets in general.
 
Getting a good seal is very, very, very important, but it can only go so far.  Even when I'm actively pressing in on the cups to achieve a near-perfect seal, they simply don't have what I would (conservatively!) consider adequate bass until I EQ them.  Good news is that after I do that, they sound great.  Bad news is that I can't exactly just take them over to a friend's place and show them off.  It takes work.
 
Here's a pic of the EQ curve in Foobar I've settled on if it helps:
 

 
I've seen Smeggy mention in the past that others have made this complaint with certain permutations of the TP1s.  But I've also seen him say that some of these people sent them in for him to take a look at them, and to him they sounded fine!  So perhaps it's all about the equipment, the habits, or just the ears.  Personally, I'm using the solid-state amp built into my Asus Xonar Essence STX with a +12db (~64-300ohm) gain set in the driver control panel.
 
You don't, by any chance, wear glasses?  Getting a good seal with my glasses on has turned out to be a bit of a problem.  But my statements above remain true even with my glasses removed.

 

[VictorHalgaard]

I dont wear glasses, i have a good seal, and when i eq the bass, the driver will distort/rattle so thats not a good thing...
 
I'm thinking i'll have to let them go to someone else...Theyre just so darned pretty!!! Martin did an amazing job...