[ZeNmAc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by teakwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif Im watching this thread closely as I use these for walk around cans and have hd600s that use almost all the time. Would love some more velor in my life.

Great. Today was one of the first hot days of the year. I'm thinking velour will be nice to have for summer. Its usually cool here so the pleather doesn't bother me too much, but they do get hot in ~80 degree weather.

 

[OpticElement]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZeNmAc /img/forum/go_quote.gif Great. Today was one of the first hot days of the year. I'm thinking velour will be nice to have for summer. Its usually cool here so the pleather doesn't bother me too much, but they do get hot in ~80 degree weather.

Yeah, I originally started looking because while it's not terribly hot most of the time outside, my computer heats up my room insanely, and makes pleather a non-enjoyable expirience, though I've found the same with the AD700 velours *sigh*. The search continues! I'll have to re-start my research.

 

[smallcaps]

if we take apart a spare m50 pad we can copy the pattern and make new pads. any seamstress, tailor or fashion designer can do this. once we have the dimensions we can make a pad out of anything we want. it might not be as accurately machine sewn as the originals, but it would open up a path for modding i.e. new materials for dampening, thicker padding, angled foam, non-circular pads (like square grado-types!) etc.

i have also taken apart the housing to take a look at the driver but didn't have a camera at the time so i didn't take pix. there are a couple small screws on the ear-facing side of the headphone that can be easily accessed after removing the pad. inside you will find the driver and wire placement. if i remember correctly it was a 3 wire solder and the cable was bent around a nook to ease strain on the cable. looked easy enough to re-cable imho.

i am currently selling my ath-m50s so i wont be able to continue with the exploration and possible hack, altho if there is enough interest and i haven't sold my cans yet, i might just keep them and join in on the fun. keep this thread alive for a great pair of under appreciated headphones!

 

[ZeNmAc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smallcaps /img/forum/go_quote.gif if we take apart a spare m50 pad we can copy the pattern and make new pads. any seamstress, tailor or fashion designer can do this. once we have the dimensions we can make a pad out of anything we want. it might not be as accurately machine sewn as the originals, but it would open up a path for modding i.e. new materials for dampening, thicker padding, angled foam, non-circular pads (like square grado-types!) etc. i have also taken apart the housing to take a look at the driver but didn't have a camera at the time so i didn't take pix. there are a couple small screws on the ear-facing side of the headphone that can be easily accessed after removing the pad. inside you will find the driver and wire placement. if i remember correctly it was a 3 wire solder and the cable was bent around a nook to ease strain on the cable. looked easy enough to re-cable imho. i am currently selling my ath-m50s so i wont be able to continue with the exploration and possible hack, altho if there is enough interest and i haven't sold my cans yet, i might just keep them and join in on the fun. keep this thread alive for a great pair of under appreciated headphones!

Simple enough. I really didn't want to have to break out (borrow) the sewing kit though

.

Honestly, I would rather buy a pad that fits rather than mod a pad from scratch. I can guess how that might turn out. Of course modding might be cheaper, most velour pads run about $30.

Pads are 10cm long 8.5cm wide 1.5cm deep if that helps. For a last resort I'm thinking just generic foam and grill cloth for starters (maybe velvet/velour eventually).

 

[ZeNmAc]

I'm thinking maybe we should just MAKE the dt770 pads fit. I emailed sennheiser a while back asking for the dimensions of the hd570 and hd590 pads hoping they will fit. Its been six days and no reply. If I do get emailed back and they wont fit, I think I'll just get some beyer pads and mod from there. If anyone has either of the senneheisers PLEASE let me know.

It shouldn't be too hard to mod. Someone that has them should try it. Just try something like the phatpad mod only on the outside. I think I will, it just might be a while before I buy some.

My thoughts are something like cotton or something to that effect wrapped around the cans with no pads on, then put the pads on over the material. It's worth a try.

 

[OpticElement]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZeNmAc /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm thinking maybe we should just MAKE the dt770 pads fit. I emailed sennheiser a while back asking for the dimensions of the hd570 and hd590 pads hoping they will fit. Its been six days and no reply. If I do get emailed back and they wont fit, I think I'll just get some beyer pads and mod from there. If anyone has either of the senneheisers PLEASE let me know. It shouldn't be too hard to mod. Someone that has them should try it. Just try something like the phatpad mod only on the outside. I think I will, it just might be a while before I buy some. My thoughts are something like cotton or something to that effect wrapped around the cans with no pads on, then put the pads on over the material. It's worth a try.

Hmm when I tried the DT770 pads (also as you can see from iGig's pic), there was a good amount of leftover room. There's only so much you can mod for. Though if someone's willing to give up a pair of pads, there's no reason not to try anything and everything!

 

[smallcaps]

maybe the new Shure headphones will have similar dimensions...

 

[milkweg]

What does one do when the current pleather pads on the M50 wear out? audiotechnica don't even list replacement pads and no store sells them either. I'm starting to regret buying these M50s now because I have big ears and I don't find them comfortable enough for me.

 

[OpticElement]

There definately are replacement pads. When I checked if AT sold any velours for the M50s they stated they only sell stock pleather pads. Check with Long and McQuade and ask them to call for you if you want 'em, $25-$30 I believe.

 

[milkweg]

OK, thanks. I was at audiotechnica NA site and it said they don't sell any accessories to NA market so thought they might not be easy to get here. I won't need replacement pads for a long time anyway because my M50s are new.

A ghetto mod using microfibre cloth might be a good way to remove the stickiness of pleather pads. I'll never buy headphones that use pleather gain, that is for sure.

 

[ZeNmAc]

eh... the pleather isn't bad unless it gets hot...or ppl start throwing stuff at you in order to get your attention

.

I finally got a reply back from sennheiser about the hd570 pads. Unfortunately, the only useful info I got was that they are the exact same size as the hd590. Then the guy linked me to the parts store and said that they are made for the hd570 so there is no need to measure them

. *duh* as if i would've emailed them for that.

So I replied explaining that I was hoping to get the measurements so I could see if they will fit any other headphones. That was tuesday I think. No reply yet, I may just have to send sennheiser a third request for help.

I wonder if they wouldn't like it if I told them I was looking for replacements for other HP's and I don't have the hd570's. *without mentioning they are AT's of course lol* I don't know why they would care really, they're selling something anyway.

Oh, and milkweg I would try calling AT or emailing them. Like opticelement said they don't sell the pads on the website, but they probably still have them.

Actually all things considered, the m50 do have good quality pleather at least, its nice, thick, and leather-like, unlike most cheap thin plastic stuff.

 

[ZeNmAc]

well, I think these rely on the pleather for bass. I dont know how much velour would mimic this effect, but I tryed foam peices for pads, and it was extremely bright, painfully harsh, and unlistenable.

If velour differs from foam in its isolation, I'll continue to look, but as it is now, the drivers have very little bass, and require pleather to bring it out.

I have very little experiance with velour, so I don't know how well they isolate. Ideas?

 

[OpticElement]

In terms of isolation with velour it would depend on the headphone. Look at the DT770: Closed headphone with velour that isolates very well. Whereas the AD700 is an open headphone with velour pads that doesn't provide any isolation at all.

Your expirience with the velour seems to match what I've read from the forums... Seems like alot of headphones rely on, or can have their bass increased with leather earpads (which a good amount of people opt for it seems, i.e. replacing velour earpads with leather sometimes).

Seems as though to keep the M50s sound sig, it would be required to keep the leather pads and put some kind of foam/velour ring on the material that touches your skin to stop the sweating...?

 

[Jdogg]

You can call AT customer service and have them transfer you to the parts department or just tell them that you want to buy replacement pads for a particular headphone. I called AT about 8 months ago and ordered a pair of W5000 pads and a pair of AD900 pads. It was fairly easy in fact.

 

[ZDaudiopenguim]

I also have the overheating problem with m50. My room can get hot enough even with AC on(I live in Miami) so wearing pleat pads is not comfortable. So getting velour pads for m50 is not a option FWIR, maybe i'll get myself a pair of open cans at home, or any more suggestions for the pads?