[SHAMuuu]

Alright, I went the clever vintage road again and purchaded mint condition DT48a + pads. Hopefully it will complement my collection nicely. I plan to use it instead of hd250 linear 1 in office and maybe instead of my iem on the go.

I will also sell some of my vintage Sennheisers if someone is interested (hd560 ovation 2, hd250 linear 2, hd265 linear, hd565 ovation.. to name a few).

Nice choice, but as an on the go phone and in office? Lmao They are good for an hour or two but you need a break, and to wipe the sweat.

I have fantasies of rocking it in public, but i use it with a dedicated vintage amplifier.

Some guy on youtube posted a comment on how cool it would be to have a th900 with one blue cup and one red cup. That would be nice to compliment the dt48A eh

Anyway look forward to impressions and comparisons.

 

[myusernameislove]

I'll be rocking it in public and have fantasies of using it with dedicated vintage amplifier instead, ok?

 

[RogueWolfe]

Guys, I have a little story to tell on our sennheiser hd540. I had a very interesting e-mail conversation with Mr. C.C. Poon, the President of Monarchy Audio . He is a nice gentleman and we talked about tube preamplifiers, the fascinating Monarchy NM 24 Tube Dac and I happened to mention the Sennheiser 540 to him. This was his reply:

It's most interesting that you brought out the HD540.
I have been using one driven by our NM24 for years.
Absolutely gorgeous sound!

The 600 Ohm is a perfect fit.

Thought you guys might like the fact someone of Mr. Poons Expertise shares our passion for the Sennheiser HD 540!

Here is a picture by him:

I have a question - any of you US Guys might have a pair of HD540 Ref I (600 Ohm) they would be willing to part with? Even if it is only one working driver. Mr Poon enquired if I had a spare Ref I, and I thought if one of you Guys from the US might have one shipping and such would be cheaper. Please DM and we can set something up.

 

[SHAMuuu]

I'll be rocking it in public and have fantasies of using it with dedicated vintage amplifier instead, ok?

That sounds pretty awesome. What kind of amplifier will you use for on the go?

I put a little foam disc in the exposed driver, so sweat won't go inside. A little circle cut out of beyerdynamic or equivalent foam disc. I have also tried hm5 sheepskin on them, which was a little more comfortable but went back to stock pads.

 

[SHAMuuu]

Guys, I have a little story to tell on our sennheiser hd540. I had a very interesting e-mail conversation with Mr. C.C. Poon, the President of Monarchy Audio . He is a nice gentleman and we talked about tube preamplifiers, the fascinating Monarchy NM 24 Tube Dac and I happened to mention the Sennheiser 540 to him. This was his reply:



Thought you guys might like the fact someone of Mr. Poons Expertise shares our passion for the Sennheiser HD 540!

Here is a picture by him:

I have a question - any of you US Guys might have a pair of HD540 Ref I (600 Ohm) they would be willing to part with? Even if it is only one working driver. Mr Poon enquired if I had a spare Ref I, and I thought if one of you Guys from the US might have one shipping and such would be cheaper. Please DM and we can set something up.

Pretty cool stuff, and "Mr. Poon's Expertise" rolls off the tongue nicely

 

[RogueWolfe]

Pretty cool stuff, and "Mr. Poon's Expertise" rolls off the tongue nicely

Haha, indeed it does. Even though I am German think of my accent as rather british...

 

[myusernameislove]

I'll try them with my Mojo/Pure2+ stack.

 

[sennsay]

Guys, I have a little story to tell on our sennheiser hd540. I had a very interesting e-mail conversation with Mr. C.C. Poon, the President of Monarchy Audio . He is a nice gentleman and we talked about tube preamplifiers, the fascinating Monarchy NM 24 Tube Dac and I happened to mention the Sennheiser 540 to him. This was his reply:



Thought you guys might like the fact someone of Mr. Poons Expertise shares our passion for the Sennheiser HD 540!

Here is a picture by him:

I have a question - any of you US Guys might have a pair of HD540 Ref I (600 Ohm) they would be willing to part with? Even if it is only one working driver. Mr Poon enquired if I had a spare Ref I, and I thought if one of you Guys from the US might have one shipping and such would be cheaper. Please DM and we can set something up.

Great story. I have looked at the Monarch gear before, lovely design and very well made!

 

[RogueWolfe]

Great story. I have looked at the Monarch gear before, lovely design and very well made!

It is currently out of my price range - which is a pitty. The NM24 does indeed sound like a great product. "High End Product that performs beyond it's price point" is almost a stereotype - from what I have read it's been Mr. Poons Programme ever since he launched his company. That and given simple facts like the mind behind the products appreciates the sound of the 540 really makes the gear attractive to me.

 

[sennsay]

It is currently out of my price range - which is a pitty. The NM24 does indeed sound like a great product. "High End Product that performs beyond it's price point" is almost a stereotype - from what I have read it's been Mr. Poons Programme ever since he launched his company. That and given simple facts like the mind behind the products appreciates the sound of the 540 really makes the gear attractive to me.

Also: Mr Poon is in retirement, only a few products left.

Mmm, I'm not likely to be buying one tomorrow either I gave my Ref1s a short holiday last night, using the HE400S (Focus A pads and Mogami) instead with the audio-gd R2R-11, which had been warmed up all day. Sounded brilliant, solid, focused and 'meaty', the tautness of the weighty bass with this DAC/amp is very impressive and in this case, better with the HE400S than the Ref1s (still lovely, just the bass softens here). So I listened to Ani De Franco's very quirky yet musically dynamic Lost In Clip double album. As I said, impressive! A very dynamic set from everyone, bass guitar, Ani's rather spectacular guitar playing and an excellent drummer! The HE400S has improved rather nicely with it's Mogami cable. The R2R-11 doesn't have the deep soundstage of the Elekit valve preamp/KHA II amp I've been using with the Ref1's lately, or the revelation of openness and transparency, yet it's still a joy musically. A little darker, yes, but the sheer focused punch of that amp section is a delight in itself. It reminds me of that Yamaha RX-V480 receiver I mentioned a few posts back, that I cleaned up and added to my vintage-ish lounge set up for general duties. Meaty and rhythmic (both of them), while retaining excellent timing.

 

[dakanao]

PADS PADS PADS

I compared most of pads that I own now with my HD540 Reference 1 600 Ohm headphones.
I recommend pads no. 2 (enhanced), 6 (enhanced) and 1 (stock pads).

For no. 1 I had to use regular thin foam inserts to reduce spikiness of highs. For all other pads I chose very thin cloth inserts from ebay user messihinmessiher to keep as much highs in sound as possible or no foam inserts at all..


+++ = best (heavenly)
++ = good (heaven entrance)
+ = with flaws (may suit some genres)

++++ (above heaven)

Reserved for modified pads and tuning them close to original stock experience (fabric pads with pleather top ring). Also stock HD560 velour pads were not tested (at least one user prefers them to everything else).

+++

2 (enhanced) - insert 0.5cm wide foam ring into the bottom part of pad no 2 to increase height and seal for a better space and tighter bass and to undo weird quality of mids od pads no. 2. The result is more bassy than that of enhanced pad no. 6. Excellent pairing with brighter and cleaner amps. I use pads no.2 (enhanced) on my HD250 Linear 1 and pads no.6 (enhanced) on HD540.

6 (enhanced) - glue a 0.5cm wide foam ring with a small amount of a textil glue to the bottom part of pad no. 6 to increase height and seal for a MUCH higher amount of bass than with original pad no. 6 and to achieve a bit better quality space while still keeping the tonality a bit brighter and the sound less bassy then the sound with enhaced pads no. 2. The result has more highs (but also less body) and the sound is very close to reference neutrality ideal. Excellent pairing with warmer and darker amps. After while: space still is not ideal - a bit less precise placement of instruments or slightly distorted highs I would call it. Very enjoyable listen though.

1, stock HD540 Reference 1 pads with exchanged filling (taken from cheap Hifiman pads) and stitched back together (fabric, tall profile, without pleather top ring, but with ) - even more clear than wang_yifei's pleather pads. Spikier highs, very neutral sound (some of you may actually prefer little warmer sound of no.2 and no.3 pads). Space is exceptional and imaging is precise. Exceptional tonality and technical mastery. Although tonality is perfect, and bass is not missing in the sound, it's bass is not as easily identified as with all of the other pads (no.2, 3, 4, 5) and therefore I take one star down in bass quality.. Quality of highs ++++ (yes, here it shines), amount of highs +++, quality of mids +++, quality of bass ++, amount of bass ++, quality of space +++, technical excellence (ability to display texture of notes - you need very clean sound and good quality bass for this to work, amount of aftersounds, sweetness of sound) +++.

++

2, replacement pleather pads from ebay user wang_yifei (soft pleather, flat profile) - almost perfect, better (tight) bass than no.1. Unfortunately its middle frequencies sound weird in comparison to stock pads (no.1), but if you do not have those for comparison, you may not even notice it. Space is as exceptional and imaging as precise as no.1. Sound is a little warmer and also more sharp than no.1. Quality of highs +++, amount of highs +++, quality of mids ++ /a little too tin can sounding/, quality of bass +++, amount of bass ++, quality of space +++, technical excellence +++.

8, replacement AKG pleather pads from Amazon by FeiYen (thick pleather, memory foam, low profile) - less highs than both 2 (enhanced) and 6 (enhanced), less clear in highs, but more robust body and more bassy tonality-wise. Better in that department of increased bass than less clear sounding Brainwavz pads no.4. They sound pretty mellow, and therefore are still very enjoyable, but contrary to them they lack their crystal clear highs. Quality of highs ++ (soft), amount of highs ++, quality of mids +++ (very mellow), quality of bass ++ (softer), amount of bass +++ , quality of space ++, technical excellence ++ (less clear, much less real window into music - they take HD540 to the fun V shape level of sound that usually HD560 excels in, but gone is the crystal clear and neutral sounding open window into the music).

3, replacement Sennheiser HD560 Ovation / Ovation II Earpads (Black) from Audio Sanctuary (velour) - softer sounding, near to perfection. One could argue that timbre is better with this softer kind of sound. Definitelly more relaxed and less sharp. Quality of highs ++, amount of highs ++, quality of mids +++, quality of bass ++ (softer), amount of bass +++, quality of space ++, technical excellence ++ (softness takes half of this perfection away, but there is still enough of it for you to enjoy).

+

4, replacement Brainwavz memory foam pads. Oval. (thick pleather, tall profile) - more bass, too much (it muddens the sound). Main problem of it is, that it does not have that natural sound that most of us love with HD540. Space and imaging is also broken (mediocre). Could be good choice for modern music. Quality of highs ++, amount of highs ++, quality of mids ++, quality of bass ++, amount of bass ++++, quality of space +. technical excellence ++ (hidden).

5, stock pads from HD250 linear II - (soft pleather, tall profile) - natural sound, but too dull for my taste. Space and imaging is mediocre, hint of dullness muddens space and timbre. If you like a little more bass and also want a little compromise in natural sound character, this could be your choice. But it sounds too dull to me. Quality of highs ++, amount of highs ++, quality of mids +++, quality of bass ++, amount of bass +++, quality of space ++. technical excellence + (dullness kills most of it).

6, replacement Sennheiser HD430 ear pads. Colour: Black. (soft pleather, medium to flat profile) - very clean, almost bright as it lacks bass, but otherwise sound is perfect. Space and imaging is a tiny bit behind that of wang_yifei's pleather pads. Too bass light. Quality of highs +++, amount of highs +++, quality of mids +++, quality of bass +++, amount of bass +, quality of space ++, technical excellence + (it is clean, but because it lacks bass it cannot show muscles).

-

reserved for mediocre pads

1 (destroyed), glue bit of pleather to the front part of the pad. The glue kills it. Before it was glued and only placed on the front, it sounded well - maybe better than original. High amount of glue made it sound too bright. If you want to try this mode, stitch the pleather ring to the pad instead. And do not use too wide ring. Use as narrow ring as it was originally narrow.

--

7, (added 3.1. 2019) Brainwavz hybrid pads (thick pleather on sides and velour top, tall profile) - their tonality is even bassier then Brainwavz memory foam pads (4), and at the same time their sound is muddier than any pads in the test so far (from no. 1 to no.6). They just destroy everything that these headphones do well. Quality of highs -, amount of highs +, quality of mids +, quality of bass - (soft and muddy), amount of bass ++++, quality of space ++, technical excellence - (muddy).

---

reserved for worst ever pads

Hey, how do you find the comfort of the AKG pads from FeiYen, compared to the wang pleathers?

 

[dakanao]

PADS PADS PADS

I compared most of pads that I own now with my HD540 Reference 1 600 Ohm headphones.
I recommend pads no. 2 (enhanced), 6 (enhanced) and 1 (stock pads).

For no. 1 I had to use regular thin foam inserts to reduce spikiness of highs. For all other pads I chose very thin cloth inserts from ebay user messihinmessiher to keep as much highs in sound as possible or no foam inserts at all..


+++ = best (heavenly)
++ = good (heaven entrance)
+ = with flaws (may suit some genres)

++++ (above heaven)

Reserved for modified pads and tuning them close to original stock experience (fabric pads with pleather top ring). Also stock HD560 velour pads were not tested (at least one user prefers them to everything else).

+++

2 (enhanced) - insert 0.5cm wide foam ring into the bottom part of pad no 2 to increase height and seal for a better space and tighter bass and to undo weird quality of mids od pads no. 2. The result is more bassy than that of enhanced pad no. 6. Excellent pairing with brighter and cleaner amps. I use pads no.2 (enhanced) on my HD250 Linear 1 and pads no.6 (enhanced) on HD540.

6 (enhanced) - glue a 0.5cm wide foam ring with a small amount of a textil glue to the bottom part of pad no. 6 to increase height and seal for a MUCH higher amount of bass than with original pad no. 6 and to achieve a bit better quality space while still keeping the tonality a bit brighter and the sound less bassy then the sound with enhaced pads no. 2. The result has more highs (but also less body) and the sound is very close to reference neutrality ideal. Excellent pairing with warmer and darker amps. After while: space still is not ideal - a bit less precise placement of instruments or slightly distorted highs I would call it. Very enjoyable listen though.

1, stock HD540 Reference 1 pads with exchanged filling (taken from cheap Hifiman pads) and stitched back together (fabric, tall profile, without pleather top ring, but with ) - even more clear than wang_yifei's pleather pads. Spikier highs, very neutral sound (some of you may actually prefer little warmer sound of no.2 and no.3 pads). Space is exceptional and imaging is precise. Exceptional tonality and technical mastery. Although tonality is perfect, and bass is not missing in the sound, it's bass is not as easily identified as with all of the other pads (no.2, 3, 4, 5) and therefore I take one star down in bass quality.. Quality of highs ++++ (yes, here it shines), amount of highs +++, quality of mids +++, quality of bass ++, amount of bass ++, quality of space +++, technical excellence (ability to display texture of notes - you need very clean sound and good quality bass for this to work, amount of aftersounds, sweetness of sound) +++.

++

2, replacement pleather pads from ebay user wang_yifei (soft pleather, flat profile) - almost perfect, better (tight) bass than no.1. Unfortunately its middle frequencies sound weird in comparison to stock pads (no.1), but if you do not have those for comparison, you may not even notice it. Space is as exceptional and imaging as precise as no.1. Sound is a little warmer and also more sharp than no.1. Quality of highs +++, amount of highs +++, quality of mids ++ /a little too tin can sounding/, quality of bass +++, amount of bass ++, quality of space +++, technical excellence +++.

8, replacement AKG pleather pads from Amazon by FeiYen (thick pleather, memory foam, low profile) - less highs than both 2 (enhanced) and 6 (enhanced), less clear in highs, but more robust body and more bassy tonality-wise. Better in that department of increased bass than less clear sounding Brainwavz pads no.4. They sound pretty mellow, and therefore are still very enjoyable, but contrary to them they lack their crystal clear highs. Quality of highs ++ (soft), amount of highs ++, quality of mids +++ (very mellow), quality of bass ++ (softer), amount of bass +++ , quality of space ++, technical excellence ++ (less clear, much less real window into music - they take HD540 to the fun V shape level of sound that usually HD560 excels in, but gone is the crystal clear and neutral sounding open window into the music).

3, replacement Sennheiser HD560 Ovation / Ovation II Earpads (Black) from Audio Sanctuary (velour) - softer sounding, near to perfection. One could argue that timbre is better with this softer kind of sound. Definitelly more relaxed and less sharp. Quality of highs ++, amount of highs ++, quality of mids +++, quality of bass ++ (softer), amount of bass +++, quality of space ++, technical excellence ++ (softness takes half of this perfection away, but there is still enough of it for you to enjoy).

+

4, replacement Brainwavz memory foam pads. Oval. (thick pleather, tall profile) - more bass, too much (it muddens the sound). Main problem of it is, that it does not have that natural sound that most of us love with HD540. Space and imaging is also broken (mediocre). Could be good choice for modern music. Quality of highs ++, amount of highs ++, quality of mids ++, quality of bass ++, amount of bass ++++, quality of space +. technical excellence ++ (hidden).

5, stock pads from HD250 linear II - (soft pleather, tall profile) - natural sound, but too dull for my taste. Space and imaging is mediocre, hint of dullness muddens space and timbre. If you like a little more bass and also want a little compromise in natural sound character, this could be your choice. But it sounds too dull to me. Quality of highs ++, amount of highs ++, quality of mids +++, quality of bass ++, amount of bass +++, quality of space ++. technical excellence + (dullness kills most of it).

6, replacement Sennheiser HD430 ear pads. Colour: Black. (soft pleather, medium to flat profile) - very clean, almost bright as it lacks bass, but otherwise sound is perfect. Space and imaging is a tiny bit behind that of wang_yifei's pleather pads. Too bass light. Quality of highs +++, amount of highs +++, quality of mids +++, quality of bass +++, amount of bass +, quality of space ++, technical excellence + (it is clean, but because it lacks bass it cannot show muscles).

-

reserved for mediocre pads

1 (destroyed), glue bit of pleather to the front part of the pad. The glue kills it. Before it was glued and only placed on the front, it sounded well - maybe better than original. High amount of glue made it sound too bright. If you want to try this mode, stitch the pleather ring to the pad instead. And do not use too wide ring. Use as narrow ring as it was originally narrow.

--

7, (added 3.1. 2019) Brainwavz hybrid pads (thick pleather on sides and velour top, tall profile) - their tonality is even bassier then Brainwavz memory foam pads (4), and at the same time their sound is muddier than any pads in the test so far (from no. 1 to no.6). They just destroy everything that these headphones do well. Quality of highs -, amount of highs +, quality of mids +, quality of bass - (soft and muddy), amount of bass ++++, quality of space ++, technical excellence - (muddy).

---

reserved for worst ever pads

I want to get the FeiYen pads, but I'm wondering if they're as soft as the wang pleathers? I won't like them if the pleather is hard...

 

[RogueWolfe]

A little follow up. I found a HD540 for Mr Poon on ebay. Also I really really enjoy the HD 250 at work. It's certainly a little different from the HD540 - a little less "airy". A bit more punch. It is certainly heavier on the ear comfortwise, but outside of that it is perfect for my needs at work. 100% closed, nobody hears a thing and most importantly it fades out all talk, keyboard smashing and such perfectly.

 

[dakanao]

My HD 540 Gold is very bass light as of lately with the wang pleather pads… I don't know why, but they clearly had a lot more bass before. The rest of the frequencies sound exactly the same as before, so I don't think the drivers are damaged,,

 

[Miori]

Finally my Gold are at home... Sooo Happy... I already own RefI and RefII so then will follow impressions... Now few pcts. Really great conditions only needed to be changed dark foams because of Age.